Real World MPG with 5th Gen?

[Jetboy]

Ok, some of you guys are getting crazy good MPG. I've been stuck at 15.5-15.8 for mine, 2015 trail.
Have Michelin Defenders on mine with no other mods. I'm the third owner.
Is everyone that is getting 17-20 MPG have 2wd or 4? I'm genuinely curious. I'm wondering if a previous owner modified something on this truck. I can't find anything so far.

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My mixed driving is 17.8 for the last 4 tanks combined. I have a 2.5" lift, full custom skids and my highway tires are 275/60/20 - so a bit taller than a 285/70/17 tire. Corrected for tire height that would be about 19mpg. I drive up and down the mountains pretty much all of my miles. I live in Utah and my house is at the mouth of a canyon on the hill side.

IMO the first key is that I don't carry a bunch of weight around. I have a hidden winch mount and didn't put a heavy bumper on. I don't have a roof rack (I have a basket I have installed a total of zero times in 4 years of owning this 4runner).

Totally loaded with gear for a week in the back country with the awning and solar panel on the roof, fridge and full camping gear inside, etc. and running 285/75/17 (34") tires - I got about 16.5mpg highway from Utah to California and back. Including 3 days of offroad driving plus 2 days at camp idling a few times, I got 14.7mpg total for the 1500 mile round trip.

2015 Trail Premium. I usually buy low octane gas.

If you're stock and only getting 14-15mpg, I'd start looking for answers. I get 14mpg towing my camper. O2 sensors would be my first place to start. Brand new and totally stock - I would normally get 21-22mpg highway and 19ish in mixed driving.

 

[LAMGOESHAM]

My mixed driving is 17.8 for the last 4 tanks combined. I have a 2.5" lift, full custom skids and my highway tires are 275/60/20 - so a bit taller than a 285/70/17 tire. Corrected for tire height that would be about 19mpg. I drive up and down the mountains pretty much all of my miles. I live in Utah and my house is at the mouth of a canyon on the hill side.

IMO the first key is that I don't carry a bunch of weight around. I have a hidden winch mount and didn't put a heavy bumper on. I don't have a roof rack (I have a basket I have installed a total of zero times in 4 years of owning this 4runner).

Totally loaded with gear for a week in the back country with the awning and solar panel on the roof, fridge and full camping gear inside, etc. and running 285/75/17 (34") tires - I got about 16.5mpg highway from Utah to California and back. Including 3 days of offroad driving plus 2 days at camp idling a few times, I got 14.7mpg total for the 1500 mile round trip.

2015 Trail Premium. I usually buy low octane gas.

If you're stock and only getting 14-15mpg, I'd start looking for answers. I get 14mpg towing my camper. O2 sensors would be my first place to start. Brand new and totally stock - I would normally get 21-22mpg highway and 19ish in mixed driving.

Totally stock and at about 800miles.....I get maybe 18.9 on mainly highway road trips

Hopefully things get better as I put more miles on...I don't see how people get 20+ maybe it's just this california ACN87 ethanol blend

 

[Jetboy]

Totally stock and at about 800miles.....I get maybe 18.9 on mainly highway road trips

Hopefully things get better as I put more miles on...I don't see how people get 20+ maybe it's just this california ACN87 ethanol blend

I don't know what ACN87 is. Ethanol has about 70% as much energy density as regular gasoline. So if you were using 15% ethanol, you should expect 1mpg loss or 21mpg. 50% ethanol blend, 22mpg should now be 18.7. And on E85, 22mpg would be comparable to 16.5.

Also just fun fact - the peak mileage would probably be at high altitude on a hot and humid day. That is the lowest wind resistance condition. Seems odd that humid air is less dense than dry air - but it's true.

I also suspect that keeping the factory rake is potentially very important to mileage and aerodynamics.

 

[BlackCloud]

Light on the petal, follow semi's, no need to speed. Let everyone look at your rig while you drive.

RR

They can look at me while I pass them!

 

[LAMGOESHAM]

I don't know what ACN87 is. Ethanol has about 70% as much energy density as regular gasoline. So if you were using 15% ethanol, you should expect 1mpg loss or 21mpg. 50% ethanol blend, 22mpg should now be 18.7. And on E85, 22mpg would be comparable to 16.5.

Also just fun fact - the peak mileage would probably be at high altitude on a hot and humid day. That is the lowest wind resistance condition. Seems odd that humid air is less dense than dry air - but it's true.

I also suspect that keeping the factory rake is potentially very important to mileage and aerodynamics.

ACN87 = Arizona California Nevada 87 Octane, the piss water gas we have out here. Not sure if its less fuel economy than other states but the track day crowd definitely despises it as far as power is concerned (ACN91)

 

[LAMGOESHAM]

I think I might be TOO light on the pedal lol..keeping the ECO bar too high for too long while climbing up to speed.

What do you guys find the best acceleration RPM is for both city/highway? I think I need to get up to speed quicker then be light on the pedal

Coming from a manual car getting this whole non linear auto pedal thing down is a little odd to me

 

[SoonerDPT]

1500 miles on my TRDP w/ 275/70 BFG KO2's. Best I can get is about 17.5 mpg on hwy.

 

[off-road runner]

Totally stock and at about 800miles.....I get maybe 18.9 on mainly highway road trips

I don't see how people get 20+ maybe it's just this california ACN87 ethanol blend

Honestly, I don't think many people can get 20+ MPG. Maybe with stock tires and just the right conditions you could get 20-21. IMO people tend to reset the MPG average at appropriate times, like when going down a big hill with a tail wind and then they take a pic and it shows 26 MPG for a couple miles. I live in a rural area and don't hit traffic jams or city driving and have a "light" foot and the best I've gotten is ~19 with 4 of these v6's on several different tires.

 

[TX_AG11]

My mixed driving is 17.8 for the last 4 tanks combined. I have a 2.5" lift, full custom skids and my highway tires are 275/60/20 - so a bit taller than a 285/70/17 tire. Corrected for tire height that would be about 19mpg. I drive up and down the mountains pretty much all of my miles. I live in Utah and my house is at the mouth of a canyon on the hill side.

IMO the first key is that I don't carry a bunch of weight around. I have a hidden winch mount and didn't put a heavy bumper on. I don't have a roof rack (I have a basket I have installed a total of zero times in 4 years of owning this 4runner).

Totally loaded with gear for a week in the back country with the awning and solar panel on the roof, fridge and full camping gear inside, etc. and running 285/75/17 (34") tires - I got about 16.5mpg highway from Utah to California and back. Including 3 days of offroad driving plus 2 days at camp idling a few times, I got 14.7mpg total for the 1500 mile round trip.

2015 Trail Premium. I usually buy low octane gas.

If you're stock and only getting 14-15mpg, I'd start looking for answers. I get 14mpg towing my camper. O2 sensors would be my first place to start. Brand new and totally stock - I would normally get 21-22mpg highway and 19ish in mixed driving.

OK. I'll have to take a look. 2015 Trail model. No KDSS.
I have no other mods. I'm the third owner. I mainly drive on freeways and don't tow anything.
I appreciate the feedback.

 

[GChristo]

Ruh-oh. My mpg appears inversely correlated with the length of my T4R.org membership. About 20k miles here.

 

[ElectroBoy]

ACN87 = Arizona California Nevada 87 Octane, the piss water gas we have out here. Not sure if its less fuel economy than other states but the track day crowd definitely despises it as far as power is concerned (ACN91)

I have a stock 2018 TORP, KDSS, stock Bridgestone tires at 34 PSI and keep a log of all fillups. So many variables to consider, but on average I get 17 for city/hwy mixed and 19 at highway speeds in CA.

I believe your assessment of ACN87. The formulation results in cleaner air but at a high cost in $ and lower MPG. This spring on my trip to Utah with two people and 150 pounds of gear, at highway speeds of 75 to 85 I was getting 21.5 MPG with Utah gas.

 

[Snickel Fritz]

Just drove from Wilkes Barre, PA to Parkersburg, WV yesterday. Stopped in Salem WV when I was at 1/8 of a tank. Using 87.
According to Google, that was 357 miles on 20.125 gallons, for mpg of ~17.7.
Considering the constant slowing, acceleration, rough roads and such I wouldn't consider that to be a proper "highway" mpg, though it is a pretty common experience around here. An actual freeway with the ability to put cruise control on at 65 would almost certainly yield better results.
In fact, I was barely sipping fuel until rush hour started, and I was in Northern WV- that's when I had to brake, gun it, changes lanes, brake, gun it, so on and so forth. My needle dropped pretty quick after that, otherwise I would have made it to P'burg to fill up, instead Salem.

 

[kadinh]

2016 SR5 4x4
4 x ~10 mile trips daily
My HUD shows 17mpg

 

[1000MPH]

Honestly, I don't think many people can get 20+ MPG. Maybe with stock tires and just the right conditions you could get 20-21. IMO people tend to reset the MPG average at appropriate times, like when going down a big hill with a tail wind and then they take a pic and it shows 26 MPG for a couple miles. I live in a rural area and don't hit traffic jams or city driving and have a "light" foot and the best I've gotten is ~19 with 4 of these v6's on several different tires.

Maybe some of us live where "just the right conditions" are commonplace.
19 is the Official combined EPA MPG estimate.

 

[Jetboy]

Honestly, I don't think many people can get 20+ MPG. Maybe with stock tires and just the right conditions you could get 20-21. IMO people tend to reset the MPG average at appropriate times, like when going down a big hill with a tail wind and then they take a pic and it shows 26 MPG for a couple miles. I live in a rural area and don't hit traffic jams or city driving and have a "light" foot and the best I've gotten is ~19 with 4 of these v6's on several different tires.

Not sure if it's your gas or driving or ??. Stock - 20+ on the highway should be no problem. Until I lifted mine - my mixed average was right around 21mpg. Highway I've had full tanks around 24mpg, but typically 22. Right on the epa estimates. The current EPA estimates are pretty close to actual in my experience. I often get better than EPA.

For example the Tacoma when tested independently by TFL got 24mpg in it's highway test loop.
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[Snickel Fritz]

Today I drove to the Cincinnati area from Northern WV, then drove around some. I then drove back.
According to the dubious readout on my dash, I got 22.0 average on 87.
Will continue to test this way, and hopefully get to do a more accurate test in the future.

 

[Farby]

I've had mine for just over 3 months and 3k miles. Longest trip was about 4 hours. MPG's don't really go up though. Best i've gotten so far is 19.2 and it stays that way with local driving not hard on the gas.

 

[The_Mickstar]

The first three tanks on my 2018 TRD Off Road Premium, I've averaged 20.6mpg on 87 octane. I drive almost all highway, and I've only used 4WD for very short stints on pavement to keep the gears lubed.

 

[off-road runner]

Maybe some of us live where "just the right conditions" are commonplace.
19 is the Official combined EPA MPG estimate.

Thanks for confirming what I was saying... 19 MPG.

 

[PatSloan]

2013 sr5. Just bought it a couple weeks ago. Took it on a 2500 mile road trip and averaged 20.7 for the trip. Lots of hills through the Canadian Rockies.

--pat