Winter fuel mileage...I have concerns !

[Will721]

What do you mean by “these trucks”? You speak as though everyone is experiencing 30-40% mpg losses and there is something wrong with the design. I went from an average of 20 mpg to 17 mpg when temps are in the teens.

"These trucks" would be those that are experiencing it? The OP of this thread? Those in other threads? The fact there are multiple threads on multiple websites talking about it? Aka, not you.

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[Crazy Mary’s Husband]

"These trucks" would be those that are experiencing it? The OP of this thread? Those in other threads? The fact there are multiple threads on multiple websites talking about it? Aka, not you.

You are in the minority if you are dropping 35-40% and yet you are looking for something that is wrong with the design of the Tacoma. Maybe your thermostat is not closing on your transmission. Maybe you are too heavy on the pedal. There are a lot of maybes but if the design is flawed, ALL trucks would be affected.

 

[Yotota]

For all vehicles, there's a sweet spot of temperature range for fuel economy and it gets worse the father you are from that range. Hybrids are particularly affected by the cold, as are turbo engines. Ford Ecoboost turbo engines (both regular and hybrid) are even worse for mpg drop.

Personally, I write off fuel economy when I'm using any truck in very low temperatures. But that's rare in the PNW - I might see 15°F a few times per year, most of the winter I'll see low to mid 20s.

Idling the truck for warm-up or just keeping the heater running is one of the biggest issues in the winter. Then driving on snow covered roads at varying speeds, with steep climbs. I've had tanks as low as 12mpg after some snowboarding trips in my Taco. But I've also had plenty of fullsize trucks getting well under 10mpg in the coldest of winter. Even my V8 GX470 would dip down to 11-12mpg.

@MustardTiger - are you also factoring in the ~3.5% odometer error caused by your tire diameter? That would correct your 15.8L/100km to 15.27L/100km (15.41mpg).

 

[MustardTiger]

@Yotota my truck came with 265/70r18 tires, and I now have 285/70r17. The difference in diameter is negligible, like 0.3%. So an error in the speedometer doesn’t really exist. My tires are also SL (standard load), with Method rims…so added weight over factory tires and rims is also not significant. If I was running 10 ply tires, I wouldn’t be on here complaining about mpg lol…because that’d be a me problem based on my tire choice.

Also to note…my tires are at 32 psi.

Overall, I guess my reason for being bitter about mpg is due to the fact that with all the tech and engineering, small displacement engine, turbo, hybrid, grill shutters, direct injection, super thin oil, etc etc….my truck still sucks complete ass on fuel economy!! Under all conditions it should be noticeably better than an old 5.7L v8 Tundra with 300k running 5w30 pushing a considerably larger and heavier truck. But it’s not! And I even have the added headache and frustration of getting gas in the oil…and having to continually monitor the dipstick level…not fun. On my old Tundra, I’d change the oil just before winter, slam the hood and not bother checking it or changing it until spring. Never had to worry about it.

 

[Yotota]

@Yotota my truck came with 265/70r18 tires, and I now have 285/70r17. The difference in diameter is negligible, like 0.3%. So an error in the speedometer doesn’t really exist. My tires are also SL (standard load), with Method rims…so added weight over factory tires and rims is also not significant. If I was running 10 ply tires, I wouldn’t be on here complaining about mpg lol…because that’d be a me problem based on my tire choice.

Also to note…my tires are at 32 psi.

Overall, I guess my reason for being bitter about mpg is due to the fact that with all the tech and engineering, small displacement engine, turbo, hybrid, grill shutters, direct injection, super thin oil, etc etc….my truck still sucks complete ass on fuel economy!! Under all conditions it should be noticeably better than an old 5.7L v8 Tundra with 300k running 5w30 pushing a considerably larger and heavier truck. But it’s not! And I even have the added headache and frustration of getting gas in the oil…and having to continually monitor the dipstick level…not fun. On my old Tundra, I’d change the oil just before winter, slam the hood and not bother checking it or changing it until spring. Never had to worry about it.

Wow, I completely missed the fact that hybrid OR model trucks came with 265/70R18 tires (~32.6" diameter). I guess I had only looked at the regular trucks since day one. So yeah, the diameter difference is negligible.

What fuel economy did your Tundra get in the exact same temperature and driving conditions?

Does your Tacoma have any added weight, or aerodynamic drag?

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