23 mpg over 600 miles (1 Viewer)

[e9999]

I don't think the 2wd is a likely explanation at all, actually. I think the much more likely explanation is the driving style, which also most don't have any experience with.

I doubt that. Even driving very conservatively I can only do 18-19mpg at best on the freeway with a well-tuned '03 100 cruising over a reasonably long distance. I really don't think it is possible to get significantly better than that in the OEM configuration, both from that first hand experience as well as from the vast majority of what I have read on MUD, cow magnets and hydrogen generators notwithstanding.

 

[SmoothLC]

Congrats!

Ok Muddy, here's the deal.

Let's see what mpg you get on the way home, huh?

Put all those doubters to shame will ya?

Love it!

 

[sosodefcane]

New high mileage record ...,

 

[phsycle]

I'll have to try 55mph on my commute to see what I get. Although the LC is not my daily driver, I have used it on my 100 mile/day commutes. Best has been ~16mpg, almost all highway at ~70mph, stock gearing and 285/75 tires.

 

[Bombdefuzer]

17.5 mph stock with normal air pressure.

 

[Muddy Bean]

It's amazing to me that there are doubters. This is why I took copious amounts of photos of my process. No errors. Each time I filled up I shook the truck to eliminate air pockets in the tank and thus allow for the most accurate and consistent data. With an unloaded truck and slightly larger tires I may be able to get slightly better numbers. The fact remains, I drove 600 miles on a stock tank of fuel. No funky business there at all.

Sent from my iPhone using IH8MUD while navigating gnarly trail. Typos are inherent.

 

[DuckLN]

You can't baby one more than I do and my tires are road slicks and I don't believe you. Wish I could.

 

[Cfbrenton1]

Absolutely possible, and in the realm of reality. It's very hard for me to 'ecodrive' the 100 series but my DD/commuter is a 1992 Geo Metro XFI. I regularly ecodrive (top speed 60, shift before 2k rpm, taller than stock tires, etc) the Metro and see a consistent 55-56 mpg. If I drive it hard the mpg comes all the way down to 45ish, that doesn't happen to very often though. For some weird reason, I absolutely despise buying gasoline for regular every day life, though I don't think twice about it for a trip to Moab, etc.

Great job on the killer mpg! It takes extreme discipline to accomplish what you did.

I was think more like extreme "analness". Haha

 

[e9999]

It's amazing to me that there are doubters. This is why I took copious amounts of photos of my process. No errors. Each time I filled up I shook the truck to eliminate air pockets in the tank and thus allow for the most accurate and consistent data. With an unloaded truck and slightly larger tires I may be able to get slightly better numbers. The fact remains, I drove 600 miles on a stock tank of fuel. No funky business there at all.

Sent from my iPhone using IH8MUD while navigating gnarly trail. Typos are inherent.

as I said, the only reasonable explanation I can possibly see besides errors is the 2WD bit. That I have no info or intuition about but I would guess it would matter significantly indeed. Gut feeling is that a 25% increase in mpg due only to that seems high though (as in 1/4 of your engine power goes to friction in the front axle?) but I wouldn't discount it offhand as impossible.

So, what's your nominal tire size?

And FWIW -not directed to you specifically- if it were so easy to get to 22mpg by just driving conservatively, don't you all think that Toyota would have been over that mpg rating like (put your own politically incorrect analogy here), considering that car manufacturers already tend to play loose with mpg ratings in general?

 

[SanDiegoCruiser]

I drove back from Death Valley to San Diego with no front Drive shaft and noticed no difference in mpg.

 

[e9999]

I drove back from Death Valley to San Diego with no front Drive shaft and noticed no difference in mpg.

that's not the same thing as disconnecting at the flange level though, you still had the axles and diff spinning I assume

 

[SanDiegoCruiser]

Nope, blew my diff so I disconnected the flanges..

 

[yotasavg]

Great job Muddy! I'm kind of with e9999 on thinking the 2wd must have had something to do with it.... but then again everyone who's run 2wd comes out of the woodwork to nay say better mpg's in the 'part time conversion' threads. Idk, but if I could get 300 miles on a tank I'd be stoked. Unfortunately my longer trips are always to Tahoe, which means I'm heading uphill in both directions As an anecdote, yesterday I set a new personal record of 15 full, in place, center axis donuts and watched my fuel gauge literally show about 1/8 less afterward. I think pinning it at 5k rpm for about 1.5 minutes would net you the same joy

 

[e9999]

Nope, blew my diff so I disconnected the flanges..

Interesting. Well, then if true in general and 2WD is not it, then the 22.6mpg is really an amazing achievement as far as I can tell and I would not know what to ascribe it to. But to cast a wider net, has anybody ever seen any claim of similar mpg in the forum in the past that was fully substantiated?

 

[Elijah]

Also keep in mind that folks driving habits have changed so much I recent years that the EPA went and corrected (lowered) all of the past fuel mpg numbers that they had originally estimated for vehicles when the speed limits were lower.
I was a doubter until I actually experienced it myself.

 

[Muddy Bean]

You can't baby one more than I do and my tires are road slicks and I don't believe you. Wish I could.

That's totally ok by me. Thankfully my mpg isn't based on who believes me or not my wallet believes me

Sent from my iPhone using IH8MUD while navigating gnarly trail. Typos are inherent.

 

[SanDiegoCruiser]

The best I've done is 18mpg on a tank cruising 60 mph. Keep in mind my truck weighs 6200lbs...

 

[triskelion]

short of putting a 100 body on top of a prius, 22mpg either way is awesome

im happy when i break the 13 combined mpg lol

 

[Muddy Bean]

Here's a pic of my tire size. I got dressed and went outside and just took the photo (florida nights are much warmer than Michigan nights):





Our truck weighs in at around 5800 lbs right now. Once again, I'm running 51 psi and no roof rack. No mods or steel bumpers. Only running a Tbar crank. Wasn't trying to start anything, just wanted to encourage those who wanted to see what the truck could do if driven carefully. I don't know how to prove it to the doubters any more than my photos and my word. but my grandma still doesn't believe we went to the moon. Oh well. Onto my next adventure. Over and out.

Sent from my iPhone using IH8MUD while navigating gnarly trail. Typos are inherent.

 

[phsycle]

RE: 2WD

Tacoma's with auto and manual hubs report same MPG. May account for some of the gains here, but not much, in my opinion.

I think this report will be more credible with repeat performance(s). Please post up once you're back home.