GMC Canyon MPG

[GMC Canyon]

Just purchased 2009 GMC Canyon Crew Cab (31K miles). Truck has Vortec 3700 5 cylinder engine wirh A/T. This truck is literally drinking gasoline. Any suggestions on what I can do to improve MPG

[MrCritical]

What exactly is "drinking gasoline"? What are your driving habits? Oversize tires? City driving, stop and go? 4x4?

[GMC Canyon]

I am getting about 15 MPG (2-wheel drive). This is combination city and highway driving. I live two miles from my work.

[canyonero11]

I get around the same because I've also got a very short city/hwy daily commute. On long trips I get 20-21 MPG all day, but its the short trips that kill gas mileage. The problem is the engine probably doesn't even reach operating temperature by the time you get to work, so most of your driving is spent with the computer in "open loop" .

I've tried everything, synthetic oils, warming up the engine, not warming up the engine, removing the spare, increasing tire pressure, KN filter, cat back , fuel additives, top tier gas to no avail; the problem is simply the short distance.

[Puzzel]

I have a 2005 2WD Colorado Ext Cab (slightly lighter) with 122k+ miles on the 3.5L (3500) first gen 5 cyl, but with a manual transmission and 3.42 rear end. My commute is 100 miles one-way and is a mix of city/stop & go/secondary hwy/interstate, which I do 2 days per week, with an additional ~50 city miles on the weekend. I get 400-460 miles per tank and average 23-26 mpg. Granted, my results are not typical for the GMT-355 trucks, but I have a medium-heavy foot (do 5-10 mph over speed limit with occasional hard launch) and have not done anything beyond normal maintenance -- including oil changes every 10k miles. I used to have a short ~5 mile daily commute, which made the truck much thirstier.

[z28_trav]

yeah I doubt short trips help anything.....especially in cold weather. I wonder if anyone has tried those electric fan kits for these trucks? I have heard they pull less power(only run when hot) and therefore return better mileage.

[MrCritical]

In a 2 mile commute, 15 mpg is gonna be it my friend. You should get low 20's on the highway.

[All Star]

You make a bunch of short trips, it's expected.

[MrCritical]

EPA 17/23. You're pretty close.

[GMC Canyon]

I guess I just expected better from a 5-cylinder fuel injected engine.