Real World MPG with 5th Gen?

[4RunnerPro]

Small trip

Took a quick trip to Roan Mountain, TN from Birmingham, AL and averaged 17.1 per the onboard computer. Not too bad for all the hills and my heavy foot.

 

[Saker]

I made a trip from LA to FL Keys back in August.
T4R had 12521 miles on the day we started out, at the end of the trip the T4R had 14744 miles.
I logged every gal that was used.
We ran 78-80MPH as much as we could on the interstate and turnpike.
I averaged 19 MPG on 2223 mile trip.

City and highway, I average about 17.5
I do not baby it.

 

[Formidable]

15.3 combined city and highway. All 2500 miles of ownership and a lift.

 

[hearno]

^ I was at 15.6 today after a fill-up. Now that I've passed the 1000 mile "break in" period, I have been less than gentle. Also, gas is relatively cheap lately and I've got money to burn.

 

[4RunnerAU]

'Meh' on MPG

Stock SR5 4x4 with the Bridgestone Duelers and still in break-in period (~700mi). I am getting about 16MPG on the computer and drive about 36 miles a day, which is about 50% stop n' go traffic and 50% highway speeds >60mph. I am a little disappointed in the MPG. I just feel like I'm always filling up. Yesterday when I got out of my car after work, it was at 3/4 full. This morning when I got out to go to work, it went down to 1/2 tank.

This thing is like a damn beer bong when it comes to gas (and this is coming from a guy who drove a Jeep with oversized tires!!). Whereas I could make it a full 2 weeks without filling up in the Jeep (smaller tank too, btw), I am going about 7 business days (~1.5 weeks) without filling up. I think it's still in the break-in period.

 

[manofsteele2003]

Stock SR5 4x4 with the Bridgestone Duelers and still in break-in period (~700mi). I am getting about 16MPG on the computer and drive about 36 miles a day, which is about 50% stop n' go traffic and 50% highway speeds >60mph. I am a little disappointed in the MPG. I just feel like I'm always filling up. Yesterday when I got out of my car after work, it was at 3/4 full. This morning when I got out to go to work, it went down to 1/2 tank.

This thing is like a damn beer bong when it comes to gas (and this is coming from a guy who drove a Jeep with oversized tires!!). Whereas I could make it a full 2 weeks without filling up in the Jeep (smaller tank too, btw), I am going about 7 business days (~1.5 weeks) without filling up. I think it's still in the break-in period.

Usually you'll get better mpg's once it's broken in and you get your first oil change. I was getting about the same as you now I'm getting around 18 mpg since the oil change. Also keep in mind the winter blend of gas tends to burn a lot more due to the extra additives for the colder climate.

 

[dawudih]

Stock 15 Trail with 2000 miles & I'm getting 20.2 - 20.9 with easy driving in the burbs. Lots of cruise control being used & 35 mph roads with little traffic. Highway is the same. The computer seems to be 1/2 mpg optamistic.

 

[RickC5]

2014 TE with KDSS and a Daystar leveling lift, with 6K+ miles on it. Just returned from a round trip over the mountains to Denver via I-70. Speeds ranged from 60-70 in the mountains, and 75-78 on the flatter parts on the western side. Our calculated MPG averages were consistently in the 19-20 range for the entire trip. The on-board monitor read consistently higher by 1-2 MPG.

 

[1engineer]

Everyone complains of vehicle efficiency between September and March. Wonder why.

 

[Jetboy]

Gas is 1.70/gal. Last night I just poured some out for fun! jk...

I'm pretty pleased with 18ish in town and 21highway. To me that's pretty good considering what it is. Our RX350 only gets 2-3mpg better. And it's a lot better than something like a Honda Pilot or similar crossover.

I'm very interested to see how well the new Tacoma engine performs. If it's anywhere close to the thermal efficiency of toyota's small atkinson cycle engines it could offer a significant improvement. Using a common drag calculator with .45 coefficient of friction for the 4runner and 30sf of frontal area - and then adjusting from .25 to .37 thermal efficiency, the highway mpg jumps from a predicted 19.5 to 28.92. The engine alone is unlikely to get all the way there, but if Toyota gets close to that with a new 6spd and some weight reductions, 26-27mpg highway would be very impressive.

 

[yerrr22]

In my stock 2010 sr5 I'm getting 17.8 indicated and 19 calculated around town and 19.1 indicated and 22 calculated on the highway at about 75mph.

 

[1engineer]

Gas is 1.70/gal. Last night I just poured some out for fun! jk...

I'm pretty pleased with 18ish in town and 21highway. To me that's pretty good considering what it is. Our RX350 only gets 2-3mpg better. And it's a lot better than something like a Honda Pilot or similar crossover.

I'm very interested to see how well the new Tacoma engine performs. If it's anywhere close to the thermal efficiency of toyota's small atkinson cycle engines it could offer a significant improvement. Using a common drag calculator with .45 coefficient of friction for the 4runner and 30sf of frontal area - and then adjusting from .25 to .37 thermal efficiency, the highway mpg jumps from a predicted 19.5 to 28.92. The engine alone is unlikely to get all the way there, but if Toyota gets close to that with a new 6spd and some weight reductions, 26-27mpg highway would be very impressive.

Please don't start that rumor lol. You missed something in your math or else Toyota would have used this design on everything right after the Prius. Ford, GM, Dodge and everyone else would too. Using your numbers, that's a FORTY EIGHT PERCENT improvement. Don't think that will happen. Actually I KNOW that won't happen just by changing engine and transmission. Maybe 22-23 for the high number. Maybe.
Now, if they make the 4Runner unibody, decrease the size down to a RAV-4, remove the cargo space, put in a 4 cylinder then yeah, you could get 28 mpg even by leaving the transfer case in there. That's the only way though.

 

[Jetboy]

The improvement is purely due to the increase in thermal efficiency. The math is accurate. You're of course welcome to verify. The assumptions I used are .45 coefficient of drag, 70mph, .008 coefficient of rolling resistance, 30sf frontal area, and 4,500lbs, 114,500BTU summer gas, .95 drive-train efficiency. If you move from .25 to .37 thermal efficiency it matches the increase in mpg. All else is static.

If the current 4runner gets 21mpg highway - and I've done better at 70mph - so I'm pretty confident in that number. There no reason we couldn't get 3-5mpg with a 6spd and higher efficiency engine. If an F150 can manage 26 with a turbo, a 4runner should be able to - atkinson cycle engines are significantly more efficient than Ford's ecoboost engines. Of course Ford manipulates the rating so a 26mpg ford in the real world is probably 23 comparable to a Toyota epa rating. I agree that 28.9 is outside the realistic range unless we gen an aluminum version that's 3,500lbs. Or a diesel.

 

[<<<<]

16.9 MPG all street driving and mildly aggressive while wearing 285/70/17R tires.

 

[1engineer]

The improvement is purely due to the increase in thermal efficiency. The math is accurate. You're of course welcome to verify. The assumptions I used are .45 coefficient of drag, 70mph, .008 coefficient of rolling resistance, 30sf frontal area, and 4,500lbs, 114,500BTU summer gas, .95 drive-train efficiency. If you move from .25 to .37 thermal efficiency it matches the increase in mpg. All else is static.

If the current 4runner gets 21mpg highway - and I've done better at 70mph - so I'm pretty confident in that number. There no reason we couldn't get 3-5mpg with a 6spd and higher efficiency engine. If an F150 can manage 26 with a turbo, a 4runner should be able to - atkinson cycle engines are significantly more efficient than Ford's ecoboost engines. Of course Ford manipulates the rating so a 26mpg ford in the real world is probably 23 comparable to a Toyota epa rating. I agree that 28.9 is outside the realistic range unless we gen an aluminum version that's 3,500lbs. Or a diesel.

I concur. I do know how much we spend on performance and efficiency improvements for our company. Toyota spends billions to eek out 3-5% gains across the board.
The statement about checking your math wasn't so much for your input numbers (very realistic except going from .25 to .37 thermal) but the reality check of increasing a vehicles efficiency by 48%(!)!!! Not gonna happen.
God only knows how Ford gets away with their unicorn efficiency numbers.
Pretty sure they did it at 12,000 feet on a high barometric pressure day with temps around 0 degrees and running 105 octane with no interior and tires aired up to 150 psi....

 

[Jetboy]

You know the oil companies have cars that run on water...

My best guess is that Toyota builds vehicles with real world mpg as the goal because they are so uniform between markets and Ford builds to maximize the EPA ratings so they optimize for just that testing.

I ride my bike to work most of the year - so for me mpg really doesn't matter.

 

[ShannyBananny]

Some people are using apps to calculate MPGs. What iPhone app is everyone using?

 

[chiz45]

16.9 MPG all street driving and mildly aggressive while wearing 285/70/17R tires.

Are you running a lift? I am getting high 15s-16 (uncorrected, dash indicator) with E rated 255/80-17s and a 3" Icon lift.

Some people are using apps to calculate MPGs. What iPhone app is everyone using?

I'm using Gas Cubby for Iphone.

 

[theunderlord]

Seeing about 14.9 MPG on a tank with 100% city driving, trips no more than five miles or so.

 

[<<<<]

Are you running a lift? I am getting high 15s-16 (uncorrected, dash indicator) with E rated 255/80-17s and a 3" Icon lift.

No lift here just stock with upsize 285/70 Nitto Terra Grapler tires and some extra weight from Trans skid plate and Shrockworks Sliders.