Real World MPG with 5th Gen?
- Thread starter AZDropTop
- Start date
SoCal4Runner01
New member
2016 TE with 19.7 mpg with predominantly interstate travel. In SoCal, so...bumper to bumper traffic in commute.
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Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
RysiuM
New member
There are two main reasons for bad mileage: high speed (I mean anything above 45mph) and using brakes.
4Runner is box shaped with high drag. More speed more air resistance. The most optimal speed based on air resistance and engine/transmission/rpm is about 45mph.
Anytime you brake you change your kinetic energy into heat. That energy has to be recocered later on by burning gas.
Drive slow and smart and you save gas. Everything else (engine efficiency, lift, tires and other mods sets the startig point.
As fas as my latest gas mileage it's hard to tell. The last time I fueled up was two months ago and I still have half tank left.:trophy:
4Runner is box shaped with high drag. More speed more air resistance. The most optimal speed based on air resistance and engine/transmission/rpm is about 45mph.
Anytime you brake you change your kinetic energy into heat. That energy has to be recocered later on by burning gas.
Drive slow and smart and you save gas. Everything else (engine efficiency, lift, tires and other mods sets the startig point.
As fas as my latest gas mileage it's hard to tell. The last time I fueled up was two months ago and I still have half tank left.:trophy:
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2012sr5
New member
Just adding to the data pool here...
Combined (I stay in sport mode as I really don't like how the transmission tries to get to 5th gear as quickly as possible): 18.5-19.5 on my drive into downtown Nashville.
Highway only: around 21-22mpg. But if I'm not in a rush, I have observed 24+ under 65 mph. And yes, I stay in the right lane when I'm going slower than the flow of traffic!
I coast for as long as possible when slowing down or going down hills and try to use my brakes as little as possible. Just leave with ample time to get where you need to go, and you can get good numbers in your 4Runner.
Combined (I stay in sport mode as I really don't like how the transmission tries to get to 5th gear as quickly as possible): 18.5-19.5 on my drive into downtown Nashville.
Highway only: around 21-22mpg. But if I'm not in a rush, I have observed 24+ under 65 mph. And yes, I stay in the right lane when I'm going slower than the flow of traffic!
I coast for as long as possible when slowing down or going down hills and try to use my brakes as little as possible. Just leave with ample time to get where you need to go, and you can get good numbers in your 4Runner.
Road trip next week from Modesto CA to Seeley Lake MT and back the next week. Will report on mileage.
I CAN report that my wife does not understand coasting and driving smoothly and she gets about 1/3 worse mileage than I do in the same truck. The 4Runner likes it smooth which makes sense being a heavy vehicle shaped like a brick. It uses a lot of energy to accelerate. I'm HOPING that I can achieve 18MPG overall which should cost under $500 for the trip.
I CAN report that my wife does not understand coasting and driving smoothly and she gets about 1/3 worse mileage than I do in the same truck. The 4Runner likes it smooth which makes sense being a heavy vehicle shaped like a brick. It uses a lot of energy to accelerate. I'm HOPING that I can achieve 18MPG overall which should cost under $500 for the trip.
RysiuM
New member
There is another one. Driving with cold engine. In last two and half months I drove total 286 miles and used 16 gal of fuel. Yes that is less than 4 miles a day. Probably half of my trips were less than 2 miles which the engine run on the open loop (cold). That is why I got so bad mileage.
But still I prefer this over my former commute 60 miles a day and full tank every week.
Exactly, nothing worse than very short trips in the city. Warming up is horrible on mileage. I get maybe 14 mpg if I'm lucky doing short 2-4 mile trips in the city. I also do not believe anyone is getting better than 20mph in their 4runners, don't believe it at all. When they rate these vehicles at 20mph highway that is done inside a building using a dyno, running a special gas mixture, under lab conditions, etc, not at all real world results and these are usually better numbers than real world driving will ever see.
Accurate mileage is only calculated using the mileage divided by the amount of gas put into the truck, with increased accuracy with more fillups and longer calculations.
2016 Toyota 4Runner MPG - Actual MPG from 156 2016 Toyota 4Runner owners
TEujunga
New member
In SoCal: No, and no.
I'm not 100% sure about the Central Valley, where the blends may differ. There may be a useful real-world mileage difference between 87-octane gas that is 10% ethanol and 91-octane that is ethanol-free, but I doubt it's enough to offset the cost difference.
Possible ethanol content issues aside, there is no point in using premium gas in a T4R.
OK, sounds like I just need to look out for any difference in ethanol content. I'll look when I fill up next. We're headed over s few mountain ranges soon so the extra power would be nice and may provide for better mileage.
TEujunga
New member
You won't get any extra power. Your engine's computer controls the amount of fuel burned in order to obtain a prescribed fuel-air ratio. If the gas you're using has ethanol in it, the engine must burn more of it to preserve the same ratio (thus causing a loss of fuel economy), but the power output is the same either way.
The only way premium fuel can provide more power is if the engine experiences detonation (pinging) on regular gas, causing the computer to back off the ignition timing. This is not an issue with the low-compression T4R engine. The ignition timing programming is optimized for regular gas and won't change significantly with a switch to premium.
Aquabear
New member
I've calculated I get better mpg and definitely feel extra power using 93 Premium or 91 Mid than 87 regular. Maybe if life was less hectic here 87 would be better but NY driving is a *****(female dog
). Hitting the gas for these short trips with traffic in a 4Runner the numbers made sense to get Premium either using the computer and pen n paper calculations. Everytime I road trip south to Florida 2 to 3 times a year my 4R gives me the best gas mileage the further south I go, it's like life is saying screw NY go South! lol I also learned I get better gas mileage with windows up and A/C on but I do love driving with windows open n sunroof too. I know I have a heavy foot but I also try to do some better mpg driving habits but it's hard to do there here.Just my 2c...
c10bonanza
Member
Got my best tank the other day.
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That's awesome! What app is that?
I have 7K miles on the T4R. I use Shell 87 . I get 18.5MPG up here in mass.. when I was in florida I was getting 20 MPG same gas.
recently I used citgo and got 20 MPG. I went back to shell then to citgo to see if it was just a glitch .. well citgo did get the higher MPG .
since these have NO E85 ability we cannot measure the alcohol content. I have to guess that the citgo gas had less alcohol . also in florida the shell must have lower alcohol .
on octane I and others have found no MPG gains with higher octane. what we noticed was a little more engine response ..
another MPG note the cold weather will drop MPG on these vehicles so 16-17 MPG in cold below 25 deg F is common..
1000MPH
Senior Member
Guess I've been faking my numbers and lying about it for 7 years. I still contend that my onboard computer is more accurate than hand calculations tank to tank due to fuel pump variances.
Oh, one more thing...in my experience, driving with the trans in S5 makes no noticeable difference to mileage vs. keeping it in D.
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