Mpg Mods?

I just got 11.5 mpg from Amarillo to Albuquerque with 30-40 mph sustained headwinds. It made my trip to Utah very expensive. Pretty soon the 4R might be a very bad vehicle for me to drive. I'm somewhat considering trading my Pro for a Rav4 Hybrid. I have some very long trips coming up in the near future and $3 and $4/gallon gas prices is getting too rich for me.

How about a lifted Sienna hybrid?
 
I will add.... commuting at a moderate speed such as 65mph vs 80mph saved me just under 2mpg on a 200-mile trip. One way was 12.3mpg and the return trip was 14.2mpg. Starting and ending locations were about sea level (destination was a beach).
 
I mean, at the end of the day you require X HP to move the 4Runner at Y speed, and X Fuel to produce Y HP in closed loop operations. The only way to save gas in this thing is to reduce X HP, so drive slower, or reduce the amount of HP needed to go the same speed.

Those options are VERY limited, you're basic options are reduce weight or reduce drag, which is basically the opposite of what you do when you modify the 4Runner to be better off road or for hauling people and things.

Much like trying to get easy HP out of new sports cars, all the easy shit was done by the OEMs at this point. Occasionally you can find something silly that was a platform or parts sharing compromise to save cost at a huge scale, but 99.9% of that stuff is off the table in 2021.

The profile and the 5spd in this thing pretty much kill any options. My Camaro would regularly average mid-30's mpg at 80 mph.
 
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Stock sized and properly inflated tires and hyper-mile driving techniques will yield the best MPG, but also removing any extra gear inside and outside will help as well. At $3 per gallon, increasing MPG from 18 to 19 only saves about $105 based on 12,000 miles per year. If you are getting 12-14 MPG, it would be more significant obviously.
 
I averaged 21mpg over 100,000 miles. My average price per gallon was $3.19.

This is a chart based off 100,000 miles and $3.19/gal.
I spent the $6000 I saved on more important things (beer).

PHP:
  Miles	MPG	gal	price	Total
100,000	15	6667	3.19	 $21,267 
100,000	16	6250	3.19	 $19,938 
100,000	17	5882	3.19	 $18,765 
100,000	18	5556	3.19	 $17,722 
100,000	19	5263	3.19	 $16,789 
100,000	20	5000	3.19	 $15,950 
100,000	21	4762	3.19	 $15,190 
100,000	22	4545	3.19	 $14,500 
100,000	23	4348	3.19	 $13,870 
100,000	24	4167	3.19	 $13,292 
100,000	25	4000	3.19	 $12,760 
100,000	26	3846	3.19	 $12,269 
100,000	27	3704	3.19	 $11,815 
100,000	28	3571	3.19	 $11,393 
100,000	29	3448	3.19	 $11,000 
100,000	30	3333	3.19	 $10,633 
100,000	31	3226	3.19	 $10,290 
100,000	32	3125	3.19	 $9,969
 
I averaged 21mpg over 100,000 miles. My average price per gallon was $3.19.

This is a chart based off 100,000 miles and $3.19/gal.
I spent the $6000 I saved on more important things (beer).

PHP:
  Miles	MPG	gal	price	Total
100,000	15	6667	3.19	 $21,267 
100,000	16	6250	3.19	 $19,938 
100,000	17	5882	3.19	 $18,765 
100,000	18	5556	3.19	 $17,722 
100,000	19	5263	3.19	 $16,789 
100,000	20	5000	3.19	 $15,950 
100,000	21	4762	3.19	 $15,190 
100,000	22	4545	3.19	 $14,500 
100,000	23	4348	3.19	 $13,870 
100,000	24	4167	3.19	 $13,292 
100,000	25	4000	3.19	 $12,760 
100,000	26	3846	3.19	 $12,269 
100,000	27	3704	3.19	 $11,815 
100,000	28	3571	3.19	 $11,393 
100,000	29	3448	3.19	 $11,000 
100,000	30	3333	3.19	 $10,633 
100,000	31	3226	3.19	 $10,290 
100,000	32	3125	3.19	 $9,969

Wow. You are the mileage champ. Do you think deleting the OEM roof rack bars made some difference?
 
This is not the 90's where the factory was lagging and the aftermarket could easily squeeze a few mpg and HP with bolt on's, depending on your car of course.

Now days they have squeezed every little thing out of the engines that is practical regarding cost.
 
Driving curvy hilly backroads 25-55 mph ... I have a choice and 10 ply tires make the difference clear. Drive aggressively at 17 mpg or roll smoothly at 21 mpg
 
Wow. You are the mileage champ. Do you think deleting the OEM roof rack bars made some difference?

I doubt it. It’s where I live and where I drive. Many trips up and down HWY 395 where I can average 23mpg really helps pump up the numbers.
Driving HWY 5 between NorCal and SoCal I usually only see 20mpg. Probably due to the 70-80mph average speeds and heavy traffic.

Btw my Michelin tires did not improve my MPGs over the Revos or the OEM Bridgesones. I’ll try to pull the averages based on tires this week if I have time.
 
I don't know how well it would work on a 4Runner, but when I installed an intake snorkel on a Jeep YJ, I got a 3-4 MPG increase in fuel economy, which is significant. I couldn't believe it at the time.

Supposedly due to cooler, cleaner air feeding the engine. I may do it to my new Gen 2 at some point (I know this is the 5th gen forum).
 
Wanted to post my average mileage based on the tires I have on the truck.

OEM Bridgestone Duelers: 33547 miles. Average MPG: 21.37
Bridgestone Revos P-rated A/T tires: 37319 miles. Average MPG: 20.91
Michelin Defender LTX: 43182 miles. Average MPG: 20.83

When I first got the truck, I was making a lot of trips down Hwy 395 and avoiding the big cities.
Mileage really reflects that.
Lately, a lot of trips to the coast including I5 travel and Hwy 101 which hurts my average.
 
With the government fuel economy standards, there is HUGE pressure on auto manufacturers to improve the gas mileage of the vehicles they manufacture. If it was possible to get significantly better MPG on the 4Runner, Toyota would have put it in.

Thus, there is not much you can do beside driving carefully.

I understand the above, yet ...

... my 4th gen stock 4x4 SR5 4runner with General Grabber AT2 all terrain tires gets 23 MPG highway (in 2WD mode) via onboard computer at highway speeds,

... and the 2021 5th gen is rated for 19 MPG highway?

Seems like a big step backwards. I get that the 5th gen is a bit heavier, but I would have hoped that the tech could have improved.

(Still running the 4th gen at 240K miles, still plenty of power.)
 

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