Why is it every time my buddies tell me how their trucks are getting 18-20 mpg “all day long” we go on a hunting/scouting trip and they get........maybe 16.......?
Is it because the truck knows we’re sharing gas money?
Because about 16 MPG is typical for many trucks, in the real world, since they all weigh about the same, use similar transmissions, similar axles, and similar engines. Sure, some may have more gears in the transmission, or some may have cylinder deactivation, but they all are doing comparable "work". Drive with an egg between your foot and the pedal, and one might do better than the others but pull a moderate load and turbos will be spooled and cylinder deactivation will be deactivated. There's no free lunch or gimmicks when power demands are higher.
Someone mentioned fuelly.com and I think this is a good resource. It allows you to compare data from dozens or hundreds of users. And more importantly, the distribution of the data. For example, the majority of users with the 5.3L Chevy get 15, 16, 17 MPG. This is the peak of the bell curve. For the Tundra with 5.7L, the peak of the bell curve is 14, 15, 16 MPG.
Those that get much better, or much worse, are the outliers in the bell curve. I think you'll find that the vast majority get 14 - 17 MPG overall, plus or minus in mixed driving. Not 18 - 20 MPG. Similar to your observation about "18 - 20 all day long", right?
