Mods to increase fuel efficiency?

4 banger

 

Don’t lift it or put on wider tires if you want to keep your fuel economy.

Other than that efficient driving is the only real answer.

 

One thing that hasn't been mentioned is a scan gauge or ultra gauge. Won't actually do anything to improve mileage, but a lot of people report gaining mileage just from being able to watch your instant mpg and engine load, makes you drive more efficiently

 

It’s old knowledge but that’s right out the book of genesis, lol. My tonnau is heavy but sleek, it didn’t do shit but make my truck take off way slower, plus add the bedrug I put in at atleast an extra 150 lb. Weight is the enemy, stock form is best. Leaving the tailgate down or off or with a gator net was proven in a study to not help mpg at all. That article was posted at Budweiser near the time clock waay back.

 

I didn't realize these were so inexpensive! Thank you for posting the link. I never bothered looking because I assumed they would be much more expensive.

 

Ultra gauges are much cheaper and a lot of people like them better. I didn't even mean to post a link lol not sure how that happened

 

Cool! Thank you

 

Water meth combo on a small jet on hard acceleration would help, even on n/a it increases octane# and cools the motor as it cleans aswell. Not for the faint hearted and should be setup correctly.

 

Back in 06 I bought a new dbl cab tundra. Gas mileage sucked and then I saw the scanguage2 somewhere so I bought it.
It was the best fuel economy purchase I ever made because I learned how to drive much more efficient with it. I watch the throttle position, mpg, load and whatever else I'm curious about.
I still have it..... a few years ago (one of the times) I went to Arizona to visit family I saw I could take it to the scanguage office for a update so I did. They were amazed I had a older original still working so they replaced everything but the case with new including the cable.
In 09 I got rid of the tundra and bought a new 08 5.7l sequoia that I still have with 115k

My father in law had a 94 toyota pickup with the 2.4l and drove a lot. He would go through a tank or two a night. He told me cheap gas wasn't worth it because the truck would idle rougher and get worse mpg.
He switched to Chevron and everything was much better and I believe him. When someone drives that much they really know the vehicle they drive

 

Peak power is where the motor makes the most power, and nobodies gonna be driving around at peak output rpm. Actually in most cases running towards the peak torque is the most efficient, but once again in these smaller engines that is going to be at an unrealistic driving rpm. At a slightly higher rpm the engine is going to not work as hard to carry a certain speed, thus the operator will not be on the throttle as hard as if you were trying to carry the same speed at lesser rpm.

 

It really depends, the added cost in registration + insurance for a daily can buy a lot of gas.

 

how badly does the k&n filter affect good mpg??

 

The stock air intake for the 3.4l get the air from the passenger side wheel fender area. While driving your intake temp should be near a couple degrees as outside temps unless your in stop and go traffic. That's what I get with my stock intake. I think it's very good already and I think a k&n drop it would be best besides the poor filtering compared to the oem filters.
Example:
The intake on my 08 5.7L sequoia HAD a charcoal filter in the top half of the intake box and a brass screen right before the throttle body.
With those removed and a k&n drop in my wife noticed a faster throttle response and asked me what did I do to it because it has more power now
The whole intake is the same size as the throttle body so I dont see any improvement with a aftermarket intake from anyone. It also goes to the passenger fender and the intake temp is the same as outside when driving

 

Try driving 55 mph sometime on a highway run if you aren't in a hurry. I did this on my 2.4 and it sips fuel. RPM's at @ 2k. Wouldn't surprise me if I could get 30 mpg driving this way.

 

Yea, it's most efficient if you peak torque is required. Cruising on the highway isn't requiring peak torque so running at that rpm is going to consume more fuel than necessary.

 

My K&N drop in does about 1-1.5mpg better than the stock filter on my 2.7

 

lower it as close to the ground as possible, look into aero dynamic designs and try to implement them to the front of the truck, skinny tires.

 

It is most efficient because it is not working as hard to maintain a set speed. Each engine is different and some, like these 4 bangers, it is unrealistic to run in the peak torque range due to how high the peak torque is. But when it is doable it helps. I always run my 3rz between 2-3000rpm, and my average shift rpm is 2500. I average 21-23mpg daily driving on 3" lift and 33" tires. If I'm on slower roads, I'm dropping gears to keep at least 2k rpm as much as possible

 

I think we’re missing the fact that the max efficiency RPM is not the same as max torque RPM.

 

Exactly!

Peak torque on a stock 3rz was at 4000 RPM's, but you would never cruise at that RPM. (Unless you're really hauling ass!)

I think it more about knowing your vehicle's power band. My 1gr fe makes peak torque at 4k also, but almost never sees that RPM unless I'm getting on the freeway.

Otoh, you wouldn't want to shift before your motor starts making any power, either. Lugging the engine is hard on it, and won't really save much gas.

Gotta find the sweet spot. This is why I'm really interested in the scan gauge or ultra gauge. Being able to keep track of how hard the engine is working is very intriguing to me.