Real World MPG with 5th Gen?
- Thread starter AZDropTop
- Start date
jreiter
New member
I have about 900 miles on mine so far, and I've been getting about 16 mpg with city driving no matter how much I baby it. Highway driving gets it up to 20, and sometimes 21 if I take it easy. The city driving really kills it, though. This is a heavy vehicle, so the stop-and-go action in a city sucks up a lot of gas, and I live in a fairly hilly area which just makes it worse.
At first I was trying very hard to keep the ECO light on as much as possible, but it really requires you to drive like a grandma, and it's impossible around here due to the hills. I just gave up and turned off that darn ECO light.
At first I was trying very hard to keep the ECO light on as much as possible, but it really requires you to drive like a grandma, and it's impossible around here due to the hills. I just gave up and turned off that darn ECO light.
TheSentinel
New member
90% city, 10% highway gets me 16-17mpg average lately.
I just completed a move from Oregon to Colorado. The mpg results were interesting. My mpg increased with both elevation and a drop in gas octane (85 for regular in the mountains), despite carrying two 20' canoes on top of the T4R (lots of wind drag). The low was 17.7 through Oregon and western Idaho. The high was around 23.6 mpg in Wyoming and upper Colorado (Denver traffic brought it down a bit). Average during the trip was around 22 mph.
I'm sure there were probably several varibales that affected the change. As far as speed, once I left Oregon (about 3-3.5 hours of the trip) the speed limit was 75 mph the entire way, except through metropolitan areas. My first refueling point was in Mountain Home, Idaho, where the octane level changed from 87 to 85 for regular grade gas. The fastest rise in elevation occurred during the first couple of hours of the trip, going from 500 feet to 3000. However, the elevation continued to rise albeit more gradually. As I've been in Colorado for a week, I will have to check the computer to see if I have had an effective change in mpg for 'in and around town' driving between the two locations.
Snooperstyle
Member
How on earth are you getting 22+ mpg with TWO 20' canoes on your roof, and a loaded cargo (you said you were moving...just assuming you had lots of cargo)? I put one 16' canoe on mine and lost at least 4mpgs going average of 70mph on a 4 hour trip...some hills. With utmost due respect of course, that seems almost impossible. Can the gas and altitude really make that much of a difference? If so, I need to move to Colorado! Is yours a 4x2? Maybe your canoes were creating lift???
What was the weight of the canoes you were carrying. I am interested because I carry canoes a lot in the summer. Also, can you describe what rack methods and types you were using? Thanks in advance
I'm as bamfoozled as anyone as to the increase in mpg. I fully expected a good drop. My canoes are outrigger type canoes that do not weigh much - 20 lbs each. Despite their light weight, the length does create quite a bit of drag from winds (especially through Wyoming). My cargo also was volumenous, but not overly heavy. Most of my hopousehold goods were moved commercially. When traveling through other areas (like the Columbia River Gorge) I did get a 2-3 mpg drop carrying the canoes, so the altitude and/or octane just may have an effect. I really don't know. I did just fill up the tank and noted a combined mileage of about 21 mpg (no load) driving in Colorado. Another interesting observation has been that the remaining range displayed by the trip computer in the dash after filling the tank with gas dropped by about 20 miles with each fill up of 85 octane gas. In Oregon, I had a range of about 400 miles after filling the tank. It has been around 380 at altitude.
As for rack systems, I am using a Yakima crossbar over the front doors, and a Yakima drydock (with crossbar) hitch system to create a maximum distance between crossbars. The canoes sit in a pair of home made foam saddles and are secured with tie down straps.
As for rack systems, I am using a Yakima crossbar over the front doors, and a Yakima drydock (with crossbar) hitch system to create a maximum distance between crossbars. The canoes sit in a pair of home made foam saddles and are secured with tie down straps.
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I realize this is a mileage thread but, could you let us know what towers to use over the front doors? I need to haul two canoes also, and was wondering how to get a crossbar mounted up front.
This was covered under one of the 'rack' threads, but a set of Yakima Q-Towers with the clips for the 3rd gen 4Runner (Q62 clips, I believe) are a pretty good fit - although not exact. They did perform well enough to survive a 1200 mile trip through some fairly windy conditions. I will have to measure my crossbar to get the 'M1' and 'M2' measurements that I used. The use of the 3rd gen tower/clip setup has to be credited to another forum member (sorry, can't remember his/her name), as discussed in mentioned thread.
iDRiVaT4R
New member
Happy Thanksgiving y'all!!
I drove up to my grandma's house this morning. Here is some data from my scanguage.
Max rpm 2810
1.9 hr drive
71 mph max
52 mph avg
$18.3 in gas cost
16.8 mpg average
6.1 gallons used
103 mile trip
191 degrees max water temp
The Toyota mpg avg display showed 17.2 mpg. So not too far off.
I drove up to my grandma's house this morning. Here is some data from my scanguage.
Max rpm 2810
1.9 hr drive
71 mph max
52 mph avg
$18.3 in gas cost
16.8 mpg average
6.1 gallons used
103 mile trip
191 degrees max water temp
The Toyota mpg avg display showed 17.2 mpg. So not too far off.
Mpg
I drove from San Diego to Phoenix last week. On the flats, at 80mph with cruise control, the truck said 16.9 over 10 miles, 70 mph was 19.2 60mph was 23.5
I have a Baja rack (thanks iDrivaT4r) and SR5 4x4 with 1100 miles.
When my wife drives in town, she avgd 15 over the last full tank of gas
I drove from San Diego to Phoenix last week. On the flats, at 80mph with cruise control, the truck said 16.9 over 10 miles, 70 mph was 19.2 60mph was 23.5
I have a Baja rack (thanks iDrivaT4r) and SR5 4x4 with 1100 miles.
When my wife drives in town, she avgd 15 over the last full tank of gas
TheMtnLord
New member
I'm averaging 14+ in the City and no more than 18 on the highway. I am on stock wheels and tires with no mods in a 14 SR5. I think something is wrong...
