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It was 0 F at 6:45 this morning (it's now a balmy 35 F), but we do experience minus 25 - 30F from time to time. The coldest I've seen it in 38 years was minus 40 F. The block heater was plugged in overnight, and the engine started, albeit reluctantly, but I had to use both hands to move the gearshift, and everything groaned when I started to move the car. I stayed home!
My location is Barrie, 50 miles north of Toronto.
1st tank: 24.74 mpg
2nd tank: 25.19 mpg
Mixed city/highway, cold weather...
Drove carefully to conserve gas. Drove at 65mph on Interstate using cruise control.
I was surprised at the result because our car came with a bug deflector attached to hood and a wind deflector in front of the moon roof. I thought these would reduce our mileage.
I imagine Toyota spends a great deal of money to reduce drag of the vehicle by careful design of the body shape. The dealer sticks these things on the vehicle to jack up the price and screws up the airflow.
I'm wondering if anyone has any of these gadgets installed and knows of their effect on mileage.
I plan to keep these items on for a few tankfuls and then remove them to see if there is any difference in mileage.
FWIW I just got back from a trip, got 28.2 mpg with a V6 AWD 2008.
Hard to beat a vehicle that can tow 3500 lbs and get 26 mpg or better...(not simultaneously of course )
PS - My Geolanders show very little wear at 10K miles. The 32psi cold pressure rose to 36psi [hot] at the end of the run.
For all of the CITY style driving miles (1,039), I am averaging 16.8 MPG.
For all of the HIGHWAY style driving miles (897), I am averaging 25.3 MPG.
This makes for a disappointing combined average of 19.9 MPG.
The EPA estimates are 19/26; I am close to the HIGHWAY number but no where near the CITY number.
Does anyone know if there is a pre-delivery Toyota procedure that is similar to the Honda pre-delivery procedure known as the ILP (Idle Learning Procedure). The Honda ILP is "supposedly" done by the techs prior to vehicle delivery. However sometimes it is not and, if you do it yourself after delivery, your MPG numbers will increase dramatically. I know because I just did this on my 2008 Honda Fit which only has about 1500 miles on it.
If there is a comparable Toyota procedure, I would like to know about it so I can re-do it myself and possibly get better MPGs.
28mpg - Hwy some rolling hills; 60-75 mph
25mpg - Hwy; 75-80 mph
23mpg - Hwy; 75-80 mph
22mpg - city (Oil changed to Mobil 1 synthetic 0W20)
24mpg - Hwy; 75-80
24mpg - Hwy; 75-80
26mpg - Hwy; 65-75
Average 24.5mpg
What type of driving are you reporting on? ......city, highway, mixed? If it's mixed, what percent is city and what percent is highway?
I noticed my Rav's computer mpg estimates have gone up from an average of 25 mpg's to 28 mpg's since the vehicle hit about 650 miles on the odometer.I hope that the mileage will actually go up once I do the figures at my next fill up! I drive about 19k annually so I will update as frequently as the true mpg's change.
My calculations Computer Estimates
26.1 26.9
24.6 25
25.3 25.4
I'm guessing that the drop resulted from the switch to "winter gas"
I am hoping/estimating it will go up to 26/27 mixed driving in the spring.
I must say that this new engine is peppy and with the above mileage it's a thumbs up from me. I had a V6 highlander 4wd that got an average of 21 mpg's with about the same amount of torque.
1) I can't remember what I did, and
2) I'll bet vehicles have changed a bit over the years.
I know I'm trading some mpg's for the extra oomph and extra height, but I'd appreciate any advice you can give for breaking her(?) in properly. I'm excited about my new Rav4 (I've had them as rental cars a couple of times) but MAN! AM I GONNA MISS MY CAMRY! Tks!
I averaged about 27.21 on the highway going 75-80 MPH (my mother-in-law's boyfriend is a speed demon)
The lowest in town MPG i have gotten is 18.25 because of using the heater in the car to stay warm.
I usually average around 20 MPG in town mileage.
Curious question - when the engine is running and hasn't warmed yet, and you shift into reverse, it clunks in a bit, and then when shift into drive, it engages a bit harder. The issue goes away if the engine warms for a few minutes and the rpm drops slightly. Any one else have similar issues?
I got much worse real world results comparing to the computer numbers.
Here are the real tank MPG vs. the computer estimates on a trip from San Diego County to the Grand Canyon and back on 23-27 April 2009, using a 2009 Rav4 2wd with 7000 miles on it (I don't know the engine size, but the car was pretty peppy, so it may have been a 6 cyl):
tank MPG Computer MPG Comparison of Actual to Computer MPG
28.0 29.6 -5.4% SD County to Kingman, AZ
26.6 29.8 -10.7% Kingman to GC to near Prescott
30.1 31.8 -5.3% near Prescott to Quartzite, AZ
25.5 26.1 -2.3% Quartzite to SD County
Nearly all of the above was highway mileage. The computer mpg was reset at every fillup. All fillups except the initial one were done by me in a consistent manner. The computer numbers are off by 2 to 11%!
Does anyone know why the computer mpg isn't accurate? It should be bang-on, since it knows how much gas went into the engine, and it knows the mileage
BTW, at least some of the variation in the above numbers is due to elevation differences, since the mpg depends strongly on whether one has a net uphill or net downhill.
got an 2008 plain jayne rav 4 with 31k on it . I am now consistently getting 29.5 mpg"s across the boards...not bad...though the unit downshifts a lot in cruise control.
stephen
I-40 E to NC and then I-80 W back home.
28.12 (~70 MPH)
29.18 (~70 MPH)
29.65 (~70 MPH)
29.28 (~70 MPH)
30.27 (~70 MPH)
26.78 (~70-75 MPH)
27.89 (~70 MPH)
28.80 (~70 MPH)
23.63 (50% in town & HWY)
23.59 (50% in town & HWY)
23.59 (50% in town & HWY)
28.06 (~65 MPH)
23.96 (50% in town & HWY)
26.61 (89 Octane with 10% ehtanol? I am not sure on how much ethanol. I nearly ran out of gas on that tank!)
27.07 (~65 MPH)
25.04 (~65 MPH)
29.92 (~65 MPH)
26.82 (~65 MPH)
31.41 (going down some mountains most of the time)
30.65 (going down hill)
28.47 (~65 MPH)
Not too shabby I have to say. I'll try to drive 65 MPH next long driving trip to save money and gas.
Edit: My wife and I own a 4 cylinder 2008 Rav4 4WD. We'll be trading it in for a 2008 V6 4WD or a 2009 V6 4WD sometime soon.
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New 2009 Rav4 Sport with 2.5 4I engine. Front wheel drive.
We broke it in locally as this puts the engine through it's paces without maintaining a given RPM for long periods as a trip would do. For the 1st 300 or so miles we kept the RPM below 3000. For the next 300 miles the same with occasionally giving enough throttle to allow it to shift at closer to 4000 rpm. After the clock passed 600 miles I let it gently get up to around 2000 rpm and then floor board it allowing the tach to red line at 6000 or so. Then let off the throttle and resume conservative driving.
For local driving my wife is getting 24-26 mpg. She was getting 20-22 on her 20003 Cr-V. Which she traded for the Rav4. We have been refilling the tank at the half way mark and the gauge "Average MPG" has been pretty much on the mark. One time the gauge said we got 25.4, but when hand calculated we actually got 27+. That didn't surprise me as the fill up before that the nozzle didn't shut off and gas ran out the top of the filler pipe, so it was over stuffed to say the least. On this fill up we let the pump run on the slowest setting and removed the nozzle when it clicked off the first time, as we normally do. So there was a discrepency in the way the tank was filled those two times, resulting in a fairly large discrepency between the gauge and hand calculations. Generally the gauge is within 2/10 to 5/10 of hand calculations which is close enough that we have learned to trust it.
This past Saturday, with 700+ miles on the odometer, we took a trip of about 102 miles one way. Filled the tank before we left. And Zeroed the gauge and trip "B". Temperature was 78ish, so AC was not needed until we were nearly at the destination. The first 17 miles were back roads, light traffic, and some traffic lights. Once on the express way I set the cruise at 58 mph (2000 rpm) and occasionally gave enough throttle to force a down shift and run up to 65+ mpg then let it go back to cruise at 58. Made one rest area stop and the last leg was about 5 miles of back roads. Stopped to eat during this leg.
According to the gauge, the entire trip "GOING" delivered 35.7 mpg. This seemed very high to me. The AC had been on since before reaching the 1st destenation and stayed on for most of the remainder of the day. Temp was now in the high 80s. We did 15 or so miles of local driving after leaving the 1st destination. This involved a lot of starts and stops and visiting, with light traffic.
As we left to start home I reset the gauge to zero. First leg on the return trip involved near 20 miles of back roads, one stop sign, and 2 traffic lights. Traffic was light. Once we got to the expressway, I set the cruise at 63 mph. Occasionally throttling up to 70. AC still on. Just before arriving home we stopped for gas. The gauge said we got 32.0 mpg on the return trip. Didn't surprise me that the return yielded lower mileage, with the higher speed and the AC on . But still seemed high.
Filled the tank and did the hand calculation. The result was 33.5 mpg for the entire trip. (228 miles and 6.8 gallons). Pleased with the mileage and pleased overall with the ride and handling.
The driver seat feels good for short trips, but after 15-20 minutes the middle of my back , between the shoulder blades begins to ache. Would think that between the telescoping and tilting of the steering wheel and the seat adjustments, there would be the perfect spot. But not yet. Getting closer though.
The arm rest on the door and the console are a bit too low when the seat is the right height. Also, the head rest touching the back of our heads is distracting, but we are getting used to it. These two items may be the reason the seat seems awkward.
Kip
ocassional BQE
occasional West Side HWY
averages around 15 MPG (Rav4 calculated numbers)
this is a new 2009 Rav4 Base currently @ 600 miles on the odometer
Best vehicles for city driving would be one of the hybrids.
Read many "Reviews", and many "Reports" on different forums. There are a few items that seem to repeat as complaints for the RAV4. Below are our evaluations after ownership since the last of July 09 and near 2000 miles of all types of driving condition except bumper to bumper heavy stop and go traffic.
Our comparisons are based on the driving experiences between our 09 RAV4 with the 4 cylinder , vs the 03 CR-V we traded in and the 03 Pilot we still own. Both Honda's were bought new in '03. Both my wife and myself are 5'6" tall.
Drivers seat:
For our comfort, Both Hondas required the driver seat be jacked up to their highest position for the best comfort. Pilot has 8 way electric driver seat and the CR-V had the mechanically adjusted 3 way seats as does our RAV4 Sport. So, we set the RAV4 seat to its highest position and went from there. Neither of us could get really comfortable with the RAV4 seat and my back would begin to hurt after just a few minutes. I tried some seat "Cushions" from Auto zone that made little to no difference. Just couldn't seem to get the seat back angle correct to get the head rest away from out heads and still be sitting up straight enough for comfort. Plus the door's arm rest was too far down for the elbow to reach comfortably. Tried the full telescoping and tilt adjustments of the steering wheel and putting the seat closer and farther away with little favorable results. Came to the conclusion that the "Smallish" steering wheel was part of the problem. After weeks of us trying to get comfortable in the "driver seat from hell" and balancing things on the door's arm rest and the console, to give our backs some relief, I got real inventive. :shades:
Lowered the seat so that the door's arm rest would support my elbow. Took 8 clicks down to accomplish that. Noticed also that the seat bottom cushion seemed to be tilting somewhat. Somehow the head rest is no longer an issue and the seat is comfortable for both of us.
The below comparisons are based on the NEW RAV4 vs 7 year old Hondas with approximately 40K miles on them.
Acceleration:
The RAV4 seems smoother shifting and quicker accelerating than the the CR-V or the V6 Pilot. The RAV4 2.5 is a marvel of smoothness and strength.
Road noise: Less Road noise than either Honda, both local and Hyway driving.
Ride: RAV4 rides smoother and handles better than the CR-V, Handles better than the Pilot but doesn't ride as soft as the Pilot. I think the near 1000 pounds extra weight of the Pilot contributes to that.
Seating: Pilot second row seats are more comfortable. RAV4 and CR-V pretty much on par for comfort but the "Sliding" 2nd row seat as well as fold flat feature earns points for the RAV4. I never did like the fold n' flip CR-V 2nd seat.
Cargo Area. Load height is lower than the Pilot and about the same as the CR-V.
Rear door/hatch: We both prefer the door.
Spare tire: Neither of us like the "Look" of the spare on the back. Didn't like it on the CR-V either. However after removing the spare from the Pilot recently, the spare on the back would definitely be easier to deal with when dealing with a flat on the side of the road. If I had my "druthers", it would be the spare inside the car, under the floor, and a smooth DOOR on the back.
In a nut shell, I would trade the Pilot for a RAV4, but don't need a second car note right now.
Kip
kkkk1
Our Rav4 is 2 wheel drive 4 cylinder. My wife's commute to work is about 12 miles and involves 12-15 traffic lights and some stop signs. Traffic is moderate as she goes and comes just after the rush hour is calming down. Not much stop and go. So we consider that to be more like local driving rather than "city" driving. "Town" is 2 miles from our house and major shopping is more like 4-5 miles. So "Hyway" is rarely in the mix. Her foot has gotten a bit heavier than when the Rav4 was new, but she still manages 23-24 mpg. This is about the same as when it was new, but with a heavier foot. :sick: The clock is showing about 6K now. I suspect that if she was careful about timing stop signs, traffic lights, and coasting to stops rather than accelerating to them, and so forth, she could get more in the 25-26 mpg range.
When I drive the Rav4, it is usually on Sunday mornings and , OF COURSE, there is very little traffic then. Church is about 7 miles, 1 stop sign, 5 road changes, and 5 traffic lights from the house and I can average 25+/- mpg. Little use of AC at that time of day.
The only time it has been back to the dealer was for the oil change at 5K and they "FIXED" the original gas pedal at that time. I don't care for the "FIX" as the pedal is really light now. TOO Light! They said we could bring it back for a new style pedal when they become available.
Everything works perfectly and we are extremely pleased with the vehicle. Even the drivers seat is no longer an issue, although an electric seat would still be preferable for Tweaking that perfect fit.
Sometime about last November I considered trading the Pilot for a V6 Rav4. I was really impressed with the performance of that engine/vehicle combo. That dude was both smooth and quick! Only problem is that it didn't offer a 7 pin trailer electrical hookup for towing a small camper with electric brakes.
Hope you will enjoy your Rav4 as much as we have.
Kip
I will post my MPG after the next fillup.
KK