Optimal MPG for FJ Cruiser

[Woodeye]

Someone told me that the surfboard racks, light bar, lift, bigger tires and a lead foot can effect the mileage too hmmm

You have been told right! I have been hearing a lot of stuff about larger tires screwing up the mileage showing on the speedometer and the odometer. That is correct also. However, I believe there is a way to correct the Speedometer/odometer reading with a laptop computer. Just like in the old days when we could put a different speedometer drive gear in the tranny to correct for larger or smaller diameter (how tall) tires. MAny years ago I had a Dodge work van that got 21-22 mpg routinely. UNTIL I put on a set of ladder racks! Boom! MPG went to like 16 mpg. The racks weighed about 10 lbs but the wind turbulance was so screwed up from stock that the mpg suffered. Just for S_ _ ts and giggles I took them off and the mpg went right back up.

Also keep your front end aligned and tire pressures up while on the road!. Ever push a car or ride a bike with a flat or very low tire?

Hope it helps.

Woodeye

 

[tddfj]

i seen a reprogremmer for the speedo offered by i think super lift cannt be for sure. it seemed like it came with one of their lifts but you could buy it seperate also.

 

[Brock]

Being that I'm a girl, and I know how to drive and I can ask for directions,talk on the phone, drink a coffee and deal with kids at the same time it should be getting better gas mileage It must be a design flaw

multitasking and multi talented at its best...INDEED!

 

[gaylonw]

Consistently Getting 18.5-21 MPG

My stock TRD has 40K on it and I travel/live in the Baltimore Washington Metro area.
I have a TRD CAI and Syn Lube in engine and Rear.
My TRD is 5 Speed Auto.
I purchased it 12/07, so there is obviously quite a bit of Interstate at 60-65MPH driving going on here.
I feel that that is acceptable for a nearly 5K pound vehicle.
It is considerably better than the 15-16MPG I am getting on my "new" '96 FZJ 80 series and alot better than my "old" '90 FJ 62 which gets 13 -15MPG.
I mix it up to keep the miles down on the TRD; and because I love all these trucks!!.........gm

 

[Brock]

return trip from DC yesterday....520 miles one way. On way there last week I averaged about 16-17 mpg running 70-75 with ac second part of way...this had rpms around 2000-2100rpms.

on way back yesterday ran 68mph-69mph entire way...no ac....rpms kept at or below 2000rpms. Avg mpg was 18.2

I now have about 2600 miles on FJC so going to do another trip when she goes over 5000 and see what happens....guessing it will improve more as she is broken in.


Tires- 295x70x17 Nitto TG...45 lbs of pressure all four corners
Bumpers- stock
Armor- rock sliders only from BudBuilt
Gas- 93 octane the entire way using cruise control 99% of trip.

 

[js08]

I just got the 08 FJ Cruiser...TRD model. Any suggestions as to what needs to be added for better performance? Granted, I do not do much off-roading...so just for running around town. Should I stick with the tires I was given (BFG) or get a new set when they wear down? Also, any suggestions on how to make the truck sound a little throatier? It just sounds kind of wimpy as is...

Thanks

 

[gaylonw]

TIPS for Enhanced performance

I just got the 08 FJ Cruiser...TRD model. Any suggestions as to what needs to be added for better performance? Granted, I do not do much off-roading...so just for running around town. Should I stick with the tires I was given (BFG) or get a new set when they wear down? Also, any suggestions on how to make the truck sound a little throatier? It just sounds kind of wimpy as is...

Thanks

I assume the your new truck is the new white on white Trail Edition.
If so, it has the TRD CAT BACK exhaust which is about as good as it gets in a high flow stainless CAT exhaust system. It will sound a little deeper after 5K or so.
The BFG's wear like steel and are a very aggressive tread for wet and snow conditions.
I added a TRD CAI on mine. This improves vehicle performance and the tone of the intake air is really enhanced as well.This will help with your concerns about the exhaust tone. The TRD CAI also improves the MPG's as well.
I would change the front and rear diffs out with SYN Lube and run Mobil 1 in the engine ASAP. This improves MPG and extends change intervals. It is also generally accepted that wear is greatly reduced by the addition of syn lubes.
I intend to replace the BFG's with the same tire when they wear out at 70 to75K. I will look at a Michelin LTX , but I believe that the BFG completes the look and wears so well that it deserves to be the tire of choice for the stock sized TRD vehicle.
I currently have 40K on my '07 TRDSE and I love the truck, good luck with yours............gm

 

[ckline]

first tank with new fluids, and CAI. I went from 12-13 mpg to 19.3. i'll take it!!

 

[shm21284]

I have an 07 with 5-A/T, bone stock (has roof rack). I got 19 mpg on a 250 mile trip at a steady 75 mph for the first 2/3 and 80 mph for the last 1/3. Also did a "top speed run" (wanted to see how fast she went), which was a pull from 75 to 115 mph. Once I got off the freeway and went to a friends, he drove it (pretty much floored it everywhere), then we went on a little spirited trail ride, which involved more flat footing. 19 mpg on that tank wasn't bad.

My father has an 08, 5-A/T, bone stock, no roof rack, and in a trip through the West Virginia mountains on I-64 and I-77, at a steady 80mph (lots of downshifting to 4th to climb the mountains), he got 22.3 mpg.

I believe if I drove a steady 70mph from Flint to Columbus (pretty flat), I could beat his 22.3. I need to switch over to synthetic, though.

 

[REKCUT]

it will not hurt it to run it empty, but you can get a fine reading from 15 gallons. Just make sure and fill it up the same way before and after each test. Best to run 3 times and average.

It is nice to know in an emergency how far you can go after the light comes on

 

[Woodeye]

first tank with new fluids, and CAI. I went from 12-13 mpg to 19.3. i'll take it!!

Ckline,

Are you running a MT6? What CAI did you buy? New fluids all the way? RP?

Thanks,

Woodeye

 

[Brock]

that is borderline unbelievable to have a 7mpg jump from CAI and oil change.....you sure you did not put a wooden block under your gas pedal to keep you from mashing it...LOL????

 

[ckline]

Ckline,

Are you running a MT6? What CAI did you buy? New fluids all the way? RP?

Thanks,

Woodeye

I'm running the MTrans and I got the TRD CAI. Look for that 20% off coupon and be sure to show your TLCA membership card at the counter for the best discount. good luck with it, you will enjoy it!

 

[NoHandleBars]

When I keep my foot off the pedal I get prob 18-19 in the city and I'm sure a LOT more on the highway...alas I'm always flooring it around so right now I'm at 12-14 MPG on the Scanguage....if I just let off for awhile it sky rockets, pretty interesting. I use RP in my engine, TRD CAI (With Pro-Dry S), URD Y-Pipe and a bunch of other "free-flow" modifications that seem to have paid off. Also sporting a 3" lift with 32" BFG A\TS and of course the stupidly impractical stock roof rack....also some extra armor. Not too shabby, I can't complain when the reason I get bad MPG is because of the way I drive.

 

[ckline]

that is borderline unbelievable to have a 7mpg jump from CAI and oil change.....you sure you did not put a wooden block under your gas pedal to keep you from mashing it...LOL????

Brock- I may as well have put a wooden block under the pedal. I completely drove like a girl, I had blue hairs honking at me cause i was going to slow. For that tank I just didn't get on it at all, took my time getting to cruising speeds and so on. So no, I do not think that those changes brought that big of a jump. I drove about normal on the last tank of gas and went back down to 18.3mpg. I think a little less than 4 mpg gain is close to normal, maybe a little higher, with those changes. I still kept it below 70mph and never really took it above 2k rpm. I was realistically running maybe around 15 mpgs before.

REKCUT. I'm on my third tank now. I will let you know after this one what I averaged. I may make it 4 though. The last tank I did put 91 in at Costco. My mistake, but parents were paying cause I spent the day picking stuff up for them. Beggers can't be choosers!! I also let it run for about 3 hours while I was putting on the roof rack. I am in no way mentally challenged, just turned out that working in the dark hurt my time. Wasn't til the next day I figured out why I couldn't get the LARGER than the sun holes for the bolts lined up. The rack was bent on the whole right side. When the sun came out, we could see where it started and the rust that had formed on the rack itself! New one is on the way, and I say it will take no more than 10 minutes to screw in the 10mm allens.

 

[ckline]

Mild edit and footnotes!

I want to make sure I didn't offend anyone in that last little blurp!!!

MONNIEPOO I was in no way making a dig at you when i said i drove like a "girl"...for sure you may have proved you are a better driver than half of us out there including me. I sure wouldn't have the patients, nor desire to take on kids in the backseat, talk on the phone, drink my starbucks and whatever else you can do at the same time as driving while driving!!! you got skillz girl!!

Blue Hairs- dont know that the true difinition of a blue hair would constitute any person who may be on this forum. For most of them the car hadn't been made yet and they were friends with Wyatt Earp!!

I drove slow, and conservative. Much like those who would be driving a hybrid and promoting earth day, green day or whatever gore is calling it now days. now those people i do not mind offending and to them this solute is required.

 

[Brock]

Blue Hairs, SnowGeese, Gurls, Sunday Drivers, FJ Cru PreRunners, LOL, etc....all the same

 

[ckline]

LOL

Blue Hairs, SnowGeese, Gurls, Sunday Drivers, FJ Cru PreRunners, LOL, etc....all the same

that actually did make me laugh out loud!!

 

[Niner]

I just did 288 till the light came on and filled at 304 15.4 gallons which is normal for me with the AT and staying below 70 MPH

The 288 is not the important number. The important number is MPG. Every trucks light will come on at a different time. Some show empty with a 2 gallon or more difference in fuel need to refill. Get a gas can and run your truck empty to see how low it will go. IF you get 288 or 255 its all the same if you are getting 20 mpg.

Niner how do you do it? 288

The only thing I have different from you, it looks like is bigger tires. I installed the CAI and have noticed a little bit of a difference but not enough time yet to say its worth it or not. I imagine in the long long run it will pay off though. The first tank I got an extr 3mpgs.

I keep hearing about the 20mpgs, but I'm not getting it. Its flat here, air is not thin and over the last 3 weeks have tried not to go over 65. My drive consists of mostly highway miles, in the opposite direction of traffic.

Rekcut and I talked about Royal Purple and I switched all the gear oil with it, and switched out the spark plugs last weekend. I filled up on Sunday and still haven't hit the halfway mark on my tank. I am sitting at 120 miles, where I am usually sitting at about a 100. Then again, that needle likes going in the down direction on the the dash a whole lot faster than it likes to move up to the halfway mark. I will be doing back flips if I can hit 288

I'm quite sure 304 miles divided by 15.4 =19.74 the 288 is when the light came on I have noticed that this can change based on if you are turning or stopping alot. but if driving on the highway I would easily drive 20-30 miles after the light comes on, and 10-20 if driving in town. to acheive the 288 you have to run mostly highway and stay below 70 MPH, or around 2000 RPM.

I think the break in period I feel is about 15k nothing scientific here just what is working for me.

 

[Woodeye]

I'm running the MTrans and I got the TRD CAI. Look for that 20% off coupon and be sure to show your TLCA membership card at the counter for the best discount. good luck with it, you will enjoy it!

Ckline

I must be stupid or something. Where do I get the TLCA card?
Also you mentioned the Blue Hairs and said you were driving like a girl - What about driving like me - OLD FART! LOL

BTW, When I am running 70 mph my tach is reading right at 2.4K, I can't imagine how fast I'd be running at 2K. Tomorrow on t he way to work I will check it out.

Woodeye