Highway Fuel Mileage

20 mpg is fairly easy to hit if you're doing 55-65 and aren't climbing hills all day and are doing a long drive. if the road was mostly flat you could probably get more and I've gotten a best fuel tank of 20.9 mpg and that was with the roof basket installed but my stock dueller tires. The last tank was without the basket, but with bolt on armor and E rated General Grabber tires and a lot few mountain passes crossed. I didn't get the 4 runner for its MPG's but i'm pretty happy that I can still get 17-19 (depending on how much highway driving I do on that tank) with the extra weight I've put on the truck. And that I live in the PNW where we have hills for days.

 

Did your internal fuel pump run low on fuel and overheat there bud?

 

my electrical fuel pumps working over the decades ...keep the gas tank 1/3 and higher .

 

I did Buffalo NY to Boston,MA...........so about a 10 hour drive with some stops.

 

Trophy Worthy

 

1/3 tank according to the gauge or the actual capacity remaining? I don’t think I’ve driven a modern vehicle that doesn’t still have 3-4 gallons remaining in the tank when the gauge shows empty.

 

The 4runner has around 5 gallons when the light comes on. It has about 3 when the range says 0.

 

Changed the tires from all terrain to highway, MPG improved immensely

cruising at 90 mph, I now average 17 mpg compared to 14 mpg before.

 

I did the 80 MPH and the MPG is 15..another wind issue weather wind was blowing the 40MPH air then the MPG drops ..on the front .

 

that, also terrain elevation matters too, but I think you don't have limited 4Runner, limited has lower front bumper that's more fuel efficient

 

I've never had a fuel pump fail and I always go until the low fuel light comes on unless I'm in a remote place where the next gas station is close to or beyond my current remaining range.

 

did you own your 10 yrs older with the fuel pump ....

 

Cruise at 85 mph everyday to work and get 18 mpg

 

@Hans Moleman
man, eff that. Maybe my falkens are bad or whatever, but the car feels fairly wobbly at 85 with a bit of wind. This is the most "uneasy on the highway" feeling car i ever had. Besides the amazing mpg as #1, #2 would be highway driving feeling to trade the beast in. It will be missed, but yea.....cheers.
Kinda did that today for about 180 miles and I managed to get a personal best, 18.2

 

Stock suspension? I remember it feeling kinda floaty. Mine feels almost unnervingly comfortable at 90. Like, it shouldn't feel that comfortable.

 

@Thatbassguy yea , all stock, stock size falkens, removed the roofrack (sold it).
100% one of my tires is a bit out of round as I get that constant "tagatagtagatagtagtagatagatga" at higher speeds and lots of cabin noise. No noticeable shimmy.
At 140kph - 87 mph - bro, both hands on the wheel, look for gliding in lane and never ever do a sudden move.
Unfortunately, we do a lot of highway and i am on my last mile....

Edit: the falkens are not helping the mpg, at any speed or style of driving. A bit slower, and I get my ass kicked on the road.

 

This made me laugh!

Agreed, though.. whenever I am going that fast, it's usually for a short burst. And, I'm not fucking with the radio, or anything.

 

It might be less painful, but it's less painful more often. What hurts more - $50 per week, or $100 every two weeks...? No difference, I say.

 

Or, you can be like me and spend $100+ on fuel most weekends.

 

yes, my 92 ford explorer which was my grandfathers and he handed it down to me in 2001 still had it original fuel pump and he like me, would only fill up once the low fuel light went on. Pump never failed, sold it in 2005 to a friend who had it until 2010 when rust finally forced that truck to the dump. No fuel pump issues for that truck.

I also owned a 92 Toyota pickup, Sold it in 2021 to buy my 4 runner. 250k miles on the original motor, trans and never once replaced the fuel pump.

 

I thought you guys might get a kick out of this data. I've been recording my fill ups since I purchased the vehicle. I tried to categorize my driving during the fuel tank to separate when I'm just bombing a road trip vs trail running vs whatever. Generally speaking:

• Mixed - 5-15mi in town driving w/ minimal stoplights
• Highway - 55-70mph sustained
• 100% 4x4 - snow wheeling, rough slow trail drives, harder forest roads
• 4x4/Mixed - Mixed + 4x4 as described above

 

That's awesome! Thank you for sharing!

 

on/off highway drive. Wow! This on E rated Ko2's

 

That's excellent considering KO2s.

I don't have many miles on mine but I max averaged 24.0 mpg as well with a more consistent average of 23.2 mpg. Stock size Nitto Terra Grapplers.

 

When I see 23-24mpg like above, I’m always skeptical. I’m not saying it’s fake…I just calculate in my head quickly and compare with my results and my brain just shits all over with a big “WTF”
How is that even possible ? It must be an off ball, all flat, 80F, some back wind, doing 40mph, alone in the car, no AC, all lights off, all windows up.

 

The guys posting 23+ mpg trip average. What is your average mpg on the whole tank? How many miles till empty when you fill up?

Winters coming so fuel mileage decreases.

 

With YotaWerx tune, this past weekend we averaged 17.1mpg over a 240mi round trip from El Paso to La Luz, NM and back, while averaging 88-92mph on the freeway both ways. And that hwy54 stretch is well known for being very windy, which will of course impact your economy.

 

I suspect you’re correct. I average 17-19 MPG in mixed city/hwy driving over a full tank fillup to fillup (about 325 miles). Highway driving only over mixed elevation I get 18-20.

On a recent highway drive the trip computer calculated 24 MPG. However that was from 2400 feet elevation to 400 feet over only 80 miles. At my next fillup it was back at 19.5 MPG.

 

It definitely requires ideal conditions. Times when I have seen over 20 have always been warm weather, <70 MPH, no passing, etc.

I think one could average 22-23 if they kept it stock, ran highway tires, and never went above 70 MPH.

Not looking forward to my mileage getting even worse when it gets cold. I'll be taking off the roof rack and changing over to the Granny tires this weekend to soften the blow.