My 4runner is so bad on MPG

I'm on a 2016 orp with 33 in tires and a 3 inch lift. i can get 16.5-17 mpg with a heavy foot and 18-19mpg with a light foot. my average take gives me 330-350 miles.
note tires are bfg ko2 6 ply and scs wheels. the combo is lighter in weight that stock. 14mg on a stock truck is not right m would average 18-19mpg when it was stock on some occasion of freeway driving i would get 400 miles per tank

 

I’m in the Fort Worth area and frequent Dallas when Satan compels me.... (kidding). You’re numbers look about the same as mine.

I drive a ‘16 Trail with Cooper Discovery ATP & a level kit. I never let the mpg gauge go above the top line - basically I accelerate slow. I average 18.2 in the city and around 20’ish on the highway AANNDD less while trucking through the mud. I also use the GasBuddy & Fuelly apps to track mileage and gas consumption. On days I strictly drive to and from work, I can go about eight or nine days before filling up again.

 

Which level kit?

Welcome to the forum.

 

Just picked mine up, and I noticed the harder I tried to stay in eco the worse my MPG’s were. I just started driving the thing without caring about if the stupid green light is on and my MPG’s have gone up I’m getting 18.7MPG with city driving and no regards to trying to be easy on the skinny pedal.

I got a 3” lift on the way with 295’s that will be going on so we’ll see how much that changes

 

Honestly, I have no clue. Purchased vehicle with level and tires. My wife is an excellent negotiator and got the sales dude to drop the price like crazy. Spacer in the front and after market spring seat in the rear.

 

No problem, thanks.

 

Yea, cold weather, stop and go, and short distance is the worst case scenario for MPG. Not sure that I can relate to your “cold”. Here in SoCal, a cold winter morning is +32°. If you can at all get away with shorter warmup time and less fan on the heater, the load of actually driving, and less dissipation of the engine heat into the “living space”, should help the engine get up to operating temp sooner which should help a smidge with your MPG.

 

I drive like an old lady (or man..geez people are sensitive these days...) and get 17 mpg when loaded out for a multi day trip. Lifted about 2.8 inches with load C 285s.
Pretty decent.

 

I totally agree with Snickel Fritz, my gas mileage comes in almost exactly the same as his. I have added weight with KO2s and a winch, but I stayed with an aluminum bumper to bolt it to. Aluminum is definitely my product of choice for after market equipment.

 

Just curious - when you calculate mpg, do you factor in the change in tire diameter from stock?

 

I just go by what the dash computer tells me and after 20K miles it's pretty consistent.
Perhaps hand calculating the milage is a better indicator, I just don't care enough to do so.

 

If you're satisfied, that's all that matters. You're actually going further on a tank of gas than the truck indicates, but if you're happy...

 

Yeah, it's good enough for me. No need for super detailed calcs for me for this.

 

my avg mpg is 16 - on the highway. Though given that I live in the mountains and the truck is lifted on 285s and is always in 3rd and 4th gear, I cant blame Toyota for this one

 

Same here, Barcelona. Lift + 285's +LFD rack + Colorado mountains = 16 - 17 mpg. I'm good with that. If anyone bought a Runner for it's gas mileage, they made a mistake. I bought mine for capability, and did enough due diligence beforehand to know what the gas mileage would likely be.

 

Lol!

And, that's good to hear! I'm hoping to jump up to 285's this year, and curious about fuel economy. Are you satisfied with the acceleration with the larger tires?

 

I would gladly sacrifice some MPG to live where 3rd and 4th gear are the norm! Where might this “Eden” be?

 

Summit County CO. We are fortunate to live at Copper Mountain in the winter. Driving in any direction (Denver to Utah) and changing elevations from 10K to 5K and back is always fun and it's even more enjoyable now that 91 octane is only 2.40/gal at Costco

 

Satisfied w stock acceleration.? No, not even w factory 265s on it - the truck drove like a milk truck, hated the lag between my foot/pedal and the motors response. That said, I spent a few bucks on engine mods making it more fun to drive and I now love it. That said, you can definitely feel a slight difference initially when changing over to 285s. I went w 6 ply C rated BFG KO2s and I love them. I wasn't interested in nor was I in need of 10 ply E rated tread. Too stiff for me and way too heavy.

 

Nice! I drove a tour bus from Golden to Grand Junction in a spring snow storm back in the ‘70s. Wondered why it handled so poorly (more like “wallowed”). Stopped in Vail and found the answer. Discovered that 4 inches of road spray had frozen onto the sides of the bus (probably a couple of tons on a 40’ bus). Good times.

 

I own one, so I wasn't asking about the stock acceleration. I'm completely satisfied with the acceleration, personally. My brick runs a faster 1/4 mile than my '85 Supra did.

I'm looking for input from people with realistic expectations. I wanted to know if anyone has switched to 285's and still been satisfied with the acceleration.

Out of curiosity, what performance mods have you performed? And, do you have before and after dyno results?

 

It's one of those things that comes with the territory. It's a slug, no two ways about it. I knew it going in so I am fine with it. It's not my DD so when I drive this thing its most times loaded up like a whale anyhow.

 

Thank you! I'm hoping to avoid re-gearing for now. I'm the same way, I think. I expect it to be slow, so I'm happy with it

 

I went into buying larger tires with the theory that if I went with one of the lighter options, I would see a lot less impact on acceleration/mileage.

So I went with a P-rated 285/70 at 42lbs/tire. I'm extremely happy with that choice, although mine doesn't see jagged rocky trails, so I really don't have a concern of sidewall puncture. Your trails might be different.

To sum up my experience, no noticeable difference in acceleration and 1 mpg less than stock 265's.

 

I appreciate your input. I'm thinking about going with something a little less aggressive as well, as I put on a lot of highway miles.

 

I had 265/70/17’s MT’s along with a TRD exhaust and K&N factory replacement air filter that helped a tid bit with acceleration. I then added a lift along with some 285/70/17’s MT’s and the acceleration along with MPGs dropped some. With adding 285’s you’ll definitely notice a difference in that heavier feeling all around. It’s not my daily driver and it’s not a race car so I am fine with it. It makes me driver safer and slower at speeds so I have a lesser chance of getting a speeding ticket.

 

I’ve read on a couple other threads that 285s can rub if the suspension is stock. Just an FYI.

 

Has anyone tried swapping out their clutch fan for an electric version?

I just bought a Ram Rebel for my service manager and compared to his last Ram 1500 (a 2012), this one has an electric fan. I doubt Dodge would change over to an electric if there wasn't some advantage to it.

 

not just can rub... will undoubtedly and without question rub without a front lift in the neighborhood of 2.5" or more and more than likely a cab/body mount chop and removal of front mud flaps. Some 285s are slightly smaller than others but the vast majority of them are 32.8" or larger

 

An electric fan would only pull when needed (coolant temp gets above ??°. Airflow from forward motion would cool at moderate speeds. Less load on engine supposedly = better MPG. Old school would be a bi-metal spring in the fan clutch that would sense the air temp coming through the radiator and cause the fan to pull more air through the radiator or freewheel. These fan clutches were notorious for failing.