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Tundra Gas Mileage 5.7L

38K views 60 replies 38 participants last post by  APWisher 
#1 ·
I've had my 2012 Crewmax with the 5.7L and the 17" TRD wheels with Goodrich A/Ts, for one year (I bought used in May 2013 with 14,000 miles), I drove 21,809 miles. I drive 35 miles round trip to work each day on a combination of rural highway and downtown streets.

Some observations about gas mileage, if anyone else is as neurotic about it as I am:

The trucks automatic avg mpg calculator was never more than .3 mpg different from the actual calculation using the odometer divided by the gas pump gallons meter to two decimal points (323.6 miles/20.38 gallons)

My best gas mileage for a full tank of gas (about 22 gals, when the warning light comes on) was 17.4 mpg. The worst was 11.3 (In the fall when I was doing lots of beach driving). The overall average for the year was 14.9 mpg.

MPG went down by about 2 mpg when the temperature was regularly below 30 degrees.

Keeping all four tires air pressure at 35 ppi, rather than the 33 recommended in the manual, improved fuel efficiency by about .8 mpg. When driving on the beach, lowering air pressure to 20 ppi and then refilling to 35 ppi when back on the road, saved 1.8 mpg over running at 30 ppi at all times.

Driving conservatively: not letting the revs get over 1500 rpm when accelerating, increased avg mpg by 2.

I have a Fold-A-Cover hard bed cover. Open or closed made a less than .2 avg mpg difference. I never tested with tailgate down and bed uncovered, as I've heard some guys claim they do to get better gas mileage.

mw
 
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#41 ·
Is 15.5 mpg your average or your best yet?
 
#44 ·
Have you re-callibrated your Speedometer/Odometer since the lift was installed?
 
#46 · (Edited)
Well, every little bit helps. You are cheating yourself especially if you aren't doing the math yourself. Thats the only way to know for sure. I used to only get 250ish miles to a tank max before I put the inline speedo on my Tundra. Now I get 320 +/- a few depending on how I was driving.
 
#47 ·
With no towing I average 16.5-17.5
Mostly more rural roads and highways with a bit of city mixed in.
Have gotten over 20mpg once.... Driving home from Denver with a 20-30mph tailwind. Was driving 75-80 too. Filled up in Castle Rock (25 min outside of denver) did around 20 miles more city driving in Denver then drove home. Was impressed but the wind pushed me home lol
Happy with MPG compared to most but I let off well before a red light, don't pound on it very often, and drive sensible most of the time... Although last time driving it I went over 100
 
#48 ·
I drove 365 miles on at tank at 55mph and when I filled up it was only 22 gallons so I still had a 4 gallon reserve even though I had been driving around with 0 miles to empty light. Then I changed my oil, put the new K&N drop in filter, and Zmax filled up with ethanol premium because it was just as cheap as regular back home and got 16.1 mpg traveling through the mountains in Arkansas. Once I got to Missouri, and things leveled out, I found non-ethanol premium for $3.80/gal so I filled up with that and put a little Lucas in for good measure and got 21.7 mpg average until I got to Kansas and filled up again. I had barely used a half a tank go gas and went 251 miles. I'll be looking to see if my milage stays consistent on the way home in a few weeks.
 
#50 ·
Thsts why ethanol fuel blows E-10 which is all gas in pa you loose 10 to 15 % mpg so I don't understand how its better for the environment. Only things its good for is making corn farmers rich
 
#51 ·
I completely agree. There is a place close by that sells non ethanol for boats and stuff but I sneak some in the truck every once and awhile. The engine purrs like a very large kitten and gas mileage goes up. They charge too much for it though. 4.69 a gallon is costly. Funny how it's cheaper to keep the gas non ethanol yet they charge a premium for it. Gotta love the government and their mandated e10.


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#53 ·
You can buy ethanol free gas in pa puregas.org is good website thst gives locations of stations by state. I have 2 places within 40 miles of me thst sell 87 89 and 91 octane. The 87 is about $4.20 a gallon it avg $.50 more than E-10 I fill my boat with it its an older 150hp 2 stroke. It runs so much better on that.
 
#56 ·
Check this out :http://www.ehow.com/about_6744997_effect-elevation-gas-mileage.html

I've looked into it. There are many variables, and it's sorta like arguing over which motor oil is best, but I know from firsthand experience that my mileage drops when it gets cold. I know even before I check my mileage at this point.

I also read an article where 5 or 6 guys on fuel injected motorcycles went thru high elevation areas and all noticed significant mileage improvement.

If you disagree with me, I'm interested to know why. :)
 
#57 ·
I've studied fuel economy for literally millions of miles, and 27 years. My company is in the highway safety business, but we also do a lot of research for fleets(usually trucking companies) in fuel economy, and how to improve it.

Sticking to just the points already hit in the last few posts of this thread, heres my take. Cold weather will, all other things equal, always reduce fuel economy. There are a few reasons, including fuel formulations and air density.

And, again, all things equal, more horsepower will give you better fuel economy. Simply put, the more power you have on hand, the less you have to push the pedal down. The problem comes when the driver uses more power to equal more speed, which is often the case. The driver must be conscious of the added power available and not use it to just go faster.

Trucking companies especially, try to squeeze every tenth of a mile they can out of a gallon of fuel. The one man operations often build their motors for maximum power, not to go fast, but to boost mpg's. There are companies like Bully Dog and Pittsburgh Power who's main business is helping truckers gain mpg's through power gains.

Coincidentally, at this very time, we are studying fuel mileage and how it is affected by hills. We are trying to determine if people in flat country get better mileage than those in the mountains or the other way around. The idea is that, maybe, the hills are a good thing. Yes, the mileage sucks going up, but it's great going back down. Do they equal out? That is what we are trying to determine.
 
#58 ·
My 14 FFV is getting 17+ mpg now on REAL gas after the ECM update and alcohol density reset thing they did a few weeks back. The 10% ethanol stuff just won't work in my truck on a regular basis. It totally freaks out and thinks I am running E85 and my mileage suffers. Suppliers could be slipping in more than 10% I dunno but it sure doesn't act right on that gas.

With the 10% gas I struggled to get 14 mpg same commute driving no different. The real gas cost me locally about 40 cents more a gallon but I am going 40 miles further on a tank so price difference is a wash. Truck runs so much better on real gas. Only issue is when traveling the real gas is not as easy to find even with the PURE gas app on my phone. So when I travel I just hope using the 10% crap my truck doesn't freak out again and start the E85 mode or I will have to carry it back to get everything reset again. I really do not like this Flex Fuel technology or could it be Toyota is to stupid to figure out how to make it really work right.
 
#59 · (Edited)
I posted on this thread before.
My results are from a road trip from Oxford, MS to Leavenworth, KS back in June. I had just changed the oil, used a Vmax treatment, installed a Hypertech Interceptor, and replaced my stock air filter with a K&N drop in. I drove 55mph the whole way, except when going down hills I kinda let it go up to whatever speed it wanted. I started with non-ethanol fuel drove to meet my buddy in Memphis, TN for a 5K and the filled back up on E10. I drove through Arkansas and into Missouri before I needed to fill up. Part of Arkansas is flat like a pancake and the other was mountainous. When I filled up in Missouri my milage was 15-16 by my calculations. I refilled on non-ethanol premium which seems to be readily available in the areas of Missouri and Kansas I was traveling. The rest of the trip was rolling hills and I don't think the truck ever came out of sixth gear. When I arrived at Ft. Leavenworth I filled up again. I calculated my milage at 21.7 mpg.

Not too shabby for a 07 DBL cab 5.7 (non-flex) 4x4 with 6"lift and 35" Nittos!

I believe good maintenance, good fuel, and avoiding rapid acceleration make the largest impact on fuel economy. I have people love me sitting at stoplights all the time, but I almost always catch up with them at the next light or even pass them once I get up to speed.
 
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#60 ·
After having the truck for three years now, I've found that wind resistance is my biggest enemy. I can be on back roads, up hill, downhill, twisty turns, never get out of 4th or 5th gear, going less than 50 mph and still get 2 or 3 more MPG than when I'm running stable in 6th gear on the highway at 75 or 80 MPH.
 
#61 ·
We did a trip from Everett, WA to Portland OR (mostly flat) and even with some stop and go traffic in a few places, we managed 18.1. I did notice that we were getting 18.6 according to the dash, until the RPMs got up over 2100 as the speed limit went up. then we started dropping. I think the key is to keep the RPMs under 2K, but who wants to do that.
As a daily driver w/o highway, I tend to get around 14.5.
 
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