2024 Toyota Tacoma MPG Test Reveals That Ugly Chin Spoiler Saves You Money

Andre Smirnov and Nathan Adlen of The Fast Lane decided to investigate whether that unattractive piece of plastic saves you fuel, and the answer is – not surprising anyone – yes. But first, let's talk about the red-painted truck in the video below. As you can tell from the look-at-me radiator grille and the badging, this fellow is a Limited with the bone-stock wheels and tires. More specifically, 18-inch alloys and 265/65R18 Michelin Primacy LTX road-going tires.

The Limited is 4x4 by default. It's the only 2024 Toyota Tacoma with full-time 4WD, and it's the only grade with Adaptive Variable Suspension. A pre-production truck, this particular example of the breed is equipped with the high-output version of the 2.4-liter turbocharged inline-four mill. The hybrid version will be available in the second quarter of 2024, with hybrid production starting in April 2024.

That said, the awkward-looking spoiler measures just around 8 inches (make that 20 centimeters in the metric system). With a power tool and a 10-millimeter socket, Andre requires a little over a minute to remove the 9 bolts that hold the spoiler. Four of them are located inside on the sides of the spoiler, whereas the remaining five are at the front.

Without the spoiler, the 2024 Toyota Tacoma Limited used 2.293 gallons (8.67 liters) of 87-octane gasoline over 57 miles (91.7 kilometers) of highway driving at 65 to 75 miles per hour (104.6 to 129,7 kilometers per hour). That means 23.36 mpg (10.06 l/100 km) without the spoiler, which isn't bad at all.

With the chin spoiler, the midsizer drank 2.369 gallons (8.96 liters), resulting in 24.06 miles per gallon (9.77 liters per 100 kilometers). The Environmental Protection Agency's ratings are 20 city and 23 highway for a combined 21 miles per gallon (11.2 liters per 100 kilometers). Both loops were performed at circa 55 degrees Fahrenheit, which means 12.7 degrees Celsius in most other countries.

The chin spoiler will save you money at the pump, there's no mistaking that, but how much money? For starters, the difference in highway fuel consumption between the spoilered and non-spoiler Tacoma Limited is 2.9 percent. Suppose you're covering 15,000 miles per year at 23 miles per gallon, which is a bit unrealistic if you live in a busy city. According to YouTube user @bbeckers24, that amounts to less than $60. The math checks out, and $60 a year is a price that many owners are certainly willing to pay.

One has to wonder if Jay Leno is also enjoying a 2.9-percent aerodynamic advantage over people with less prominent chins. All joking aside, Toyota is required to spend valuable R&D money on designing chin spoilers for trucks due to something called CAFE. First enacted after the 1973 oil crisis, the corporate average fuel economy regulations include efficiency standards for HD trucks and commercial vehicles.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration finalized CAFE standards for model years 2024 through 2026 in April 2022, requiring an industry-wide fleet average of 49.2 mpg (4.78 l/100 km) for passenger cars and 35.1 mpg (6.70 l/100 km) for light trucks. With the Tundra i-FORCE MAX averaging 22 mpg and the F-150 PowerBoost listed with 25 mpg to its name, said targets are nigh-on unrealistic.

The most efficient internal combustion-engined truck on sale in the United States today is the 2024 Ford Maverick Hybrid, which promises 37 miles per gallon (6.35 liters per 100 kilometers) on the combined test cycle. By comparison, the Maverick Turbo can't do better than 26 mpg (9.04 l/100 km).