Think I have a problem. Consuming way too much gas

[krisnet55]

Originally Posted by vanib

I wish I could drive my RAV like crazy and get great mileage but that's not the case.
Fortunately (or unfortulately) I do not have a V6.

When I sold my MAzda 6 V6 to get this I4 RAV4, I immediately stopped accelerating like insane just to hear the engine and muffler! Of course, my Mazda6 had horrible mileage, but now I know why!

May be you should get a hybrid that would let you accelerate nicely and not burn too much gas.

Just for fun, try to drive like "grandpa" (no offence to our seasoned members who still have a lead foot ) and see if it changes you mpg, just for fun ... and then sell the RAV!

I have been driving like grandpa for 2 weeks now amd the mpg has improved to 16-17, only city.
I just find it redicoulos that in order to get close to mpg stated you have to drive like grandpa. As I said one thing is to drive aggressive, another is to drive normal, and its a whole different story driving like grandpa.
They state 19 mpg for city and I believe that I should be easily able to get 15-16 mpg driving normally, I get 12. I get 17 driving like grandpa and 12 when driving normally. What I mean by normal is to accelerate as needed and stop as needed. Not thinking that I have to give the least possible gas taking off and letting go of the gas when I'm still a block and a half away from the next light so the car can roll. It's ridicolus to drive like that.

[krisnet55]

Originally Posted by SuperT

My wife just filled up her first tank after puchasing her V6 4x4 Sport and in 75% city/25% highway driving she got 19.2 mpg. That 75% city is in rush hour traffic on I-65 coming from Nashville, so it's stop and go for 15 miles each way, so something definitely seems wrong if you're getting those kind of numbers.

Try rush hour traffic in midtown manhattan....

[SuperT]

Originally Posted by krisnet55

Try rush hour traffic in midtown manhattan....

Ha ha no thanks. I'm originally from CT so I used to take I-95 to Stamford everyday for work. Drove through Manhattan plenty of times, so I know Nashville traffic is a walk in the park in comparison, but regardless your MPGs still shouldn't be that low IMO.

[RTexasF]

Originally Posted by krisnet55

I honestly dont think its right that in order to get correct MPG you have to drive a car like im on way to a retirement home in florida. I mean really? Take off sloooow (I mean real slow) enough for the guy behind you to honk or pass you, look at the stop lights way ahead and calculate if its about to tun red so I can start to let go of the gas in order for the car to roll to a stop, really? Thats how you drive?
If I were to tell you that I take off on a stop light and the car reaches 3k rpm only to come to a stop again a few meters down the road because of another light and then take off again like mad max then I would completely agree with you. I think that if you drive normal not aggressive MPG should be decent, say around 15 mpg and if you dive like an old man 18 mpg, and aggressive 10 mpg. You should try and google rav4 mpg and tell me what you think.

I own two, both are V-6 models, so I don't need to google squat. Driving sensibly does not mean pissing off everyone behind you by driving like a senile idiot. I suggest you trade the RAV in on an econobox if the fuel consumption is breaking the bank. Driving in Manhattan traffic would be a living hell for me much less living there. You have my sympathy and I don't mean that in a smart ass way at all. Best of luck.

[krisnet55]

Originally Posted by RTexasF

I own two, both are V-6 models, so I don't need to google squat. Driving sensibly does not mean pissing off everyone behind you by driving like a senile idiot. I suggest you trade the RAV in on an econobox if the fuel consumption is breaking the bank. Driving in Manhattan traffic would be a living hell for me much less living there. You have my sympathy and I don't mean that in a smart ass way at all. Best of luck.

I guess that's how everyone drives in Texas then and we share something in common, I wouldn't live there either.
Knowing how open Texas is and the flow of traffic I don't see why you even bothered to chip in on this thread.

[RTexasF]

With any luck the dealer may find something out of whack and take care of it allowing you better miles per gallon. Good luck with it.

[289fia]

Just seems a bit odd that the V6 mileage is so low. I didn't do a lot of "mileage research" on the Rav 4. But I do recall seeing comments that the V6 was comparable with the 4 cyl in mileage and in some cases slightly better. New design yada yada yada. Will be filling up again shortly .. but so far 198 miles travelled on 11.3 gal = 17.5 mpg; and 182 miles travelled on 12.2 gallons = 14.9 mpg. Does not come any where close to my wife's CRV in gas mileage. Love the car .. like the acceleration of the V6. Like the storage under the rear floor. Want to take it on a highway trip to see what sort of mileage it gets vs. around town (Coral Gables / Miami). Winter is the cool period as well .. it's no where near the temp that we will have in May - October. But if your hot button is mileage - the V6 does not appear to be a candidate.

[krisnet55]

I've managed to maintain a 16mpg so far in purely city and when I mean city I mean NYC and Queens traffic and maybe 1/2 a mile of hwy per day. Unfortunately I believe (just my opinion) is that to really get good mpg or what I'm currently getting this car needs flowing traffic and you got to keep it real low on rpm's. You basically got to forget you have a 280hp V6 machine and drive it like a 2 cylinder civic. Today for example was Saturday and there isn't so much traffic, I got up to 16.9 showing on the speedo from 15.6. Although not accurate but you can see the difference I'm talking about when there is flowing traffic. I honestly don't think you will get more then 17 mpg in Florida driving somewhat normally, considering you guys down there in Florida take plenty of highways during ur day.

[rav4two]

Again, I have no explanation why, but just filled up our V6 this morning. The wife did a week of commuting five miles each way to work, either uphill or downhill all the way, with more than a dozen traffic lights and lots of traffic. Our weather has hovered in the 30's all day, and it takes her 20 minutes or more to make the commute home. We got just over 20 MPG, and my wife is usually leading the pack out of the blocks.

It really would be interesting to get a couple of Ravs together, one that gets good mileage and one that gets bad mileage, and see if there are any differences.

I just went out to look at the average MPG meter. After filling up, I took three people and luggage on a 50 mile round trip to the airport, then did another 40 mile round trip mostly freeway to see my mom. Right now, it says 28.9 MPG.

Anyone in the Seattle/Bellevue/Redmond area with a V6 and get what they would consider poor mileage?

[krisnet55]

Originally Posted by rav4two

Again, I have no explanation why, but just filled up our V6 this morning. The wife did a week of commuting five miles each way to work, either uphill or downhill all the way, with more than a dozen traffic lights and lots of traffic. Our weather has hovered in the 30's all day, and it takes her 20 minutes or more to make the commute home. We got just over 20 MPG, and my wife is usually leading the pack out of the blocks.

It really would be interesting to get a couple of Ravs together, one that gets good mileage and one that gets bad mileage, and see if there are any differences.

I just went out to look at the average MPG meter. After filling up, I took three people and luggage on a 50 mile round trip to the airport, then did another 40 mile round trip mostly freeway to see my mom. Right now, it says 28.9 MPG.

Anyone in the Seattle/Bellevue/Redmond area with a V6 and get what they would consider poor mileage?

That's really impressive. You are actually getting more then what Toyota advertises. Not to mention that's what I would get on VW Jetta. I have yet to meet someone that gets more mpg then what the manufacturer says.