27 Mpg???

[Martinjmpr]

My tires are only slightly larger, the rack on my truck weighs in at about 45 lbs (yakima crossbars and all) Steel bumper in the back not much heavier than the stock one. The only real addition of weight is the ARB and winch. I didn't think that my mileage would go that bad with a couple hundred extra pounds..

Sure, each one of those things is small but they do add up. Also, wind drag is a killer. I put the Yak Rack (with nothing on it) on my Taco and my MPG dropped enough to notice, by about 2mpg. And this was in city driving where you would think wind drag would be less of a factor (because of slower speeds.)

I'm pretty easy on the DC. I am begining to think it's the altitude at which i live at. Toyotas notoriously run rich so with thinner air this might increase the problem. You would think the MAF sensor would correct this.....

Uh...well, except that I'm at the same altitude you are (I live in Englewood) so if altitude was a factor, it should affect me the same as you, right?

Oh, another possible contributing factor: I bought this tank of gas in Glenwood Springs, which, AFAIK, does not mandate E10 like the Front Range counties do. I have observed in other vehicles a noticeable drop in MPG when using E10 as opposed to pure gasoline.

 

[DenCo40]

Sure, each one of those things is small but they do add up. Also, wind drag is a killer. I put the Yak Rack (with nothing on it) on my Taco and my MPG dropped enough to notice, by about 2mpg. And this was in city driving where you would think wind drag would be less of a factor (because of slower speeds.)



Uh...well, except that I'm at the same altitude you are (I live in Englewood) so if altitude was a factor, it should affect me the same as you, right?

Oh, another possible contributing factor: I bought this tank of gas in Glenwood Springs, which, AFAIK, does not mandate E10 like the Front Range counties do. I have observed in other vehicles a noticeable drop in MPG when using E10 as opposed to pure gasoline.

I will take that into account. I have noticed that sometimes fuel from different places lasts longer....

 

[shawkins]

I pull 22MPG in my '91 pretty regularly. But that is all highway going back and forth from Portland to Corvallis.

 

[Martinjmpr]

I pull 22MPG in my '91 pretty regularly. But that is all highway going back and forth from Portland to Corvallis.

Is that with a 4, though? My 85 with the 22r 4 cyl and 5 speed could do 25 on the highway with no difficulty. True, it wasnt' a speed demon but it could keep up with traffic especially back in the days of the 55mph speed limit. Seems to me that 22mpg with a 4 should be easy, especially if it's reg. cab.

EDIT: Just read your sig line. So you're getting that MPG with the 3.4l swapped in and 32's? That's impressive.

 

[nickw]

Is that with a 4, though? My 85 with the 22r 4 cyl and 5 speed could do 25 on the highway with no difficulty. True, it wasnt' a speed demon but it could keep up with traffic especially back in the days of the 55mph speed limit. Seems to me that 22mpg with a 4 should be easy, especially if it's reg. cab.

EDIT: Just read your sig line. So you're getting that MPG with the 3.4l swapped in and 32's? That's impressive.

That part of the highway is about as flat as you can get.

I get 22 mpg with my 2001 3.4L, on flat highway drives with 265/85's which are damn close to 32's-

 

[dieselcruiserhead]

I don't think it's too unreasable. On the 12 hour trip to Burning Man a couple years ago we were following a friend in a slow FJ40 so we kept it under 65, and we got 18-20 mpg in a fully loaded 3/4 ton Ford Van with a 351 V8. In my Saab it is hard to keep it under 70-75 as its such a fast car (and it usually gets mid-low 20s), but when I do and have followed friends and such I have gotten as high as 35 mpg. I forget how mileages works but for ever mile over a certain speed the wind resistance is squared so it makes a really big difference between 60 and say 75 or so, supposedly.

Also a lot of it has to do with gearing, particularly with diesels. The torque and efficiency curve on diesel line up almost exactly so if you can gear it so it cruises in the sweet spot with the best efficency and power you can get surprizingly good milage, for what its worth...