MPG Experiment

[00dank]

So I drove to SD today(about 80 miles) whilst(ok, I just wanted to use that word!) driving in my mostly stock 4runner (only AFE stage 2 intake. AFE TB Spacer and Jet MAF) I thought it would be interesting to see what my MPG would be at various speeds.

So What I did was get to the cruising speed, reset my MPG and drove for roughly 10 miles Heres MY results:

@ 65 I averaged 23 MPG
@ 70 I averaged 22.8 MPG
@75 I averaged 21.5 MPG
@80 I averaged 20.5 MPG

Now please consider this, I was not on a flat surface, I had hills and turns and sometimes other vehicle in front of me(this is SOCAL!) So these are not perfect numbers, but it is what I was averaging. I averaged from San Diego, my errands and then back to OC I averaged 20.9 MPG. That includes city driving.

To me if I stay at 65 to 70 I get the best MPG. I think at 50 I was getting around 20-22MPG, but could check it, but I am NOT going to be the guy cruising on the freeway @50MPH for 10 miles, so I would have to do it around town and I don't have an area in the hills where I live that would give an accurate measure. With all the big steep hills and lots of lights it would be difficult to get up to speed and maintain that for even 1-2 miles let alone 10.

Dunno if this will help anyone, but I have seen a lot of questions about MPG.

 

[blind squirrel]

Good info, thanks for posting. :tea:

Yours is a V8 correct?

 

[LTDSC]

I can tell you the 20+ is a lie (from your DIC). Its more around 17-18 instead of 20.

I found the same thing over the course of a tank though, not 10 miles. I got 15.3MPG @ 75mph and 16.9 @ 70mph. I didnt try 65 because i couldnt handle going that slow when traffic goes faster on my commute.

 

[BlueHenT4R]

The MPG display on these vehicles is a joke. Mine is usually about 2.5 mpg optimistic. I wouldn't rely on that display for any meaningful data.

I utilize the Fuelly website for all my vehicles to log my fill-ups. Here are the numbers on my 4th gen V6 since I purchased it last December:

Average: 19.3 mpg
Best tank: 21.9 mpg
Greatest distance on a tank: 426.4 miles
40 fill-ups to date: 06 SR5 4x4 V6 (Toyota 4Runner) | Fuelly

 

[Martinjmpr]

So I drove to SD today(about 80 miles) whilst(ok, I just wanted to use that word!) driving in my mostly stock 4runner (only AFE stage 2 intake. AFE TB Spacer and Jet MAF) I thought it would be interesting to see what my MPG would be at various speeds.

So What I did was get to the cruising speed, reset my MPG and drove for roughly 10 miles Heres MY results:

@ 65 I averaged 23 MPG
@ 70 I averaged 22.8 MPG
@75 I averaged 21.5 MPG
@80 I averaged 20.5 MPG

That's from the dashboard gauge, a/k/a the lie-o-meter? :laugh:

Yeah, you're not getting 20mpg from a V8 going 80mph. :

Reminds me of the guy in Hawaii last year who swore he was getting 35 MPG out of his V8. Oh, wait that was a 2wd so maybe.

Dunno if this will help anyone, but I have seen a lot of questions about MPG.

If you want to monitor MPG's, you need a scan gauge. The lie-o-meter is worthless.

 

[00dank]

ust to clarify it is the V6 2WD not 4x4...not the V8 oh and yes, it was from the display, I had no other way of doing it like I did.

 

[theliman]

The lie-o-meter is worthless.

I wouldn't say it's *totally* worthless. I've been calculating my mpg with an app and noting/resetting the comp at each fill-up. There were one or two outliers out of 15 or so, but it was pretty consistently 2mpg over.

 

[RPS13]

ust to clarify it is the V6 2WD not 4x4...not the V8 oh and yes, it was from the display, I had no other way of doing it like I did.

Very believable. That's roughly what I get in mine... well, it's recently gone down, might be my lead foot, might need O2 sensors or something.

Actual calculated best fill up was in the high 23 mpg range, like 23.8 or 23.9 mpg (computer said 25.x), it's been averaging about 20 mpg lately (computer says about 21.5-22.0 most the time).


Towing my S13 she gets about 12-15 mpg at 65-75 mph, which is as fast as I really want to tow.

 

[slotoyo]

I would hope that gauge on my dash is a "Lie -o-Meter" its went from 16.4 to 14.8 after about 100+ miles of roughtly driving 35-50 city.

Im pretty sure the tires and wheels dont help but 14.8 sucks

 

[XR250rdr]

I have an 06 V8 4x4. I make a similar drive 2X a week (OC to Rancho Bernardo). If I set the cruise control at an indicated 65 (about 70 actual) I can usually get right about 19mpg for the round trip.

I'm running 255/75-17s and the MPG figure is via Torque Pro. Hand calcs are usually within a few tenths of Torque Pro.

If I bother resetting the dash meter its usually about 1.5 mpg high.

 

[00dank]

thats all pretty interesting. I didn't know the meter was so far off.

CLASS ACTION LAWSUIT AGAINST TOYOTA!!!:tape::tsk:

Totally kidding