Who’s got this best mpg?

[2001LC]

Who’s got the best mpg, contest, be the winner and share your tips on how you have accomplished this.

The winner gets: bragging rights and the satisfaction of helping other TLC owners reduce gas consumption.

Rules: State your;

1) Annual average in mpg, city driving. Gasoline TLC series 100 only.*
2) Seasonal averages (if you have them) and why you believe the average changes throughout the year.
3) Share your tips and how you accomplish this.
4) What grade of gas you use and from where.
5) Year of TLC and stock tire size or not.
6) Altitude in feet above sea level.


* City driving: Daily in city driving, combination of city streets and highway with most of the driving time on streets with no more than 50% of miles on highway

There are some that keep detailed maintenance logs which includes gas miles. A drop in MPG can give early warning information on needed repairs such as; air filter, spark plugs, oils & lubes, O2 sensors, catalytic converts, PCV as well as many other mechanical issues that can arise. As well as other issues, such as the best fuel to use and from which supplier. I personally got in the habit of keeping a log while in the military and have always tried to keep my vehicles’ in top shape and road ready.

The MPG contest will hopefully attract those series 100 TLC owners that keep logs and can give accurate MPG. These TLC are generally very well maintained. The method (or tricks) that they find to improve performance (gas mileage) that they share here can befit all who wish to reduce gas consumption, for what ever reason they deem important to them whether it be monetary, environmental or some other reason.

It is limited to series 100 gas engines only for comparison purposes hopefully all series TLC owners can benefit from the information posted here. Naturally those that have customized their TLC for heave off road use will get lower gas mileage, due extra weight and tires that maximize traction in their favorite off road adventures or special use circumstances.

The phrase “dependence on foreign oil” has been removed and replace with gas consumption so not to offend those that may consider it “ethnocentric rational” it was merely a popular media phrase. Thank you for bringing it to my attention.

[1point4]

I do around 14-15 mpg in mixed driving but what do you mean by "reduce dependence on foreign oil"? this is an international forum and we have members from oil-producing countries - seems like an ethnocentric rationale IMO. the upside of less fuel-consumption would be less waste of natural resources and air pollution, but then again, there are far effective means of accomplishing that than increasing your mpg on your TLC, both on an individual basis, for communities and for the entire world.

Check out what this TLC-owner is doing: http://www.cleanestline.com/2007/11/...g-there-a.html

[9toys]

99 LC 128K miles.
About 15-16mpg city, 16-17.5 highway.
Live at about 725 to 800 altitude but see little difference at sea level or in the 4-5k mountains of the Big Bend of west Texas.
Little change seasonally.
Completely stock with Michelin LTX/LS tires at 32-33 psi.
No synthetics in oil pan or gearboxes.
87 octane gas from either Walmart or HEB grocery store. Saw no improvement with premium in mileage and power boost wasn't enough to justify the expense. Besides, I don't tow anything and no one is going to outrun anyone in a Cruiser that they would bragg about.
I allow the car to start rolling on it's own before acclerating when possible.
I time red lights and cheat a little on stop signs.
Running the AC doesn't seem to affect mileage on the highway and I rarely use it in town.
I usually drive with cruise on the highway and set it about 65-70. Over 70 makes quite a difference.

I NEVER, NEVER use drive thru's at fast food, pharmacies, etc. They are my pet peeve and I feel they should be outlawed. Get off your lazy a...ses and go inside. (I won't buy any of the excuses...feel bad...have kids with me.. etc. We lived quite well without them for years.) On the same line...kill the engine at Sonic. You can live without the AC for a few minutes. Besides,your exhaust is choking the guy beside you and your DRL's are blinding the guy across from you.

I removed the 3rd row seat but am not sure it improved mileage appreciably. It did it mainly to increase storage space for my camping and camera gear.
I keep the car clean and waxed year-round.
That's about all I can think of now.

[2001LC]

Originally Posted by 9toys

99 LC 128K miles.
About 15-16mpg city, 16-17.5 highway.
Live at about 725 to 800 altitude but see little difference at sea level or in the 4-5k mountains of the Big Bend of west Texas.
Little change seasonally.
Completely stock with Michelin LTX/LS tires at 32-33 psi.
No synthetics in oil pan or gearboxes.
87 octane gas from either Walmart or HEB grocery store. Saw no .

I call that a good mpg city not using synthetics and 87 octane, WOW. Good driving habits, good running engine and drive train. It will be interesting to see what others in your area and altitude get for mpg city.

[9toys]

It took me a while to learn how to get the most out of the LC. My wife doesn't do so well. She get 14-15mpg in town. I rarely get in a hurry...nothing starts for me until I get there, anyway. I subscribe to the bumper sticker that says :I'm in no hurry...I'm on my way to work."

[1point4]

2001LC, didn't mean to rain on anyone's parade, your initiative is a valid one and it makes good ownership and environmental sense - I just suck at keeping logs! :-)

having said that, i justed checked my mpg meter on the dashboard while driving to the pharmacy just now - it was 11.8 since last refueling (which was quite recently)... and that was after i had 25K mi service done earlier this week (oil/filter change, tire rotation etc). needless to say, living in an urbran/suburban area is not good for gas consumption...

[GRunner]

Mine said 10.5mpg after last refuel in the hilly san francisco.

[1loudLX]

is it bad that im getting 12mpg with an RX350 loaner that i have for the weekend? hah. I get 10-12 depending if i want to drive nicely or not. More highway these days back and forth to school. If im going on a long trip i usually pace myself to stretch out the tank but that never happens because someon always wants to go faster then me and i wont let that happen.

[2001LC]

Originally Posted by 1point4

having said that, i justed checked my mpg meter on the dashboard while driving to the pharmacy just now - it was 11.8 since last refueling (which was quite recently)... and that was after i had 25K mi service done earlier this week (oil/filter change, tire rotation etc). needless to say, living in an urbran/suburban area is not good for gas consumption...

11.8 at sea level ouch

[2001LC]

Originally Posted by GRunner

Mine said 10.5mpg after last refuel in the hilly san francisco.

10.5 at sea level, well the hills must be tuff.

[2001LC]

Originally Posted by 1loudLX

I get 10-12 depending if i want to drive nicely or not. More highway these days back and forth to school. If im going on a long trip i usually pace myself to stretch out the tank but that never happens because someon always wants to go faster then me and i wont let that happen.

10 to 12 at sea level, I realy was expecting much better.

[ppressle]

12-13 at sea level with 91 premium. Just changed the plugs. Perhaps magic will happen.

[1loudLX]

2001LC, PLEASE use the multi-qoute feature.

[Jim_Chow]

-100% city: 15.5-16
-interstate hwy: 19+ (summer), ~18.5 otherwise except in So. CA (~18-18.5 on AZ gas, ~1.5mpg less on CA gas)
-tips: cruise set to 70mph on interstate, slow acceleration, coast into stop lights, roof rails pushed all the way back, M1 delvac 5w40 (engine), delvac 75w90 diffs/tcase, OEM air filter changed ~once a year, -20004 oil filter, OCI at 7.5K mi, no trips under 8 miles.
-gas: Chevron 91 only (shell if I can't get chevron), AZ gas (up to 10% ethanol)
-year: 2003 w/ 5 speed tranny, bridgestone OEM HT's w/ 18" wheels
-altitude: 2500-3000' usually, 3000-7000' interstate (mostly AZ & NM)

[2001LC]

Originally Posted by Jim_Chow

-100% city: 15.5-16
~1.5mpg less on CA gas)
Chevron 91 only (shell if I can't get chevron), AZ gas (up to 10% ethanol)

Nice Jim, Thats ~15.75mpg average city, do you ever get 100% gas and if so do you see any difference in MPG?

Is CA gas a blend?

[J-man]

11 city / 14 highway with a big tailwind

[LandCruiserPhil]

99'
130K
285's
6100lbs
Full syn
87 octane
All MPG GPS
14-15 city
16-17 hwy
1.5 mpg less with 1300lb pop-up or RTT

[Elijah]

We get 13-14 mpg in 50/50 city and highway driving and 15-16 all highway. It's a '99 with 58k miles on 35" BFG A/T with ARB front bumper.

[Jim_Chow]

Originally Posted by 2001LC

Nice Jim, Thats ~15.75mpg average city, do you ever get 100% gas and if so do you see any difference in MPG?

Is CA gas a blend?

I don't know exactly how much gas is in our gas. I suspect > 90% although legally, they are only required to use 90%. I say this because in CA, the pumps also say 10% ethanol. In this case, I suspect you're getting 10% ethanol while in AZ, you might be getting closer to 0% ethanol. I'm pretty sure the "recipes" are different. I had similar results when we were using up to 10% MTBE for part of the year, so I'm pretty sure it's not a MTBE vs. ethanol energy content argument. I think there's just more gas in AZ gasoline. I didn't notice any difference between Tucson gas and NM or CO (Montrose) gas, either, just So. CA gas.

FWIW, Tucson gas comes via pipeline from El Paso while So. CA gas is all from the West Coast refineries (probably the ones in Wilmington/LA). Phoenix gets gas from both CA and TX (pipeline via Tucson).

I have to add that "city" driving has different meaning in AZ vs. CA. Here, traffic lights are typically 0.5 mi to 1 mi apart. In So. CA, there are so many cars that there seems to be a light every 200 ft. When I lived in LA, I had to drive through over 50 traffic lights in 11 miles to get to work. In the LX, I typically encounter 20 lights in the 15 mi grocery loop.

[spressomon]

My MPG just went up after recently replacing the PS upstream O2 sensor. Now I am thinking about replacing the DS upstream O2 sensor even though I don't have a code. I am getting, now, about 15mpg (14.5-15.5mpg...if I stayed at 60-63mph I can easily get 20% better efficiency) which, post O2 sensor install, is up from 13.5mpg even before the code was displayed... with my heavy pig of a rig on the highway (13.5-14.5 around town): 4,000' elevation and up; 70mph; 87 octane. I am pretty happy with that considering how my rig is set-up, overall weight, turning 35" MT/R rubber and the elevation factor.

Pulling the trailer however is an automatic 20% decrease in MPG .

[2001LC]

15.98 mpg yearly average city driving.

That works out to 15.49 during winter fuel blend and 16.72 summer fuel. I think my mpg drops in the winter mostly due to the fuel blend and to a lesser extent due to warm up time (80%/20%).

Tips:

a) I found that running the climate control on auto reduced mpg by and annual average of ~1.44mpg. By turn off the auto fan I raised my yearly average, which was 14.54 mpg with very little difference between summer and winter.

b) Extend time between fill ups by planning trips, avoiding multiple short trips which reduce number of cold starts.

c) Avoid rush hour traffic.

d) Plan routs with fewer lights and stop signs.

e) Light foot, slow take off.

f) Synthetic oil 5w-30 & gear lube 75w-90, K&N filter. Third row seats removed.

Premium gas from Phillips 66.

2001 TLC with 100,000 miles, OEM tire and wheels size, Michelin LTX M/S 275/70R16 114H.

5,250ft Above Sea Level, up to 11,500ft ASL occasionally (camping and skiing)


Trivia: $6,574.00 spent on gas in 3 ½ years (38,583 miles).

Anyone else have any gas savings tips?

Someone recommended replacing the O2 sensor around 75,000 miles.

Someone else told me he increased his mpg on a V-12 by 40% from 9 to 12 mpg with a cold air intake and a flow master muffler (10%/90%), hard to believe.

Note: The 200 TLC with a 5.7 liter has the same mpg rating as the 100 TLC; Toyota recommends 0W-20 oil, I hear uses synthetic ATF.

Notes:
I have recently changed my Transmission & power steering ATF and bearing & propeller shaft lubes' to all synthetics. Added one can of 44K and put 30PSI in front tires. I’m hoping this raises my average to 16.2 or better ~15.7mpg winter and ~ 17 summers.

I will be cleaning the throttle body and testing PCV soon. I’m looking into the possible benefit of a PCV catch can to help keep intake system cleaner.

I will test my O2 sensors and ECT with any drop in mpg or sooner.

[Colicious]

11-12mpg, all highway :(

99 cruiser, 3" lift, 315 toyo mt, stock gears

[spressomon]

Originally Posted by Colicious

11-12mpg, all highway :(

99 cruiser, 3" lift, 315 toyo mt, stock gears

I don't know about sea level...but at 4,500' and up the 4.88's increased my MPG about 12% overall. Probably not a good payback...but FYI.

[Jim_Chow]

Originally Posted by 2001LC

15.98 mpg yearly average city driving.

[color="Lime"]Anyone else have any gas savings tips?

Make sure your front wheel bearings are properly torqued. The Toyota dealer did my bearings at 60K mi one year ago, way overtorqued (probably closer to 70 ft-lbs on the left side outer axle nut). This was during my 60K mi service. I had the dealer do the front wheel bearings at ATF, I did the rest. I drove about 3K highway miles on it (mileage was definitely ~2mpg lower than before the 60K service despite the new air filter, fluids, cleaned TB). Over the summer, I replaced all rotors/pads and torqued the bearings properly according to the FSM (both sides read the same torque on the spring scale). Fuel economy increased by 2mpg immediately (back to the way it was before the 60K service!) and has stayed at that level since!

[2001LC]

Originally Posted by Jim_Chow

Make sure your front wheel bearings are properly torqued. The Toyota dealer did my bearings at 60K mi one year ago, way overtorqued (probably closer to 70 ft-lbs on the left side outer axle nut). This was during my 60K mi service. I had the dealer do the front wheel bearings at ATF, I did the rest. I drove about 3K highway miles on it (mileage was definitely ~2mpg lower than before the 60K service despite the new air filter, fluids, cleaned TB). Over the summer, I replaced all rotors/pads and torqued the bearings properly according to the FSM (both sides read the same torque on the spring scale). Fuel economy increased by 2mpg immediately (back to the way it was before the 60K service!) and has stayed at that level since!

I had a similar experience: I recently replaced the boots on the right driveshaft and pulled the steering knuckle. While I had it apart I decided to clean and grease inside of the spindle, thrust bushing and axle roller bearings along with the wheel bearings. The grease in the spindle, thrust bushing and roller bearing area look good as new, and was a blue color with a very light texture, probably the factory synthetic lithium NLGI #1. The wheel bearing grease also looked good and was red, probably NLGI #2 most likely done at 30,000 miles maintenance. I bought the TLC at 58,000 miles and had a Toyota Dealer do the 60,000 mile maintenance, I later found out they didn’t do the wheel bearings, can’t figure out what they charged me $700.00 for.

I used Mobil 1 NLGI #2 on the thrust bushing, axle roller bearing and inside the spindle as I hadn’t found the synthetic lithium NLGI #1 that the FSM called for “yet”. I’ve been told by a shop that the only problem they see with NLGI #2 in this application is a groan while slow turning when cold, but that it didn’t hurt anything. My only concern is heat build up as it is a very tight area for the heavier grease, but being synthetic it shouldn’t be a problem.

I torque the tension nut to 43lb ft spun the hub to settle the bearings, then loosened too hand tight and torque to 5lb ft. (FSM spec 5 to 7lb ft) I use my digital fish scale at the 12:00 and only read 2.5lb ft (FSM spec10 to 15lb ft) on the scale in the direction of travel. I tighten to 10lb ft and read 8lb ft on the scale. I decided to go with ~7lb ft on the tension nut with ~3lb ft on the scale. My thinking here is the wheel bearing is broke-in (the FSM called for new bearings and races) and the synthetic Mobil 1 is better-quality grease then the FSM called for. Once I tighten the lock nut to 47lb ft the fish scale read about 3.5lb ft. I recheck with the scale once I had the wheel on and the scale read 15lb ft.

That was the right side; the left side looked like someone else packed it. The grease was black inside the spindle, thrust bushing and axle roller bearing area, also in the wheel bearing area. The drive shaft axle was discolored where the axle bearing rolls on it. The spindle was scorched where the wheel bearings sit on it as was the bearings at the points where it sits on the spindle axle. The back of the spindle was worn about .13mm were the bearing presses up against it and the claw washer was grooved about 2mm at the point were it contact the bearing. It looked like someone left the tension nut at 43lb ft. Causing the bearings to over heat and wear at the pressure points, until the excess pressure caused it to wear until it found its’ optimal tension (torque).

I R&R the axle, spindle and bearings with emery cloth and assembled the thrust bushing and axle bearing with Amsoil synthetic lithium NLGI #1(I had found some #1) and use Mobil 1 NLGI #2 on the wheel bearings, put I in a new claw washer and used a thicker snap ring to bring the gap to less then .2mm (.12mm) per FSM. I torque the same as I did on the right and got the same reading on the fish scale.

I plane on R&R both thrust bushings, axle bearings and wheel bearings again in the spring to see what if any difference/effect the various greases I use had, and if the left side is holding up to spec. Unless something sways me I will be using Amsoil synthetic lithium moly NLGI #1 on the thrust bushing & bearings and NLGI #2 on the wheel bearings. I am going with the moly because of all the good things I heard and read about it, one of which its’ ability to restore metal surfaces. My only concern with moly in the bearings is possible heat build up.

Sorry for the off topic long post, but I thought you would appreciate it Jim. I don’t think I’ll gain much from R&R of the left wheel bearing as it had loosened itself up probably before I bought the TLC, but I may pick up some from the synthetic greases, oils, ATF and power steering I used. The first tank of gas mpg was encouraging but need at least through the winter to get a good average.