MPG versus MPH sweet spot? Can I do better than 17.0 mpg

My sweet spot for harmonic convergence at speed is about 84 mph.

 

I’d still pin it!

 

I see this response all the time. What if you bought the truck because you need a truck, but you want to make the most out of your gas? Is wanting to know if you are at peak fuel efficiency that bad? If I'm a landscaper how the hell can I use a prius?

 

Game, Set, and Match.

 

Oh God damn it where can I buy one of those and whats the biggest tire that fits?
most importantly does it come in black?

 

I've hit 24 going on a 20 mile stretch that was perfectly flat doing about 55-60mph constant. This was in about 65 degree weather and dry. Outside of those rare occasions, 17-18 is about it.

Try out different mpg vs mph and see if you find your own sweet spot.

 

I didn’t know that there was a 7 or 8 to the left of the decimal!

 

I'm similar to you, O.P. I have a daily commute of 54 miles to and from for a total of 108, five days a week. I drive around 65 to 70 and I average 19. In the summertime with light wind, I can easily get 20-21. My truck is stock.

 

@w3lne welcome to the forum. This topic is pretty beat, but if your truck doesn't have a real-time mpg calculator (I drive a first gen so I don't know) you might want to look into a scangauge2 or similar. In my truck I run a scangauge2 and have the real-time mpg and trip mpg displayed, the trick is to try keeping the real-time mpg higher than the trip mpg. This can teach you to drive YOUR TRUCK as efficiently as possible.

Other guys might have different tires, might have a lift, might have a bed cover, might weigh 100lbs less than you, might live on a flat map. These variables mean hearing what other people get for mpg might not be what you can get. Best thing to do is monitor your own fuel consumption and learn to gauge yourself.

When I used my truck for work I became a bit obsessed with doing this. At the time I was able to get surprisingly good mpg and the driving style I learned wasn't what you would expect.

 

I had a professional floor guy come out to clean and seal my tile floors, and he had a Prius. Just think about man-handling a commercial floor polisher out of freaking Prius. Don't see his ads anymore. He must have retired to light duty after wrenching his back.

 

I can't imagine doing that. I've seen a few mobile mechanics driving station wagons, I can't imagine doing that either. If I were them I would just get the smallest truck or van I could find and be happier.

 

Your limitation right now is probably aerodynamic and rotational mass, I'm sure if you use 255/70r18 tires (even with Pro's BBS forged wheels) and use chin spoiler/air dam that you see on F150, and I'm sure if you lower it couple inches you will gain may be another 2-3mpg.

 

Call me crazy but I always thought it would be sweet to get a RCSB Tundra and make it look like a Nacar truck. Not quite as low as them, but you get the idea. Drive around shouting things like "If you ain't first, you're last!"

 

Not crazy, RCSB trucks is my little fetish, you get the most hp/speed per dollar.

I always thought the front suspension of the Tundra is pretty decent in terms of geometry, I'm sure with a 2WD you can make a drop spindle (probably already exists) and add traction bars + panhard rod and do axle flip you would get a pretty sweet street truck, run some LT headers and do side exit before the passenger rear wheel (a la SVT lightning), I'm sure with 5.29 in the back with LSD it'll be a hoot.

 

What about 4wd, a lift kit and some MTs

 

Throw in gears, headers and a dirty deeds exhaust and we may have something here. Of course a Tundras.com sticker is mandatory.

 

I guess you answered the "What are the biggest tire I can fit" question...

 

Eco modders has the main mods indexed and list MPG impact and Cost. I would consider the other tradeoffs too: https://ecomodder.com/forum/fuel-economy-mpg-modifications.php

Other articles of interest:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Automotive_aerodynamics
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Automobile_drag_coefficient

 

Shit. I'm lucky to hold 14.5

 

OP, what fuel do you use? As others have said, this has been debated many times (MPG) and fuel type (premium etc), but I swear, since I started fueling up with premium I have been getting extra 2-3 mpg.
Yes, I have seen the research and testing and other discussions debunking this mostly, but just my experience. And no not that concerned at all with bad MPG but still curious how things affect the fuel economy.

 

OP - love your desire to economize but move to the right because I can't get my Tundra below 75.

 

I wish i was getting 17 mpg on my 2020 sport DC. The best i have gotten in the past 6 months that i have owned it is 12.7mpg.

 

Thats about what I get on my regular commute with a 60/40 Hwy/City split. I'm usually hitting 80 MPH on the highway however.

 

Remove your wipers and use rainx or keep them in your car and put them on when it starts to rain. Damn, do people go this far for .0000001 mpg?

 

Exactly. That is why I added "consider the tradeoffs" Wheel covers was another that concerned me (the tradeoff is brake cooling).

Off memory and based on a few engineering papers, I think an aeroshell/fastback bedcover had the biggest impact of the mods indivudually and air dam (dropped to height of your lowest component) was next. Cabin spoilers (top and sides) + covering the last quarter of the bed had high impact as well as did ride height and covering the undercarriage. The rest of the items like Tire Spats (what people often confuse with mudflaps) end up being nickle and dime mods; maybe if you implemented 20 of them they would net some total MPGs.

 

Gasoline and dohc v8's are a beautiful thing! Enjoy it while you can!

 

Another thing to consider is air temps. Some people try to blame winter blends but I have noticed that it is more about low temps. Even when stations around here are still selling summer blends my mileage will drop on cold days.

 

at 55 I can get 22mpg(I am 2wd) at 70 it is down to 18 or so.
Current city with 45-55mph speed limits is about 14.5