20 mpg How do you do it?

[maconham]

My Tundra is an 05 V8 Access Cab and I have a spread sheet on every tank since new in June 05. My overall MPG is 15.4 in city and I get from 18 to 21 on the road, around 19 running 75 or more and 20+ if I stay under 70 MPH. You also have to understand a couple of differences between the trucks mentioned already. My 05 was the first to receive the 5 speed electronic transmission and the increased HP. Mine is also 2 wheel drive, you take a 4 speed trans with 4WD and you will get less MPG. Tire design, inflation and the weight of the right foot also has a lot to do with it. I do have a heavy foot and if I didn't like the sound of my Flowmaster mufflers so much, I know my mileage would be better. To help with the MPG, I plan to keep the freer flowing muffler, probably just a turbo muffler when mine needs replacing, if not sooner due to the high gas prices.

[c5engineer]

I get 19.5. Mostly hwy miles and I never go above 67 unless I'm passing someone. Never get my RPMs above 2500 or so.

[Sailorbob]

I have a 2006 Tundra SR5 Access Cab with the 6 Cylinder and I do get 21-22 on Interstate and 18-19 in city (daily commute 26 miles total in city traffic). Just as advertised.

[1kzwoman]

I suggest the ususal clean oil and filter, clean air filter, egg under gas pedal routine. ALSO have your alignment checked, tire pressure too. I've not seen 20 but 18 looks good considering my truck lives in the moutains.

[Boosted27606]

If you use a SCANGAUGE and keep an eye on INSTANT MILEAGE and TODAY's MILEAGE, you will have a pretty good idea of how much gas you use.

I use that to get nearly 17mpg in town instead of 14/15 mpg I used to get. Never took a trip yet since I bought the Scanguage.

It's not earth chattering but every lil bit helps !

[RTsTundra]

I avg 19-20 mpg. (if not just a bit more 20.4, 20.6)... I pump 15 gals of 87 (76 Station) = 309 miles... from warning light to warning light.

I'm easy on the throttle, keep it at avg. 2000 RPM @ 65 mph. 85% HWY.



06 AC w/4.0 V6 5 Spd auto Trans. all stock w/ Mobil 1 Fully Syn. 5/30.
34K change oil every 3.5K, Change plugs @ 30K. 34 PSI on alloys.

[MSG444]

I have a 2006 V6 2WD. I have gotten 22 mph on the hwy with no mountainous travel. Most of the time I get 20 mpg hwy. Around town I get 18 mpg most of the time. Leave your tailgate up. Studies show that a dead air space forms behind the cab with the tailgate up. When the tailgate is down a vacuum forms behind the cab that will lower your mileage at higher speeds. Speeds over 65 mph will lower your mpg as will speeds that are too low for the top gear to kick in. Accelerate from a stop moderately. Too slow and you stay in lower gears too long, too fast and you waist fuel. RPM's under 2500 on level ground are good. Slowly press the gas peddle when accelerating, the more abrupt the gas peddle movement the lower the MPG. Aggressive driving wastes a lot of fuel. Pay attention to what is going on 6 seconds ahead of you so you can get your foot off the accelerator early. Remember that every time you have to brake the heat generated by your brakes is energy that you bought at the pump! If you follow too close to the car in front of you the amount of braking you do increases as you do not have a chance to coast before you hit the brake. I consistently get 2 to 3 mpg better in the same car in the same driving conditions than my wife. She follows closer than I do and accelerates more abruptly. You do not have to drive like an old man but you are going to have to leave room for another car to cut in front of you if you want decent gas mileage. Running the A/C will also use more fuel so you may find milage drops a little in warmer weather.

[otho21]

I have an 06 DC 4x4 V8 and I just did a trip through the cascade mountains with a tow dolly on the back. Empty i got between 18.9 and 17.8(towards the end of the trip I was pushing it to get there faster). This was all on highway not freeway. With a 98 escort in tow on the freeway I only dropped down to 16.5 and that was going over the mountains too. With no trailer I have seen 20+ a few times but usually on flat freeways. Openning the moonroof tends to reduce it a bit. Also I use higher quality gas vice the cheap stuff. I have driven 12k so far.

[Puffnstuff]

I believe that the quality of the fuel stock plays the biggest part in how well your truck runs. I've seen wild fluctuations in my mpg's and the only thing that changed was my fuel. When my truck was doing this every other car in the house was doing the same thing and fuel was the only common denominator among them. The best mpg I've ever seen is 17.97 out of one tank but my truck has only broken the 17 mpg barrier 12 times and dropped below 13 mpg once out of 138 times I've put gas in it. Yes I track every fill up on a spreadsheet which tells me everything including my fuel cost per mile. That cost has more than doubled since I bought this truck and is currently at .26 per mile.

[knucklebusted]

Originally Posted by tundra39

Here in Oregon we can't pump our own gas. I have found that the mileage on the first shut off was a constant 15-15.2 in town & when I had them top it off it ranged from 13.6 to14.4, always fueling at the same costco. Being consistent seems to dissappear when it is topped off. Just my experience. Self serve might make the difference.

A little off topic but why don't you guys CHANGE THE LAW? Are there that many crack heads on the government nipple that cannot survive any other way?

I've been averaging about 14.5 - 16 in my '03 AC 4x4 on almost entirely city driving. If I take a drive out to the paintball field, it will jump to 18 since it is a 4-lane, no lights and little traffic. I doubt I could get 20 coasting down hill with a tail wind but I'm not disappointed. My last truck, a Chevy S10 ZR2 with a 4.3, only got 21 about twice on the way to the airport. Otherwise, it got 15-17 in the city and didn't have half the torque or near the comfort.

[tackleberry625]

Originally Posted by docsg

Well, I'm 62 and have had two SR5 V8 Tundras (03' and now an 05'). I also can use a calculator and my mileage on both vehicles are right in line with most of these posts-i.e.-13 in town, 16 -17 on the road. You are very fortunate indeed!

I have an 02 SR5 V6 AC and I get around 16-17 city and 18-19 Hwy. Running 60-65mph on the hwy and babying it around town. The truck has been meticulously maintained and still looks brand new (it stays covered up when it is not being driven) and it has about 200 coats of wax on it. I also run either 89 or 93 in it since day and some Marvel Mystery Oil in the gas at every fill up using Chevron gas ONLY

[reivertom]

I just took a 120 mile trip and ran 66mph @ 2050 rpm and got 19.5 mpg. I determined that 66 was the slowest I could stand and run with traffic. I was actually surprised, I didn't think it would get over 17-18. It was hard not to run 75, but the money savings makes it easier!

[CrowT]

For whatever reason I think some people are honest...just their trucks do different than mine or yours. I make O2 sensors where I work at, and we build all parts to a certain spec, exactly the same way and same process and there are always variation windows for specs that are still good parts. You can take two vehicles off the production line, built one right after the other and I bet you that you could drive them exactly the same and get different mileages out of them.

So the same can be said for any mass produced item. Especially vehicles. I have a 2002 TRD 4x4 Tundra, access cab with 4.7 V8. Everything is still factory on it, all except the tires of course. I have 68,000 and some odd miles on mine.

I drive 11.3 miles to work one way on interstate. If I drive just from home-work, and work-home, with a little extra going to church, groceries, and such, I get around 16.5 MPG. Normal driving and no lead foot. Our max speed limit on interstate is 70 MPH but I've actually slowed down to 60 and that helps a bit. I read a stat that said driving 60 MPH vs 70 MPH gives an average of about 10% increase in gas mileage, and that number grows for ever mile an hour over 70 that you go. I drove it full interstate to Virginia from TN back in April. Me and my wife with our luggage and such...and we got 383 and some odd miles out of a tank on just interstate travel. But I've never got 20 MPG out of it. I actually came here looking for tips on squeezing more out of what I'm getting now and after reading along...I guess I should be happy with what I've got now?!

If I fill my tank to the rim, I can squeeze an average of 370 mixed highway/city miles out of a tank before the fuel light comes on. And that would be putting about 21 gallons in it to fill it back up.

[russman63]

I just got back from a long road trip where my speedometer stayed between 78-80 mph on the interstates with the A/C on. My average was 18.2 mpg. Not bad for that speed.

[Boosted27606]

Best I ever got with my 06 4X4 is 20.2MPG on flat highway with cruise control ON at 62 mph. I doubt anyone could get any better as I use the Scangauge to monitor my Instant Mileage and Today's mileage constantly.