How Optimistic is the Average Fuel Economy Number

RichinRidgewood

RichinRidgewood

New member
I filled the tank and reset the trip meter etc. and we took a ride in the country yesterday. It was mostly 2 lane country roads with about 1/4 of the 120 mile ride on the highway.

The gauge said 22.7 mpg avg.

How optimistic is this or are others getting the same numbers. I’m not heavy with the gas and I half-ass try to keep the “eco” light on when possible.
 
Last edited:
Register to hide this ad
RichinRidgewood said:
I filled the tank and reset the trip meter etc. and we took a ride in the country yesterday. It was mostly 2 lane country roads with about 1/4 of the 120 mile ride on the highway.

The gauge said 22.7 mpg avg.

How optimistic is this or are others getting the same numbers. I’m not heavy with the gas and I half-ass try to keep the “eco” light on when possible.
Click to expand...

My gauge is usually under what I usually hand calculate every fill up... usually 1-2 mpg less, at least. I think last fill-up the computer calculated ~14.5 mpg and hand calc was ~15.8 mpg.
 
Hey, you're able to drive it now? Awesome!

22.7? Wow. I just looked it up, and the mileage listed is 19 on the highway.

Mine was showing average 17.1 last time I looked. Lots of driving in town, nearly zero on highways since the pandemic. It's up from the previous time I looked, but I'm expecting it to go down a bit since New Jersey traffic is beginning to come back to normal. I'm at 1,699 miles right now, so breaking it in might be helping.
 
If you’re cruising 50-55 then it gets 20-22mpg pretty easy. Anything over 60 starts killing it for me. That’s with stock tire size and just sliders.
 
RichinRidgewood said:
...

The gauge said 22.7 mpg avg.

How optimistic is this or are others getting the same numbers. I’m not heavy with the gas and I half-ass try to keep the “eco” light on when possible.
Click to expand...

First, 4Runners are not the best on fuel economy but for an SUV they dont do bad.

Mileage varies significantly with each driver and, as implied in a previous post, higher cruising speeds = lower fuel mileage. Anything over 60-65 and you'll see a significant decrease compared to a 55 mph cruise.

My 2019 5th Gen is my 4th 4Runner and I'm averaging about 23 mpg with the ac on but that's very little stop and go traffic although with average speeds of 50 mph. My only mods are the S&B intake and Sprint Booster.

My 2008, my 3rd gen 2000 and 2nd gen 1990 faired about the same, perhaps a tad higher.

Also, be aware that most vehicle on-board calculations will differ from hand calculations ( at least 6 of my vehicles read anywhere from 1.5 to 2mpg higher than hand calculated but 2 of my wife's cars read dead-on to the on-board... go figure).
 
RichinRidgewood said:
I filled the tank and reset the trip meter etc. and we took a ride in the country yesterday. It was mostly 2 lane country roads with about 1/4 of the 120 mile ride on the highway.

The gauge said 22.7 mpg avg.

How optimistic is this or are others getting the same numbers. I’m not heavy with the gas and I half-ass try to keep the “eco” light on when possible.
Click to expand...

I'd say that's about 25% overly optimistic. Mine runs about 17mpg

I also wouldn't go by the dash gauge. Get an app like Fuelly and track it every fill up.
 
Last edited:
Whenever I have calculated mine when I had reset it after a fill up it's been pretty close. When I had stock Duelers on mine it was pretty consistently 20-21 and that's actually what I was getting. Now with 285's, a winch, lift... it's actually around 18-18.5 which really isn't bad. Long drives under 50 it actually does much better. it is about as aerodynamic as a brick after all.
 
20 or 21 is realistic for me if I do a bunch of highway and I'm using summer gas. Maybe even 22 or 23 depending on the trip. Surprisingly, when I stick to country roads it's more like 15 or 16. Which ends up being the same as city driving, just about.

I double check the computer from time to time, mine seems pretty close.
 
I've got a 2020 TRDP and have tracked mileage with Fuelly app since I got it. I've got ~9400 miles on it now and my average MPG is 15.8 according to Fuelly. Best MPG I got on a single tank of gas was 17.5. I'd say overall I drive about 70-75% highway miles, at either 77 or 82 mph depending on the highway. Rest is in town.
 
A couple weeks ago I aired down my tires from 49 psi to 34 psi. The dealership didn't do that before I picked up the truck.
I drove to Allentown PA, mostly on highways which was about a 200 mile round trip. On both legs I got 23.3 mpg. I think thats pretty impressive. It has gone up since the last long highway trip even after the reduction in tire pressure. Around town however I’m getting 16-17 mpg.
 
IDK about most of you, but my mpg’s have gone up since the warm weather hit. I average 16 in the winter(backroads commuting). Typically try to keep the eco lit. Since warmer weather came around and using the ac every day I have jumped to 18.8 right now....and climbing. First vehicle I’ve ever had that did that!
 
First tank in my 2020 Nightshade... 17.1 mpg. About what I expected. Better than the 12 I was getting in my F150 and the 9-10 I get in my class C RV (when not towing).


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
 
08TxRunner said:
Only sure way is to divide actual mileage (taking into account any tire size changes) by gallons used.
Click to expand...

Yep.

I do find my hand calculated MPG to be pretty close to the MPG the 4Runner estimates. All stock except for All Terrain LT265/70R17 E tires.
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.

Members online

Total: 530 (members: 2, guests: 528)

Forum statistics

Threads
278,316
Messages
3,554,111
Members
248,016
Latest member
Advally Service

Share this page

Trending content

Back
Top