MPG, how to improve? (1 Viewer)

[re_guderian]

I have front bumper, sliders, small lift, no roof rack (you roof rack is likely a big hitter), 295 Terra Grapplers, 5 of the 7 people were scouts, and 200 of the 250 miles were highway. See how pointless it is to compare? you should compare weights of your tires v stock. I would bet between tires and roof rack that is where you're losing the most mpg's. Off roading in 4lo will always get you in the single digits.

 

[TrekboxX]

Yep, pretty sure. Simple math- don't even need to calculate, there's a bunch of calculators on line. I've discovered my in dash "gage" is pretty close due to it being a bit optomistic. Pretty much what I gain with the tire calculation I lose with actual fuel burned vs miles driven.

 

[TrekboxX]

I have front bumper, sliders, small lift, no roof rack (you roof rack is likely a big hitter), 295 Terra Grapplers, 5 of the 7 people were scouts, and 200 of the 250 miles were highway. See how pointless it is to compare? you should compare weights of your tires v stock. I would bet between tires and roof rack that is where you're losing the most mpg's. Off roading in 4lo will always get you in the single digits.

Agreed. I was fine with 8 mph on the trail, just hoping for better enroute, that's all. And I would agree with the rack, but the rack is pretty new and has a full fairing all the way down to the roof. Only saw about ~.5 loss with it. Not scientific at all. I'm just going to turn off the nav screen and enjoy it.

 

[OregonLC]

10 on the trail, 14 on the road, 1/2 gph idling. Those are numbers you can take to the bank every day. The last is particularly of import in northern climes; $1.75 for 30 min of heat at night is a deal that can't be beat.

 

[OregonLC]

I would switch from the trail grappler to the terra grappler next set.

Terra's are still E /10 ply rated and heavy. My 295 x 70 on Tundra 18's are just south of 100 lbs per corner. Thinking MTX Kevlar next, if they ever wear out. But I really like the small 35's, they roll over everything... Except the aforementioned fuel station.

 

[College Cruiser]

You can say what you'll get in city and highway all you want, but I think in the end it comes down to the specific city and how well it moves traffic. And for the highway it depends on how fast you go.
For example, over the summer I worked in Lakewood colorado. In that city I consistently got 13-14 mpg. But up here in Fort Collins, I consistently get about 10.5 mpg. And that's 10.5 mpg while staying below 2000 rpms throughout my commute.
For highway. I did a 1200mi drive back to San Diego at 75 mph highway speeds and averaged 12 mpg. On the way Back I stayed at or below 65 in the interest pf saving some money and got 16. Depends on how you drive and where your driving, so don't change the LC, change your driving habits.

Cheers!

 

[FJfan]

Will a CNG system work with the 4.7?

 

[PADDO]

Very popular mod in Australia, note petrol (gasoline) is at least 50% more expensive than US. Google something like "LPG conversions in AU" .

 

[Trunk Monkey]

However for the cost of the conversion you can buy a LOT of fuel. Someone in my club looked at converting their Tacoma and it was close to $10k.

 

[PADDO]

Agreed, the economics have to be there for the individual. The AU government were offering substantial rebates for LPG conversions, up to $2k, and at $1.45/litre for ULP the numbers worked for many, some out of pocket for $3k or so and recovered their investment well within a year. But when you have the option to go straight to diesel why would you mess with gas and conversions?

 

[cboyd]

I created a database app for managing my LC maint. Within that app I built a fuel reporting piece that tracks every single fill up including adjustments for tire size as well as tracking other variables. in the last 226 days of operation I have averaged 11.99 MPG.

I use the tried and true method to calculate the mileage - miles driven / gallons used.

Rob, is this an app that you have made available? Would be very cool to have!

 

[RobRed]

Rob, is this an app that you have made available? Would be very cool to have!

No I haven't made it available. It's a filemaker Pro database that I run on the iPad via FilemakerGo. It's pretty beta (read rough) else I would share it with you. I could suggest you try Bento from Filemaker. It's a simplified database designed for easy development if your not the database type.

I know in the Apple app store there are several apps designed to track some of the things my database does.

 

[watchknut]

Just got back from a trip where most of the driving was cruising between 60-65 mph, through 2 tanks of gas, average around 15.5 mpg! Looks like I will be taking a little longer to get places now as the mpg compared to when I cruise at 70-75mph is a huge difference.

 

[adrenalinefjz80]

I had my highest tank mpg right after replacing a failed coil pack last week. It was 16.5 MPG at 90% highway from Nashville to Indianapolis. Past drives made around 15 flat driving the same at 70mph.