Prerunner MPG woes

Oct 03, 2005 9 Replies

I can't figure this out for the life of me... this can not be right!



I have a 1999 tacoma prerunner, 4 cyl engine... 2 wheel drive...



When I bought it, i was sure id get great gas mileage (especially compared to the crappy corvette I sold to get this truck... vette was a



6 speed, got 18 - 19 mpg easy)

Well, I have had this tacoma for a year and test my mileage upon every fill up... im getting 20 to 23 mpg... typically 21 though.



My wife has a heavier vehicle, with a 4 cyl and gets 25 - 30 mpg... something isnt right.



Or, is this typical for this vehicle?



thanks in advance! Jazz Mann



The ONLY thing that "just ain't right" are your expectations. Apparently you didn't bother researching the EPA mileage (for comparison, you mileage will be less) before you bought.

It's a TRUCK ... not a sleek passenger car. And there are several other major factors besides weight that affect fuel mileage.

Buck up! You could be getting less mileage with the V6.

My son has a '98 4cyl prerunner, and I have 2000 v-6 prerunner . He gets about 18 city, 22 hiway , his foot is little heavy. I get 18-19 city. Absolute best hiway is 21. If you have an actual prerunner it came with

31x10.50 tire that year. Thats what hurts the economy. We love our trucks. Scott

philip, relax... ive owned 2 honda cars and corvette... im sorry my knowledge of the areodynamics of a truck is lower than yours... a simple "yes, that is average/typical" would have been fine.

thank you for your answer, curt as it may have been.

Philip wrote:

scott, thanks for your insightful reply. thanks for resiting the temptation to bash me for asking a simple question as most newsgroupies do. lol jazz mann

Here are the city and highway EPA ratings for the 1999 Tacoma:

2.4 liter with automatic transmission: 21/24 2.4 liter with manual transmission: 22/27 2.7 liter with automatic transmission: 19/21

It sounds like you're getting mileage that is pretty close to or better than EPA estimates, depending on your engine and transmission.

As far as comparing with your wife's vehicle, it is difficult to make a valid apples-to apples comparison because of differences in horsepower to weight ratio, gear and axle ratios, torque, and driving conditions.

See Ray's response and then realize this:

The PreRunner is a 4WD Tacoma without the front running gear. It gets the same suspension and the same TIRES as the 4WD version.

I bet if you swap out those tires your mileage will increase.

Or, add the front axle and a transfer case and have an AWD...

i had the feeling that it was related to the big tires.. thanks guys!

Do you have big grippy tires on it? Tires like that can cost several MPG on a 4 banger. Put some smooth street tires on it and pump them up to near max pressure and you should see a noticable mileage boost.

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