Gas Mileage on the V8

[fitzt4r]

I recently purchased an 06 V8 SE 4Runner and in the 2000 or so miles I have driven it, I have noticed that the gas mileage is very shifty. My wife and I took a road trip one weekend and on the way there, we got 16 miles per gallon and on the way home (all highway both ways), we got 19.7 mpg. Now this calculation is coming from my own math, not the dash board computer (that thing isn't anywhere near accurate).

Now I am getting anywhere from 15 to 19 with no deviation in driving habits.

It has 2300 miles on it now. Is is STILL breaking in?

Thanks for the input in advance.....

 

[Falls]

Being in the exact same situation with a 06 SE V8 with 3,000 mile's I get 16 consistantly city driving,unless I really start lead footing it like I was last night...lol

Alot could depend on road grade ( if you took the same roads ) wind, ect.... I would give it some time to break in , I personally think it's to early to worry about it. I'm also running 265/70/17 Revo At tire's.

 

[CVsGX470]

I recently purchased an 06 V8 SE 4Runner and in the 2000 or so miles I have driven it, I have noticed that the gas mileage is very shifty. My wife and I took a road trip one weekend and on the way there, we got 16 miles per gallon and on the way home (all highway both ways), we got 19.7 mpg. Now this calculation is coming from my own math, not the dash board computer (that thing isn't anywhere near accurate).

Now I am getting anywhere from 15 to 19 with no deviation in driving habits.

It has 2300 miles on it now. Is is STILL breaking in?

Thanks for the input in advance.....

Maybe you traveled mostly up into the mountains or etc. on the way to your destination and came down from the mountains on the way back?

CV

 

[toto]

I'm getting about 17 mpg with a 60/40 mix of city/highway driving.

The dashboard trip computer reads out the average since the last time it was reset. One of the first things I did when I got my 4Runner home was to reset it, and I've found it to be pretty accurate. (To reset it, just switch it to the MPG mode and then press and hold "Reset".)

 

[fitzt4r]

I am getting more consistent mileage now. This tank, I have gotten about 180 to a half tank. It seems to be getting better.

 

[Jrunr]

I am averaging between 18-18.5mpog with mixed sity and higway driving. At the beginning of May, I am moving to WA so I will let you know what kind of mileage I get on the way.

 

[fastgenious]

I am averaging between 18-18.5mpog with mixed sity and higway driving. At the beginning of May, I am moving to WA so I will let you know what kind of mileage I get on the way.

The computer runs about 1-1.5 mpg off. I would bet that most V8's get around 15-16mpg on an average tank. If you are only highway I would think that the best you would do is around 18-19 mpg. Any more then that is pure dreaming.

 

[Koz]

The computer runs about 1-1.5 mpg off. I would bet that most V8's get around 15-16mpg on an average tank. If you are only highway I would think that the best you would do is around 18-19 mpg. Any more then that is pure dreaming.

:iagree:

Koz

 

[ssmathis]

Same as toto above here. I drive about 60% city and 40% highway and have been averaging right at 17 for about 5000 miles now. This is based on miles driven and gas used. The ironic thing is the computer has been averaging 17.4.

Scott

 

[toybox]

The computer runs about 1-1.5 mpg off. I would bet that most V8's get around 15-16mpg on an average tank. If you are only highway I would think that the best you would do is around 18-19 mpg. Any more then that is pure dreaming.

:iagree:

I don't do any highway but I wouldn't call my driving city driving either. Regardless I averaged about 14.5 mpg before the bigger tires now it is about 13.8 to 14 mpg.

 

[slimjim]

'06 se v8 4x2, 2000mi, 18.5 ~ 18.8mpg, mostly highway.

 

[V8Limited4wd]

i usually get around ~15.5mpg

the best ive gotten is ~19-20(this is driving avg of 45-60mph highway) and the worst around 15.4

 

[scott78945]

Getting about 16mpg here. I wish I could get 18mpg. I am starting to use the cruise control more and trying not to gun it at stop lights so hopefully I can squeeze out as much as possible.

 

[spyne]

Around town I get 15-16, sometimes 14 in the winter, and most of the time on the highway I get 18-19. Looking through my records, I have broken the 20 mpg threshold only 3 times. They were all on extended trips where I filled up at the top of a highway ramp, drove for several hours on the highway with cruise control on the entire way and pulled off to fill up at the end of another highway ramp. I got a best of 20.35 MPG in those cases.

 

[charlier180]

Commuting to work I get 15-16mpg a little less when it snows. On the highway using cruise control and watching my speed I get 19-20 mpg. When towing my loaded, enclosed, car trailer I get 9-10 mpg. Worst mpg = 7.24 mpg when towing in the mountains.

BTW, like the original poster I have experienced a 2+ mpg swing on a trip. In my case the swing was due to a 30+mph head wind pulling my trailer and a 30+ mph tail wind on the return trip.

All mpg figures above are calculated not the dash mpg display.
I have also found that my dash mpg display is usually high by 11-13% when not towing and a LOT less when towing.

 

[toto]

I have also found that my dash mpg display is usually high by 11-13% when not towing and a LOT less when towing.

Do you keep resetting the display as you change towing/not towing to check the accuracy?
Bear in mind that the display is an average since it was last reset, not since the last fillup. It's also not "instantaneous", telling you what your MPG is at that moment. If you've never reset it, then it's giving an average reading over the life of the car.
The computer knows how many miles you've gone and exactly how much gas has been put into the engine. It should be pretty darn accurate.
Nonetheless, in my mileage in my earlier post, I did double-check it with calculations and didn't just rely on the computer.

 

[V8Limited4wd]

i've been using phillygasprice.com to keep track of my gas expenses and avg mpg per tank... the mpg readout has been off by +2mpg so far, and i reset it every fill up.

 

[charlier180]

Do you keep resetting the display as you change towing/not towing to check the accuracy?
Bear in mind that the display is an average since it was last reset, not since the last fillup. It's also not "instantaneous", telling you what your MPG is at that moment. If you've never reset it, then it's giving an average reading over the life of the car.
The computer knows how many miles you've gone and exactly how much gas has been put into the engine. It should be pretty darn accurate.
Nonetheless, in my mileage in my earlier post, I did double-check it with calculations and didn't just rely on the computer.

Actually, I reset all the displays (MPG, MPH, etc) after each and every fill-up and have done so since I bought the 4Runner.

BTW, if you use the search function you will see that this topic has been discussed many times before. The concensus seems to be that the display is always inaccurate at least for the 2003-04 models.

 

[toto]

Wow... OK. Again, I'm just really surprised it's that far off, given the data the computer has to work with.
My previous car was a Lexus RX, and the complaint about the trip computer wasn't accuracy, but instead how conservative the estimated travel range is. The trip computer uses the same estimate for remaining fuel as the gas gauge, which usually says "Empty" with 2-3 gallons left in the tank.

 

[V8Limited4wd]

Wow... OK. Again, I'm just really surprised it's that far off, given the data the computer has to work with.
My previous car was a Lexus RX, and the complaint about the trip computer wasn't accuracy, but instead how conservative the estimated travel range is. The trip computer uses the same estimate for remaining fuel as the gas gauge, which usually says "Empty" with 2-3 gallons left in the tank.

i think that's more of a safety issue... so people won't literally drive until they have a drop of gas left, which would mess up the engine and the fuel pump. It's nice to know there is 2-3 gallons left even though the range says "0".