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The chances of you using the 4WD too often are very slim. Even during the winter or heavy rain, you won't use 4WD long enough to see a drastic changed in your MPG, especially in HI range. During normal driving conditions, the only difference in a 4WD and a regular truck is the added weight of the front axle and transfer case. Still, i don't think that the added weight is enough to affect MPG from one truck to another.
Owned an Isuzu Trooper II with a 4 cylinder, 5 speed manual transmission, and 4WD with front axle lock-out hubs. It averaged about 23 miles per gallon. Wish I hadn't been the lunch meat in a 3 car sandwich sometime back - I'd still like to have it.
My wife's 1995 Subie Legacy Wagon consistently gets 31-32 mpg on 85 octane regular commuting 75 miles per day; of that, we're on dirt/gravel county roads for a minimum of 9 miles to the pavement, and the rest she drives on back roads that are paved at 65 mph. That's a 2.2 liter AWD car, and it gets almost as good a fuel economy in the winter months.
My 1997 Subie Outback Wagon gets 28-29 mpg in the same trip when I do it, that's a 2.5 liter AWD. The motor is a little more fuel sensitive than the 2.2, and I can tell when I get poorer quality/alcohol fuel, because it will drop right down to 25 mpg in a heartbeat. With the better quality fuel we had a few years ago, I'd routinely get 30mpg cruising 75 mph on the interstates across WY, CO, UT.
Both cars have 5 speed manual transmissions, and have in excess of 200,000 miles without having had the engines apart except for the (all too common) head gasket failure on the 2.5 at 135,000 miles.
Another example: my 1986 Audi 4000CS Quattro rountinely turned in 28-30 mpg cruising at 75 mph on the interstates. Retired the car at 300,000 miles when it rusted through so badly (this was a Chicago area car for the first 5 years of it's life) that there was no chassis left to attach the suspension components to.
Pick up trucks ... our 1996 Ford Ranger 2 wheel drive 3.0 with a 5 speed manual can get as good as 24-25 mpg on decent fuel, cruising 70-75 mph. However, with it now having gotten slightly "tired" at over 200,000 miles, it's down to about 21 mpg on the highway.
My friends with the 4x4 version of this truck claim low 20's for fuel economy. These trucks are rarely "loaded" down with a payload, generally run just a passenger or two and a light load. We did tow a 32' sailboat (6,000 lb total load) once with ours for 60 miles from a lake to a storage yard and it got about 13 mpg ... the fuel gauge dropped noticeably during the tow.
Overall, the small 4x4 pick-up trucks will not turn in the fuel economy of the small AWD cars. You get to choose between load carrying capacity and utility of the truck platform and the AWD capability of the car/wagon configuration.
IMO, if you're not hauling loads in the bed of the truck or towing with it, the AWD cars are a far better choice if your requirements include simply needing the traction/control for adverse weather conditions.
I'd say that our Ranger pick-up was a good value in this size truck, and has done well for us with a "topper" on it for hauling livestock to/from auctions as far away as South Texas or MO. The seating is comfortable, and the heater or a/c have worked very well as needed. The V6 3.0 has rarely used oil between changes (5,000 miles), and has been a very reliable truck all it's life for us. We purchased it used with 85,000 miles on it, and it's previous service had just been local in-town driving and a few camping trips to the CO mountains. As a winter driver, it was pretty good, although we did need to "chain up" the rear tires a few times in severe icy road conditions with radial cable chains. The biggest improvement we made on this truck was to take off the P-metric car tires and replace them with LT Truck service rated tires, the handling/braking was dramatically better and tire life was much better, almost 60,000 miles per set (running Kelly Springfield LT tires ... these came under several different "brand names" on the sidewall, but the tires were from the same mold with the same tread pattern).
I am aware a 4WD truck with a 4 cyl wont get the same as a Honda Civic.
I want to purchase a 4WD as I live out in the boonies and would like a 4WD for playing in snow, gravel roads, etc.
Problem is all of the V8 4WD's I have found eat gas. Some more than others. Not interested in something I need to refuel every other day. I have a 10 mile commute to work each way every day.
Not interested in a Subaru.
I would go for a Toyota or a Nissan.
I would consider a Chevy or Ford. Though most of their 4WD small trucks are V6 powered.
I currently have a V6 powered S-10 2WD. it gets 20/26. I'd like to find something the same if not better than that, but in a 4WD set up.
I like trucks because it gives me the best of both world, plus trucks are a guys car, besides a muscle car.
Back in 2001 I bought a brand new S-10 with a 4cyl and 5 speed. I kept wondering why it got bad mileage so I checked the build sheet and that thing had 4:10 gears in the rear end. No wonder!
You're doing about as good as it gets now for fuel economy with your S-10 2 wheel drive truck.
When you add the complexity/weight of the 4wheel drive to a similar truck, plus the higher windage due to them being set on higher suspension, you''ve got no place to go except downward on the fuel economy from where you're at now. Typically, the tires on the 4x4 truck will be larger and require more HP to move down the road than the 4x2 truck, also eating fuel economy. "there's no free lunch"
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