I didn't really expect this to take off so drastically but I really appreciate the input. The more I drive this, the more I learn and enjoy it. I just drove out to my sister's in Riverside yesterday, roughly a 60 mile drive, roughly took about an hour to hour-30 including traffic. I opted not to reset my average mpg for the test and just watch the "general" auto-calculating ticker which for most of the ride, up and down hills, flats, in and out of traffic, mostly read out a solid 15-20 mpg, mostly around 17 both in and out of eco- So I know the mileage is on par to my older diesel. I fully expect that it would be drastically worse towing a trailer like I intend to do now and then once or twice a year eventually- but unweighted on most trips like I generally would use it for 90% of the time I'm getting more satisfied. Before the trip I was getting a consistent 7.2 mpg in my city but I've realized that to everyone- "city driving" is highly relative to your city. If I were in a more rural city like my sister's house, which has all the full on conveniences my city has, just with less density, longer streets, more of a "truck county" so-to-speak, I would easily hit 10-12 average city only no problem. I was hitting eco constantly out there getting better than that. But my city is LITTERED with red lights and stop signs, and cops very happy to pull you over for rolling stops. I've just come to realize I need to work on my driving habits and develop new routes for to and from work places since I'm constantly back and forth working on rentals and supply trips and such. On the upside, my average over the extra 120ish miles rose from 7.2 to 10.2 by the time I got home.
The other thing I've come to realize, and I am not sure if this is due to the break-in period or not, is that warming my truck up in the morning, remote starting or whatever- for about 5 or more minutes, drastically changes how quick it starts using Eco mode. It is NOT cold here in Los Angeles by ANY means, it's been in the 70's-80's for the better part of the last two weeks and maybe barely as low as 60's at night, but still apparently cool enough that it doesn't matter to the engine. When I remote started the other day, went around properly adjusting the tire pressures since I noticed a strange wear pattern on one tire (almost like the alignment was a bit off despite it being brand new), the remote start ran long enough that it shut off (I assume about 10 minutes which was what my Chevy did). On the short 1 mile drive to my parents right after, I hit Eco almost instantly, whereas normally it wouldn't hit once on that short trip until I'd been driving elsewhere later in the day. I ran the remote start the next day for only a couple minutes and Eco hit but only about halfway through, leading me to thinking I need to let it warm up maybe 5 minutes. I realize a LOT of people from my research dislike the mds/eco stuff, the periodic vibrations etc, but I'm good with it. I actually don't always feel it many times, but I do know it's there. If I lived almost anywhere else, this probably wouldn't even be as big an issue but California loves their gas taxes so I'm basically stuck with $4+/gal in general. I used to fill my Chevy 2x a month, sometimes 3 depending on driving habits, roughly $100 each time, and I filled this 8 days after it's last fill up for $100 each time. That said- I do believe with the stop and go, the diesel probably was more efficient. But if I alter my personal traffic patterns, there's a good chance with Eco/mds that I could be at or better. It's just a learning curve for me that I wasn't expecting jumping to gas from diesel. The only gas experience I'd had was driving little cars that are obviously going to be more efficient. I'm good with it, but it was just a surprise- and it's only because of the amount of stops I usually make and how my city is arranged. It's not a downtown area but it's basically the worst-case scenario, it would seem.
We have had 5 of them and they all got 11-12 mpg not one of them ever had a trailer hooked to it.
Thanks for this info about Tundras.. While at my sister's yesterday I was talking to my nephew who's saving for his first vehicle and he was looking into Tundra's or Tacoma's for the price range. I was honestly shocked when I looked up what the Tundra listed mileage on their site was for 2021's. Seemed way worse than all of the posted half-tons from Ford, GM and Dodge, but I do know if he get's a Toyota, it would probably be pretty reliable. Despite living in a truck-county, the gas prices out there are only marginally better than where I am, in fact the main station near him had the exact same price as where I lived for 87. Often diesel is actually more expensive out there as well. I'll be able to relay that while the Tundra could be good, he might want to really consider the Tacoma instead, especially since he'd be a first time buyer and get a pretty high financing rate, I'd imagine.