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I've noticed fuel efficiency to be a deeply contentious topic here on the forum, and I feel like it's important to just point out a few facts with the new generation. Every post about fuel efficiency is cluttered with anecdotal evidence and suggestions or complaints, and many people are either new to pickup trucks or new to a turbocharged vehicle.
https://www.toyotamarin.com/toyota-tacoma-mpg/
The main topics Toyota points to are
-Tires
-Air Conditioning
-Speed
-Excess weight
-Tire inflation will severely impact gas's mileage, and wider tires are more air resistance/block air that is otherwise sent around through the fender air ducts
-Air conditioning compressors strain the engine and lead to increased load per distance
-They explicitly say that vehicles are traditionally designed for 65 miles per hour peak fuel efficiency, and that driving faster can be at the sacrifice of gas mileage
-Pretty self explanatory on the excess weight
Other factors that will affect gas mileage can be
-Uncalibrated odometer, especially with aftermarket tires. This can affect calculated fuel efficiency on the dash and is worth checking accuracy of odometer readings.
-Aggressive driving, specifically in a turbocharged engine where more gas is burned than a naturally aspirated engine, and you can have wasted gas that revs the engine without fully engaging acceleration
-Air resistance from any modifications or even stock accessories. These vehicles are meticulously wind tunnel and computer tested to maximize air efficiency at the base design, and even a seemingly slight modification can cause a major change. Skid plates sets also help some with aerodynamics especially because of how cavernous the underside of the truck is.
My anecdotal take:
I'm coming from a T100 that was getting maybe 13mpg at highway speeds and have personally made modifications to the Tacoma with aero in mind (pizza cutter tires, skid plate set, tonneau cover, manual transmission) and almost exclusively keep the truck in eco mode because it responds more like the T100. I'm getting about 19-20MPG average per tank even with bigger tires and full skid plate sets, but it requires meticulous thought on modifications and driving style on a vehicle with such a small window for claimed fuel efficiency. I also found my odometer reads about 5% off with the bigger tires so I have to multiply any dashboard fuel efficiency by a factor of 1.05, and usually that gets me a more reasonable fuel efficiency.
https://www.toyotamarin.com/toyota-tacoma-mpg/
The main topics Toyota points to are
-Tires
-Air Conditioning
-Speed
-Excess weight
-Tire inflation will severely impact gas's mileage, and wider tires are more air resistance/block air that is otherwise sent around through the fender air ducts
-Air conditioning compressors strain the engine and lead to increased load per distance
-They explicitly say that vehicles are traditionally designed for 65 miles per hour peak fuel efficiency, and that driving faster can be at the sacrifice of gas mileage
-Pretty self explanatory on the excess weight
Other factors that will affect gas mileage can be
-Uncalibrated odometer, especially with aftermarket tires. This can affect calculated fuel efficiency on the dash and is worth checking accuracy of odometer readings.
-Aggressive driving, specifically in a turbocharged engine where more gas is burned than a naturally aspirated engine, and you can have wasted gas that revs the engine without fully engaging acceleration
-Air resistance from any modifications or even stock accessories. These vehicles are meticulously wind tunnel and computer tested to maximize air efficiency at the base design, and even a seemingly slight modification can cause a major change. Skid plates sets also help some with aerodynamics especially because of how cavernous the underside of the truck is.
My anecdotal take:
I'm coming from a T100 that was getting maybe 13mpg at highway speeds and have personally made modifications to the Tacoma with aero in mind (pizza cutter tires, skid plate set, tonneau cover, manual transmission) and almost exclusively keep the truck in eco mode because it responds more like the T100. I'm getting about 19-20MPG average per tank even with bigger tires and full skid plate sets, but it requires meticulous thought on modifications and driving style on a vehicle with such a small window for claimed fuel efficiency. I also found my odometer reads about 5% off with the bigger tires so I have to multiply any dashboard fuel efficiency by a factor of 1.05, and usually that gets me a more reasonable fuel efficiency.
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