Poor Gas Mileage

[sunshine986]

I'm pretty sure I have a problem with my 2007 Rav4 V6. When I checked the gas mileage at around 20-30,000 km's I was getting 30 mpg driving 110 km/hr on the highway. At 120 km/hr I was getting 24-27 mpg. I have recently re-checked my gas mileage and going 110 km/hr I'm now getting 22 mpg. This drastic drop concerns me as well as the fact it's far from the rated mileage. I know rated mileage is not achievable but 13 mpg under the rating is ridiculous.

My question is what are others getting for gas mileage? If mine is substantially lower, how do you convince a dealership that there is a problem with your vehicle? Also, what could be causing the gas mileage to be so poor?

[wing_woo]

Check out this thread:

http://rav4world.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=21505

[Fecalboy]

winter gas + cold weather = crappy mileage

it will get better in the spring

[Vee6er ver2.0]

Do some research on winter oxygenated gasoline. Your fuel efficiency will may drop as much as 3 percent. How convinient that the price of the fuel at the pump isn't adjusted accordingly.

With my winterr tires on and daytime temps in vicinity of -25 deg C my fuel milage is approx 15L /100km in typical city driving. But then what do you expect out of 270 hp engine. What I love about this RAV is the fact that it warms up in no time.

[wing_woo]

That's about what I get too in my Rav4. I don't mind too much the amount of fuel used, I just mind that the gas tank is so damn small for the amount of gas this vehicle uses.

[cantus.terroco]

Originally Posted by Fecalboy

winter gas + cold weather = crappy mileage

it will get better in the spring

i have 2009 rav4, 2.4L, base 4wd

i second to this ... since i bought the vehicle end of july this year ... and consuming gas is not a burden until end of the fall ... :--),

but now, it's WINTER time, dropped to -28 to -31C ... wow!!! my vehicle is a DRUNKEN MASTER !!!!

just for info, estimated from regular distance from 30 to 45KMs: from July to middle of November, i purchase 20$ (22-23L of regular gas) that lasts for 5-6days ... now, winter time, lasts for 3-4 days ....

so we speak: plugging your block heater 2-4 hrs before using the car may reduce gas consumption just from heating your engine, and it helps to reduce pollution :--)

[notepad]

I'm suspecting winter, also. Normally it isn't too cold, but the last ~week has been reasonably cold here in central TX. My last tank I only got 19 mpg--my lowest yet! Usually I get better than that. I'm suspecting cold weather + the traffic on the way to work*.

*They've added yet another stoplight on the road I take to work. The road is 60mph most the way, but with lots of traffic + stop lights, it ends up being a constant exercise in acceleration and deceleration, which has got to be worse on the mileage than just going a slower speed more consistently.

[sunshine986]

I did see that other thread but it looked like mostly people who were on for instance their 6th tank of gas (I got about 5 pages into that thread). While I was more concerned about after you're way past that mark.

My understanding of gas mileage was that when you are breaking the engine in that it would be lower until the engine was broken in and then the mileage would plateau. I assumed my plateau would be around 30 mpg at that speed. When I measured 30 mpg originally it would have been summertime. When I measured 22 mpg it was around 0 degrees C outside. Right now since it's f'n cold I'm getting less than 20 mpg. These were measured using cruise control for a distance of ~100 or 200 kms with no stops and maybe once or twice slowing down to 50 to drive through a small town.

I understand that temperature can affect gas mileage and Vee6er ver2.0 mentioned that it could drop 3%. But my gas mileage dropped 30% (and that was before the real winter temps hit) that to me seems abnormal.

[batpot]

I've never really been too concerned about it, but going from ~30mpgs to ~20mpgs sure seems like a big jump...are you sure the computer didn't suddenly convert from kilometers to miles? :P


Also, would octane booster help in the winter months?

[sunshine986]

Originally Posted by batpot

I've never really been too concerned about it, but going from ~30mpgs to ~20mpgs sure seems like a big jump...are you sure the computer didn't suddenly convert from kilometers to miles? :P


Also, would octane booster help in the winter months?

Lol, thanks for checking on the conversion. I don't have a computer in my Rav that calculates mileage. It's all done by me (and yes I did check for conversion errors)!

As for octane booster I have no idea. I suspect someone will jump in with an opinion on that soon enough.