Maximizing Toyota Tacoma Fuel Efficiency

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Introduction

This page began as an attempt to log my Toyota Tacoma's fuel economy, in order to establish a data set from which I could determine how fuel efficient my truck is and how my driving haibts impact on that.

My Tacoma is the 2003 manual-shift, 4-cylinder, short-bed model with a cap/shell on the back that is higher than the cab. I generally have up 50 to 100 pounds of cargo in it plus myself.

Now that I have a data set to work with, the question is, what can one learn from it? What major principles about how to improve fuel efficiency can one derive?

This page may also assist you in deciding if you want to buy a Toyota truck, but remember that your environment, vehicle usage, and results may be very different.

Results

Since the data takes up a lot of space, I've put it further down on the page.

On average, driving on country roads and in cities with occasional highway driving, I get 24 miles per gallon.

However I have achieved much better fuel efficiency:

Case 1:

32.9 mpg

I was commuting on very flat highways primarily, coasting whenever possible, and driving 50-55 mph, I achieved 32 mpg.

Case 2:

28.4 mpg

I drove about 300 miles on a highway, carefully going at 55 miles per hour. I achieved 28.4 mpg. The fuel that I used was 10% ethanol.

Case 3:

33.7 mpg

I drove about 150 miles on a highway, carefully going at only 50 miles per hour. I achieved 33.7 mpg. I'm unsure about the fuel composition.

The data

Your mileage will vary from mine because your circumstances are different. But to give you an idea of how I am using my truck:

I mostly drive the truck for commuting, with on average 25 pounds of cargo, plus the spare tire of course which is quite heavy, and myself.
I use regular gasoline that is 10% ethanol.
I keep the truck in good working order.
I have a cap (shell) on the back that is higher than the cab height. This surely increases drag and reduces my fuel efficiency somewhat.
I try to use hypermiling techniques. This mainly consists of coasting and turning the engine off at long red lights.

Half of my driving is done on country backroads or in towns and about one-third on highways. The results is about 23.5 mpg.

When I can drive mainly on highways and go less than 50 miles per hour, my average fuel efficiency shifts up toward 30 mpg.

Mileage log

Miles	Gallons added	Miles/Gallon
69504
69928	12.89	32.9
70197	13.85	19.4
70522	13.28	24.5
70749	9.256	24.5
71085	13.25	25.4
71423	13.635	24.8

Miles	Gallons added	Miles/Gallon
74468
74784	13.614	23.2
74959	7.615	23.0
75129	6.894	24.7
75339	9.536	22.0
75501	7.191	22.5
75807	13.138	23.3
75979	7.544	22.8
76334	14.01	25.3
76533	8.331	23.9
76844	11.753	26.5

Miles	Gallons added	Miles/Gallon
77545	11.693
77729	8.383	22.0
77929	8.893	22.5

Miles	Gallons added	Miles/Gallon
78145	4.573
78426	12.825	22.0
78606	5.725	31.44
78893	12.16	23.68
79166	12.16	22.45
79427	12.71	20.54
79601	8.79	19.80
79887	12.57	22.75

Miles	Gallons added	Miles/Gallon
80463	13.20
80773	13.44	23.07

Miles	Gallons added	Miles/Gallon
82139	13.521
82421	12.869	21.91
82746	13.787	23.57
83059	13.566	23.07

Miles	Gallons added	Miles/Gallon
84022
84339	13.494	23.49
84675	13.866	24.23
84978	12.384	24.47
85319	13.978	24.40

Miles	Gallons added	Miles/Gallon
86867	13.100
87107	10.276	23.36
87475	12.948	28.42 (highway 55 mpg)
87830	13.559	26.18
88185	13.826	25.68
88548	13.443	27.00
88918	13.863	26.69
89258	12.654	26.87
89603	13.494	25.57

Miles	Gallons added	Miles/Gallon
90387
90585	5.877 @ 50 mpg highway	33.69
90895	12.508	24.78
91065	7.237	23.49
91387	13.416	24.00
91710	13.027	24.79

Miles	Gallons added	Miles/Gallon
92331
92624	13.691	21.40

Miles	Gallons added	Miles/Gallon
93655	13.444

Links

Check out iMileage
The essential iPhone and iPad app for tracking your vehicle's fuel effiency.