Medicore gas mileage

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Axewhlder

New member
I know this has been hashed out before but it seems like my truck isn't getting the MPG it should.

I don't tow, I'm easy on the pedal and it's tough for me to break 20mpg on the highway. On a recent road trip this weekend I got 20mpg on the highway keeping the cruise at 69mph for about 100 miles.

On the way home I tried different speeds and no cruise and I was able to get 18.8 mpg (not calculated by the computer).

I fully realize that it's an SUV and not a prius. I was ready for lower MPG's but it seems I'm getting lower than average.

All I can think of is I'm in Pennsylvania and at a higher elevation with a lot of hills. Still, my mpg seems low.

Since I've had the truck I put in new plugs, changed the oil to synthetic and put on a TRD intake. Tires are inflated properly as well. I also don't carry excess weight around with me.

Any suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks!
 
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Your mileage doesn't sound that terrible. If you were saying "I can't break the 16-17mpg barrier" then... What kind of tires? What mpg are you getting when you calculate?

:cheers:
 
Sounds about right to me. That's about what I get from mine @ steady cruise speeds of 70.

They will do better at lower speeds. Just stay in the right lane if you choose that option. :bash:
 
CJ3Flyr said:
Your mileage doesn't sound that terrible. If you were saying "I can't break the 16-17mpg barrier" then... What kind of tires? What mpg are you getting when you calculate?

:cheers:
Click to expand...

I got 18.8 with alternating speeds on the highway yesterday over about 100 miles or so. I averaged 20.0 when using cruise control on the first part of the trip.

My tires are "sunny". I never heard of them. The dealer put 'em on when I bought the truck. They're cheap Chinese crap from what I've been reading. lol

I guess I'm just expecting a lot. I've seen people come into my shop and their dash computer says 25 + mpg. ( I realize the computer is off by about 1.5 mpg but still..)
 
Axewhlder said:
I guess I'm just expecting a lot. I've seen people come into my shop and their dash computer says 25 + mpg. ( I realize the computer is off by about 1.5 mpg but still..)
Click to expand...

In my experience the onboard computer is off 10-20%.
 
Even with the V6, you are driving a 4300+ lb. vehicle that has a large frontal area, lots of underbody turbulence and big tires. Oh, and the computer lies - it shows approx. 10% higher mileage figures than actual - as reported by many 4Runner owners in this forum on a mileage thread somewhere I read 3 weeks ago.

Possibly your mileage is on the low side, but close to average.

Resetting the ECU might improve your mileage somewhat - someone mentioned this in another thread but I can't find it right now. Maybe someone in here can provide some guidance . . .
 
SLED said:
Even with the V6, you are driving a 4300+ lb. vehicle that has a large frontal area, lots of underbody turbulence and big tires. Oh, and the computer lies - it shows approx. 10% higher mileage figures than actual - as reported by many 4Runner owners in this forum on a mileage thread somewhere I read 3 weeks ago.

Possibly your mileage is on the low side, but close to average.

Resetting the ECU might improve your mileage somewhat - someone mentioned this in another thread but I can't find it right now. Maybe someone in here can provide some guidance . . .
Click to expand...

Oh, I'm realistic about the size of the vehicle. It just seems like I should be getting a little better MPG is all.

I tried searching for the ECU reset but couldn't find anything.
 
^^ OK, here's what I read before re. poorer mileage . . .
pickerdd said:
I used them when I changed out the plugs in my v6 4Runner before I traded it in last year. They are very nice plugs.

For whatever reason I had to reset the ecu in the car after changing out the plugs. I had a drop in mileage after changing out the plugs then once I reset the ecu the mileage increased pretty quickly.
Click to expand...
Above thread is at: http://www.toyota-4runner.org/showthread.php?s=&threadid=48907
 
That sounds about right to me as well. I remember reading somewhere you get your best mileage at 55mph. I can never stand to go that slow. It also depends on how many hills, ac or no ac, even the time of year can change the gas additives and effect mileage.

Id say I average about 18-19 mpg mostly highway going about 70mpg to and from work.
 
ya yours still seems higher than mine still. average across the board my tripometer sees about 290-300 per tank with mostly highway cruising at 70-80mph. i wouldn't say i have a heavy foot but i also don't like sitting behind people that are going slower than the flow.
im ussually filling up when under a 1/4. about 19 gallons or so.

then again i have 295/70/17's terra grabbers and have a cornfed 3/2 lift. i run my tires at 35psi too. my speedo is off by about 5mph at 60 so you figure in that calculation and im only getting around 16-17 actual miles per gallon. and thats with a lot of rush hour traffic too.

im coming from a 4 and 6 cylinder volkswagen past so i just accept the lower mileage because i needed a v8 for towing. i would say its about average considering the stock suggest mpg which is never 100% accurate is 18-20 i think.

if your getting 20 you should be happy i would think. i would never be able to get 20 if i tried. then again i guess i don't worry too much about it.

hows your air filter and you spark plugs? do you have an exhaust? any other engine modifications?

plus if your running hills alot that is going to affect your mph right there. just comes with the territory.
i wouldn't worry too much about it. yours still seems higher than a lot.

hope this info helps you. hell maybe im seeing mpg's that are too low. who knows haha.
 
Your mileage does not seem too horrible, it was better than I used to get before I started modding my truck.

Now I average somewhere around 15-16 with my V6....
 
Mileage

Guys,

I just did a 250mi virtually all freeway trip and driving pretty carefully at 70-75 mph and running premium I got 24.5 mpg (according to my display). I'll verify when I fill up again if it was accurate.

BTW, it's a V6 4x4 with the 17" Michelins and I've got 9,000 mi on it.

Later,
W.
 
Thanks for all the responses guys. I guess I'm pretty average. I still can't figure out why other folks seem to get better mileage.

We get a lot of 4Runners at our shop and with the exception of a V8 I've never seen one come in sub 23mpg on the computer - which I realize is optimistic.
 
My mileage over the past 2 tanks of gas has been 21.1 mpg. I do a mix of driving but it's about 70% highway with speeds between 55 and 75. I do notice that the factory computer is off about 10%. The last tank, the computer said 24.4 mpg but I calculated 22.2. Still not bad for a 4000+ pound vehicle. My old Jeep GC averaged about 18 mpg but it was a V8 instead of the V6 that I have in the SR5.
 
I get on the low side of what people have been saying. I get maybe 18 highway on the computer and about 15 or so city. So im really probably looking at 16 and 13. My 4runner is completly stock.

One thing it could be is a higher ethonol content in your fuel. I am pretty sure ive read that the higher content tends to burn faster. So on say 18 gallons of E85 you may see a significant difference from 18 gallons of the old gas that had a lower content. Every now and then you can find a station that has it posted that they have the old style fuel with the low ethonol content (or no content :confused: ) I dont know enough to to know which it is.
 
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