Fuel mileage qestions...
 

I just got back from a 400 mile roundtrip drive, and figured my mileage to be about 21 mpg. It was all highway miles, and including going crossing the Cascade mountin pass each way, so alot of uphill driving.

Its a '94 extra cab 22re, with less than 1,000 miles on the rebuild, and it's stock except for 31'' tires.

At first, I was anticipating better mileage from the almost eclusive highway driving, but then I remembered that much of the trip was spent tackling an incline going over the pass... What kind of mileage should I be able to expect, otherwise?

Also, are there any simple bolt-ons that will improve power without affecting mileage when I keep my foot out of it? I know its partly the nature of the truck, but having to drop down to 4th gear on some of those hills to keep it above 60 miles per hour would be nice to avoid.

Thanks for the input!

I think 21 is pretty good for a 22re and hills with 31's and stock gears. I get close to that with my 88.

Only thing I can really think of to help mileage is advancing the timing as much as possible without pinging and driving with a light foot. Re-gearing to a ratio more appropriate for the 31's might help some too.

what's the stock tire size?

Look on the driver's side door jamb.

Keep it below 65mph. It helps a bit, but its a pain and I don't mind the extra couple gallons of gas, unless I loose my wallet 250 miles from home with 3/4 of a tank (I actually made it too averaging 27mpg!).

You're not going to climb large hills in 5th gear it's more of an overdrive gear, I think if you can hold the hills in 4th and you don't have to drop down to 3rd you're doing good.

I often drop down to 3rd to hold 65 in my 88, and have done so many times without issue with the engine at 3500+ rpm's.

The trick with mileage is the least amount of throttle applied with the appropriate gear in order to maintain speed.

Would that not be just to many rpm's?

I made nearly the entire pass without dropping out of 5th gear more than 3 times, only in the steeper areas.

I found it kinda odd that 5th gear, which I thougt of as an overdrive, is only roughly 400 rpm lower than 4th gear at 65 miles per hour... does that sound right? Either way it was always enough power that I could accelerate up those hills, and maintain 65.

Over time, the 5th gear (over drive) ratio wears out and you only get about 400rpm difference. Brand new, 4th and 5th are about 650 rpm apart at 65mph.




::D

Redline is around 5500-6000. Holding ~4200 isn't a big deal.

I lost 5th gear a few years back so I just drove around in 4th for a summer until the tranny wouldn't go into any gear. Back in the late 70's and early 80's Toyota were only 4 speeds anyways

True that.

It's surprising how many people are afraid to rev their engine more than 3000 rpm, much less to redline... these 'unbreakable' [sic] 22R/22RE's. ;)

Swap in a MAF sensor from an 82 Supra, its supposed to improve power and mileage. Not sure exactly how much, i'm guess 15-20 horsepower and a few mpgs...

just to clarify... it is a completely rebuilt motor, bored over, balanced, and a 260 cam...

So what MAF from a supra should I be looking for? What's the idea behind that exactly? and is it just a direct swap?

Thanks!

heheh, dude, you said stock! bored & cammed is not stock :)

is your mileage calculation corrected for running 31's with 4:10 gears?

I don't get particularly great mileage with combo city/highway - around 17-18mpg, but with mostly flat highway at ~60-70mph, I get around 23mpg.

bored how much? the larger displacement in theory will hit your fuel economy.
and yeah, like Gnarls said - whose cam?

Going up north here in phoenix arizona, you're going up some steeep hills. Alot of the hills i have to drive in 3rd gear at about 4000 rpm to hold 60mph.

I just filled up my '94 Xtra cab this morning after a typical week of city driving: 306 miles / 14.6 gallons = 21 MPG. When I last used a whole tank on the highway with a 70 MPH speed limit, I got about 26 or 27 MPG. Those numbers have been pretty typical for me since I bought it new 140,000 miles ago (it's still completely stock). So, your numbers sound low to me.

I do know that my mileage is correct, or as correct as it can be acccording to mapquest. It was just a straight shot of 194 miles on the freeway, parked it, then returned the next morning.

I'll have to look up those cam specs.