Fuel Economy Update for July- 2014 Toyota Highlander Limited Long-Term Road Test
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Fuel Economy Update for July- 2014 Toyota Highlander Limited Long-Term Road Test
July was a quiet month for our 2014 Toyota Highlander. We added 1,300 miles and averaged 19.1 mpg.
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While certainly not bad, 19 mpg is pretty close to the rest of the class. I was getting excited seeing 20+ mpg and thinking that someone was finally raise the bar of efficiency for the row CUVs. Right now, you're actually doing pretty well in the MDX. Maybe it will be the upcoming Pilot that really moves the needle.
The only thing that will move the needle is if these lower-cost Japanese SUVs add a diesel option like they do in Europe. Then they can have both mileage in the 20s as well as the same cargo capacity as their gas-powered siblings.
The only hope I saw for this was if a future Mazda CX-9 were fitted with the promised diesel from the Mazda6 but who knows when we'll see a new CX-9 or if we'll ever see the diesel Mazda6.
City vs highway driving is a DRASTIC difference in MPG no matter what the car, unless it's a hybrid/E-car. On the order of ~26% on average in difference. Having the A/C on all the time is not a big killer of mpg especially in the city (it's like a 5% extra hit on your already-low-mpg in the city) but on the highway it's a bit more of a percentage killer. The point is they've told you in this post that they've commuted around the city and hence their 19.x which is totally understandable. But keep this car a highway warrior and your AVG MPG will easily hit 22+