Real Gas Milage Stats

[Sungod]

I see statements of gas milage and the ranges are over the place. I know how easy it is to skew the number by a little extra or less at fill up. I also know there are other factors that can change them as well. Here are my numbers for my 03 V8 4wd. I have been tracking it since Decmber and 90% of my driving is city.
<table>
<tr><td>Type</td><td>MPG</td><td>Date</td><td>Time</td><td>Vehicle</td><td>Odometer</td><td>Cost/Gallon</td><td>Gallons</td><td>Total Cost</td><td>Octane</td><td>Average Speed</td><td>Total Cost</td></tr>
<tr><td>Gas</td><td>0</td><td>6/2/2012</td><td>1:43 PM</td><td>4runner</td><td>133073</td><td>$3.40 </td><td>13.289</td><td>$45.17 </td><td>87</td><td>30</td><td>$45.17 </td></tr>
<tr><td>Gas</td><td>17.8</td><td>5/30/2012</td><td>4:50 PM</td><td>4runner</td><td>132837</td><td>$3.60 </td><td>21.34</td><td>$76.80 </td><td>87</td><td>30</td><td>$76.80 </td></tr>
<tr><td>Gas</td><td>16.6</td><td>5/22/2012</td><td>3:13 PM</td><td>4runner</td><td>132483</td><td>$2.96 </td><td>19.744</td><td>$58.42 </td><td>87</td><td>23</td><td>$58.42 </td></tr>
<tr><td>Gas</td><td>15.3</td><td>5/14/2012</td><td>9:08 PM</td><td>4runner</td><td>132181</td><td>$3.74 </td><td>9.067</td><td>$33.90 </td><td>87</td><td>26</td><td>$33.90 </td></tr>
<tr><td>Gas</td><td>16.3</td><td>5/11/2012</td><td>2:24 PM</td><td>4runner</td><td>132033</td><td>$3.64 </td><td>16.278</td><td>$59.24 </td><td>87</td><td>23</td><td>$59.24 </td></tr>
<tr><td>Gas</td><td>15.4</td><td>5/3/2012</td><td>2:31 PM</td><td>4runner</td><td>131783</td><td>$3.89 </td><td>3.454</td><td>$13.43 </td><td>87</td><td>22</td><td>$13.43 </td></tr>
<tr><td>Gas</td><td>21.1</td><td>5/3/2012</td><td>11:41 AM</td><td>4runner</td><td>131710</td><td>$4.00 </td><td>21.635</td><td>$86.52 </td><td>87</td><td>23</td><td>$86.52 </td></tr>
<tr><td>Gas</td><td>14.7</td><td>4/25/2012</td><td>1:20 PM</td><td>4runner</td><td>131391</td><td>$3.76 </td><td>9.426</td><td>$35.43 </td><td>87</td><td>28</td><td>$35.43 </td></tr>
<tr><td>Gas</td><td>17.2</td><td>4/22/2012</td><td>11:02 AM</td><td>4runner</td><td>131229</td><td>$3.30 </td><td>20.498</td><td>$67.62 </td><td>87</td><td>21</td><td>$67.62 </td></tr>
<tr><td>Gas</td><td>14.9</td><td>4/13/2012</td><td>2:29 PM</td><td>4runner</td><td>130924</td><td>$3.90 </td><td>21.4</td><td>$83.44 </td><td>87</td><td>25</td><td>$83.44 </td></tr>
<tr><td>Gas</td><td>15.7</td><td>3/30/2012</td><td>1:05 PM</td><td>4runner</td><td>130587</td><td>$3.90 </td><td>20.194</td><td>$78.74 </td><td>87</td><td>25</td><td>$78.74 </td></tr>
<tr><td>Gas</td><td>14.9</td><td>3/24/2012</td><td>10:18 AM</td><td>4runner</td><td>130286</td><td>$4.00 </td><td>13.469</td><td>$53.86 </td><td>87</td><td>23</td><td>$53.86 </td></tr>
<tr><td>Gas</td><td>14.8</td><td>3/17/2012</td><td>11:08 AM</td><td>4runner</td><td>130086</td><td>$3.88 </td><td>16.514</td><td>$64.06 </td><td>87</td><td>23</td><td>$64.06 </td></tr>
<tr><td>Gas</td><td>14.8</td><td>3/10/2012</td><td>10:15 AM</td><td>4runner</td><td>129842</td><td>$3.80 </td><td>20.336</td><td>$77.26 </td><td>87</td><td>23</td><td>$77.26 </td></tr>
<tr><td>Gas</td><td>14.7</td><td>3/3/2012</td><td>12:22 PM</td><td>4runner</td><td>129543</td><td>$3.80 </td><td>20.987</td><td>$79.73 </td><td>87</td><td>22</td><td>$79.73 </td></tr>
<tr><td>Gas</td><td>14.6</td><td>2/24/2012</td><td>10:25 AM</td><td>4runner</td><td>129237</td><td>$3.76 </td><td>18.129</td><td>$68.15 </td><td>87</td><td>22</td><td>$68.15 </td></tr>
<tr><td>Gas</td><td>14.3</td><td>2/16/2012</td><td>11:20 AM</td><td>4runner</td><td>128977</td><td>$3.66 </td><td>6.613</td><td>$24.20 </td><td>87</td><td>24</td><td>$24.20 </td></tr>
<tr><td>Gas</td><td>15.4</td><td>2/12/2012</td><td>4:40 PM</td><td>4runner</td><td>128875</td><td>$3.60 </td><td>18.974</td><td>$68.29 </td><td>87</td><td>21</td><td>$68.29 </td></tr>
<tr><td>Gas</td><td>13.3</td><td>2/4/2012</td><td>2:36 PM</td><td>4runner</td><td>128623</td><td>$3.50 </td><td>19.429</td><td>$67.98 </td><td>87</td><td>23</td><td>$67.98 </td></tr>
<tr><td>Gas</td><td>15.1</td><td>1/28/2012</td><td>11:29 AM</td><td>4runner</td><td>128329</td><td>$3.46 </td><td>9.506</td><td>$32.88 </td><td>87</td><td>21</td><td>$32.88 </td></tr>
<tr><td>Gas</td><td>15.6</td><td>1/23/2012</td><td>3:51 PM</td><td>4runner</td><td>128181</td><td>$3.50 </td><td>20.488</td><td>$71.69 </td><td>87</td><td>22</td><td>$71.69 </td></tr>
<tr><td>Gas</td><td>14.3</td><td>1/16/2012</td><td>12:45 PM</td><td>4runner</td><td>127889</td><td>$3.27 </td><td>15.183</td><td>$49.63 </td><td>87</td><td>25</td><td>$49.63 </td></tr>
<tr><td>Gas</td><td>14.5</td><td>1/12/2012</td><td>1:28 PM</td><td>4runner</td><td>127669</td><td>$3.30 </td><td>17.476</td><td>$57.65 </td><td>87</td><td>23</td><td>$57.65 </td></tr>
<tr><td>Gas</td><td>16.4</td><td>1/6/2012</td><td>2:32 PM</td><td>4runner</td><td>127383</td><td>$2.53 </td><td>20.093</td><td>$50.82 </td><td>87</td><td>22</td><td>$50.82 </td></tr>
<tr><td>Gas</td><td>13.2</td><td>12/28/2011</td><td>1:01 PM</td><td>4runner</td><td>127117</td><td>$3.27 </td><td>19.829</td><td>$64.82 </td><td>87</td><td>13</td><td>$64.82 </td></tr>
<tr><td>Gas</td><td>15.5</td><td>12/18/2011</td><td>6:01 PM</td><td>4runner</td><td>126809</td><td>$3.30 </td><td>21.521</td><td>$71.00 </td><td>87</td><td>24</td><td>$71.00 </td></tr>
<tr><td>Gas</td><td>14.3</td><td>12/10/2011</td><td>6:27 PM</td><td>4runner</td><td>126502</td><td>$3.34 </td><td>15.935</td><td>$53.21 </td><td>87</td><td>21</td><td>$53.21 </td></tr>
<tr><td>Gas</td><td>14.7</td><td>12/3/2011</td><td>6:29 PM</td><td>4runner</td><td>126268</td><td>$3.40 </td><td>15.5</td><td>$52.68 </td><td>87</td><td>23</td><td>$52.68 </td></tr>
<tr><td>Total Average</td><td>15.4</td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td></tr>
<tr><td></td></tr>
</table>

 

[robhurlburt]

geez, how big is the tank on these things? i've only filled mine up twice now. also, hand calc or the car readout?

 

[JET4]

That's about the same as mine.

 

[Sungod]

It is from a free phone app called gas buddy. I have been pretty driven to enter each and every gas purchase just to see what I am getting. It is also handy to log oil changes and other maint. items.

 

[ghostridr]

15MPG sounds about right.

 

[Sungod]

15MPG sounds about right.

I agree. It is pretty much what I expected. It is when I see those posts of people getting 21mpg that makes me question how they are calculating it.

 

[Asto]

I just drove from TN to NY. 800 Miles. Car fully loaded up to roof with my stuff/personal belonging(from trunk all the way to back seat). Also a canvas roof top carrier strapped on. Reset mpg display before I left. When I arrived in NY display was right at 22Mpg. I was averaging about 70mph. I figure minus 2mpg or so for computer error. 20mpg is not bad for my v6. Currently everything is stock. When I got to NY I had about half a tank left too. Spent $170 on gas and I use only premium. Which ranged in price from 3.50-3.99.

Doing the math 170/3.50 = roughly 49Gallons. Had about half a tank when I got back to ny. So minus 9 gallons. 800miles/40 gallons = 20mpg. Can't complain. Still with all the head gasket issues popping up makes me want to switch to a v8.

 

[rebelbowtie]

Hand calculated I have been averaging 17mpg since I've owned my 4Runner. 2004 v8 AWD but the best I've seen was indicated at 20mpg on the DIC driving all highway. However I didn't save my gas receipts or document mileage that trip so I couldn't compare hand calculated.

 

[Sungod]

Hand calculated I have been averaging 17mpg since I've owned my 4Runner. 2004 v8 AWD but the best I've seen was indicated at 20mpg on the DIC driving all highway. However I didn't save my gas receipts or document mileage that trip so I couldn't compare hand calculated.

The problem with hand calculations is you don't get accurate results. When you track it like this you get true results. It is kind of hard to cheat.

 

[rebelbowtie]

The problem with hand calculations is you don't get accurate results. When you track it like this you get true results. It is kind of hard to cheat.

I hate to break it to you but that app is doing the same thing your calculator can do. It's not hard to average fuel economy when you keep track of miles and how much fuel you put in and them average it...

 

[stanleybb50]

I use a similar app (called ''mileage''). You can see my stats below. I don't have an average speed, but most times when I reset it on my t4r, it ends up around 15-16 miles per hour... I kid you not. That's how awful my 13 mile commute is from the ''South Hills'' of Pittsburgh is... One big nightmare. Of course the ave speed on mine goes up when on the highway *which is not often, but most times, even with weekend driving, it ends up around 15 miles per hour.

I've been plugging in every stat since around May of last year. I think a sticky caliper and winter gas had brought it down in the last few months. It was hanging out a bit over 15 mpg.

The ''min'' price is so low due to using grocery store fuelperks a couple times - fyi

 

[d_clark]

I use GasBuddy as well to track my fuel expenses.


Average MPG :
2012 -- 15.28
2011 -- 15.93
2010 -- 16.99
2009 -- 17.71

I went to a larger size tired in Oct 2010.

 

[seanzorio]

I usually get 16.5 - 18mpg in mixed driving. I've done as good as 21 on a highway trip.

 

[J053619]

Yea I average 15 in the city, wish there was less traffic but I get outta work during rush hour so traffic effs me up

 

[chayos00]

I hand calculate from 100% topped off.

Pre lift and tires - 20-22 around Tucson. Where a trip out to CA, I'd drop to 17-19.

Post lift and tires (current setup) I average about 16-18ish.

I think from now on I'll drive my wife's car out to see my dad in Cali.

 

[kobresia]

Great thread-- specifics are good. Mine [strike]shall be a forthcoming edit[/strike] is now posted, I just commute on the MC when the weather is above freezing & the roads are halfway clear, so the T4R's logbook isn't at my fingertips today.

This is a 2004 T4R V6 SR5.

Hand calcs are as good as anything, as long as they're done correctly. I go to tenths of a gallon and tenths of a mile as the significant digits. Between mileage entries, I put oil changes, tire changes, and any other maintenance or significant mods I made during that time between fills. I maintain the following columns in the log:

Odometer - Miles (trip odo since last top-off) - MPG - Gallons - $/Gal - Date

From that info, I can calculate just about anything to a reasonable accuracy, including how many gallons of gas I've put in the truck since I've owned it, and how much that gas cost overall, anything an app can do, and I've done it since I took delivery of the truck when it was new.

The highest average it gets is in the summer when I have regular street tires that are the OEM specification & on the OEM rims. The lame dash MPG estimate usually says it's getting around 22 MPG, but the numbers actually place reality in the 18-21 MPG range quite consistently, the latter end of the range being if I drive mostly on the flats rather than only commuting to and from work (which involves a ~3,500' change in altitude).

(This is from when I was a field tech & I drove half in the mountains, half in the plains)
46299 - 400.0 - 20.2 - 19.8 - 2.71 - 5/9/06
46732 - 433.0 - 20.6 - 21.0 - 2.74 - 5/15
47150 - 418.0 - 20.2 - 20.7 - 2.80 - 5/18
47551 - 400.6 - 20.2 - 19.8 - 2.72 - 5/24
47950 - 399.0 - 20.0 - 20.0 - 2.70 - 5/26
48351 - 400.8 - 21.7 - 18.5 - 2.63 - 6/2
48738 - 387.0 - 19.7 - 19.6 - 2.70 - 6/7

With studded snow tires (on cheap steel 16" rims) & winter driving/fuel, and a lot more time in 4x4 mode, it almost never gets much over 16.5 MPG, usually around 13.5-15 MPG, even though the tires aren't even all that oversized. I blame the more aggressive tread, the studs, the driving conditions, and the winter fuel blend for that. Knowing all that never seems to keep me from wondering what is wrong with my truck that it would be getting such crappy mileage nearly every year when I barely clear 300 miles on a full tank.

105476 - 358.2 - 16.2 - 20.3 - 2.74 - 1/13/11
105805 - 328.8 - 16.6 - 19.8 - 2.90 - 1/20
106141 - 336.7 - 17.3 - 19.5 - 2.83 - 1/28
106476 - 335.0 - 16.5 - 20.3 - 2.94 - 2/4
106674 - 287.7 - 14.0 - 20.5 - 2.93 - 2/11
106994 - 230.0 - 14.7 - 15.6 - 3.00 - 2/17

There was also a stint in 2004 where I drove it hauling cargo as an express courier in the Denver area. That was 90% city driving like most folks probably do anyway, so it's more relevant to the average T4R driver's experience (unlike my daily mountain climbs).

The scoop:
12818 - 409.6 - 20.0 - 20.5 - 1.78 - 9/6/04
12952 - 133.6 - 20.6 - 6.5 - 1.75 - ?
13315 - 362.9 - 20.7 - 17.5 - 1.64 - ?
13590 - 275.0 - 21.7 - 12.7 - 1.84 - ?
14035 - 444.7 - 21.8 - 20.4 - 1.75 - ?
14416 - 380.8 - 20.4 - 18.7 - 1.80 - 9/11/04

Also worthy of note are my most awesome range ever on a tank-- 474.8 (which took 20.4 gallons, for 23.3 MPG, I think that was probably a road trip).
Then there was the driest I ever ran a tank, I think that may be the time I stalled just as I was making a turn to get to the filling station and coasted-up to the pump-- 22.7 gallons. What would you want to bet that the pump also was not metering correctly, either?