Hey Hybrid Owners !

thecatthecat Member Posts: 535
edited April 2017 in Toyota
2 weeks ago I purchased a 2017 Limited Hybrid. I'm quite impressed so far .. 386 miles on a 1/2 tank of gas.
I'd like to hear from other Hybrid owners about their experience .. good & bad.
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  • steverstever Guest Posts: 52,454
    edited December 2016
    Congrats on the new ride. A friend of ours showed up at a holiday lunch just this week in their new one, complete with temporary tags on it. Took them a while to find their color combo, white exterior with the light colored interior for our climate. Most interiors are black these days.
  • Mr_ShiftrightMr_Shiftright Member Posts: 64,481
    Sounds like you're beating the EPA estimates for mileage? How's the power for passing, hill climbing, etc?
  • texasestexases Member Posts: 10,987
    What does the car's computer say for mpgs? They've gotten to be pretty accurate. Just reset it at every fillup.

    Let us know more about how you like it, the Rav4 hybrid is on my list of potential cars for the next purchase.
  • thecatthecat Member Posts: 535
    Shiftright - I don't the gas tank is symmetrical. Hopefully it's not an inverted pyramid !
    According to the computer, I'm averaging 37 mpg.

    My previous car was an 06 Rav4 V6 and prior to that a Subaru WRX. I've never been a hyper-miler (if that's the correct phrase) but as I've gotten older I'm not a boy racer anymore. There is an impressive amount of "tech" stuff that by it's vary existence seems to encourage me to drive in a ECO minded way.

    I have noted that throttle response changes noticeably by switching to "SPORT". It's like a different car. I haven't seen any reason not to keep it in "ECO" and adjust the throttle input to my needs. The vehicle is very comfortable and quiet (oh my God .. I'm my father !) and those are important attributes to me. My previous RAV handled better but at the price of a slightly stiffer ride. I don't want to float .. but I've entered "geezer-dom" and a comfortable ride is more important than how many G's it can pull on the skid pad.
  • thecatthecat Member Posts: 535
    Oops .. forgot to mention. I've very curious to see how the AWD does in snow this winter. I've looked all over the internet and can't find any info on the Hybrid in snow.
  • Mr_ShiftrightMr_Shiftright Member Posts: 64,481
    That depends on what you expect of AWD. AWD is very good for accelerating, and should best most FWD cars in that department. As for braking and handling, don't expect any quantum leaps.

  • thecatthecat Member Posts: 535
    Shiftright - I've been driving AWD vehicles exclusively for almost 20 years. My curiosity about snow performance is due to the Hybrid's unique approach to AWD. Power to the rear wheels is exclusively via an electric motor. No shaft or transfer case exists. When the need is "sensed" the rear electric motor (all 41 hp of it) comes to life.
    My 06 v6 rav would go through an impressive amount of snow. Will this one perform similarly ? Only time, and about 8-10 inches of white stuff will tell. I was hoping to find something on youtube or another website .. but nothing of consequence seems to exist. The closest thing I could find was what I would call - propaganda.
  • thecatthecat Member Posts: 535
    For anyone interested, I just re-filled the tank. 9.2 gallons and 360 miles. My calculator says 39.1 MPG. If that stands up over time I will be a very happy guy.
  • Mr_ShiftrightMr_Shiftright Member Posts: 64,481
    thecat said:

    Shiftright - I've been driving AWD vehicles exclusively for almost 20 years. My curiosity about snow performance is due to the Hybrid's unique approach to AWD. Power to the rear wheels is exclusively via an electric motor. No shaft or transfer case exists. When the need is "sensed" the rear electric motor (all 41 hp of it) comes to life.
    My 06 v6 rav would go through an impressive amount of snow. Will this one perform similarly ? Only time, and about 8-10 inches of white stuff will tell. I was hoping to find something on youtube or another website .. but nothing of consequence seems to exist. The closest thing I could find was what I would call - propaganda.

    I think for your needs, 4 wheels turning is 4 wheels turning. Sure, in really deep snow, or for serious "snow-work" or off-roading you'd want locking diffs and all that, but unless the snow level is actually impeding the forward progress then I think the tires on the vehicle are going to account for a good percentage of your success in the snow, not just the AWD.

    So my advice would be to place the emphasis on the tires, not the AWD system.
  • jmlambionjmlambion Member Posts: 1
    We just took our 2017 RAV4 Hybrid Limited from Seattle, Wa to Killeen, Tx and back. We averaged about 31 mpg for 6100 miles. Lots of freeways @ 70-75 mph, several mountain passes and lots of passing slow traffic. Never lacked for power or acceleration. We had to drive through some snow and ice in Wyoming, no problem. We love the "lane change" feature on the turn signal and adaptive cruise control is awesome. Only niggles we can come up with is, the RAV4 has a hand brake while our Camry has a peddle operated emergency brake, it causes a lot of fumbling when me move between vehicles, not sure why Toyota couldn't settle on a peddle across their lineup. The weather feature on the radio is mostly useless, it was still giving us the weather in Texas when we were in Kansas and the NAV Sys did not recognize roads in Texas that NAV sys in our 2015 Camry did not recognize the year before. So far, our 2017 RAV4 is light years ahead of the 2010 Honda CRV it replaced when it comes to power, acceleration, road noise, safety features and especially gas milage.
  • texasestexases Member Posts: 10,987
    Thanks for the great info. What kid of city mpgs are you getting?
  • mykecusamykecusa Member Posts: 6
    I bought a 2016 Platinum Hybrid in June 2016. I have a ScangaugeII connected and the mpg seems close enough to the Toyota reading, which is close enough to the hand calculated mpg I get at fillups that I am not concerned by the variances. I get say 22.5 mpg in the Winter, 25.5 mpg in the Spring and Fall and 25 mpg in the Summer. I drive conservatively (no jackrabbit starts to get up and brake at the next light .. I usually set 65 on the dynamic cruise control on the highway, and the posted speed limit on the city streets). I have gotten 33.7 mpg on a tank driving at steady 63 mph on freeway in Central California for 5 hours, and 44.2 mpg coming downhill from Reno.

    I get horrible economy when accellerating from a stop ... I watch it on the ScangaugeII as 4, 5, 7, 9, 12 mpg. Lots of stop and go driving in the city and I get 15 mpg on short trip (10-15 miles) and happy to get 20 mpg with longer trips.

    If I use the simple 'Pulse and glide' technique of Hypermilers, I can get a couple mpg better that those I get just holding a steady speed. I am happy with the mpg I get on this big SUV.

    I am curious what non hybrid drivers get with their Highlanders under real world conditions.
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