[jkzormelo]

My 2009 RAV4 V6 gives me 16 MPG highway. I bought it from Westborough Toyota last January and it has 41k now, having added 4k so far. I love this car for one thing: it's so, so very quick.

What do I need to change to bring my MPG close to the average of 21 city and 26 highway?

 

[BigSwede]

Every once in awhile someone pops up on the board with unusually poor gas mileage like this. I don't know if a cause has ever been pinpointed. My best theory is that one of the many sensors must be malfunctioning and providing false info to the computer. That doesn't help you much though.

 

[RTexasF]

How bad is the fuel in West Africa? 16 on the highway seems almost impossible.

 

[Carbon]

How bad is the fuel in West Africa? 16 on the highway seems almost impossible.

+1

 

[jkzormelo]

Yes, 16 MPG from Tema to Akatsi in the Volta Region on Total Effimax. Not many stoppages, though.

I'll ask Toyota Ghana to check those sensors and maybe the plugs.

I have also been advised elsewhere on another Toyota Forum to go light on the accelerator. Thanks.

 

[Carbon]

I suggest watching your instantaneous and average fuel consumption numbers on the dash... reset the average and check the average after maybe 10 minutes. You will be able to see what effect various types of driving has. The indicator is typically 1 or 2 MPG optimistic.

Very slow and very fast driving will hurt fuel economy. Idling gives the worst economy.

Put air in the tires to what the label indicates, or run a little more for better economy.

I am not saying you don't have a problem. Have you tried using a code reader?

 

[rav4two]

Make sure you are in 5th gear and do not have the transmission set to limit you to 4th gear. This is a common mistake for new owners.

When you are in 5th gear, at 60 MPH, your engine speed will be around 1800 RPMs.

 

[Blogson]

Don't trust the dashboard fuel mileage indicator if you are using it - it has been widely reported to be optimistic, and mine has been so by anywhere from 1-6 mpg, resetting everything to zero at each fillup. The only accurate way to determine fuel mileage is by computing miles driven divided by the gallons (Don't you use liters in West Africa?) needed to fill the tank. The best mileage I have gotten is 23.3 with mostly highway driving on that trip with lots of lower gear driving over mountains. My town mileage is around 16-17. If you have straight gasoline without the ethanol required here you should do better than that.

 

[WJBertrand]

How long since the air cleaner was serviced?