Hey, maybe it's my driving style, but I got 23.5 mpg in my full-size Chevy Z71 on a recent trip from Lansing to Marquette (about 390 miles). My wife drove back, and got about 21 mpg (good driver, lead foot). Overall, since buying it, 18.9 mpg, which includes a whole bunch of city driving (and some towing of my little boat :-). This is with the small (???) V8 290hp, 330 ft. lbs. of torque. It would light the tires, but there is a built-in torque limiter, so a quick chirp is all that it'll do (I really am too old for that anyway!). I'm way on the high-side with these figures, but it's also about equal to my '67 Bug. At $2 per, it makes a difference. By the way, I have a '96 Chevy Lumina sedan, and get about 31 mpg out of it on the highway, so part of this IS my driving style, the engineers in Detroit (OK, Warren) have done a great job, it makes the Bug look like a gas guzzler. Friends of mine with the F150 talk about 14-15 mpg, perhaps I got lucky? Twice???

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BILLAMICASR@aol.com 08/26/04 10:18PM >>> Hi All, You all will get sick of this before I select something to tow my M-17 with. It's either keep the Honda Civic and add a second vehicle dedicated to tow or get a new truck that will get decent mileage and still tow the M-17. Now I'm considering a 150 HP, 4 cyl, Toyota Tacoma Prerunner. In 2002 I bought a new Tacoma 4X4, V-6, 5 speed and was dissapointed in that I got a rotten 16 to 17 MPG overall and a whopping 18 - 19 on the freeway. And that's after adding TRD exhaust & Filtron sock air cleaner. Anyway, I've had tremendous reliability with other Toyota trucks and am wondering if anyone out there has any real word experience with the Prerunner 4 cyl.. They are of course 2 wheel drive, available with automatic only and have a factory rebate (cool). I dont have to tow fast, the posted trailer rating is 3500 Pounds so that's adequate. I'm, as always, concerned with mileage. Not so much when towing but with general use. Any experience with one yourself or maybe with a friends? Thanks for the input Bill SF Bay M-17 #496 "Tiperary"

P.s. An unusual SF day today. Crystal clear, 75 degrees, nice westerly wind, lots of sailboats with multi color spinakers flying, on the bay. One of my deliveries was to the North side of the City in the hills overlooking the bay. As I'm working, the cable cars are dropping off tourists who are feverently clicking away at the beauty of the SF Bay area. Today was a day that if Tiperary was here I'd be taking tomorrow off. I was awe struck and I live here... Then reality hit with the next delivery. I had to back up Elizabeth Street about three blocks. Elizabeth is the fourth steepest in the city. On the turns I was puckering a bit. Cement mixer trucks are a bit top heavy... Just a bit! I always tell my friends I've never yet found out how far one can lean before it tips over... and that's a good thing... Hope I never find out! _______________________________________________ http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/montgomery_boats