Lift And Tires Vs Mpg
 

As you all know from my other post, I am shopping for a Tacoma.

http://autoextra.com/vehicledetail/a...6/do-printable

Perhaps the foremost reason I am buying a Tacoma is MPG and reliability. from what i have read the 4 cyl 4x4 tacos get atleast 25 mpg average.
Would the size of the tires and the lift on this truck reduce that noticably? My commute to work is about 2 hrs round trip at over 75 mph. I can't afford to be getting less than 20-21 mpg.

also, does the SR5 have the diff lock that i can grey wire?

What is the stock tire size on a 4 cylinder Taco?? looks like both you have posted have 31" tires on them....

MPG has a lot to do with gearing... I know people who had really low gearing and went to a larger tire and gained MPG as the tires and gears were now more suited.. But if the truck can't handle the larget tires, and the engine has to work harder to keep them going, then MPG will be lost... I cant imagine 31s in this case killing you MPG....

As Mr. Bob stated, it all deals with the gears the truck has. Mine has stock 4.30 gears, so jumping to 33" tires only slightly effected my gas mileage. With 4.10's, it would've effected it much more, even moreso with the 3.58's (might be wrong on this ratio as I'm having a brain fart right now). That specific truck should only be slightly worse than stock based on the tires alone as I don't know what else has been done to the truck. It's running on 31x11.50, so they're an inch wider than stock tires (31x10.5). If you can pull the gear code out of the door jamb, you'll be able to find out the gear ratio of that specific truck. If it's 4.10, or high number (lower gears), then you'll be fine. It should still get over 20 mpgs.

For the gear code chart, just search here or on tacomaterritory.

If you think a 4cyl 4x4 will get you 25 mpg...you are mistaken. I drive a 97 2.7 L runner...and I'm lucky if i get 17-18 miles to the gallon city and maybe...maybe 20-21 on highway if i'm going no more than 65 mph and running premium fuel. When I bought my truck I was also expecting that type of mileage but never got close to it, I think those numbers reflect if your running the 235 tire set up...I run the optional 265/75/16 size tires (Revos to be exact :great:

Heck, if I baby her I can squeeze 19.5 mpg. (that's running 32"s)
Even b4 that I could only get approx 21 mpg at most.