Please tell me mileage improves

I have a new 1794, non hybrid, 3" factory lift and 275 65's on stock TRD 20" rims. I knew my mileage would take a hit over normal stock tires, but what I've experienced is absolutely abysmal. I get about 11 around town and 14 on the highway, in eco mode, and I do not have a lead foot by any means. I was expecting maybe 15 in town and 18+ on the highway (vs Toyota claims of 18/23.) Will mileage improve maybe a bit once broken in? I didn't buy it to be an economy car, but I must say I'm not pleasantly surprised. I didn't think I'd lose 4-5mpg! My brother has a 23 SR5 4x4 and he easily gets 17/22 ish. Is my truck particularly bad? Is this indicative of an underlying problem?

 

Your truck is tall and fat.

 

I’d imagine it’s a combo of bigger tires and the 3” lift. There are some decent reports of mileage improving a bit around 8-10k miles, but taking a brick shaped truck with mediocre rated mileage, lifting it, and adding bigger tires isn’t a recipe for terrific fuel economy.

 

Obviously, and I knew that before buying, but this bad? A 4-5mpg drop? I don't even have the biggest size that will fit. Most guys with the TRD lift run 285 65 20's.

 

Lift, plus way more per corner, plus new truck , plus winter blend

what exactly are you surprised about ?

 

Also depends on the weight of your tires + wheels. E rated tires will be a decent amount heavier than C rates or P/SL Rated. Stock wheels are typically heavy too. On my old taco i went from 245/75/16s on stock alloys to 265/70/17 P-rated ATs and aftermarket wheels and actually shaved a pound each off my stock wheel/tires.

 

I was getting easily 17/22 completely stock. Now with 35’s D load range and leveled, I’m getting around 14/18.

 

now go lift, load e, new truck and winter blend and we have OPs situation

 

THIS level of suck is what I'm surprised about! I expected and was willing to accept a reasonable loss of mileage, but this just seems excessive. For comparison, my buddy's 22 F150 has a 3" lift and 295 70/18" tires that weigh 65 lbs each and he gets 16.5 mpg on the highway easy. That's a solid 2 mpg better than me with much bigger and heavier tires. That's not surprising to you? Or a 4-5mpg loss from stock isn't surprising either?

 

An individual’s driving habits will be the biggest factor. Everyone thinks they drive like a grandma, rarely true.

 

This is what I was expecting. I'd be perfectly fine with 14/18!

 

im not surprised at all, let the truck break in , get on summer blend and see what happens

comparing to another brand of truck with someone else driving is so meaningless is crazy, way too many variables to consider

you have to pay to play at the end of the day

if your worried about a couple mpg then why buy a full size lifter truck at all

 

Well, that's precisely it! I wouldn't be worried about a couple mpg at all. I surely expected to lose that much. But this loss is 3-4X just a couple mpg!

 

Go back to stock then if it bothers you

but I would really let the truck break in as well and get off winter blend

just chill out for a while and drive it

 

It should be a requirement that folks opt into the Pulse Driving habits thing on the app and post a screenshot. Let’s see them hard brakings, fast accelerations.

But in the OP, as soon as I saw “eco mode” I already knew this thread was gonna be pointless.

 

I just recently opted out (knowing full well toyota still collects the info), but here’s mine. Commute to work in the Seattle area is about 18 there and sometimes up to 21 on the way back. 9 mile commute with traffic and highway/city roads. I am pretty light on the throttle/brake and make it a game to engage the electric motor as much as possible during normal drives. I definitely do roll it to sport mode and go ham every now and then.

 

You forgot ugly too!!!!

 

I hear there are a ton of Ford Lightnings available, they get good gas mileage.

 

LOL.

Did you try researching what a lift kit and big heavy tires do to fuel economy before you made the decision to buy the truck this way?

If you legitimately needed 3” lift and 34” tires I don’t think you’d be surprised at this impact to fuel efficiency. Pretty expensive lesson in looking cool costing more money in fuel when you drive on pavement 99% of the time.

 

Why do you guys lift these trucks? Never mind. <SMH>

 

I lost count of how many threads exactly like this. Everything has pretty much been covered but you have a lifted full size truck with bigger tires, not the right choice if you're at all worried about MPG's. Not to mention Toyota trucks don't have a good history of being efficient. Look for a cheap older commuter car as a secondary, that's what I did. Also I want to point out not to trust the MPG's on the dash, especially with larger tires it's going to be off. Mine is usually better when I calculate by hand.

 

Not that it helps a lot but your speedo and odo are now off by @4% due to larger tires. What tires did you get? as another member mentioned, staying with C or better yet P load rating will help keep weight down on tires. The stock OEM 265/60/20 weigh about 39 lbs. Nitto Recon Grappler, the only P rated tire on Tire Rack in that size, is 47 lbs. in a P rating and 57 lbs. in an E rating. Highway speed matters too...are you cruising at 65 or 80 mph? Running in Normal unless on a non-hilly highway cruise the Eco makes a small difference...Sport sucks up gas period...all that said give it some time to break in and manage your speed, stay off of cruise control too, that can cost you 1-2 mpg depending on traffic and terrain. Sounds like an awesome truck...you'll get it figured out.

 

I get about the same but in comfort mode. I don’t bother with Eco mode. I have about the same setup as you but with 35” tires. I do have a lead foot though.
All that said, I’m not mad about it. I’ve been driving Tundras since 2011 so I knew what I was signing up for. This is the 4th Tundra I’ve had and they’ve all had pretty much the same fuel efficiency.
The hybrid adds more power, but does approximately Jack shit for gas mileage.

 

Well on the bright side your new tires are nearly 5% taller so your MPG readout on the truck is significantly off. Do the math yourself but with 4.9% bigger diameter my napkin math says your 14 mpg readout is an actual 14.7 since your odometer is reading less miles than you actually travel due to factory speedo/odo error.

On the downside, even mild lifting and bigger tires really makes a huge hit in mpg. Aero takes a huge hit for hwy driving, and the weight of E range tires really takes more hp to get up to speed in stop and go.

on the upside? 4mpg diff over 20k driven a year at $4/gal is about $1,270 more in gas a year or $100/month. Depending on how frivolous your discretionary spending is that might not be a bad trade for a unique lifted Tundra on big tires, or may just feel like a complete waste of money. You get to decide.

 

You know if you have to bitch about the gas mileage, dont drive the truck and get rid of it...get yourself a horse.

 

You killed the mileage dead with the mods

 

OP
I was getting 20-24mpg on flat highway drives when I would stay under 70 in the first 10k miles. Once I put 35" tires, Ive never seen above 20, more likely to get around 18 doing the same drive, before calculating tire size into the equation. So losing 4-5mpg is pretty much expected based on your changes.

 

No way! Have you seen the cost of boarding, hay and oats?? ;-)

 

I don't know who needs to hear this or maybe it should be a PSA but....If you bought a truck hoping for good fuel mileage, you're the problem.

 

Down here in Florida its 60 bucks for a roll of hay.