Surprisingly good mileage wtf lol

[MrX]

110 mile road trip between 80-90MPH plus stuck in B2B traffic for 30 mins.

What a pleasant surprise! It’s rated for 17HWY and in my experience my cars always got worse, not better. I always thought EPA was optimistic.

We plan on driving to the corner of the Earth and back so this is nice!

My guess is I have a well-broken-in engine.

 

[TeCKis300]

Throw some AT tires on that'll solve the problem.

 

[RET2]

MT's that are E rated really help... the gasoline Co's.

 

[MrX]

Throw some AT tires on that'll solve the problem.

How bad? I’ve wondered this.

The tires are good Michelins, I don’t believe they are “e” tires or whatever. I would have full confidence in these tires for light off road fun like donut mudding.

I just figure when you have one of the WORST vehicles possible for MPG, 18.5 vs. 17 rated is significant enough to be happy about. Remember this includes traffic and was 80-90 the entire way otherwise. Just good to know. My LS430 gets great HWY MPG, 27, but once you get above 75 it is more like 24-25. So it’s nice to know I get this better than expected mileage at fast freeway speeds 80+ in my truck.

 

[Idaho Savage]

My daily mixed average went from just shy of 14 to around 15.5 at around 5k miles. It was as if the ECU suddenly calibrated. I live and work in effectively a north/south Rocky mountain valley so not a lot of room for variety if I wanted.

 

[NewLCGuy]

Beat this !!!

 

[NewLCGuy]

I have pretty much a stock cruiser and drive mostly mixed - both highway and city. Highway speeds is 80+. In my experience, I found that top tier gas stations does make a difference for me. That is, it adds a mile or two.

 

[TeCKis300]

How bad? I’ve wondered this.

The tires are good Michelins, I don’t believe they are “e” tires or whatever. I would have full confidence in these tires for light off road fun like donut mudding.

I just figure when you have one of the WORST vehicles possible for MPG, 18.5 vs. 17 rated is significant enough to be happy about. Remember this includes traffic and was 80-90 the entire way otherwise. Just good to know. My LS430 gets great HWY MPG, 27, but once you get above 75 it is more like 24-25. So it’s nice to know I get this better than expected mileage at fast freeway speeds 80+ in my truck.

I find for my setup with 35x12.5s, re-geared to practically stock gearing, stock aero with mild 1" lift, and almost stock weight - just under a 2 MPG hit, or bit over 10% lost efficiency.

So instead of the stock rated 12 city / 18 hwy, I'm seeing about 11 city 16 hwy, when corrected for tire size.

A lot of people attribute it to tire weight, but that's a relatively minor impact. It's mostly down to rolling resistance of the AT/MT tires, along with increased aero drag of the tire and tire lift, as primary factors.

 

[Weedhopper]

Use the old fashioned “fill it up and record your mileage” method. You might be unpleasantly surprised.

 

[chefski]

Beat this !!!

Ok

 

[RT Cruiser]

The tires are good Michelins, I don’t believe they are “e” tires or whatever. I would have full confidence in these tires for light off road fun like donut mudding.

I just figure when you have one of the WORST vehicles possible for MPG, 18.5 vs. 17 rated is significant enough to be happy about. Remember this includes traffic and was 80-90 the entire way otherwise.

Most Michelins, if not all, are soft tires and might be a part of the reason for the good mileage. When we got our '08 in 2019, it had Cooper Discovery tires which are soft tires. Great mpg but horrible traction on and off road. I replaced them with Yokohama A/T G015 (the "A/T" term should be used loosely here). However, I drive conservatively here in CO and I get 20-22 mpg highway if it's not fully loaded. If it's fully loaded then I get about 20 mpg here in CO. When I tell other SUV owners and truck owners my mpg they truly do not believe me.

We were on a 3,100 mile trip from Denver to Alabama and back in early May. In the low-lands, with the rig fully loaded and bikes on a rear hitch, I got 15-17mpg. On this trip while in CO I got 20. Altitude impacts mpg. At lower altitude you'll get a lower mpg because there's more air mass to plow through. Passenger jets fly at 30-35k feet in order to reduce fuel consumption.

Another reason why our cruisers get excellent highway mpg is the sweet tranny overdrive. Once I'm hitting about 70, the engine drop to about 1,800 rmps and purrs quietly along.

The downside is when I'm driving directly or broadside in a headwind. When this happens the Cruiser becomes a big heavy sail. This past Feb when I drove westbound in KS, I was getting about 19 mpg on the western side. Then a strong headwind flared up and the mpg dropped to 13. Thus, I slowed to 60. I felt a bit of affirmation when all the westbound truckers slowed to 60 as well.

 

[MrX]

I have pretty much a stock cruiser and drive mostly mixed - both highway and city. Highway speeds is 80+. In my experience, I found that top tier gas stations does make a difference for me. That is, it adds a mile or two.

I use regular 87 from Kroger just fwiw.

 

[1world1love]

My normal gas station is a chevron that sits on a road that is on top of a ridge and there is a road that goes down from this ridge to the 101 which runs alongside the bay at sea level. If I fill up, and coast almost all the way down using nothing but my break, I get 15 mpg.

 

[TLC2013]

My normal gas station is a chevron that sits on a road that is on top of a ridge and there is a road that goes down from this ridge to the 101 which runs alongside the bay at sea level. If I fill up, and coast almost all the way down using nothing but my break, I get 15 mpg.

When I Get a strong tail wind and i see 17mpgs lol. I recently took a trip up hwy 80 to Sacramento and was shocked to see 17+ mpgs. If I had a sail I could have hyper miled my way to above 20 MPGs

 

[Reckless]

Most Michelins, if not all, are soft tires and might be a part of the reason for the good mileage. When we got our '08 in 2019, it had Cooper Discovery tires which are soft tires. Great mpg but horrible traction on and off road. I replaced them with Yokohama A/T G015 (the "A/T" term should be used loosely here). However, I drive conservatively here in CO and I get 20-22 mpg highway if it's not fully loaded. If it's fully loaded then I get about 20 mpg here in CO. When I tell other SUV owners and truck owners my mpg they truly do not believe me.

Do you really get 20-22 mpg unloaded? I may switch from my KO2s, I get 12mpg. How are they in snow and rain? With that kind of mpg you should be able to get 400 miles per tank.

 

[RT Cruiser]

Do you really get 20-22 mpg unloaded? I may switch from my KO2s, I get 12mpg. How are they in snow and rain? With that kind of mpg you should be able to get 400 miles per tank.

Yes, I get 20-22 mpg on the highways here in CO. The reasons why are:

• The higher altitude means less air mass. Less air mass means less air resistance. As I said, when I drive to the South the mpg drops.
• Currently the rig isn't raised. Soon I'll put on the Bilstein suspension. Though I'll keep a forward rake, the mpg could drop by at least 1 mpg.
• I don't have any aftermarket 4x4 gear on. Now is the moment I express my regret for missing the Bud Built slider group buy.
• I drive conservatively. Rarely will I stomp on the gas pedal - maybe once every 2 months. When I accelerate from a stop I keep the rpm's about 2,500 or less. When on the highway, at least for an '08, the best spot for the rpm is 1,700-2,000. Above 2,100 the mpg drops. (I'm not a Toyota expert or an engineer, this is simply my experience)
• I coast down hills and mountains, into stop signs and red lights, and into turns. I'm NOT the driver that speeds up to everything then quickly stops.
• Tires are stock size.
• 3rd row seats are removed. The seats weigh about 90 lbs total. Though this isn't much, but keeping things out of the cargo area not needed helps in the long run.
• When we go from the Denver area up into the mountains and return, the final mpg is 19-21. I do a lot of coasting coming down the mountains.

So if you're on the highway and see a salsa red '08 going a few miles over the speed limit, it's probably me.

Here's my review for the Yokohama Geolander A/T G015. I did a review on these somewhere else on the forum. 0 = poor, 10 = Excellent

• Noise: 10 Most of my driving is on long trips 3k-4k round trip. I want quietness and not the constant loud noise from big mudders. On my last trip I passed a Jeep with big mudders. The noise coming from those tires was so loud it was annoying to me with the windows up. Maybe that's why he was traveling alone .
• Rain: 8
• Snow 1"-4": 8
• Snow 5"-7": 7
• Snow 8"+: 6
• Regular mud: 7
• Silty mud: 2
• Handling while loaded: I can't provide this until I install the new suspension. The current oem suspension the prior owner installed is way past its age.
• Wear: 10. I've had them for 18,000 miles and the tread is still phenomenal and all have worn evenly. Keep in mind I drive conservatively including I do not drive fast in curves. Pushing the g's in a curve is the fastest way to wear down your tires. Plus, I have Discount Tire rotate and balance them about every 4k miles and they check the air every 2k miles. These things will help your tires wear evenly and last as long as possible.
• Looks: 2. My main tire needs are performance, practicality, and price.
• We took these tires last year on a ton of trails around Ouray and Lake City last summer such as Mineral Creek, Corkscrew Gulch, the passes of Engineer, Imogene, Cinnamon, Stony, Hurricane, etc. They were a few notches above "good enough." Of course KO2's would've been preferred. But it still comes down to driver's experience, intuition, and knowing the capabilities of the vehicle. Not claiming to be an expert but simply stating an off-roader should never put all their trust into the tires even if they have the latest and greatest.

Miles per tank:
The next time I run unloaded on the highway here in CO for several hours I'll try to remember to measure the gas used. On my last trip to Alabama and back a few weeks ago, I got 17-18 mpg driving from Littleton CO to the middle of KS. The rig was fully loaded with bikes on a rear hitch. Driving from Decatur TX back to Littleton the mpg was 18-21 with about 125 less pounds.

 

[MrX]

With the increase in MPG, performance will drop as well. At high altitudes with thin air cars lose power, at least naturally aspirated ones. I took my old Acura TL all over Colorado and noticed a loss in power. That car had no torque in the first place, but still.

 

[nuclearbeef]

At 5000 ft there is @85% as much air per unit volume as there is at sea level.
10000 = 70%
18000 = 50%

So, I guess you could just about double your mileage if you only cruised around the Andes.

 

[Lester did that]

You people are lucky. If I hit 13 mpg on the highway I am very happy. And I have to drive very aware to to get that number. heh

 

[TheGrrrrr]

2013 LX bone stock with 118k on the clock driving from Denver to Phoenix. It was like magic.