Towing MPG
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boston_kevin
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only towed with this vehicle a couple of times, mostly flat terrain (no hills greater than 1000 feet)... Daily average is around 19-20 during the winter. Towing a 4500 lb boat and trailer with 3 passengers was around 16 on regular gas. Towing a lighter trailer only gave back less than 1 mpg (16.5 for a 3000 lb trailer). This is all on a '04 V6.
charlier180
New member
Towed my car trailer with car inside that had a total weight of ~5400 lbs. MPG was 12.1 (calculated). Computer displayed 13.2.
On the trip to pickup the trailer on the same roads the 4Runner without a trailer got 20.0 MPG (calculated). Computer displayed 22.3 MPG.
Since I covered the exact same roads and kept the speed the same it was a fairly good test of towing MPG. The only thing that was not the same was the weather. Trip without the trailer was dry and little wind. Trip with trailer was wet (rain/snow showers) and windy (15-20mph, gusts 30mph+).
I friend of mine who has been towing for years told me that in most cases MPG will drop by 40-50% when towing a car trailer like mine. In my case. looks like he was right.
On the trip to pickup the trailer on the same roads the 4Runner without a trailer got 20.0 MPG (calculated). Computer displayed 22.3 MPG.
Since I covered the exact same roads and kept the speed the same it was a fairly good test of towing MPG. The only thing that was not the same was the weather. Trip without the trailer was dry and little wind. Trip with trailer was wet (rain/snow showers) and windy (15-20mph, gusts 30mph+).
I friend of mine who has been towing for years told me that in most cases MPG will drop by 40-50% when towing a car trailer like mine. In my case. looks like he was right.
charlier180 said:
How the heck did you get 20 MPG? I have been driving like an 90 year old geriatric patient lately, and the best I can get is about 17.5 (reads 19.5 on the computer), and I thought that was pretty good. I run synthetic in the engine, and have the tires at 38lbs.
How many miles do you have on your 4R? I'm at 7,500 myself, and I'm hoping mileage improves a bit after 10,000. (I doubt it, but hey, I can hope can't I.)
--Mike
charlier180
New member
mjfrank said:
My 4Runner has has 4,400 miles, runs dino oil, 32-34 PSI in the tires and uses 87 Octane Unleaded.
I have found that my 4Runner gets it's best MPG at 55-60 mph for highway traveling. At speeds higher than that MPG suffers. When driving, no drag racing starts or brake mashing stops for me.
The 20MPG trip was highway driving using the cruise control as much as possible at varying speeds.
I have to wonder if my MPG will change as I put more mileage on my 4Runner.
Ah, that makes sense now.
If I tried to do 55 around here I'd be roadkill. Heck if you do below 65 you get dirty looks.
I do avoid the jack-rabbit starts and panic braking though, and have increased my following distance. My mileage is a combination of highway and city, and a lot of stop and go rush-hour traffic.
All in all, I'm not that disappointed with the 17.5 MPG average, it's better than the 12.4 I get in my wife's Expedition and 13.6 that I get in my Jeep.
--Mike
If I tried to do 55 around here I'd be roadkill. Heck if you do below 65 you get dirty looks.
I do avoid the jack-rabbit starts and panic braking though, and have increased my following distance. My mileage is a combination of highway and city, and a lot of stop and go rush-hour traffic.
All in all, I'm not that disappointed with the 17.5 MPG average, it's better than the 12.4 I get in my wife's Expedition and 13.6 that I get in my Jeep.
--Mike
AZRunner
New member
I took a trip to San Diego with the family a couple weeks ago and noticed that it seems to be geared for best MPG around 55mph. Took a level straight back highway and reset the mpg several different speeds. Ran upwards of 45mpg(non-calculated) at 55mph. Ran it that way for several miles(no stops and cruise control on). Dropped drastically as I tried the same thing at 60mph and 65mph. At around 65mph it was down to 26.7mpg. None of these are calculated, however I think it shows how drastically the mpg changes with just a little bit of speed.
charlier180
New member
mjfrank said:
I know what you mean by roadkill and dirty looks. It seems that now-a-days there is no such thing as fast enough. If you are in a 55mph zone and doing 65mph you are not going fast enough and you get the "look". Even at 70, 75 or 80 that is not fast enough for some people and you get the "look" and/or a friendly wave of the middle finger. I figure if some people are in that big of a hurry to get where they are going (including 6 feet under due to speeding and poor driving techniques) I just let them pass.
With the type of driving you do, 17.5 MPG is commendable. I know many other SUV and Pickup Truck owners that would be in heaven with that kind of mileage instead of what they get with their various vehicles.
So What MPG do you get towing?
We just bought a 2005 4runner Sport V8 with 82,xxx miles.
Have been using our 1997 "Charged" Straight 6 Landcruiser for vacations and towing our 6000# Camp Trailer (when loaded) at 7-9 MPG on I-80 at 65-70 MPH with cruise on.
What MPG can we expect with the V8 4runner at the same speeds?
I hope better than the LC.
We just bought a 2005 4runner Sport V8 with 82,xxx miles.
Have been using our 1997 "Charged" Straight 6 Landcruiser for vacations and towing our 6000# Camp Trailer (when loaded) at 7-9 MPG on I-80 at 65-70 MPH with cruise on.
What MPG can we expect with the V8 4runner at the same speeds?
I hope better than the LC.
socrates50
New member
I tow an EDGE M21 (approx. wt. 4K) with my 07 V6 4x2, and according to the computer my MPA drops from around 21 to 12. I haven't actually computed anything yet as most of my drives are fairly short.
Nuke
New member
I tow my 2200 lb. bass boat on a weekly basis with my '08 V6, typically about 100 miles round trip. But I'll also tow on occasionsbetween 400 and 1000 miles. For the most part, the terrain has been relatively flat.
Non-towing, I typically get about 20-22 MPG at a steady 65-70 MPH (hand calculated which is about 2 - 2.5 MPG less than the on-board). On a steady tow at those speeds I'll get about 15-16 MPG (again, hand calculated).
Speed is the killer. I can average 24 MPG at a steady 55. It drops almost 4 MPGat 70-75 MPH. But then again, I've also noticed about 3-4 MPG difference between ethanol and non-ethanol fuel, all else being equal.
Non-towing, I typically get about 20-22 MPG at a steady 65-70 MPH (hand calculated which is about 2 - 2.5 MPG less than the on-board). On a steady tow at those speeds I'll get about 15-16 MPG (again, hand calculated).
Speed is the killer. I can average 24 MPG at a steady 55. It drops almost 4 MPGat 70-75 MPH. But then again, I've also noticed about 3-4 MPG difference between ethanol and non-ethanol fuel, all else being equal.
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