Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Good gas mileage 4X4?

My tacoma Dual Cab 4x4 gets 18' and if I'm driving below 63 MPH that can go up to 20, but cross the 63 line and it's back to 18 again.

Spot

dude that avatar cracks me up!



camper displacing more air? Kind of like pulling a drag chute?

That would be my guess, pulling big boxy square things can just kill ya, even if it's an empty box.

Dave : I could understand that if it was a 5th wheel or something - but its just a jacked up off road version Starcraft.

I'm not adding anything new here, but I don't think 30 mpg with a true 4X4 is possible and any AWD vehicle probably won't do it either.

My hunting rig is a late 90s s-10 4X4 and it will only do right around 20. For daily driving I use an X5 AWD model and it will do 23 at best. Keep in mind for BMWs they "require" premium fuel. A BMW X3 awd might get close to 30 mpg, but I'm not certain of that either. That' the only real option I could think of that nobody else has mentioned.

Dealer tell you that? Heard that line before.

I've had Ford and Chevy 4x4 Crew and Extended cabs. Ford got 14-16 in town and 16-18 highway, Chevy slightly worse. Neither put together very well.

FWIW, I have a Chevy Trail Blazer MY '04 with an I6 cyl that has 178K miles. Last week I checked my gas mileage and the old girl was getting 20.7 miles highway.

My GMC Sierra 2500HD 6.0L MY '05 has 45K miles and gets 14 MPG if I keep her at 65 mph. Pulling the camper or horde trailer is 10.0-10.5 MPG.


JD338

I have a Ford Super Duty CC with a V-10 and I dont think it belongs in this conversation . I do know someone with a Ford Escape Hybrid and they get low 30s in town and upper 20s overall. I verified that when I was driving with her and it seemed legit if you believe the computer mileage indicator.

I am also one that will sacrifice some mileage for safety. My cousin thinks the same way and about 2 years ago, we discussed this very thing. He said, my family matters more to me than mileage. Exactly 1 week later his wife and kids were T-boned at an intersection in their Ford Crew Cab. They walked away without a scratch. I saw the damage and "Wow" is all I can say. I would not have wanted to be in that accident in a Subaru or a CRV, I will tell you that.

Buy a runner and keep your gas hog truck for the real work. High MPG's in a true 4X4 is not a doable thing yet. Unfortunately I was plagued by the same dilemma. I wanted a 4X4 for hunting and needed good mileage to make a 500 mile journey once a month. Bought a VW Golf TDI and a beater truck. Just sold the VW for 7k with 140,000, bad tires and marginal brakes and a dented rear gate. I had five people lined up with cash in hand. And that was within four hours of posting it. So if you find one your doing good and you won't have a hard time reselling it.

I experienced the same when I sold mine, however it was sold with about half the mileage, no damage and new tires and brakes. I put it on Autotrader and had 10 calls in the first hour. The first two were from Seattle and Bangor, Maine. The third was a fellow from Milwaukee that said he would bring cash, didn't even try to bargain down on the price. I had clear title, he drove it away day one. A TDI is the easiest thing to sell around.
I agree- get a good 4x4 that is mechanically sound, has a good rep for staying that way, and gets mileage you can stomach. Get a TDI wagon for everything else. They're incredible.

You got my attention on that one JD..for just a split second I thought it said hore trailer..LOLLL

In 2004 we got the wife a RAV it was a 4 cylinder 4 wheel drive; it had a 5 star crash rating which was important to me. We really liked the car, lots of room for a car that size and no problem going 80 mph if we were on a trip. I think we got about 23 to 26 mpg.

Mike

Subaru is supposed to be bringing this year one of their diesel 4X4 that claims to get 45 - 50-mpg. Can't remember which one. I think it's either outback or legacy ...
It will only be offered first in manual trans only.

http://www.motortrend.com/roadtests/sedans/112_0801_subaru_boxer_turbodiesel_first_drive/index.html

A Ford Escape Hybrid ought to get pretty good mileage.

'87 Chevy SWB 4 WhlDrive. 350 fuel injected, standard trans, limited slip rear end. 11 mpg coasting downhill with the motor off but "paid for" buys a lot of gas. Used it last week to pull a couple of pine trees down. Do that with your hybrid.

Man I thought those 380 ponies in my 2007 Tundra were thirsty, but it makes me feel better when I hear 15-18 MPG from other folks. That's close to my range also although I can't remember cracking the 18 mark yet.

I drove a 1994 Isuzu short box 4X4, with a 2.6 4 cylinder and 5 speed, for about 14 years and I don't remember ever getting over 24 MPG with it. I'll put up with the lower economy for a bigger and more comfortable rig to drive.