wish list: factory stock 25mpg 4x4 daily driveable pickup truck

[jaystone]

I am looking to replace my 2000 Ranger 4.0 4x4 automatic with something a bit newer that gets better than the 15-18mpg I routinely see driving around town (65% highway 70mph, 35% stop and go).

I am finding myself looking a lot at 2005+ Tacoma trucks with the 2.7L with 5 speed manual.

I am curious what else I should be looking at? Figure $15K budget for something with around 50K-75K miles.

Occasional towing/hauling of light loads, commuting, weekend warrior, home DIY, camping all around decent truck.

My current Ranger has performed admirably for 167,000+ miles and continues to do so, but is very much in the second half of it's life as opposed to the first. Despite being paid for, I am finding it very frustrating that I cannot get close to 20mpg, much less over that figure.

I have considered small SUV's, econoboxes, etc, but find it hard to match the versatility and utility of a truck; I really would like to have cake and eat it too (4x4 truck plus decent fuel economy plus reasonable purchase price).

Thoughts?

[renegadeofpunk03]

You won't get 25 in the Tacoma. The V6 gets 18-19 and the 4 banger isn't a while lot better. However, they are nice trucks.

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[jaystone]

I have heard between 20 and 22 for the 4 cylinder in 4x4 trim.

According to a fueleconomy.gov only the 4x2 tacoma gets over 20mpg combined.

[renegadeofpunk03]

coach factory outlet
Special treatment of leather to make it more soft, easy bleaching, wear coach factory outlet

GTFO


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[92skirmishgti]

Do you own a chainsaw?

[mike02467]

My boss has a 2001 Ranger 4.0 AT 4x4 and the gas mileage it gets makes me cringe. I drive it with like 1% throttle and muster less than 15mpg

Do you find the Ranger's handling absolutely appaling? I've only driven a handful of trucks, but man, the Ranger really doesn't feel too confidence inspiring at speed. Hitting bumps at 70mph that any other car would scratch off seems to make the entire truck twitch and feel out of control. Going around corners in it makes my moms 2003 Santa Fe look like a ****ing Indy Car. They seriously are awful vehicles, the only good thing about it is that it has been reliable for him, and relatively cheap, but the gas mileage it gets makes it really expensive to run.

[Snake Hips]

My boss has a 2001 Ranger 4.0 AT 4x4 and the gas mileage it gets makes me cringe. I drive it with like 1% throttle and muster less than 15mpg

Do you find the Ranger's handling absolutely appaling? I've only driven a handful of trucks, but man, the Ranger really doesn't feel too confidence inspiring at speed. Hitting bumps at 70mph that any other car would scratch off seems to make the entire truck twitch and feel out of control. Going around corners in it makes my moms 2003 Santa Fe look like a ****ing Indy Car. They seriously are awful vehicles, the only good thing about it is that it has been reliable for him, and relatively cheap, but the gas mileage it gets makes it really expensive to run.

I find it interesting that the autos in these trucks seem to get such horrible gas mileage, even with the 4-cylinders. My Mazda B4000 with the 4.0L V6 and 5-speed (no automatic available) gets me between 19 and 21mpg consistently. As far as "awful vehicles," mine is just awesome. No build quality problems, handles like a truck (i.e. not like the Toyotas), stable and reliable. 247,000 miles on mine and nary an issue. Mine has been completely sideways between 35 and 45mph a few times and never thought of rolling.

[MCTB]

You wont find it. A 4 cyl Taco will get you around 21 or 22 max. People are doing diesel swaps and not getting much better that 25. The cost difference between 22 and 25 though is negligible.

V6 Ranger fuel mileage isnt that good since its using an old motor (in an equally old truck). Ive never found a problem with their handling though but then again, I drive it like a truck (since thats what it is).

[TheTimob]

Get a Ford Escape, and a Sawzall!

[Shomegrown]

[89VWdieselGolf]

I too have been looking for a 25mpg 4x4, but with room for a baby seat..... It's not going to happen

[Jrod511]

Tacoma isn't going to get that mileage, nothing will really. Selling a $2000 truck to get 1-2mpg better on a $15,000 truck doesn't make all that much sense and I think you may be surprised how old of a Tacoma or how many miles it will have to fit within your budget. The fact is you're not going to see the mid 20's with any 4x4 anything.

[jaystone]

25mpg is a pie in the sky number, and honestly anything over 20 would be just fine. As far as driving dynamics, I.have no problems with how my Ranger drives, but yes it is.a truck and yes it rides and handles like one.

[adoniram7]

My friend's old Dodge Cummins turbodiesel 4x4 got 25 mpg on the highway.
Easily.

[200HP4dr]

My dad gets 22 mpg in his 2012 GMC Sierra. Its an extended cab, Z71 with the 5.3. With reasonably sized wheels, I'd bet you could get close to your magic number.

Chris

[jaystone]

22-25 highway or combined? How dependant are those numbers on a light foot?

[Turbio!]

Have you considered a small-to-midsize SUV and a utility trailer? I find that combination works better for me than a pickup. The trailer hauls as much as a truck bed does, but I don't have to sacrifice seating for five, and the choices are better and more diverse. There is no pickup currently sold in the US that will do what you want, but there's plenty of 25mpg combined crossovers.

Pickups are often less of a jack-of-all-trades than people think they will be.

[MCTB]

22-25 highway or combined? How dependant are those numbers on a light foot?

I would wager highway. My dad has an 03 Sierra extended cab 2wd short bed with the 4.8 (K&N FIPK, Gibson cat back dual exhaust and simple JET chip) and he gets about 23 highway cruising at around 75. Around town, he sits at about 16 to 17. Its also got north of 120k miles on it.

Its not worth it to get rid of your Ranger for a more expensive truck that only gets a few more mpg. There is nothing in America that will get you what you want.

[eweu]

Came in for Amarok. Leaving satisfied. Thanks Shome!

[emmettlodge]

As others have said, the 4x4 Tacoma will get you around 22-23 highway at most. The extra weight of the 4x4 system and the high ride height are what hurts it.

ALTHOUGH...there is a guy on TacomaWorld who has been hypermiling a 4x4 2.7L Tacoma regular cab manual and has been getting 28-29 mpg highway. Aired up LRR tires, all synthetic fluids, and careful driving are his secrets, IIRC. So...there's that.

My 4x2 Tacoma automatic gets 27 highway, regular driving nothing special. So if you can settle for a 4x2, the Tacoma is a great way to get good fuel economy out of a pickup.

[dieselraver]

[Señor Peligro]

[patrickvr6]

23mpg highway, $50,000.

[ValveCoverGasket]

25mpg is a pie in the sky number, and honestly anything over 20 would be just fine.

in town though?
from reading your first post it sounds like thats where you mostly use the ranger?

[911-3.2]

FWIW I owned a 2010 Tacoma 4x4 Extended cab Manual 4 cylinder for two years and 48k miles before selling it this past fall. I tracked my first year of mileage on fuelly and had a 22.1mpg average over the year. I could pretty routinely get 23-24 in the summer and once or twice hit 25mpg on a tank but that was keeping to 65 on the highway in ideal weather conditions. My worst tank was in the 19mpg range when I was off work running around town. My commute at the time was 45 miles each way of congested highway so i could go 60 in some stretches and be with the traffic.

The whole time i had that truck I wondered if I should've gone with the v6. With that said the 4 cylinder was a great motor that was easy to maintain because it basically needed nothing the first 100k miles or so. The transmission gearing does suck though if you want to tow or haul heavy loads. It really needed a lower 1st and 2nd gear ratio imo.

[urbancynic]

I had an 05 prerunner with the 4 and a manual trans. If I didn't go crazy I would routinely see low to mid 20's around town.

Even the v6 auto prerunner saw low 20's. The only time it dropped below 20 was towing a car on a car trailer and the bed loaded doing 90 on the highway to Texas. But even there it was only down to 18.

[Tornado2dr]

My dad gets 22 mpg in his 2012 GMC Sierra. Its an extended cab, Z71 with the 5.3. With reasonably sized wheels, I'd bet you could get close to your magic number.

Chris

On the highway, downhill, at 52mph, with the mirrors tucked?

[dieselraver]

On the highway, downhill, at 52mph, with the mirrors tucked?

while slip-streaming behind a semi

[jepva]

If you're willing to look into mods, there's some user reports of people getting mid 20's with the 6spd V6 Frontiers and a tuner. There's bullydog and hypertech, which has an "eco" tune in itself. It also adds 20hp on top of the VQ40's 260. It's a highly tunable truck. Intakes and a freer flowing exhaust help too.

[XxCoryDxX]

how about you keep your truck, change the plugs and wires, and put an intake, exhaust and some narrower tires on it? that might get you over 20mpg and not cost nearly as much

[Internal Combustion]

A frontier might get close.

My dad's XTerra gets 22 mpg on the highway. Something with switchable 4wd shouldn't take much MPG off (vs a AWD system).

[XxCoryDxX]

If you're willing to look into mods, there's some user reports of people getting mid 20's with the 6spd V6 Frontiers and a tuner. There's bullydog and hypertech, which has an "eco" tune in itself. It also adds 20hp on top of the VQ40's 260. It's a highly tunable truck. Intakes and a freer flowing exhaust help too.

I have a hard time buying this. I drive one of these trucks and rarely get even close to 20 with it commuting on secondary roads with a tonneau empty.

ask any G - M - 3*0Z owner, the VQ isn't exactly known for great mileage.

the Frontier is a great driving truck, though, especially given the fact that it's current model's design is 7 years old.

[jepva]

I have a hard time buying this. I drive one of these trucks and rarely get even close to 20 with it commuting on secondary roads with a tonneau empty.

ask any G - M - 3*0Z owner, the VQ isn't exactly known for great mileage.

the Frontier is a great driving truck, though, especially given the fact that it's current model's design is 7 years old.

The VQ37/35 is a totally different animal, and has different gearing. The 6speed applications of the VQ40 do ok. I have seen the increased MPG from tuning first hand...friend got 28mpg all highway once on a trip. Not saying that's typical, but it's definitely improved on the 20mpg claim from stock. Obviously a 2wd, king cab version would do better than the crew cab, 4wd version.

[GreenWagen]

My dad's XTerra gets 22 mpg on the highway. Something with switchable 4wd shouldn't take much MPG off (vs a AWD system).

I seriously doubt this, our Xterra got horrible mileage and most previous Xterra owners would agree.

My old boss had a 94 ranger 4 cylinder, manual and we consistently got 22 mpgs pulling a heavy arse work trailer. That thing was beat and had over 300,000 miles on it when I left. Only thing ever replaced were 2 clutches.

I'd vote to keep your ranger or look into full size diesels if you want real versatility and mid 20 mpg


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[XxCoryDxX]

The VQ37/35 is a totally different animal, and has different gearing. The 6speed applications of the VQ40 do ok. I have seen the increased MPG from tuning first hand...friend got 28mpg all highway once on a trip. Not saying that's typical, but it's definitely improved on the 20mpg claim from stock. Obviously a 2wd, king cab version would do better than the crew cab, 4wd version.

my friend also has a 4.7 Durango that (he says) gets 30MPG.

not everything you hear is true. my truck has 8000 miles on it, and as far as I can tell, the auto turns almost exactly the same revs as a 6 speed on the highway, and i have only got more than 20MPG on a tank once, and the further over 70MPH you go, the mileage drops like a stone. If you could legitimately get over 25MPG with a truck that I personally have had almost a ton in the back of, they wouldn't be able to keep them in stock at the dealer, not be selling them for 5k under MSRP.

Maybe your friend has one of these?