maximizing MPG - My experience with manual Tacoma

[meep]

I have a rooftop tent. It’s currently in my garage. But if it’s on the truck:

No tent: 22.1 mpg city or highway (Tacoma hybrid)

With tent
City - 21 ish
Hwy - 19 ish

Highway with radar cruise following an 18 wheeler at a consistent (and reasonable) distance - 25. More than it got new with no mods.

 

[Delta]

Gotta shoot for some higher numbers Pablo!

 

[Kernel Potter]

The one thing that is great about EVs in bad traffic is that sitting there stopped isn’t really using much battery, even with the AC running. I’ve sat in my tour company EV with the AC going for an hour and saw the range only drop by a couple of percent. EVs are actually perfect for bad traffic areas. Stop and go traffic doesn’t affect the range as much as driving fast on the highway does.

EVs also don't spew carbon and other pollution while sitting at a stand still in traffic jams doing nothing. And people wonder why ICVs have Start/Stop on them. Think of that times over a billion world-wide every day.

 

[PMT133]

If we axe about 1200 coal power plants and replace them with renewable or other clean power generation systems, that would account for about the same co2 being removed from yearly release as the entire over road transportation sector. If we do 1800 that accounts for the entire transport sector as a whole. I ain't a smart man... but for some reason that seems like a significantly easier task to go about. That lobby probably has more money though.

Actually, push come to shove most people are selfish and won't sacrifice any quality of life in the name of trying to improve society. Those numbers may be out of date but it's from a research project in college. Industry and electricity production make up like 70% of all global CO2 and pollution. Transportation like 15%. We can be doing so much better and it pains me every day.

Sorry for derailing.

 

[Pablo]

If we axe about 1200 coal power plants and replace them with renewable or other clean power generation systems, that would account for about the same co2 being removed from yearly release as the entire over road transportation sector. If we do 1800 that accounts for the entire transport sector as a whole. I ain't a smart man... but for some reason that seems like a significantly easier task to go about. That lobby probably has more money though.

Actually, push come to shove most people are selfish and won't sacrifice any quality of life in the name of trying to improve society. Those numbers may be out of date but it's from a research project in college. Industry and electricity production make up like 70% of all global CO2 and pollution. Transportation like 15%. We can be doing so much better and it pains me every day.

Sorry for derailing.

There are 196 operational coal-fired power stations in the United States. Coal generated 15% of U.S. electricity in 2024.

 

[KrisZ]

EVs also don't spew carbon and other pollution while sitting at a stand still in traffic jams doing nothing. And people wonder why ICVs have Start/Stop on them. Think of that times over a billion world-wide every day.

Yeah, but then I think of all of the private jets that are in the sky at any moment and that they burn hundreds of gallons per hour of flight and just how many of them show up at big events like Super Bowl of F1 races and suddenly my idling car doesn’t seem so bad.

Somehow nobody brings that up, but it’s the everyday working families that are always brought up as the polluters. Weird isn’t it?

 

[PMT133]

There are 196 operational coal-fired power stations in the United States. Coal generated 15% of U.S. electricity in 2024.

The numbers I cited were global. Didn't want to single any nation or group out and this really is a big picture issue imo.

 

[Pablo]

The numbers I cited were global. Didn't want to single any nation or group out and this really is a big picture issue imo.

What would happen if those top 500+ super dirty coal plants went cleaner, scrubbers, CO2 capture, low sulfur, etc? How much would that help the whole earth?

I mean good luck eliminating coal plants around the world.

 

[PMT133]

What would happen if those top 500+ super dirty coal plants went cleaner, scrubbers, CO2 capture, low sulfur, etc? How much would that help the whole earth?

I mean good luck eliminating coal plants around the world.

Oh I agree. Coal is incredibly cheap and efficient to operate, hence why it's so widly used.

As far as scrubbing, I don't recall. This was like 10 years ago. Originally we were just going to replace them with nuke plants. But people are way too not in my backyard for that.

 

[goingplacesanddoingstuff]

Let's say you have a car/truck. You/I can't just change to a new vehicle (in this case just for the hypothetical discussion below)

There are quite a list of variables that impact MPG - many in maybe three categories, let's just say those you can control, can't control and maybe some control. I mean oil, drive lubes, tires, pressure, wax job, load, RH, weather (AP, temperature), engine tune, fuel, driving style, roads, traffic, and a whole of other variables. I can't control the weather, but I can choose my oil. Fuel is a huge one and somewhat controllable. I can choose where I live, but I'm not moving for MPG impact, because I love hills, for example.

What I will say though for most every road situation, I can control my driving style. No secret sauce there, not sciency or mystery based.. Now breaking that down to the next level, let's say no lead footing it. Duh obvious. I mean in most ATs just drive with a raw egg under the go juice pedal. Again - DUH.

SOOO?

With my MT Tacoma the one main thing the gets me up to 21 MPG (normal 18-19-20 mpg maybe) is getting into 6th gear as soon as reasonably possible without lugging it. Sometimes skipping a gear. No dawdling in 3-4 for sure. Yes I have seen a delta seasonal fuel. I've been doing this many tanks now, quite repeatable, for a few years. I don't see it with oil, that's for sure!! Hahaha

The Tacoma will use the Atkinson cycle when at low rpm and relatively low load, so this makes sense.

My go-to heuristic for getting good MPG is this: MPG is inversely proportional to 1. The amount of braking you do and 2. The total number of engine revolutions.

So of you want to adjust driving habits for good MPG, drive such that you do less braking first, followed by less revving.

Braking actually has a bigger impact because it is literally throwing away energy. And don’t be afraid of revving to get up to speed; sometimes spending less time in lower gears can benefit fuel economy.

 

[goingplacesanddoingstuff]

I have a rooftop tent. It’s currently in my garage. But if it’s on the truck:

No tent: 22.1 mpg city or highway (Tacoma hybrid)

With tent
City - 21 ish
Hwy - 19 ish

Highway with radar cruise following an 18 wheeler at a consistent (and reasonable) distance - 25. More than it got new with no mods.

I noticed a significant difference in highway fuel economy with the tent protruding above the roofline vs even with it. Roughly 10%.

 

[Pablo]

The Tacoma will use the Atkinson cycle when at low rpm and relatively low load, so this makes sense.

My go-to heuristic for getting good MPG is this: MPG is inversely proportional to 1. The amount of braking you do and 2. The total number of engine revolutions.

So of you want to adjust driving habits for good MPG, drive such that you do less braking first, followed by less revving.

Braking actually has a bigger impact because it is literally throwing away energy. And don’t be afraid of revving to get up to speed; sometimes spending less time in lower gears can benefit fuel economy.

Yes on the braking, in the old days the saying (yelling?) was "......why just speed up to put the brake on instantly?????" Very inefficient.

As for reving, yes and no. The OVT diminishes the Atkinson (I believe). There is a balance. I know the last couple days I have not been as light on the goose pedal, not paying the necessary attention. It's super preliminary and only indicated, but I've come right back from 21 to 20. We'll see.

 

[Jerrysends]

At freeway speeds, use cruise control and/or draft behind semi box trucks.

 

[goingplacesanddoingstuff]

At freeway speeds, use cruise control and/or draft behind semi box trucks.

Cruise control on the 3rd gen Tacoma is unfortunately not very good. Probably better on the manual but on the auto it’s really horrible.

 

[Pablo]

Cruise control on the 3rd gen Tacoma is unfortunately not very good. Probably better on the manual but on the auto it’s really horrible.

Never had a chance to use it. No freeway driving.

 

[ripcord]

If you're paying attention, you can get better economy with your Mark I Right Foot than cruise control. Cruise will floor it if it needs to, to maintain speed on a hill and can't anticipate a coasting condition.