Large automobiles and trucks are still not impressive on MPG.

[elkantlers]

Yeah I kind of scratch my head hearing 3/4 ton pickups only getting 15mpg when full size semi's pulling loaded trailers get 7-10 mpg.

Try 5 mpg

 

[dan.kirkpatrick]

mpg =weight/speed/terrian and other factors//big tires/lift kits ect kill milage//the government already has this screwed up//dont make it worse///im pleased that my dodge cummins gets 12 when i pull my trailer, about 19 empty,,and my toyota tacoma gets 16 with lift and tires i have on it..i doubt ill ever have anything that breaks toms milage standards

 

[dranrab]

​

There is no reason under the sun a car or truck the size and weight of a Lincoln Navigator or a Toyota Tundra can't achieve 30+ MPG highway. There is no excuse for a Tacoma 4-cyl. to not exceed 30 MPG.

Until practical replacements for fossil fuels come along, the automobile industry should be forced by governments to develop the maximum possible fuel efficiency for the vehicle size and weight class.

Much-higher-MPG cars and trucks, even larger ones, can be achieved a number of ways.

1. advanced hybrid technology
2. developing the most efficient turbodiesel motors possible
3. developing the most fuel-efficient supercharged-gasoline engines possible


Ford has the right idea with the hybrid Maverick that can get up to 42 highway but a 4.50" pickup box is about as useless as bull udders.

A government that is 30 trillion dollars in debt has no damn business demanding performance out of a manufacturer.

 

[TomTeriffic]

I saw a ford maverick and Rivian for the first time on my recent trip to Des Moines. I don’t think a 4.5’ bed is the only thing from keeping both vehicles from being a practical truck for someone who actually needs a truck.

There are bed extenders for these things. I'm sure one could get a doe or even a buck in the back of one of these shorties, but for many decades, 6' for a small truck's box was only the pure minimum standard. I hope at least the second row seats fold flat on these econopickups to put more gear. These little trucks are for city and suburban folks mainly. Besides weekend hunting and fishing, one can pick up a stove or a refrigerator at Lowe's in one of these.

But Ford and Toyota, please throw at least a 6-foot box in the options mix.

 

[FairWeather]

Got a RAV4 hybrid, generally getting 38-40mpg on average. Why they haven’t just made a utility truck off that same platform, I have no idea.

My favorite vehicle that I’ve ever owned was a 94 Nissan D-21. It was awesome; good ground clearance, 4x4, 6” bed, enough room for the wife and I plus our two dogs in the back jump seats, and got about 25mpg.

Why is there no modern hybrid equivalent of that?!

 

[NAHMINT]

For many years,back in the 70's I drove a 1963 caddy coupe de ville.......my father and I rebuilt the 390 engine.......could smoke those big michline tires and get over 22 mpg./.......... but then,open the hood and you could actually SEE the whole engine....open the hood on my f 150 and there is nothing but hoses ,wires and dam plastic covers .oh ya, the little 4.6 /281 v8 struggles to get 20mpg on a flat highway in cruise control.......go figure.

 

[SFC B]

My 5.0 F150 gets about 21 on the highway which I am ok with. The summer before grad school I wrote service at a Buick dealer (94) and the Roadmasters with the 5.7 could sometimes get around 25 and that impressed me. My first car was a land yacht 79 Lebaron with a weenie slant 6. On the way home from prom I ran through a puddle that took the exhaust from the header back. Straight pipe all the way back from there with no cat and I could get high 20s on the highway in the old Cruise Lebaron

 

[TomTeriffic]

The new "gee-whizz" Ford Maverick has some shortcomings, though.

Besides the meager 4.50" box, the rear seat can't fold truly flat to make a serious rear cargo area for ice chests and duffel bags.
Going to the Ford website, this stupid thing is overpriced thing can get to over $30K OTD if you add the XLT package just to avoid the el-cheapo vinyl seats and the all-wheel drive option. I hope Toyota does a better job when they get into the econo-pickup market. A new Toyota Stout compact truck is in the works. There is also talks of a Tacoma hybrid in the near future. Your best bet for now for an "economy truck" is a good older 4-cyl. Tacoma that can still get 20-something highway. Paying the new price for brand new stuff boasting better MPG often more than offsets any long-run fuel savings. Between Big Oil and Big Automobile, the bottom-line conspiracy is to rob consumers.

 

[TomTeriffic]

Toyota Tacoma double cab has a super smart fold-flat setup. You can make a table to put a large cooler on one side while a backseat person is seated on the other side. I have yet to see such sensibleness in these new compact trucks.

 

[hank4elk]

System is rigged.
Plymouth had a 48 mpg V8 engine in 1939 and the industry ate the pattens, until Honda stratafy charged one in the 80's.

Give me crank windows and manual door locks. Get rid of the gizmos that are useless. At least a 6 foot bed on a truck.

 

[TomTeriffic]

System is rigged.
Plymouth had a 48 mpg V8 engine in 1939 and the industry ate the pattens, until Honda stratafy charged one in the 80's.

Give me crank windows and manual door locks. Get rid of the gizmos that are useless. At least a 6 foot bed on a truck.

Link please.

 

[hank4elk]

Link please.

Popular Mechanics, 1960's LOL

 

[hank4elk]

A buddy put a overhead cam v6 into a 1965 Falcon PU, headers ,tuned exhaust. It purred around town getting 26mph and then about 12 when he put his foot into it and it would fly.

 

[rjthehunter]

I just picked up a 2018 silverado and average 19.4mpg on the way home from the dealer.

Follow the money. People will buy cars no matter what the fuel efficiency is. We need them. Big oil won't sell as much oil if we're getting double or triple the fuel mileage...

 

[shrapnel]

To think mileage is unlimited with better efficiency is wrong. Of course efficiency will produce better performance than not, but simple physics can’t be ignored.

A certain amount of mass the size of a vehicle will take a certain amount of energy to move it, and to think you can get unlimited mileage by improving the shape and power plant is limited in regards to internal combustion engines…

 

[Gellar]

I would have never guessed @TomTeriffic as a Toyota man.

 

[Huntkook]

I would have never guessed @TomTeriffic as a Toyota man.

Cowboy hat and all.

 

[Sam Colt]

Every spring the fish take the same shiny lures. I guess that’s why trolling is so much fun.

 

[Trial153]

I was worried about gas milage till started driving a Prius. I been thinking of camo wrapping it for hunting season and adding front a back crossbow mounts.

 

[Washington Hunter]

Depends on the tires. mtmuley

Exactly. The tires make a huge difference.