My 4runner is so bad on MPG

When I was in high school my mom had a 3rd Gen. She told me I could buy it from her as my first car. After being responsible for filling the tank for a few weeks, I quickly realized that was not the right move.

They're great vehicles. But they're thirsty. Aint no two ways about it.

 

My mileage has actually improved as I drive the truck more. I'm at 2,000 miles on the odometer and I am consistently getting more than 20 mpg on every tank of gas (manually calculated with each fill up) compared to 18 to 18.5 mpg when I first bought the truck. I am a careful driver and my green "ECO" light is always on. I'm very pleased with the mileage of this vehicle. 20 mpg around town is fantastic.

 

And you didn't even have to take the spare off or remove the seats.

It's amazing what a 1.5mpg increase will do to the psyche!

 

Since I moved to Hawaii, my gas mileage has gone up massively. Simply, on the Big Island anyway, not having a speed limit higher than 60 and little ability to exceed it does wonders.
When l lived in the hills above Kona it was kinda bad owing to rising 2000 feet or so in 5 miles but was balanced out when heading down the mountain or volcano in this case.

While living in Humboldt County it was maybe 3 MPG’s worse, living in SoCal was brutal owing to everybody boogieing down the road well above 70 and stop and go when not.

 

I only drive down hill now, and only when the wind is blowing , that way I save fuel....
Back to reality. I consistently got 20mpg or better with my dueler HT street tires, and no modifications to lift or roof rack.
I now have Geolander AT tires and I've noticed a slight decrease in my gas mileage.

 

My 2018 Runner (just checked) has 28,762...giving me some experience with Mileage. My, around town, mileage is 17-18. My country road mileage has been as high at 25.0. My Freeway driving mileage is 23-25. Now, some additional thoughts....1) I live in the Seattle area, ie, lots of hills <HILLS EAT GAS>. 2) I suspect anyone living in relatively flat land will get better mileage. This is why questions about mileage are poorly based....Unless you are comparing Apples to Apples etc.
3) The ECO Light is an electronic means of driving like you had an egg on the gas pedal. Ignore it and you will 'pay at the pump'. 4) Not all gas is the same!. My normal drive is a 2016 Tacoma. The trip-mileage I get (for the same trip and speed) will vary a couple mpg. Don't know why, but i accept it) 4) Tire Pressure is very important. A 10 degree drop can yield a couple PSI, in other words - You checked your pressure at 70 degrees and now its 30...You are driving on under-inflated tires and it will cost you! 5) Not all tires are the same! Check out the 'Rolling Resistance' of various tires of the same type and size and you will see. 6) Cool looking tires - Aggressive Lugs, Over-Sized etc may look cool, but you are going to ....'Pay at the pump' 7) I see a lot of Runners with racks on top, some with off-road stuff stashed up there....All this increases the wind-resistance of the machine and ....Yes, you guessed it....You will pay at the pump!. The next generation of Taco and Runner will likely have a smaller displacement engine and a turbo-charger. This is the way of the future...and the way to help get better mileage. In the mean time - Enjoy a wonderful vehicle, one that many would love to own if they could afford to. Paying the price to drive what you love is a whole lot better than paying to drive something you don't...and many are in that boat.

Clay Freinwald
Auburn, WA.

 

Do you guys mean to tell me not everyone is getting my same gas mileage? I thought this was normal...

 

My MPG is so bad, that I only drive in kilometres now

 

Mine started to get better mileage at 20k miles. I used get 16 mpg but now 19 mpg driving the same way.

 

Isn't that the truth! I'm still getting 20+ mpg bombing around town and I never took the spare tire off. This is 50% greater mpg than I got on my Land Cruiser destroyed in the hurricane. Can't complain. Absolutely flabbergasted at the high mpg.

 

Eh, metric is a ripoff. You only get a little more than half a kilometer for every mile. That adds up.

 

Me neither, I didn't buy the 4Runner for fuel efficiency. I drove a Land Cruiser that got 12.5 mpg and I was OK with that. I bought the 4Runner because it's a J150 Land Cruiser dressed up and badged in what the Toyota marketing department calls a 4Runner. The 1GR-FE engine and the A750 transmission are arguably the most reliable and dependable engines and transmissions on the commercial passenger car / SUV / truck market. The 1GR-FE is THE standard engine on the Land Cruiser 300 in the Middle East.

Lifting a vehicle and adding larger diameter tires is good for a slight increase in ground clearance and slightly improving approach / departure angles.

 

2013 SR5 checking in. Prinsu rack and lights knocked me down to 15 and the ARB bumper has knocked me down to 13.5 avg.
The only thing keeping me alive right now is that I lock it up for the winter. I turn it on weekly and If zero salt on the roads ill take it out once a month to stretch the legs.

 

13.5 is brutal but I was running 12.5 in my J100 series Land Cruiser but for me it was worth it because the J100 is such a tight, well-built machine. These J150 Land Cruisers badged as 4Runners are just not as tight feeling as the J100 and J200 Land Cruisers I've driven. Not sure why. Maybe less sound insulation I don't know.

 

Yep, And im on 265's, id love to go 285, but I feel ill be pulling Land Rover Discovery numbers at 11mpg

 

My 2018 is currently getting around 12-13 MPG. No roof rack, but I have 285s, PRP skids and sliders, front bumper with winch, second battery and ARB compressor, ditch lights, a good amount of tools and recovery gear in the back and I tend to drive with a very heavy foot. Good thing my daily commute is 22 miles and all of our road trips we take the wife's company car (and they pay for gas), but damn is the MPG is rough. I've only put 39,000 miles on it in 5 years of ownership.

 

i always forget a 70lb winch makes a difference lol. Then u add a 150 to 200lb bumper and it aint good

 

Add a transfer case, front diff and axles and that's another 275 pounds! Get the Limited Edition with the Torsen limited slip diff and you're looking at an additional 400 pounds! That's literally like adding a second 1GR-FE engine over the front axle plus a 35 pound dog!

 

It seems dogs are just too damn heavy. Lol

 

I would love a V12 in my 4Runner.

 

Interesting thread. Don't get me wrong - I'd love my 4Runner to get better gas mileage - but I didn't buy it for the gas mileage. If I had a daily 50+ mile round trip commute to work every day I would probably think different and a 4Runner would probably not be my daily driver. Thankfully my daily mileage is relatively low - I put less than 10K miles on my daily driver in an average year - so I can afford below average gas mileage. As with anything - there are trade-offs. Smaller displacement turbocharged engines mated to 8-10 speed transmissions in a vehicle the size of a 4Runner would produce better acceleration and better gas mileage - no doubt. However, the trade-off is durability and reliability. Prior to the 4Runner that is my daily driver now, I drove a 2010 Tacoma for 12.5 years. That truck was the most reliable/durable vehicle I have ever owned - its still in the family - gave it to my youngest son. It's only got ~145K miles on it and I took care of it - it has had every recommended service. My son will be able to drive it about as long as he wants to. Everyone kind of knows what is eventually coming when they redesign the 4Runner - and I have no doubt that Toyota will roll out a very good redesigned vehicle. But I purposely pulled the trigger and bought a 2023 4Runner because I wanted the 1GR-FE/A750F engine/tranny combo that has been used in the 4Runners for so long - the same engine/tranny combo that was bulletproof in my Tacoma for 12.5 years. I buy new vehicles and I drive them for 12-15 years - so I am less willing to trade reliability and durability for better acceleration and gas mileage than someone who replaces their vehicle every ~5 years. It's interesting that most of the "expert" reviews that list the cons against the current 4Runner - are reasons why I bought one.

 

A lot of the people here appreciate the very things the magazine reviewers dislike.

I never expected, or even hoped for "good" fuel economy. However, I sometimes adjust my driving to get the best possible fuel economy if I'm not in a hurry.

 

Just curious, are you heavy on the gas? I think driving style is the single biggest determining factor in gas mileage when comparing the same or similar vehicles. On my recent 2-week road trip to Utah, I had it WAY overloaded with gear, inside and out, which included a Victory 4x4 roof rack (similar to a Prinsu) which had three jerrycans of fuel and two water jerrycans, plus a huge roof cargo case and duffel bag. I was using KM3 mud terrains, with a 2" lift heavy suspension OME kit. I averaged 18.7 MPG, which I think is largely because I never once went above 65 MPH.

 

Mine are at 42psi...but they're stock size. If they were 285's they would need lower pressure according to the TRA table.

My first two tanks were 16.7 and 16.4 which is on par with my 5.0 F150 on 33's by the time I traded it (159k miles). When the truck was new I'd get 19-20mpg...

 

Are you running stock size tires at 42 psi? I'm running mine at 38 psi. I suppose I could go higher. I certainly didn't buy the J150 for good mpg but I am happy to get 20 mpg + around town in this thing. I wonder if I could get even higher mpg at 42 psi?

 

“Geez Us”, 42psi and 38? Save in gas, but replace tires earlier? I try and keep mine as per reco, 34 on the door, for my 265/70 A/T 3 Toyo OCs.

I want to go to a taller tire, but being mindful of weight per wheel, has me bouncing back and forth between 285/70s C load on 8.5” rim, vs 255/80 E load on 7” TRD Pro (I can only find E load tires in this size). About 83 lbs vs 76 lbs a corner, and I’m at 71 lbs now and getting 17.6 mpg (16L/100kms).

 

You can't reall

You can't really go by what Toyota printed on that door sticker...unless you get an exact new set of the original OEM tires...IMHO, I go by what the tire manufacturer of the new tire recommends for their tire and the weight it will be carrying

 

Any tire in the stock size and load range can be run at that pressure. Tire pressure is based on GVWR, and the size and load range of the tire. The only real reason to not run the pressure stamped on the door, is if you change to a different size and / or load range.

 

That doesn’t make sense. So if they’re KO2s in stock form @ 48 psi that means the vehicle weights almost 10,000 lbs? I just reference the manufacturer website. But even then they do not it’s not recommended to run at full pressure.

For Toyo, they note to follow manufacturer guideline for OEM tire size. The ideal pressure for safety and longevity is an even patch across the base, increasing inflation until the tire patch begins to decrease from the side edges. Leaned that while working at Honda. But of course the best way to determine for individual tires and individual vehicles is the chalk method.

The hope is we can help save each other money without increasing risk. Ok maybe it the saving money part since just being on this forum has shown me several things to blow my next pay cheque on

 

As much as I miss the 4R, I don't miss the mpg. I didn't sell my 4R because of mpg's. Once I took over my parents CRV after they died and even though I've looked at new 4R's, I just can't bring myself to pulling the trigger at these prices, interest rates and cost to operate. The CRV does everything I need it to do other than go off road, but it will go down most forest roads and to most camping spots and TBH its actually easier to camp in the CRV than the 4R just based on how the seats fold down in both. I'm still on the hunt for a 3rd Gen and have both the CRV and the 3rd Gen.