Improving gas milage advice

[m0000]

Originally Posted by Diamond Dog

But if there is any easy thing to do (aside from maintaining your car, inflating the tires correctly, etc) that is not too expensive to get the MOST out of the car. Then why not ask about it.

The cheap/easy things to do are all in maintenance. The Sequoia is notorious for getting 14-17 in spite of things like driving habit changes.

There are no "mods" that I know of (and I watch for them) that can improve milage. There are two things that dramatically changed my gas milage (for the worse)
-added ethanol in fuel in the winter
-more aggressively treaded tires

The simple things that sort of "must" give you better milage like removing 3rd row seats if not using, keeping filters clean etc. are the things people ignore.

[Plamar]

The RAPS claims to get 4-7% increase in MPG:

See here:

www.ramairperformance.com

[Diamond Dog]

After reading all the threads it seems like it is uncertain as to whether or not adding an intake and exhaust will improve MPG. If something would, people would all agree and say so. For example, no one disputes that the Sylvania Silver Star Bulbs are brighter than stock, that the intake systems make a throatier sound, that aftermarket stereos sound better than stock, etc.

So I probably will not make any changes as there is not consensus as to these modifications improving MPG and I feel that if these items truly did so, people would agree more.

Thanks for everyone's help!

[peid]

Originally Posted by Diamond Dog

So I probably will not make any changes as there is not consensus as to these modifications improving MPG and I feel that if these items truly did so, people would agree more.

Thanks for everyone's help!

Good choice, you'll be money ahead.

[longwoodklon]

You could always trade up for the 2005. More horsepower and they say it gets 22mpg on the highway. Here in socal at least, it's hard not to put at least 20k a year on a vehicle.
20,000miles/15mpg=1333gallons
20,000miles/22mpg-909gallons
So you save 424 gallons a year. At current gas prices, that's over $850/year saved. And you help save the environment. A little too extreme?
/Mike

[Diamond Dog]

Originally Posted by longwoodklon

You could always trade up for the 2005. More horsepower and they say it gets 22mpg on the highway.

Its probably the same 2004 engine with an air intake and better exhaust (ha ha)

[notech]

I know I read a thread somewhere on a difference in mileage on 17" tires. I checked a mile marker today and my 2004 w/17" wheels, gains 1/10th of a mile per mile. That's 10 miles per hundred - approx 40 miles per tank.

Third row seats are out.... found if I get up to speed quicker on hills and then back off, I use less gas than continually accelerating up the hill. Tried cruise today and the instant digital display seemed to stay in a steady range, rather than jumping all over the place.

We got 425 miles on 20.7 gals on the last tank, not even calculating for the extra .10 miles per mile. That's 20.53 mpg with a mix of hwy (170 miles), pulling a loaded 8x5 trailer on about 8 trips around town, and burb errands. In TX heat with the a/c going.

I keep the tach pretty steady @ 2000 and try to keep it between 65 and 70 on the hwy. I've noticed alot of Sequoia owners here like to haul @_ _ averaging 75 mph Read somewhere that 75 mph costs you 25% more in fuel. That's quite a bit.

Have less than 2k miles now, and we're hoping for better mileage when broken in.

[notech]

ps - I calc mileage the old fashioned way at fillup and stick to Chevron, Shell or Amoco. The worst mileage tank came from some no name quickie store gas.

[m0000]

Unless you have a way to ensure that you're filling to the exact same point in the tank with each fill, you can't get mpg numbers that are accurate for a single fill.

[peid]

Originally Posted by m0000

Unless you have a way to ensure that you're filling to the exact same point in the tank with each fill, you can't get mpg numbers that are accurate for a single fill.

True, but it will get you within .25-.50MPG, isn't that close enough? It may be the difference between 23.276 and 23.500 or something like that.

[m0000]

Originally Posted by peid

True, but it will get you within .25-.50MPG, isn't that close enough? It may be the difference between 23.276 and 23.500 or something like that.

How did you get the .25 to .50 mpg number?

Let's you typically let the gas fill to the point where the auto-shutoff kicks in. I'm sure that varies from station to station and pump to pump at exactly what fuel level that happens, but just for example....

Now you let your wife fill up, and she tries to squeeze in as much fuel as she can on top of that. That can be several extra gallons, or 10% of the tank.
If you plot out your gas milage fill by fill, your wife's fill will have great gas milage, and the next one will be lousy. That has nothing to do with the real gas milage, it's just that you've introduced error in the actual # of gallons consumed during that mile interval.

Or, let's say you always try to pack in as much as possible. One day you fill fuel that just got delivered to the station and is 70F. The other you go to a station and fill from a tank that's been in the ground a while and is 50F. When that 70F fuel cools, you are left with some void in the tank because fuel contracts as it cools. If you're not a firm believer in the expansion of fuel with higher temp, consider the bleed tubes on airplane wings so that fuel can leak out when they got hot. That's why we don't fill light airplanes to the top. Most car gas tanks have a void somewhere to accept expanding fuel instead of dumping it on the ground (good idea I think!)

So, things that give you different amount of fuel on a full tank:
-temperature of the fuel
-sensitivity of the auto-shutoff
-slope of the car (or)
-how much of the tank's air pocket gets filled

If you could be certain you always fill to "the top" at the same temperature, you'd get good milage calculations, but it's not possible as far as I know.

The only way to get accurate numbers tank by tank is by using averages, or by using high quality fuel flow meters before and after the injectors. Good flow meters are about $2k/piece so I'm avoiding that...

[lelandstanford]

Originally Posted by longwoodklon

You could always trade up for the 2005. More horsepower and they say it gets 22mpg on the highway.

That's a big jump from 2004's 14/18.

2005 Sequoia gets VVT-i and 5-speed.

2004 4Runner V-8 is like 2005 Sequoia except no VVT-i, but lighter body and shorter axle ratio gets only 16/20.

[auslandt]

[quote=m0000]The only way to get accurate numbers tank by tank is by using averages, or by using high quality fuel flow meters before and after the injectors.QUOTE]

Ok, I might be uneducated here, but... how the h#:: do you put a flow meter AFTER the injector? Isn't "after" the injector inside the combustion chamber??

[longwoodklon]

Originally Posted by lelandstanford

That's a big jump from 2004's 14/18.

2005 Sequoia gets VVT-i and 5-speed.

2004 4Runner V-8 is like 2005 Sequoia except no VVT-i, but lighter body and shorter axle ratio gets only 16/20.

I thought so too. But Dianne states those mileage numbers in the 2005 Sequoia thread. Here:

Quote:
Sequoia for 2005 - the changes

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Gang, I have the SEQUOIA changes for 2005 to post, in no particular order, so read it all. OK? I gathered this info from a few different places.

2005 Sequoia changes:

Colors:
Limiteds now come in arctic frost pearl (a pearl white), regular white, phantom gray, black, silver sky, desert sand (yay! A gold color finally!) and the all new bluesteel, probably a grayish blue metallic. We lost the green for good.
SR5's now come regular white, phantom gray, black, silver sky, desert sand, and the all new bluesteel, probably a grayish blue metallic. We lost the green, red, and other blue (blue marlin) for good.

The interior gray (11) is the same, but the tan color interior is now a taupe color, rather than a beige brown.

The Sequoia remains an 8-passenger, but there is a LUXURY package option on a Limited that means the car can be a 7-passenger, like the Lincoln Navigator, with center rear-seat buckets rather than a bench in the middle. Navigation system will be available (in dash) with a JBL 10-speaker audio system. There will be an available rear air suspension.

As for looks, the rear and the front are redesigned slightly, and the entire car will be fully color-keyed, with grille, bumpers, overfenders and all mouldings matching. The BIG news is the new 282 HP motor, with 325 FT Lbs torque... and an new 5ECT (5-spd automatic tranny), and all cars (including the SR5's) will have overfenders rather than SR5's being able to have chrome wheel arch mouldings. All cars get an in-glass antenna, and gas mileage improves greatly: city = 16, highway to 22.
There are 2 new packages:
SR5 Sport Package = new styled 16" alloy wheels, tubular running boards, adjustable rear air suspension, fog lamps, front skid plate and a JBL audio upgrade.
Limited Luxury Package = New wood appearance dash/interior garnish, 7-seat config. with 2nd row bucket seating w/ center 2nd row removeable console, optitron gauges, memory seats/mirror and the adjustable rear air suspension.
NAV system is available on all models. And, one safety item change is that the 2nd row side curtain airbags is coverage with the roll-over sensor.

I'll be taking orders for the all-new 2005's starting with the first week of August, 2004 so if you want one of the first cars out of the gate, built RIGHT and exactly the way you want it to be, email me at dianne@earthlink.net as soon as possible. I am in Southern CA so you'd have to come out here for your perfect car OR have it shipped. Consider the travel and expense of doing this before emailing.

Dianne

[Larrison]

Regarding mileages

I agree if you want to compare MPG you need to both be very concerned about measuring how much fuel you put in, and also match how you are driving the car. My mileage varies at least +/-20% depending upon how I drive, which varies week to week depending upon if I'm taking a long road trip, traveling flat or in the mountains, or doing nothing but stop & go city street commuting, or some combination.

Other than that, you have to look at longer-term averages -- like over 6-10 tanks. Set up a spreadsheet and plot out your MPGs and see if the trend is up or down...