After researching for a year and visiting the dealer on November 30, we finally got our 2011 7-passenger V6 4WD Rav4 last Friday! We are very disappointed with the gas mileage. The best so far is just over 21. Any suggestions?
Poor Gas Mileage in 2011 V6
applique
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I got my 11 v6 last week and heres what I have observed as far as gas mileage over the first 600 miles:
30mpg is easy to obtain if you keep it at 65 without any major inclines. (Roughly 400 miles)
24-25 mpg was obtained in the 200 miles where the speed limit was 70 with steep inclines.
My conclusion is hills will have a negative impact on mileage
30mpg is easy to obtain if you keep it at 65 without any major inclines. (Roughly 400 miles)
24-25 mpg was obtained in the 200 miles where the speed limit was 70 with steep inclines.
My conclusion is hills will have a negative impact on mileage
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21.2 MPG lifetime average since 2006. Roughly 50/50 hwy/city (but with some minor towing). V6 4WD, I don't believe there was a change in powertrain since 2006.
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My wife drove us home in our RAV (she calls it the RAT) Friday after I had surgery on my right foot. She drives more conservatively than I do and pretty much sticks to 60 mph, even where the speed limit is 65. Anyway, per the Garmin EcoRoute HD that's mated to our Garmin GPS, she averaged 26 mpg on the way home, even with a drive over the 1,800-foot summit on Highway 17 through the Santa Cruz mountains. There's no question that speed kills the RAV's MPG. I'm thinking of keeping it to 62 mph, max, from now on. As for driving 70 -- unless that's the posted limit -- fuggeddaboudit. :thumbs_up:
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Yes. Don't try to hypermile when you're being chased by Taliban in pickup trucks.
onder:
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I suggest trading it in and get a vehicle that you will be happy with the gas mileage with.
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And you were driving how fast on your trip home? And how "heavy" is your right foot? If anything, the six-cylinder RAV4 is overpowered and how you drive it can make a big difference in MPG.
I routinely run 73mph on the highway(mostly flat, few hills) and average 24-26mpg. At a steady 65mph I average 28-30mpg. City driving averages 19-21mpg. Even with the AC running full blast, I've been averaging 23-25 mpg ( highway). My '06 I4 did about the same. Strong winds do take a toll on my mpg.
To the OP: What did you expect from the V6? I'd be ecstatic about getting 21 mpg with the V6. Look around and research the Net (outside of this forum) and you will see that V6 owners are getting the mpg similar to yours or lower. You can't get the V6 without knowing your getting hit with lower mpg. But to most, that's a fair trade-off.
Just pay a little more for fuel and enjoy the speed :cheers:
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If I had any cash left over after paying my gasoline bill I'd buy stock in whichever oil company is supplying the local station where I buy most of my gas (sort of lol!). I'd be happier if Toyota would make a manual gearbox available with the V6 and with the same final drive gearing as with the auto, which doesn't lock out the torque converter readily and so is rather much a stereotypical what we used to refer to as a slushbox when we were in high school and converted cars with them to manual shifts.
Also, non-ethanol gasoline would help - not available for road vehicles in Oregon!
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I'm light-footed but am still getting mileage in the 18 mpg range, with a fair amount of small town driving and some highway miles, occasionally 52 miles round trip to the nearest larger town. Interesting to see that Consumer Reports shows 22 mpg overall for the V6.
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Don't expect to get much better than 18-20 off highway. On highway I easily get 23-26 @ 75mph. I took a trip to NC a while back and if I recall correctly I got 25-26mpg on that 750 mile trip (some hills in SC & NC, winter blend fuel, 2 passengers, & 200lbs of gear). I'd say that's pretty good.
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Your tank is 16.9 gallons, so if you leave a 3 gallon reserve (your low fuel light will come on with 3-4 gallons remaining), you can go 260 miles at 20 MPG.
The longest we've driven one tank is a hair over 400 miles, after which we put in just under 15 gallons, so we had two gallons left. It worked out to around 27 MPG for a mostly fast freeway drive.
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Actually, I'm pretty sure the 4.3 RAV (and 4.4 RAV) has a 15.9 gallon fuel tank, at least in North America.
When my Low Fuel light goes on, I have about 3.75 gallons left, based on how much fuel it takes to fill the fuel tank again.
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Lower your expectations.
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