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Hello! MPG report-93octane

4K views 10 replies 7 participants last post by  summerwind 
#1 ·
Hi there. First post for a new Rav 4 owner here. I picked up a 06 V6 4wd Sport, silver last week. Love the Rav so far. We had some heavy rain here (Northeast) and the Rav was great on the wet roads. Its my first Toyota too!

Anyway,Ive got about 450 miles on it now. I kept track of my last full tank of gas and am reporting in. My driving was about 80% Highway 20% Town. My driving style is by no means consevative, but I didnt beat the Rav either while its still breaking in.

Gas: Exxon 93 octane ($3.19/gal)!!
Miles: 266
Fuel Burned: 12.53 gallons
MPG: 21.28

I was hoping for at least 20mpg so Im pretty happy with those numbers. The Rav does pretty good, even with my lead foot. Should be lookin pretty good once theres a couple thousand miles on it. I put in another tank of 93 and am gonna run that through, then eventually Ill try some 87 and see if the numbers hold up. Im gonna do some Sunoco 94 octane too. I'll post new numbers when I get them.

BTW, my fuel light came on a mile before the gas station so it looks like once that light comes on, you got about three gallons left, assuming the capacity is 15.9 gal.
 
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#2 ·
While its ok to experiment with modern computer controlled engines, you are most likely throwing your money away. Toyota has the engine calibrated very well for 87 octane like the manual states. If there was a way to reprogram for the higher octane you'd get some viable performance or mpg returns from the higher octane fuel.

Since the middle to late 80’s, engines were designed to use fuel injectors with computers to accurately control the air/fuel mix under all types of temperature and environment concerns. However the accuracy of the fuel injectors and computers is based on using the recommended gasoline for that engine.

The engine knock sensor knows when the engine pings and retards the spark timing until ping is gone (such as when using poor quality fuel). The retarded timing will reduce horsepower and fuel economy. Fortunately, the RAV4 is designed to work on the lowest quality fuel you can buy, so this is not a real concern for the V6 engine in the RAV4.

Here is more on the topic:

http://www.faqs.org/faqs/autos/gasoline-faq/part3/
If you use a fuel with an octane rating below the requirement of the engine,
the management system may move the engine settings into an area of less
efficient combustion, resulting in reduced power and reduced fuel economy.
You will be losing both money and driveability. If you use a fuel with an
octane rating higher than what the engine can use, you are just wasting
money by paying for octane that you can not utilise. The additive packages
are matched to the engines using the fuel, for example intake valve deposit
control additive concentrations may be increased in the premium octane grade.
If your vehicle does not have a knock sensor, then using a fuel with an
octane rating significantly below the octane requirement of the engine means
that the little men with hammers will gleefully pummel your engine to pieces.

You should initially be guided by the vehicle manufacturer's recommendations,
however you can experiment, as the variations in vehicle tolerances can
mean that Octane Number Requirement for a given vehicle model can range
over 6 Octane Numbers. Caution should be used, and remember to compensate
if the conditions change, such as carrying more people or driving in
different ambient conditions. You can often reduce the octane of the fuel
you use in winter because the temperature decrease and possible humidity
changes may significantly reduce the octane requirement of the engine.

Use the octane that provides cost-effective driveability and performance,
using anything more is waste of money, and anything less could result in
an unscheduled, expensive visit to your mechanic.
 
#8 ·
yeah, regular 87 is about 2.99 in my area, so with a $40.00 fill up its about $2.50 more to put in Premium. I figured, what the hell, I'll give it a try. Im sure 3.19 for reg. is right around the corner though!

Published Data on this subject seems hard to come by. Its just newspaper A says this, engineer B says that. For every mechanic that told me premium is a waste money, there was another that said the engine will be cleaner and last longer if premium is used. Go figure. 87 is what I will end up using, for sure. I just figured since 93 and 94 are not available in all parts of the US, we could see for ouselves. I am an admitted Horsepower junky though, and this thread did pique my interest:

http://rav4world.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=2347&highlight=premium
 
#9 ·
Yeah, that's what everybodys been saying a waste of money. I was just looking for a little more whiplash! I'm on my third tank of 93 octane, and quite actually, I haven't noticed any difference now than from when I ran through the dealers first tank of regular. Next fill up I'll put good old regular in it. Just wish it would snap my neck a little more. :lol:

P.S. regular is $2.91 here
 
#10 ·
You guys are just wasting your money using the higher octanes. The RAV4 I4 and V6 were designed to run on 87, as are about 90% of the newer vehicles put on the road. My gov't agency is responsible for testing octane and fuel quality within our jurisdiction according to ASTM standards, and I will tell you that the tested driveability index between the super and regular grades is miniscule. Another thing I must tell you is that if you have a vehicle that is designed to run on 89 octane midgrade product, don't buy 89 - switch back and forth between 93 and 87 at a 2:1 ratio (87 to 93). The reason being is that the 87 consistently tests at 87.5 - 88.0 octane, whereas the 89 tests closer to the actual 89.0. It's not worth the difference in price from 87 to 89 when they are so close in actual octane numbers.

One reason I bought my V6 RAV was because it IS designed to run on 87 as opposed to the Subaru boxer sixes (my alternative choice to the RAV) that are designed to run on at least 91 octane.

The oil companies are raking in enough windfall lately, it's not necessary to unwittingly add to their profits by using the higher grades in your RAV. As already stated, their profit margins are much higher on the premium grades than the regular.

OC
 
#11 ·
As some states have added Ethanol to gas sold, some claim you will see a reduction in MPG over gas without Ethanol.

Also saw on the news tonight that the cost of raising corn went up due to the increased cost of diesel fuel. So much for E10's future.

Looks like the Hybrid vehicle in my sig that uses renewable energy might just be ahead of its time :wink:
 
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