Real World Laden MPG (1 Viewer)

[TeCKis300]

With summer in full swing, many of us are taking the opportunity to enjoy the open highways with a proper road trip.

Keeping it real, what is your built-out, loaded-out, indulgent MPG? Add any context of rig, maybe how and where you're driving/off-roading. Bonus points for pics.

In the spirit of smiles per mile, let's celebrate these pigs at work.

Summer road trip up the CA coast from San Diego to the Russian River. 1300 miles, mostly 75MPH highway.

Rig - mostly stock aero with minor added weight in LRA aux tank, HWM, and sliders. Minor 1.5" lift. On 35x12.5s. Towing an 8k 27' Airstream. Scaled at 15,020 lbs total.

Average 8-10MPG.

 

[TheComedian]

With around 2,9t im on longer trips at an average of 13,5l/100km (diesel) with normal highwayspeed around 160-170kph in Germany and depending on local rules ~120.
Added or oem parts that are different to „normal“ factory 200s
- toyota winch
- toyota 70l extra tank
- rear axle with diff lock (think that adds some weight)
- selfmade front bumper out of 2mm steel
- ome suspension
- camping box with around 220kg
- ARB roof rack

( if I’m driving to Northafrica a second clutch, dozens of fuel filters, spare suspension parts, axle shaft and parts, second spare tire, extra jerrycans and a ton of other things…)


For the people from Liberia, Myanmar and the US again in eagle measurements…..
6400lbs
17.4mpg (so lets say 17-18)
100-105mph
74mph

 

[Artie]

Here’s my adjusted for tire size mileage from our recent 5600 mile GA->WY->GA trip. The first 3-4 tanks were the trip out, lots of interstate 65-80 MPH. Tank 5 -12 were dirt, mud, and pavement in a mix of grasslands and mountains. The last 4 or so were the trip home.

Ignore the octane if that triggers you, I prefer non ethanol or the lowest possible. Also, I had some weird behavior early on that I think was junk gas, those issues seemed to subside. It could have been feedback from my new trailer coupler and tongue.

I didn’t weigh before this trip but I have in the past, it’s probably close to the following:

Front: 3300
Rear: 5500
Trailer: 4500

I’ll note that the best MPG’s I’ve gotten in this thirsty pig is 11.5. Areo, or lack there of, is probably my main issue.

 

[clrussell]

Here’s my adjusted for tire size mileage from our recent 5600 mile GA->WY->GA trip. The first 3-4 tanks were the trip out, lots of interstate 65-80 MPH. Tank 5 -12 were dirt, mud, and pavement in a mix of grasslands and mountains. The last 4 or so were the trip home.

Ignore the octane if that triggers you, I prefer non ethanol or the lowest possible. Also, I had some weird behavior early on that I think was junk gas, those issues seemed to subside. It could have been feedback from my new trailer coupler and tongue.

I didn’t weigh before this trip but I have in the past, it’s probably close to the following:

Front: 3300
Rear: 5500
Trailer: 4500

I’ll note that the best MPG’s I’ve gotten in this thirsty pig is 11.5. Areo, or lack there of, is probably my main issue.
View attachment 3373537

View attachment 3373548

I see you don’t really break the 500 mile mark often.. just playing it smart?

 

[Nothinghead]

When all hooked up with the WD hitch to the 23’ Airstream:
Front axle 3340 lbs
Rear axle 4220 lbs
Trailer 4840 lbs
Combined 12400 lbs

10.2 MPG (corrected for 34” tires) mostly interstate 65-70 mph.

 

[Artie]

I see you don’t really break the 500 mile mark often.. just playing it smart?

It just really depends. For the highway sections we would fill up when we were done for the day so we could hit the ground running or if we had someone need to go #2, they’d take care of that business with the wrappon in the camper while filling up with gas. Wyoming is far more rural than we’re used to so we’d get gas when a good opportunity presented itself, this freed us up to do whatever dirt we wanted to hit and not worry about gas. I don’t think I even know what the low fuel light for the main tank looks like.

Good food prep and getting your occupants bodily functions properly trained really highlights the heavy hitting benefits of the 40 LRA. We can tackle big mileage if we need to and the kids are down for it; at 6 and 7 yrs old all our dedication to no devices has really paid off.

 

[clrussell]

It just really depends. For the highway sections we would fill up when we were done for the day so we could hit the ground running or if we had someone need to go #2, they’d take care of that business with the wrappon in the camper while filling up with gas. Wyoming is far more rural than we’re used to so we’d get gas when a good opportunity presented itself, this freed us up to do whatever dirt we wanted to hit and not worry about gas. I don’t think I even know what the low fuel light for the main tank looks like.

Good food prep and getting your occupants bodily functions properly trained really highlights the heavy hitting benefits of the 40 LRA. We can tackle big mileage if we need to and the kids are down for it; at 6 and 7 yrs old all our dedication to no devices has really paid off.

Yes Wyoming can be some big stretches between stops. We stopped multiple times on the side of the road in Wyoming for bathroom breaks.

Even better you don’t have screens for the kids to stare at for that time line. How do you guys occupy their time in the rig?

Here I’ve done it again and thread jacked..

 

[Artie]

Yes Wyoming can be some big stretches between stops. We stopped multiple times on the side of the road in Wyoming for bathroom breaks.

Even better you don’t have screens for the kids to stare at for that time line. How do you guys occupy their time in the rig?

Here I’ve done it again and thread jacked..

They read, draw, make up stories, play with my old GI Joe, He-Man, and Transformers. We also got a lot of mileage out of audio books. I rolled the dice and got the Thrawn trilogy (Star Wars books for the non-dorks out there)… to my surprise my wife enjoyed them as well.

It really helped that we had kids late, I was 40, wife 38… we grew up without tech and survived. Plus, we had kids to enjoy and teach, not stick behind a doom machine for the sake of convenience. So far it’s been great. I’m a very involved stay at home dad and that is also contributes to our no device parenting lifestyle.

 

[grinchy]

'Lightweight' build out on 35s
MID readings here - I don't track or hand calculate.
City - 10 to 12. Sometimes 8.5 if its a full tank of city driving.
Hwy - 12 to 15
10% better on Premium
Tack on 8% more for tire diameter, but it really doesn't move the raw number much. Going from 10 to 10.8 city, for example, whether completely accurate or ballpark, it's still pretty bad.

Got a slight bump from replacing all the parts in the combustion path (MAF, Coils, Plugs, A/F, O2). Runs noticeably better now on premium than on regular. Before replacing this stuff ran the same on all fuel.

 

[TeCKis300]

'Lightweight' build out on 35s
MID readings here - I don't track or hand calculate.
City - 10 to 12. Sometimes 8.5 if its a full tank of city driving.
Hwy - 12 to 15
10% better on Premium
Tack on 8% more for tire diameter, but it really doesn't move the raw number much. Going from 10 to 10.8 city, for example, whether completely accurate or ballpark, it's still pretty bad.

Got a slight bump from replacing all the parts in the combustion path (MAF, Coils, Plugs, A/F, O2). Runs noticeably better now on premium than on regular. Before replacing this stuff ran the same on all fuel.

Thanks for that input! I was hoping for data from non-towing but laden rigs. I haven't done any really long road-trips without my Airstream, but was hoping to gauge what an RTT and boot full of gear might result in MPG wise. Of course it'll all further depend on aero, racks, and armor.

I don't really care about MPG or trip costs, but it's an interesting datapoint to understand.

So my recent towing trip of 1300 mile trip @ 9MPG, with an average premium gas price of $5.30/gallon - $765. If I were to loadout with the RTT instead of the trailer, would see closer to 13MPG average? Same trip ~$530.

I'm tempted to tally up @Artie 's fill-up log. Smiles per mile right?

 

[sedole]

2 humans, 2 German Shepherds, and food/water/gear for the weekend. Trailer is about 3,000lbs wet and loaded. Stock minus sensor lift and 285/65/18 tires. Get about 10 mpg consistently. But I do tend to stay around 75mph. Could probably eek out another 1-2 if I slowed down to around 65, but the speed limits around me are typically 75 and most people cruise around 80-85..

 

[Fisher23]

I get from 11.8 to 14.7 and it depends on the cruising speed.

Roof Rack, with solar and sat.
ARB bumpers front and rear
34" tires
OEM gears (3.88)
ARB boxes
Fridge 73 L
Fuel aux 40
skid plates
slee rock rails

around 12.5 at 75mph
around 14.7 around 55 mph

OEM I was 19.6 in the best case.

 

[Artie]

I'm tempted to tally up @Artie 's fill-up log. Smiles per mile right?

The total for that trip:

5155.6 x 1.06 (tire correction)= 5464.93

Smiles per mile is the name of the game. There was that one tank that was miserably low, 6.84 MPG… that was from some of the best/hardest off road days. Lots and lots of mud, 4L 3rd gear 3,000 rpm wheel spinning rear locker mud. It was flying everywhere, we were all over the place pulling that camper on the brink of being stuck and all four of us were either yelling and laughing or praying we kept our momentum. Those 3 weeks in Wyoming were tough and rewarding, we went looking for adventure and found it. It’s exactly what we bought the cruiser for, we flipping love this truck.

 

[jmw101]

I recently did a quick "speed run" from Texas up through the midwest, over to Montana, and back. Just under 3,200 miles. Completely stock '21 LC, loaded with 3 Yeti 75s, some camping gear, and myself. I weighed the truck (first-timer for me), and it weighed 6,700 lbs traveling weight with full tank of fuel and me. I got between 15.2 and 15.9 MPG using only unleaded (no premium). Nearly all highway miles at cuise speed of 80 or so. I was pleasantly surprised with the MPG. Still looking forward to some "minor" mods especially around suspension. Definitely is more squishy and sags when loaded, and I always have some type of gear/equipment in mine.

I had a lot of miles in a 2013, and had these same experiences. Slightly better mileage in the '21, but nothing earth-shattering.

I like the "smiles per mile" comment from above. If that's the case, I'm all smiles.

 

[clrussell]

Last year on our big trip. 3 kids, gear, roof tent: 33s 4.88. Trailer and all. Averaged 11mpg on that trip. Ran hard too.

Daily wife use with 35s and no tent it averages 12.5. I’ve seen 14 once.

Heavy setup and new daily usr.

 

[Tex68w]

2020/8-speed
67K miles on the odo
2" lift
34's
front bumper/winch
full aluminum skids

1-2 occupants and up to a few bags (most common configuration)
city-14-15.5 mpg
hwy-15-17 mpg

4 occupants 7+ days of gear/bags
hwy-14-16 mpg

2 occupants hunting gear hitch carrier etc.
hwy-14-15 mpg

2 occupants utility trailer w/motorcycles (apprx: 1800lbs)
hwy-13-14mpg

With larger tires (35's+), sliders, rear bumper, roof rack, etc. I fully expect those numbers to drop another 1-2 mpg average. I have done my best to keep my mods/accessories as light weight as possible, electing for aluminum options at every turn for that very reason. That combined with AT's and light weight wheels has helped me to keep slightly better fuel economy than most with a similar setup. I do my best to drive efficiently as well, it's not a sports car and I don't treat it as such and when I am in it I am rarely in a hurry. Highway speeds are faster here than in many parts of the country and the majority of my driving is from sea level to few hundred feet above sea level and extremely flat.

 

[rscoleman]

Stock other than tires (Nitto Terra Grappler G2 stock size). About every 3 to 4 week I do round trip of about 570miles. I tow a >3500lb boat and trailer about 50 of those miles. The rest is Interstate style running at speeds of 70 to 80+. I get about 15.2 to 15.6 from the LC trip computer. I reset it and B mileage at start of each trip and check at end. I have noticed that biggest detriment to mileage for me is 10+mph wind at 45degrees or more to direction of travel.

 

[AZLX570]

I think speed is really important to note in this. Big difference between 65mph and ~80mph.

 

[TimCFJ40]

2008, mild lift, 33s, bumper, winch, etc.
Two adults, two kids, four bikes, large roof box and awning. Camping, biking, and rock climbing gear for all. Chattanooga TN to Colorado and back. Lots of highway cruising at 80ish mph. High altitude 4x4ing near Breckenridge, Sand running in Great Sand Dunes.

Best tank, 14.7 mpg Two lane running at 75mph Eastbound through West Texas

Worst tank, 12.2 mpg 80mph into the wind across Kansas.

Sure, the MPGs aren’t great, but I don’t know of anything else that can get better fuel economy, haul all of our stuff, and tackle reasonably hard trails like the Cruiser does. Honestly, the roof box, awning, and extra stuff doesn't drag MPGs down much, the few unloaded trips I have done weren't much better.

 

[auggafj80]

2008 LC, stock, towing a 24’ pontoon. About 4000lbs boat and trailer weight. Just a short 1.5hr trip up to Rangeley Lake in Maine. About 9mpg, back roads, 40-50 mph max.