Horrible Gas Mileage

[Quentin]

We let ours warm up before driving for ~10 minutes. After that the truck is babied and lately we CAN NOT squeeze better than 14.4 MPG out of her. This is a true calculation by dividing the number of miles on the tripometer by the number of gallons to fill the tank (until it is visibly full, yes as in spending an extra three minutes clicking the pump on and off until gas comes out). I know that's stupid, ok.

This is nothing more than a fact. My 2011 sr5 will get 22mpg ONLY if I am cruising on the highway at 55mph. Myself and everyone else around here drives 70-75mph on the highway. This very reasonable speed yields about 18mpg only for the straight highway cruise. I see no way in hell that somebody can average 19+ mpg on a tank even using hypermiling techniques, unless they drive no faster than say, 60mph for 300 miles or so, on one tank.

This truck gets terrible fuel economy. TERRIBLE! The sticker is not true as there is no way ANYBODY can obtain 22mpg on the highway cruising at 70mph on the highway. IMPOSSIBLE! With that said, I do love the truck, have no regrets, and it's freaking amazing in the snow.

Thanks

Tracked with gas cubby on my iphone.

BTW, stop idling your vehicle so damn long (getting in and driving gingerly is the best way to warm it up) and stop filling the neck up with gas. Most modern vehicles have an evap line that leads to the charcoal canister and filling the filler neck up can dump fuel down that line to the charcoal canister and you get a lovely evap fault code and a $700 bill to replace the charcoal canister.

 

[BL78]

Very impressive app and MPG data.

 

[tsl90]

I'm getting 19-20mpg every day - even with this cold weather. With summer gas, I was getting around 22-23 consistently. I've been surprised at how good the gas milege is. I don't drive it hard and I accerate slowly (slow enough to keep the ECO light on). I've been very happy with the gas mileage, it's actually much better than my 4th gen was. (4th gen was V6)

I'm jealous.

Our identical t4r (10wk old) replaced a 4th gen with V6. It's my wifes daily driver and she tools around the city. She is charmed by the ECO light and tries to keep it on. I drive it once a week or so when we take a highway trip for maybe 50-60mi round trip.

The 4th gen usually got b/n 15 and 18 and by the end of a highway trip I could flirt with 20. When we took a long road trip we could get 22-23. The new truck seems to be sitting at 12-14 whenever I start to drive. I've seen it in the low 18s - but that is RARE. 16-17 is the highest I've seen with any consistency. Never seen 20 on the display.

Neither my wife nor I idle it to warm up. I almost always fill up with 100% gas (no EtOH), I've checked the mpg manually on one fill up and there was no significant difference. I realize that we are currently using winter gas, but I'm worried. I knew this would be a bit of a guzzler - but I didn't expect it to be significantly worse than the previous generation. My tacoma now gets better mileage.

Still hoping that with a break-in period and summer gas things will improve but I'm disappointed.

 

[1000MPH]

Do a quick search on topping off the gas tank and you will find lots or reasons not to, even if they aren't ALL true.
Bad for your emissions system, fuel goes back to the storage tanks via vapour recovery system, illegal in some states...

Don't Top Off Your Gas Tank! | Mid-Atlantic Air Protection

 

[NYRunner]

Ummm...you know that 10 minutes you are warming it up? You are getting ZERO mpg. ZERO. This is 2011. All you are doing is wasting gas.

Please do not come here complaining about MPG when you leave your vehicle idle for an hour a week.

10 minutes?! Hell, I sit and idle for at least an hour week... but that's on the highway :ybrick::ybrick:

Now when I'm NOT commuting......... I try to use my cruise control as much as possible, like all the time, and I regularly see 23-4 mpg below 50 mph and 21 mpg at 62-5 mph by doing so and resetting the display when I gas up at the start of a trip. ymmv

 

[20114runner]

To answer JKEJME's initial post, you are not alone........

I thought the posted mileage ratings were a little optimistic when I bought the car but they are in fact way off, and I'm not an aggressive driver.

SR5 4WD driven in 2WD mode, 80% highway and 20% bumper to bumper traffic in 14 degree farenheit weather with michelin x ice snow tires and 70% dry covered/30% snow covered roads and not more than 10 seconds warm up time, with 1400 miles on the odometer, yields a consistent 16.7 miles per gallon.

I presume that in the summertime, with summer/all season oem tires on the vehicle with sumertime temperatures, mileage will increase 10%, which still only gives 18.4 mpg. And I'm being opimistic.

Cheers :happens:

 

[toyslug]

2010 TE stock with KDSS; no mods; extra daily weight of emergency gear, supplies and tools in rear cargo area now with 13,800+ miles; 90+% HWY driving @ 70mph;<10% city(some hills)driving with ECO mode unused! results in average 20 mpg consistently!

 

[panos44]

gas mileage

well with my 2011 4runner i'm getting 18.2mpg in the city and i drive the speed limit,so honestly i'm very pleased with its fuel economy,durability,and number 1 reason that i purchased it was safety,reliability,durability,and versatility.

 

[Renegad44]

I've had my 2011 for about a month now, right at 1k miles on it. Recently took a small trip, 260miles round-trip, and noticed average 21mpg, with A/C blasting, I've got a heavy foot in the T4R, live in the country, so mostly highway driving. Tell you what, this 2011 gets better mileage than my 2000 T4R ever got. :wow2:

 

[motioneffects]

Had my 2011 Limited for almost 1 month now with 1,900 miles and i have been averaging 18.5 on highway and ~18 mpg mix. Did the calculation manually at every fill up and compared it to the computer's avg mpg and its pretty accurate. Im very easy on the gas and always try to stay within the 'ECO" zone. On highway I stay with traffic around 70 to 75mph. Maybe as the car brake in more, the MPG will go up :dunno:

 

[-JD-]

I've only got about 1200 KM on mine so far, but I'm averaging about 15 MPG in mostly city.... not very impressed so far, coming from a 5.7L V8 that average mid 13's...

 

[pdx650]

2.7

Get a 4 cylinder like mine. 22 mpg average.

 

[A&F]

Get a 4 cylinder like mine. 22 mpg average.

Dang that's real good considering all the weight it's pulling. Didn't they discontinue the 4 thu?

 

[robotkiller]

well with my 2011 4runner i'm getting 18.2mpg in the city and i drive the speed limit,so honestly i'm very pleased with its fuel economy,durability,and number 1 reason that i purchased it was safety,reliability,durability,and versatility.

Not sure how this is possible. 100% city for the last tank, I'm right around low 15s. A/C blasting, of course, and I have BFGs which are heavier tires, plus I live in a hilly area and have a heavy foot (though have not floored it)

 

[jam46283]

Im averaging 19.7 in mixed driving. So, it's about what I expected to get when i bought it.

 

[homeyclaus]

Mine ranges from 17.4 to 20.5. The mileage display is a little optimistic, by about .2 mpg or so.

I couple of points:

1. accelerating to the speed you want to go and easing off to the "eco" zone seems to get me about 2 mpg increase.

2. In stop and go/bumper to bumper, doing the above will eat those savings. Stabbing at the gas pedal even if it's not "aggressive" will burn fuel like something fierce.

3. Gearing down to 4 in sport/sequential mode on some hills will help with the mileage, just like on a stick, even when doing so shuts off the eco light.

4. The eco light is an indicator lamp, not a special "mode." It's on even when your cruise control decides that wide open throttle is needed every 30 seconds on the hill you're driving up. That'll drop you to the 16's pretty quick. I shut off the light, which you can do, and there is no difference in mileage, and at least on the TE and Limited there is an indicator mode that gives you the eco "range" based on throttle position when in D with cruise off.

1, 2, and 3 should be pretty self-explanatory. Conservation of momentum will save the most fuel on a 5700 lb vehicle, and more so than on a 3500 lb sedan.

 

[Turn_down]

SR5 has the ECO range indicator as well. It's off by default, but you can turn it on.

 

[Ripsnort]

I'll throw my mileage in after 3 tankfuls of ownership:

Stock 2010 Limited-70% freeway-30% city driving. Loads between 1 and 4 people varies. Best mileage 21.6, worst 19.5.

My previous truck (FJ Cruiser) averaged 18.2 with same trips/driving style.(Best for FJ was 20.5 on freeway, worst was 15.5 offroading)

 

[3x4runnerOwner]

FWIW I experienced a marked increase in MPG after the 10K oil change. I have a little over 13K miles on mine and I average 22 MPG on the highway (@ 75 mph) and around 19 MPG overall. That's a little better than what I was expecting.

 

[prestone818]

i frequently get 400 miles per tank in both all city streets/hwy/traffic and all hwy in the mountains. i also dont drive aggressively/ mash the gas. have other toys for that