Land Cruiser mpg on warm engine

[teghogh]

My lc has about 900 miles on the clock and my daily commute consist of short 6 mile route with 1000 ft decline for a mile or so and 5 miles of some what flat street roads. My gas mileage on daily commute is about 17mpg.
This afternoon I decided to travel the same loop 2x totalling 24 miles with the only difference being the engine is already warmed out through daily useage while having the boost and I force max guage on to see if I notice a difference
Right off the start the engine would completely turn off anytime I was off the gas pedal under no load. And when it would come on, the I force max gauge would provide torque upto 25% with very little to no boost on the gauge, resulting in 21mpg on 33 inch tires. This is a massive 4 mpg gain compared to what I normally get with the cold engine .
I could easily achieve 25mpg if my commute did not involve 1000 ft of elevation change.
Another interesting thing to point out is that every time the ignition is cycled , regardless of engine temp, the truck would use 100% of electric motor torque ( iforce max guage at 100%) and 0 boost for Atleast 2 min before defaulting to normal boost operation.

I read a lot of comments about mpgs improving after 1k miles and I’m wondering if it is due to higer usage of the hybrid system over the engine like I have been experiencing today

 

[lcat63]

At 1000 miles, a round trip (134 miles) from Chesapeake, VA to Kitty Hawk, NC gets me 20.1 MPG. Primarily rural highway driving, which normally returns the best MPG. I’ve hit 64 MPG driving a TDI Jetta on the same route. I really don’t know how anyone gets 25 MPG out of their Land Cruiser. I don’t think 50 PSI in the tires and a tailwind would do that in mine. I may take a slight hit for the Nitto Ridge Grappler upgrade, but surely not 20% worth.

 

[Marinna]

25 MPG sounds about right to me.

In order to replicate EPA gas mileage, you have to drive your car like how EPA test vehicles. It is definitely not how average Joe drives their car on highway. This is how EPA conducted its test for highway:

What Does The EPA Highway Mileage Test Involve?​

Highway gas mileage tests are conducted in a lab rather than out on a road. Vehicles simulate highway conditions on a dynamometer, which allows their drive wheels to turn freely while testers run them through a very specific set of “schedules,” which is the term used to refer to different operational cycles that mimic actual driving.

The “highway” portion of the EPA's gas mileage testing is only 765 seconds long, or just under 13 minutes of operation. Called the Highway Fuel Economy Driving Schedule (HWFET), it's much more complicated than maintaining a steady cruising speed. Although its average speed is 48.3 mph, it calls for acceleration and braking across a distance of 10.26 miles, representing the surges and dips in speed that might be experienced during a typical highway run.

The highway test is combined with the “high speed” test (also known as US06), which takes almost 10 minutes to run. It includes a number of additional accelerations and slow-downs (with the most dramatic being several climbs from 0 mph to above 60 mph, cresting at a top speed of 80 mph).

Instead of relying on a fuel gauge, each vehicle's tailpipe is connected to a machine that measures the amount of carbon in its exhaust to determine how much fuel was burned during the schedule.

You can give it a try close to how they test the vehicle. I'd start with 30 mph, slowly increase my speed to 60 in 90 seconds, keep that speed for about 10 minutes or so, and then decelerate back to 30 mph in another 90 seconds.

EPA certainly don't drive the car at 80 mph to get that number that is for sure.

 

[MSINAL]

My lc has about 900 miles on the clock and my daily commute consist of short 6 mile route with 1000 ft decline for a mile or so and 5 miles of some what flat street roads. My gas mileage on daily commute is about 17mpg.
This afternoon I decided to travel the same loop 2x totalling 24 miles with the only difference being the engine is already warmed out through daily useage while having the boost and I force max guage on to see if I notice a difference
Right off the start the engine would completely turn off anytime I was off the gas pedal under no load. And when it would come on, the I force max gauge would provide torque upto 25% with very little to no boost on the gauge, resulting in 21mpg on 33 inch tires. This is a massive 4 mpg gain compared to what I normally get with the cold engine .
I could easily achieve 25mpg if my commute did not involve 1000 ft of elevation change.
Another interesting thing to point out is that every time the ignition is cycled , regardless of engine temp, the truck would use 100% of electric motor torque ( iforce max guage at 100%) and 0 boost for Atleast 2 min before defaulting to normal boost operation.

I read a lot of comments about mpgs improving after 1k miles and I’m wondering if it is due to higer usage of the hybrid system over the engine like I have been experiencing today

The hybrid definitively becomes more active after 1000 miles. You get the best benefit around town in my experience. We just drove 750mile interstate trip (AL to VA) and the biggest impact on the mpg was the outside temp. Driving under 80, mostly, we averaged 20mpg for the trip. Folding the mirrors in didnt seem to help much.
I have the nitto grapler upgrade btw.

 

[APIOQM]

This hybrid system definitely likes warmer temperatures. Partly due to cabin heating requirements preventing the engine from shutting off as much, and partly due to reduction in battery performance. EPA average MPG is easily obtainable in the summer, but would be a challenge in the winter.

 

[TakaraLC]

This hybrid system definitely likes warmer temperatures. Partly due to cabin heating requirements preventing the engine from shutting off as much, and partly due to reduction in battery performance. EPA average MPG is easily obtainable in the summer, but would be a challenge in the winter.

Plus it ECU tries to maintain catalyst temperature, which prevents the engine from turning off for extended periods.

 

[ultane]

I never thought of ^THAT^.