Real World MPG with 5th Gen?

Hey guys, I'm new to the site. I picked up a brand new 2016 T4R TEP about two weeks ago. I've been searching the forums quite a bit but haven't found much talking about mpg on a brand new car. So right now my mpg has been hovering around the 12.9- 13.4 range. This is around town in my one stoplight town. But I'm extremely disappointed I would have hoped to at least be up around 17. I'm not hard on the gas pedal nor is my wife. I've searched the internet but there's nothing consistent about wether or not it's only because it's new. And maybe once it's broken in I'll get better mileage? What do you guys think? I'm completely stock right now, however tomorrow I'm getting a set of duratracs put on and I know that's going to hurt it even more.
So anyways just curious with some input.

Thanks everyone.

If you can afford a $43.000 vehicle, you should not be worrying about MPG! I wish the 4Runner had a V8!
 
OP you obviously don't care about mpg much if you are making a change to get even worse efficiency.

The 4runner is not unique. If you google better mpg tips you will learn what to do to gain highest possible efficiency. If it's a Prius or a F250 the rules are the same.
 
If you're doing a lot of short trips, regardless of what vehicle you drive, you're going to get awful gas mileage. If you're getting that kind of mileage doing a lot of highway driving, then I'd say something is definitely wrong somewhere.
 
I don't drive like a granny but I definitely make a conscious effort to accelerate smoothly at lights. I certainly don't drive it the way I drove my benz.

I get 17mpg city 19 highway.
 
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You have to drive like a granny...

Mine will show that within the first 10 miles of a fill up. But not after about 20.....
 
So, OP how are you calculating that value? If you're going by the MPG display; you may see better numbers by running a fill up test, driving for a tankful, filling back up the same way (to first click for example) and doing the math. You may also see worse numbers if you are using winter fuel with ethanol added.
 
Mine will show that within the first 10 miles of a fill up. But not after about 20.....
Yeah I know just messing with the poor guy. Once you settle in to a driving pattern, well mine settles at 19 in the city. Keeping cargo area free of clutter and going easy on go pedal for me works out. It's when I pedal mash or drive on some of our TX highways that mileage takes a dive...Toll 130 has posted limit of 85mph!
 
If you can afford a $43.000 vehicle, you should not be worrying about MPG! I wish the 4Runner had a V8!

It's not about the money, it's about the fact that I'm a good 4-5 mpg less than most of you AND I currently have stock tires. So I just want to make sure it's not something I should talk to the dealer about and make sure nothing is wrong.
Why settle for less if there's no apparent reason to. You know?
 
OP you obviously don't care about mpg much if you are making a change to get even worse efficiency.

The 4runner is not unique. If you google better mpg tips you will learn what to do to gain highest possible efficiency. If it's a Prius or a F250 the rules are the same.

Right, the better tires are worth more to me than mpg. But, like stated above, I'd like to find figure out the reason it is that low.
 
So, OP how are you calculating that value? If you're going by the MPG display; you may see better numbers by running a fill up test, driving for a tankful, filling back up the same way (to first click for example) and doing the math. You may also see worse numbers if you are using winter fuel with ethanol added.

Yes, just going off of the display. A lot of people go off the display. But I know most probably calculate it like you said. Do you guys use any apps for this? What's the best?

And I would imagine I'm getting crappy winter gas. But who knows
 
Yes, just going off of the display. A lot of people go off the display. But I know most probably calculate it like you said. Do you guys use any apps for this? What's the best?

And I would imagine I'm getting crappy winter gas. But who knows

I bought my 16 trail in July and immediately put 275/70 KO2s on it so I am not sure what the mpg would have been stock. My mpg definitely improved as I put more miles on it. I am at about 9500 now and around Dallas I average 16-18 and on the highways I average 19-21. I don't granny it but I don't drive it like I drove my mustang either around town. I could probably improve the city by driving more smoothly in traffic.:) I usually stick to 73-75 on the highways.
 
Yes, just going off of the display. A lot of people go off the display. But I know most probably calculate it like you said. Do you guys use any apps for this? What's the best?

And I would imagine I'm getting crappy winter gas. But who knows

Standard calculator app works fine. You've got a lot going against you. Heavy truck, high altitude, winter gas. Not the greatest for gas mileage.
 
Mine gets about 13.6 or so nearly all the time. Prior to putting on the rack and sliders it still was only about 13.8.

My previous vehicle, a 2001 Isuzu Trooper, got at least 15 mpg even after 15 years and 200,000+ miles of hard use.

I think the main factor is that the 4Runner is weighted down with a lot of heavy gadgets.
 
Yes, just going off of the display. A lot of people go off the display. But I know most probably calculate it like you said. Do you guys use any apps for this? What's the best?

And I would imagine I'm getting crappy winter gas. But who knows

Don't worry about it. I bought mine with three miles on it, drove it two hours home from the dealership all on the highway. I believe the average for that trip was less than 10 mpg on the computer. Between 500-1000 miles not only did the mpg go up to a reasonable number, but it really began to shift more smoothly as it broke in.
 
Some notes on MPG:

1) Cold engines deliberately run with more retarded ignition timing to heat up the ctalytic converter as quickly as possible. A lot of short trips with long gaps between them will thus skew the average mileage to the low side. On the same note, letting your vehicle warm up in the driveway is also very inefficent, partly for the same reason.

2) I have found that efficiency is much less about how hard you accelerate up to speed than how long you wait to let off the gas. I have tested this with multiple vehicles by isolating these variables (aggressive accel + max coasting, light accel + max coasting, aggressive accel + min coasting) and have seen far and way the biggest difference coming from what proportion of the trip I spend coasting. Hypermilers know that coasting is how you make up the most that energy used to accelerate the vehicle. Try letting off the gas as early as is comfortable. Another way to think of it is to consciously minimize braking effort. I know this is a major constibutor to me breaking 20mpg in my 4Runner. In both my Honda Fit and Civic, I consistently show 42+ mpg in town when both are rated at around 30mpg city. My wife gets about 10% less than I do, all else being equal, simply because she isn't as meticulous about coasting.

3) Check your tire pressure. A lot of shops fill up to the standard 30 PSI, but that is actually too low for lots of vehicles. Depending on sidewall stiffness, they might require 35-40 or even higher. I have 150k miles between my Fit and Civic running max PSI, or even slightly above, averaging about 43-45mpg for both when I drive. On the previous set of tires on my Fit, there was a ~5mpg difference between 35psi and 45psi. Some folks like doing the chalk test to approximate the ideal street pressure for the tire stiffness and vehicle weight.

Also, indeed, high altitude and winter gas can't really be helped. Plus, it should get more efficient as it breaks in.


All that said, I get around 22-23mpg average when I commute in the 4runner, and the wife gets around 20-21.
 
So many factors to consider but big ones often overlooked include.

- Type of driving
- Wind, Hills..
- Gas (how much ethanol)
- Octane (how much timing the motor pulls)
- short trips just kill the mpg on these motors... especially when it is Cold outside.
 
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I bought my 16 trail in July and immediately put 275/70 KO2s on it so I am not sure what the mpg would have been stock. My mpg definitely improved as I put more miles on it. I am at about 9500 now and around Dallas I average 16-18 and on the highways I average 19-21. I don't granny it but I don't drive it like I drove my mustang either around town. I could probably improve the city by driving more smoothly in traffic.:) I usually stick to 73-75 on the highways.

I second this sentiment. It took me a bit longer for lift and tires but my mileage has improved. I'm only at about 8K miles now. With a three inch lift and BFG KO 285 70r17s I'm at 16-17mpg around town with a few highway runs. ...and I drive like a 41 year old. I did decide to drive with some spirit on the last tank and dropped to 14.5mpg.

Measured by smiles per mile I'm killing it though... :car:
 
Yes, just going off of the display. A lot of people go off the display. But I know most probably calculate it like you said. Do you guys use any apps for this? What's the best?

I'm using one called Gas Cubby. But there may be better ones out there. It's just the first one I found and it works fine.
 
FWIW, I too live in Colorado. I seem to to recall experiencing the same thing when I first got my T4R. Now, my winter mileage around town is usually arround 16 mpg, and my summer mileage is at 17-18 with BFG KO'2 in stock size, calculated off of the gauge in the display. So winter gas does have an effect, but not drastic. I would bet that as the vehicle gets a few more miles on it, you'll see it go up. 12 - 13 is not typical for a stock 4runner, 16 - 17 is very typical at this elevation if you don't lead foot it.
 
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