Cutting weight for MPG?

[IslandTimes]

Love my LX, but hate that I have to fill up so often and can't even make it to the closest family there and back on one tank. Has anyone found reasonable areas to cut weight/improve the MPG?

I'm running stock Lexus 20" wheels now, would the 17" TRDs be a lighter overall package? Already removed my third row, but those seats really didn't add up to much weight. Any other ideas?

 

[stonepa]

My experience is that any weight you can remove isn't going to help fuel mileage. I've had 7 people in my car for a long highway trip and the mileage never dropped over other trips of similar nature with only 2 people. It's a heavy, powerful, gasoline powered tank that loves premium.

 

[jwestpro]

Something that will help noticeably is a low rolling resistance tire such as the Michelin LTX M/S2. These are also an E load range tire so not "light weight" but they are lighter than the heavy BFG or Dutatrac.

The compound is improved as well as the tire being a little lighter than I had with the BFG AT ko. My mpg went up instantly 10%. I'm using the same 18" wheels also so that part was not a factor.

The wider the tire, the more resistance it has too. While a 285 or wider looks cool, a 275 or 265 is more appropriate to the width of an 8" wide factory 18" wheel and will also help with mpg.

Some wheels can be up to 5lbs different which can make a difference in accelerations although the tread, as in the LRR designs, matters a lot more.

Also, using only ethanol free fuel will increase mpg over the E blends by 10% again. This is all from a year of testing in my Land Rover which weighs a lot more than a stock cruiser. (7000-8000lbs)

The other big thing for mine was removing the safari rack and awnings. That made a huge difference before these other changes.

Even when these changes only add a few % it all starts to be appreciated when you can go from 16 mpg to 19 or 20.

Lastly, increasing your tire diameter from factory to 32 or even better, 33" will be a direct improvement in mpg as the engine has plenty of torque to roll along nicely at lower rpm. I think it will increase the tire size by about 5% or so from factory to the common 33". This will require you to remover that in the speedometer and odometer as showing lower than actual numbers.

PM if you want more specifics.

 

[4x4tripping]

jwestpro is right, how you can safe fuel. The weight don`t really count.

If I drive my Land Cruiser 200 V8 diesel empty or loaded with 3.8 tons - it dont change anything.

Mud Terrain tyre pattern is worse - with a low rolling resistance tire you will get much better values

How you can save fuel - that is too how often you push your v8...

 

[skhochay]

Love my LX, but hate that I have to fill up so often and can't even make it to the closest family there and back on one tank. Has anyone found reasonable areas to cut weight/improve the MPG?

I'm running stock Lexus 20" wheels now, would the 17" TRDs be a lighter overall package? Already removed my third row, but those seats really didn't add up to much weight. Any other ideas?

Listen what you are saying - when you got the rig did you look at the price of a rig tag or MPG? Cuz my cost me $80,000+. Now you have concern saving on the fuel after spending $80,000. I have a solution for you, Sell your rid and get yourself a Prius .

 

[Overlake]

You're going to have to start cutting out three figure lbs sums to even begin to gain anything material mpg wise. One of the reasons why I find tire weights threads a really funny debate on 4x4 forums. It's even pretty asinine on sports cars (splitting hairs).

What I found really helpful is checking your hwy speeds. You take significant, talking exponential efficiency hits when working against wind resistance. 60mph is great, but not really realistic given stressed out drivers, but 65mph might be the sweet spot. At 70+ you're taking something like 25%+ reduction in mpg, comparatively, and it only gets drastically worse from there.

To end on a positive note, the 200 is the biggest, most efficient and powerful Land Cruiser released to date in the USA. And it sips regular unleaded, too. Cheers to that.

 

[stonepa]

Regular unleaded? My LX 570 says premium only, although I rarely stick to that. My 100 said premium as well but I never, in 331k miles, filled that one with anything but regular.

Anyone with experience running regular in an LX?

 

[Overlake]

Stone regular per my land cruiser manual. I would run premiumif Toyota even subtly recommended premium in writing.

 

[dukmon]

Yeah, 100's require premium, 200's regular. We have more and more stations offering non-ethanol now too, at decent prices.


Moving forward, I have put duct tape on all the front gaps of my 200 and keep it waxed to the max to decrease wind resistance. I'm happy to report I'm seeing a slight increase in mileage and a very quiet ride at highway speeds.

 

[jwestpro]

Dukmon - No sh!t ? That's funny, covering the front end gaps on a big bumpered Land Cruiser. Hat's off to you for trying

To recap, tire tread design and tire size will help much, much, more than weight. Conversely, a bunch of junk on the roof will totally kill any ideas you might have for fuel economy at highway speeds.

 

[jwestpro]

Regular unleaded? My LX 570 says premium only, although I rarely stick to that. My 100 said premium as well but I never, in 331k miles, filled that one with anything but regular.

Anyone with experience running regular in an LX?

I've wondered about this myself just from curiosity when we were comparing and considering LX570 vs LC (200). Sure seems like the engine should be 100% identical. It makes me wonder if the 90+ is simply for a little more HP, which should also give the LC a little more if used.

I just looked at the GasBuddy app for the area and reg vs premium is 20-30¢ difference which is not even 10% but it is a significant $ amount over 30,000 miles per year at 16 mpg (probably overall average for a year). Some rough math using 16 mpg / 30k and $3.50 vs $3.80 yields an annual difference of just under $600. That would cover my high speed internet

Can't see it being much of a reason to choose one over the other though.

With the LX suspension, can it be lowered a little during highway speed? This generally helps a tiny bit on fuel too.

 

[SWUtah]

My 2011's owners manual states premium unleaded for my LX570. So the LC200 owners manual states regular unleaded??? Isn't the engine and tuning almost identical? If this is true, what do you guys think the downside is to using regular here in flat Texas? I always use regular unleaded in my 100 series.

 

[jmw101]

A little different example, but here's my example:
I own a 2005 Tundra with the 4.7l V8. Regular unleaded required. 197,000 miles
I own a 2008 Lexus GX 470, which uses the same engine. "Premium Unleaded" required. 175,000 miles

I have never run premium unleaded in either vehicle, and they are still running strong.

I've got 103,000 on my LC 200 and have never run premium unleaded. Don't plan to on this one, either.

 

[SWUtah]

A little different example, but here's my example:
I own a 2005 Tundra with the 4.7l V8. Regular unleaded required. 197,000 miles
I own a 2008 Lexus GX 470, which uses the same engine. "Premium Unleaded" required. 175,000 miles

I have never run premium unleaded in either vehicle, and they are still running strong.

I've got 103,000 on my LC 200 and have never run premium unleaded. Don't plan to on this one, either.

I ran 91 in my LX470 then from reading on this site went to regular 87 octane lost about 1 mpg. Guess I'll start a thread.

 

[chilibit]

If Toyota could add one MPG to the CAFE database for the 200 by specifying premium (which you pay for as the owner) I suspect they would. Hence, the folklore is likely driven by subtle variances in other parameters.

 

[SWUtah]

The difference between the LX and LC is some weight.

 

[Rando Kuruza]

Only 200 lbs and a little different timing in the detonation. (tuning of the engine)

Get your 200lb friend in your car and go on a road trip. Won't hurt your mileage that much VS going on a road trip by yourself

The big fat 20's make the biggest difference in gas mileage. Weight on the wheels make much bigger difference than weight in the body.

I.E. Go hiking up a hill with a water bottle in hand... not to bad
Go hiking up a hill with a water bottle in hand and a 20 lb back pack... Little tougher
Go hiking up a hill with a water bottle in hand and a 20 lb back pack and 10 lb weights on each foot... Holy crap I'm tired, every time you lift your leg to step up will be work!!!

Weight on the wheels kills MPG's

I added 18lbs a wheel with new KO2's tires, with a horrible rolling resistance design and bad aerodynamics (space in between the lugs) Lost 1 mpg instantly.

Get some super light 17 inch rims, with Michelin GREENX low rolling resistant tires I guarantee you will add 1mpg with out taking any weight out of the car... Problem is LX570 would just look silly then.

Rolling resistance is this... Get in your friends car with mudders go down a small paved decline put it in neutral, the car will pick up speed but not alot.

Get in a vehicle with low rolling resistant tires and do the same thing, your picking up speed much faster!!! That is rolling resistance. It takes up lots of energy to propel a car if your rolling resistance is high.

Put a heavy front bumper with horrible aerodynamics, MT tires with horrible aerodynamics (the space in between the lugs) and a wider tire to add to horrible aerodynamic, more unsprung weight, and add a whole lot of weight in the car, with a roof rack with horrible aerodynamics. Boom your car just went to 10mpg. But man what a Vehicle it will be

Sorry for the long write up, been studying for a while and this is my excuse for a break lol. Much funner talking about this stuff

 

[SWUtah]

Just read a engineering article that states for every 1 lb of unsprung weight added its equivalent to adding 6 lbs of sprung weight. Example my OEM tires weigh 41 lbs if I upgraded to BFG AT/KO2's that weigh 58 lbs I've added the equivalent of 102 lbs times 4 or a total of 408 Lbs to my 200 series. I know my 200 series LX570 is capable of carrying 400 more lbs but is the AWS engineered to compensated for the 17 lbs per wheel of additional unsprung weight? If so what does that do to the ride/handling on a stock LX570 suspension? When I installed heavier tires on my 100 I upgraded the suspension to OME 2" lift with the Slee diff drop and I loved the ride and handling.