Tundra Fuel Economy: 7 Ways To Improve your Tundra MPG
Jason | Jul 20, 2007 | Comments 11
Yes — we know you bought a truck. You didn’t buy it to save gas. You bought it to do stuff. We get it.
But what if there was a way to do stuff with your truck and save gas? Interested? We thought so. Here are some tips.
1) Drive like your grandmother.
Your truck burns fuel at almost twice the normal rate during hard acceleration. If you’re racing from every stop light, you’re going to burn through fuel faster than green grass thru a goose. The ideal acceleration rate for maximum fuel economy is generally agreed upon to be about 2mph per second. At that rate, it would take you 30 seconds to reach 60mph. While we don’t really believe anyone can accelerate that slowly without getting shot at (or at least flipped off), if you don’t like your gas mileage try counting to 10 or 15 seconds as you accelerate. If you’re getting to your speed any faster than 10 seconds, you’re burning more fuel than you need to.
2) Avoid high speeds.
Believe it or not, aerodynamic drag, or wind resistance, isn’t significant until you’re traveling at 40-45mph. Then, as your speed increases, aerodynamic drag starts to build up rapidly. By the time you hit 100mph, your engine is working almost entirely just to overcome aerodynamic drag. In other words, less drag at low speeds means better fuel economy — that’s why your truck gets the best fuel economy at about 55mph. If you have to go faster, realize it’s hurting your efficiency.
3) Check your tires.
Other than wind resistance, the only other major friction you must fight is your Tundra’s tires. While the best fuel economy can be had using a highway tire with a car-like tread, you can actually get good results with a more aggressive off-road truck tire as long as the tire pressure is correct. Your owner’s manual will tell you what it should be for your specific vehicle, but it’s safe to say that 32-35 psi is a good safe pressure for just about any vehicle on the road. If it drops below 30psi, you’ll see your fuel economy take a hit. Also, don’t inflate your tires to the suggested pressure printed on the sidewall — that number is usually WAY too high.
4) Don’t drop your tailgate.
Here’s another believe it or not — dropping or removing your trucks tailgate *hurts* your fuel economy. The Canadian government sponsored a study — you can read it for yourself or just believe us when we tell you to leave your tailgate in the “locked, upright position”.
5) Stay up on normal maintenance.
Not that you shouldn’t be doing this anyways, but having a clean air cleaner, oil that’s been changed within the last 5,000 miles, and making sure your check engine light is off are all great ways to save fuel. Nuff said.
6) Look for excess weight you can remove.
Are you still hauling around tires or sandbags from last winter? What about all the “stuff” that’s in the back seat or pickup bed? None of it may seem significant, but a few items can quickly add up. Eliminating an extra 100 pounds of “junk” in your car can improve your fuel economy 1-2%. Not a lot, but every bit counts. Finally, consider telling your spouse to loose weight to help with fuel economy.
7) Make fewer trips that are longer in length.
Your engine doesn’t reach peak efficiency until it’s had enough time to warm up — typically about 15 minutes. If you can take all your short errands and string them together to form one super-errand, your engine will operate more efficiently during the majority of your trip.
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“burn through fuel faster than green grass thru a goose” Come on! You can do better than that.
Brett – that’s the clean version! LOL
ACTUALLY I have found after testing this out 3 seperate times that premium gas gives me 2 mpg better at 70 to 75 mph. I average 20.9 mpg at 70 to 75 mph from Central Louisiana to East Central Texas on I-10. I got that EXACT reading all three times. I tested the same trip 3 times on regular and averaged 18.4 for the 3 trips. Same speed, Same direction of travel (west), Using only Shell brand fuel, and I alternated the tests between premium and Regular. I drive a 07 Tundra DC 5.7L stock. If you run through all the math at a 20 cent a gallon bonus cost per gallon it cost me 4 bucks extra but I can go about 50 miles farther on the same 20 gallons netting me a better than $6 savings so I make $2 per tank. (Yes, I know it has a biggger tank but at the 20 g mark I get nervous so I fill up.) now if it is a .25 or .30 per gallon extra cost it washes out the savings but it is a economic savings most of my time to put premium in. I owned a 01 RAV 4 before I purchased this truck and it would average about 1 MPG better. My only guess for this is that the VVTI can adjust itself for better use of the Premium.
Jeremy — good tip. I think you’re right about the VVTI.
A mechanic recommended that I change the electronic control module after researching the best one. Any chance of that helping?
I heard that a fiber glass tuneau cover will help on the mileage . Any comments. I love my 07 Tundra 4wd but am always looking on how to improve my mileage
Fiber glass tonneau cover doesn’t do much for fuel economy and costs alot more than what you would spend on the extra gas. I don’t see a difference with it on or off in fuel economy, just for looks and covered storage.
I did not notice any improvement with the tonneau cover; but then I drive <55mph most of the time due to where I live and where the job is. It is also quite possibly the additional weight weight of the tonneau is having a negative affect. I use the tonneau for security only.
Recently purchased an AFE Air Intake and have notice about a 1 mpg increase in mileage (driving like a grandmother as I have been for the last couple months). The additional noise is minimal (had tried a Volante, but the intake was too loud for my taste). The AFE Throttle Body Spacer works well to add performance (throttle response and accelaration) but does nothing for MPG and adds a loud sucking sound along with a whistle at a certain throttle opening.
The biggest improvement I have seen came with removing the 300 lbs of sand bags from the winter…thought I miss the smooth ride.
bought a 08 tundra.4.7 ltr.wondering if a kn&n will help my mpg.if not what will.
Soapdog – A K&N air filter will boost MPGs, and a K&N air intake kit is available. You might look at an AFE kit instead, however. The performance gains are quite similar but the AFE is a MUCH better design and easier to install. We’ve also heard of problems with the hose clamps supplied by K&N – they don’t always tighten up and your air filter can fall off. Read more about the two kits (both reviews are for the 5.7 but the kits for the 4.7 are very similar):
http://www.tundraheadquarters......ir-intake/
http://www.tundraheadquarters......it-review/
AFE stage II is a lifetime filter and you don’t need oil. Clean with mild detergent.