HELP!!! Only 12 mpg

[meanstreakdev]

I have a new 11 Tacoma TRD Sport 4wd and now have 450 miles on it. Its only getting 12 miles per gallon. Is this normal during the breakin period? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[Zembonez]

Not all that unusual in cold weather around town. You should see 16-17 on the highway.

[meanstreakdev]

Originally Posted by Zembonez

Not all that unusual in cold weather around town. You should see 16-17 on the highway.

Ya, it has been cold here and I have been idling the truck alot. I switched fuel stations and just filled it up with shell. Less ethanol. Thanks for your help...

[Zembonez]

You'll see an improvement as it warms up for sure.

[toyotaholic]

Momentum is your friend.

[DOHCammer]

Originally Posted by meanstreakdev

Ya, it has been cold here and I have been idling the truck alot.

Most people don't realize that idling equals negative gas mileage. Using fuel and not going anywhere really causes your overall fuel economy to go down. There is no need for a lot of idling, it is not an efficient way to warm up your engine. I have an MPG monitor built in to my wife's Mountaineer and when we had a big snow here last week I let it idle while I was cleaning off the other cars in my driveway. That pig took my average mileage on that tankful down by 2 MPG just by idling for 10-15 minutes. Wintertime is not the time to measure fuel economy. My V6 Camry only got 15.8 mpg's the last two weeks because of cold weather and almost all short trip driving.

[Jason.MZW20]

Well MPG is miles per gallon. Idling always = 0 MPG because you're burning the gas and not travelling anywhere; idling (shifting to neutral) and moving downhill will also always equal worse MPG because the ECU can't initiate injector fuel cut under light load because the engine is unloaded. That's why some new cars are using stop-start tech. Now if you shut the engine off in neutral downhill, then you'll see improvement (until the engine and catalytic converters cool too much), but you also lose power steering and braking. Not recommended.

[meanstreakdev]

Thanks everyone for your help. I wanted to make sure that it wasn't something wrong with the truck? I just can't believe this Tacoma eats more fuel than my 07 Tundra DB with the 5.7l

[Jason.MZW20]

Originally Posted by meanstreakdev

Thanks everyone for your help. I wanted to make sure that it wasn't something wrong with the truck? I just can't believe this Tacoma eats more fuel than my 07 Tundra DB with the 5.7l

If you're using 4WD, it's not uncommon. I believe I averaged about 14-15mpg using 4WD through snow up in the local mountains on my 05 Tacoma 4x4. The ECU always injects a bit more fuel when accelerating to provide power (then returns to stoich under cruise), so constantly accelerating and decelerating wastes gas, as does excessive idling, and braking at the last moment. I usually slow down enough to coast through lights as they turn green, since accelerating from a dead stop requires the most gas and power (damn physics).

I bet if you had a TRD S/C, you'd achieve a bit better MPG as the engine wouldn't have to work as hard (much like the 5.7L 3UR in your Tundra). But, it's just too expensive.

The 5.7L in the Tacoma, now there's an idea.

[kamesama980]

Winter, new engine, new car to you=horrible mileage.

When you first get a car is also a bad time to worry about mileage. worry about breaking it in and getting used to it first: longer trips so you warm the engine up fully and get on it to seat the rings in. granted it's 90% done befpre 100 miles but still. Once you have 1000-1500 miles on it, it's warmer, and have figured out the noises and nuances, worry about your driving style and how to get the most mileage out of it.