Poor Gas Mileage

I just purchased a '24 Tundra Platinum and I am getting rather poor gas mileage compared to the predictions from Toyota. At best I'm getting 16.5 mpg when driving at 65 mph on level roads with outside air temperature in the 70's. By all rights pretty ideal conditions. My vehicle is pretty new but I thought I'd get over 18 mpg in these conditions. Any ideas on why my mileage is below average?

 

https://www.tundras.com/threads/horrible-mpg-on-my-24.150509/

 

Thanks. Good info there. I was just wondering if my "poor" mileage was an indicator of mechanical issues. 2 or 3 mpg isn't a huge deal as long as the engine is okay.

 

Are you hand calculating or going off of the dash? How many miles are on the truck? If you're solely going off the dash, the computer could still be learning.

 

new motor likely on winter blend, don't worry about it for now.

 

What ^^^ said, and check the tire pressures too. May need to add a few pounds. Dealer likes to keep them lower than I like to make it ride like a pillow. I prefer high 30's for front and rear. Run premium gas too - may cost a little more but the truck will run better and get better mileage. I average 20+ combined city/local and even better on the highway until I get above 75 mph - then it is sub 20.

 

Exactly. The computer will retard the timing if a person runs regular....truck will run but your MPG will take a hit. There is better ways in life to save money versus running low octane fuel.

 

Don’t run premium. My 24 SR5 gets 19-24. Top tier 87.

 

At this point I'm reluctant to switch to high-test since Toyota recommends 87. I only have 600 miles on the vehicle so I'll give it a little bit before making changes. I'll also do some manual calculations to see if my computer is reporting accurately.

 

ya, just drive the thing and boost it and not give a shit so much, you'll be happier.

winter blend blows, colder weather, idle warm up, short trips, etc all lower it. And a new motor need time to break in.

lastly, its a truck with almost 500 lbs of torque, 6K lb brick, there is a cost to running it.

 

take this with a grain of salt ...

i ran my 14 4runner on oem plugs to 106k miles and 10 yrs of only 87 w/ ethanol. from the pics i posted in the 4runner forum i am part of, they roughly had another 10-20k life on them.

still runs fine to this day on new oem plugs.

also ran our 12 tacoma v6, 16 tacoma v6, 18 tundra v8 and now our 23 tundra v6 on the same 87 w/ ethanol. havent had any issues yet on any vehicle in the last 15 yrs. and we only get 2 mpg better than our 18 tundra, but that wasnt the point of getting the new tundra or any truck in the past. once we moved to suv/trucks, we gave up on caring on mpg. i only track it for gee whiz now.


and i did oil change at 1200 miles, 5k and 10k on our 23 tundra. currently at 11k on the 23 tundra at 1 year 8 months

 

Mid-grade octane grade here works fine for NA engines but I'd rather run premium and gain the benefits it allows FI engines to provide. The simple addition of ethane (grain-based fuel) to any grade of gas further reduces performance - IMO another reason to use premium. Last summer I went from Cody Wy through Yellowstone and back to Casper Wy on one tank of premium gas and averaged 26+ mpg. If you believe Toyota, and strictly follow their recommendations, you will only change your oil every 10K. I won't be following their recommendation on that either. I changed my oem oil and filter at 1500 miles and 5K miles and will change every 5k from here on. I agree it is your truck and your decision. I hope you enjoy your Tundra as much as I enjoy mine.

 

It can take several thousand miles for things to loosen up nicely. Remember, it's not just the engine, but everything in the drive train has to break in, wear normally & loosen up. I would give it at least 5000 miles or so before mileage settles in. I had a F250 Diesel that took about 15k before it got it's consistent best mileage.