Horrible Gas Mileage

[bamma]

I have the 4R limited with FT 4WD. With stock wheels in summer, I get 20+ on the freeway and about 16 in town. With slightly larger tires I dropped about a mpg in city and see about the same on the freeway with calculation adjustments.

My heavier Land Cruiser with V8 gets about 14 city and 19 freeway, but can still get 20 mpg on the freeway if I baby it (I don't). And that is with 33s. my 03 V8 4R got about the same as my 12 v6 (both with the same FT-4wd transfer case) and get got just as good mileage and more torque.

I feel like the 4R is slighly underpowered, and could possibly get better overall gas mileage with a slightly bigger engine. However, I could go get a Ford Turbo, or a Chevy that get better mileage, but I'd prefer the reliability of Toyota and pay a bit more at the tank, but that is made up by the amazing resale and reliability of Toyota.

 

[Brandon_Reed]

^ This. You can't really improve the 5th gen's fuel economy. You will start to degrade it if you do any of the following:
- Put bigger and/or more aggressive tread tires on.
- Put more weight on (armor, gear).
- Put a suspension lift on.
- Accelerate a lot.
- Warm up your engine for minutes before driving.
- Tow.
- Go up hills.
- Drive into a headwind.
- Look at it wrong.

So if you want to get the best fuel economy out of your 4runner, don't modify it.

Short Tripping it will kill the fuel economy as well. If you don't drive far enough to get the engine fully warmed up it's running richer the whole time.

 

[swim.bike.run]

^ This. You can't really improve the 5th gen's fuel economy. You will start to degrade it if you do any of the following:
- Put bigger and/or more aggressive tread tires on.
- Put more weight on (armor, gear).
- Put a suspension lift on.
- Accelerate a lot.
- Warm up your engine for minutes before driving.
- Tow.
- Go up hills.
- Drive into a headwind.
- Look at it wrong.

So if you want to get the best fuel economy out of your 4runner, don't modify it.

I love this.
Remember the days when the “fuel experts”, or talking heads on TV, advised putting your vehicle into neutral and coasting whenever possible to save gas.

 

[Westerly]

Nope, OEM.

 

[engineeer]

11,xxx miles on mine and here are my numbers:

City: 13mpg
Hwy: 18mpg

It's not that terrible considering the following mods:

275 KO2 E-rated -- ~10lb heavier per wheel than stock, so +50lb total (including spare)
Full aluminum RCI skid plates -- ~100lb
C4Fab sliders -- 150lb
TruckVault drawers -- 200lb

+400lb in total with 40lb of that having a huge effect (spinning wheels).

 

[8000m]

I love this.
Remember the days when the “fuel experts”, or talking heads on TV, advised putting your vehicle into neutral and coasting whenever possible to save gas.

We called that 'West Virginia overdrive' back in the 70s.

 

[1jzgte]

That's because no one likes to take the bad news. The best mileage you are ever going to get is when your vehicle is stock. From there, that number only goes down. You aren't going to do anything to a stock 4R to get better mileage.

I've posted before, I can still average 20mpg on a highway trip with 255/75s, sliders and a lift. It is possible. I also live where it's warm and mostly flat. I don't sit in traffic, I don't start my truck and let it warm up, etc.

seems like most FL 4runners get the best mileage from what i gather. I'm also planning on going from 255/75 once im due for new tires. Did you notice any mpg improvement going to a skinnnier tire?

 

[HTXpro]

I saw as much as 21 highway in ideal conditions, and as low as 10 while driving 78mph into a strong west Texas headwind with three people in the car and the cargo area completely loaded down. 2.5/2 lift with sliders being the only real mods on a '16 Pro. Day to day driving I was averaging 18 give or take .5

I can't complain about those numbers.

 

[PeoplecallmeIan]

I've been avereaging 14.9 according to that gauge in the dash. 285 AT's, 3" lift, and a roof rack. Also, most of my driving during the week is in the city. I only ride the highway on the weekends for trips.

 

[jordanrb81]

So my vehicle is 3 weeks old, so naturally I have a lot of data with a huge sample size... just kidding. So anyway I have seen my mpg go from 16 to 17 to now (like this afternoon) 18 and this thread sort of confirmed what others, including the dealer have been telling me. A Toyota 4.0 V6 takes about 20,000 miles just to fully break in, so like after the 4th or even 5th oil change. I certainly didn't buy the car for gas mileage but I must confess I am pleasantly surprised so far.

 

[RedSled]

We have a 2017 SR5 Premium with 4000 miles on it, installed Kings w/ resi all around set for 2" and 265/70/17 Grabber AT2s. I have never seen 15 mpg, it usually hangs at 14.7- 14.9 i am not complaining, i love this thing.

 

[3wbdriver]

We have a 2017 SR5 Premium with 4000 miles on it, installed Kings w/ resi all around set for 2" and 265/70/17 Grabber AT2s. I have never seen 15 mpg, it usually hangs at 14.7- 14.9 i am not complaining, i love this thing.

I'm running roughly the same setup AND 800 pounds of gear/armor/aerodynamic drag and yet I can still get 17 when I want to. It's mindset/commitment more than the equipment.

 

[augusta13]

Completely stock 2016 SR5P and routinely get 20+ in mixed driving and recently 23+ on a road trip. Am I the only one?

 

[oljedi11950]

285s lt & drive like an idiot around town , with winter gas 16.3/4 ! :hatsoff:

 

[(none)]

seems like most FL 4runners get the best mileage from what i gather. I'm also planning on going from 255/75 once im due for new tires. Did you notice any mpg improvement going to a skinnnier tire?

No improvement, but the decrease has been minimal. the tires are heavier than stock (unless you go with something like the p-rated Duratac 255/75s which are pretty similar weight to stock), so there still is that working against you. Even still, the c-rated tires are lighter than e-rated counterparts.

 

[rochmpr]

I recently took a 3,200 mile trip. The worst mileage during the trip was driving into a 40 to 50 mph head wind at freeway speeds. The display read 11.2, but after doing the math and making the corrections for tires and gears, it was a whopping 12.1 mpg. The best reading was in Colorado at 17.4 mpg. This was fully loaded with 2 adults, 2 kids, 2 dogs, luggage, tools and such for the week long trip.

To put things into prospective, my truck is highly modified with a ton of extra weight.

I drive it like an old man, partially because I am older, but also, because it is not the GT-40 I would like to have in the garage. If you drive with the skinny pedal to the floor, the MPG's will reflect that. Fully loaded, these things can squeak out decent mileage for what they are. Just drive accordingly.

For reference, it is slightly modified.

 

[1jzgte]

No improvement, but the decrease has been minimal. the tires are heavier than stock (unless you go with something like the p-rated Duratac 255/75s which are pretty similar weight to stock), so there still is that working against you. Even still, the c-rated tires are lighter than e-rated counterparts.

gotcha.. weight offsets the skinny benefits

 

[1000MPH]

Completely stock 2016 SR5P and routinely get 20+ in mixed driving and recently 23+ on a road trip. Am I the only one?

Nope. But above 22mpg on the hwy requires excellent conditions with an additional factor. Usually a tailwind, slight descent, or under 65mph speeds.
I can see that in the Summer but not in the Winter.

 

[k2director]

I'm getting 14.1 with a mixture of city and mostly highway miles for trips, but i have 250 lbs on the roof, 80 lbs in rock rails, and more than 225 lbs in front and rear bumpers. Plus refrigerator in the back!Oh yea, and heavy dual batteries.

 

[k2director]

I'm getting 14.1 mpg with a mixture of city and mostly highway miles for trips, but i have 250 lbs on the roof, 80 lbs in rock rails, and more than 225 lbs in front and rear bumpers. Plus refrigerator in the back!Oh yea, and heavy dual batteries.