Recently Purchased '98 4Runner - Good Highway MPG But Bad City MPG

[howsthewater]

I recently purchased a 1998 4Runner with 132k miles on it. I'm in love with the truck but I'm seeing a pretty striking difference between my city and highway fuel consumption.

I have been tracking my mileage at every fill-up and have found that my average city consumption is a bit under 14 mpg and my average highway consumption is about 21 mpg. The lowest city figure that I calculated was 13.1 mpg over 150 miles driven.

The city number seems pretty low for the 4Runner, both compared to numbers that I've seen online as well as relative to the highway figure.

Any ideas?

Thank you in advance!

 

[Shibby!]

If you have a heavy right foot, get used to it.

Max would be 16-17 MPG city. That's with a manual as the auto's seem to get much worse.

If you don't have a heavy foot, look into air filters and spark plugs. Then maybe fuel filter but other than that, it doesn't appear to be THAT far off.

You have to ask what's different with city and highway. Might be the user.

 

[rideexileex]

Also, consider trying to replace the front O2 sensor. They can start going bad, without throwing a CEL, and you might notice improved MPG if you replace.

 

[Snowy21]

I recently purchased a 1998 4Runner with 132k miles on it. I'm in love with the truck but I'm seeing a pretty striking difference between my city and highway fuel consumption.

I have been tracking my mileage at every fill-up and have found that my average city consumption is a bit under 14 mpg and my average highway consumption is about 21 mpg. The lowest city figure that I calculated was 13.1 mpg over 150 miles driven.

The city number seems pretty low for the 4Runner, both compared to numbers that I've seen online as well as relative to the highway figure.

Any ideas?

Thank you in advance!

That sounds about right for a third gen. When I lived in downtown Indy I never got better than 13-14 putzing from light to light, especially in the colder months. It's nearly a 5000 lb truck so the weight in the city will kill mileage. I usually get near 20 mpg on the interstate as well

 

[4RunnerChaos]

I recently purchased a 1998 4Runner with 132k miles on it. I'm in love with the truck but I'm seeing a pretty striking difference between my city and highway fuel consumption.

I have been tracking my mileage at every fill-up and have found that my average city consumption is a bit under 14 mpg and my average highway consumption is about 21 mpg. The lowest city figure that I calculated was 13.1 mpg over 150 miles driven.

The city number seems pretty low for the 4Runner, both compared to numbers that I've seen online as well as relative to the highway figure.

Any ideas?

Thank you in advance!

These numbers do sound right, the truck gets the terrible city mileage because of the weight of our beasts.!
If you do a lot of city travel or travel in general, invest in a smaller vehicle that gets better mileage! Keep the runner for the fun and hauling. But seriously get a carolla

 

[A.Wilson013]

I drive conservatively in the city and get 16-17mpg consistently.

Highway I consistently get 19-20, with a high of 22. Also driving conservatively.

My first recommendation would be slowing down your light to light acceleration.

What was your previous vehicle? I came from an M3/Heavily modified A4 and needless to say, I had to learn (quickly) that the 4Runner was not either of those machines, and I needed to adjust my driving habits.