[amy]

Finally today i calculated the mileage as our forum users suggested.

Trip meter says 256 since from i filled the tank lasttime and i filled the tank with 12.256 gallon today. 256/12.256 = 20.888
calculated, it comes 20.887 per gallon....

I drove 60% city and 40% highway.


I do see many I4 owner got more than 22mgg but mine not even crossed 21.

I was expecting atleast 23 to 24 but it is total dissapointment for me. forgot to mention i put premium gas(92 octane)..

I will post the next mileage calculatation...

 

[SeriousBlack]

how many total miles have you put on your RAV so far? why premium?

 

[sstarrx3]

The car was designed for 87 octane gas. Putting 92 Octane gas will not get you better mileage, it may even decrease your mileage. My mileage varies, from my low being about what you got all the way up to 25.2, which had a couple of 100 mile highway round trips. It should get a little better for you once it get it good an broken in. I would go back to 87 octane gas if I were you

 

[amy]

I will put 87octane on next fill and i will see the mileage calculation.
So far it has 525 miles.

Just for curiosity my 2000 corrolla gave 31mpg when i used 92 ocatane and gave 28 to 29 when i used 87 octane.

 

[dt1612]

Hi Amy,

I got about 23-24 mpg for the first 3 weeks. Last week, I started using cruise control set at the 60 mph speed limit and got 28 mpg.

dt...

 

[puttputt]

Breaking in the RAV didn't help my mileage at all. Still get about 23-24 mpg 60 hwy/40 city and I've got 3580 miles. Been getting that since my first full tank. Do basically the same drive every week. Use cruise control when I can. Run the air when it's hot. Always hit about 23 or 24 mpg. Only one time hit as low as 21 mpg but was doing almost all city and was a little more heavy footed than usual.

I also noticed that those with 4WD seem to get about 1-2 miles less per gallon of 2WD, which supports what Toyota reports.

 

[kcman]

My ODO shows 2200 miiles now. My lowest so far has been 24 MPG (50 hwy/50 city) and the highest has been 27 (80 hwy/20 city). The normal I would say would be between 25-26 (75 hwy/25 city) for me. Most of my highway driving was between 65-75 MPH and I rarely touch 80. I use 87 Octane as well. I am happy with the mileage which my I4 gives.

 

[sstarrx3]

I will put 87octane on next fill and i will see the mileage calculation.
So far it has 525 miles.

Just for curiosity my 2000 corrolla gave 31mpg when i used 92 ocatane and gave 28 to 29 when i used 87 octane.

Well lets hope that doesn't hold true for your RAV or your really going to be pissed I have had cars that actually said in the manual that running higher octance gas would decrease performance. I guess it depends on the car. I did not read that in the RAV4 owners manual though, so I guess it won't hurt anything but your wallet. You have tried 92, now see if you get worse with 87

 

[summerwind]

Do you live in a state that has ethenol in your gas??

Opinion has it that E10 will have slightly lower MPG than non-ethenol blends.

 

[go 5 hole]

We are getting 22mph - almost all city driving.

Agreed - don't spend the extra $ on the 92.

 

[mlot51]

V6 4x4 Sport-

I pretty much drive the same route everyday. My first two tanks of 93 octane got me 21 and 20 mpg. First tank of 87 got me 18.5mpg and I drove like a grandma. My Rav has just broken the 1000 mile mark, so this is by no means conclusive, but it is interesting. I definately dont like the trend of losing MPG with each fill up though.

Im going to run a couple more tanks of 87, then try some higher octane again and see what happens. Im also keeping track of brands of gas, to see if that makes a difference as well. I'll report back when I have more info.

BTW, my state does use an ethanol blend.

 

[The G Man]

Hmmm, very interesting observations regarding premium gas and mileage. My other car which the manufacturer recommand using 91 octane does not get higher higher mileage when I use preimum gas instead of 87. However, it does run smoother, quieter and accelarate a bit faster.

 

[rablat5]

I have over 7000 miles on my RAV already. BTW, it's an I-4 4WD Sport.

Anyway, the best that I have gotten on a tank was 27.5 MPG overall, and the worst was probably around 22-23 overall. This is around the range that Toyota quotes. I still haven't hit the 28 MPG for a tank average.

We just did a road trip of over 2000 miles, and most of that was highway driving. My friend drives fast, so we did a lot of cruising around 80. This will lower your mileage. To get some of the best results, go on an all-highway trip during 70-degree temp, don't run the A/C on, set the cruise on 60, and ride by yourself.

I would like to hit more than 28. My Honda Element that I had was rated for 24 hwy, but I actually had gotten at least 26 or so on one tank average. BTW, the trip we just took in my RAV, when my friend drove, we averaged around 23 or so, at least on the tank(s) I calculated.

 

[flyingn]

we still got 30 on the highway.. 20 in the city bumper to bumper taffic with my wifes heavy foot

 

[CornMonkey]

i would have to say i'm a bit disappointed too. i haven't gotten more than 24mpg. i have base 4cyl 2wd. i should be getting more no?

i don't drive erratically, i'm very soft on the accelerator, i'm about 70% hwy/30% city. so what gives?

 

[Wizzobutter]

Although I have the V6, I'm getting an average of 22 MPG with the first 4 tankfulls. I see some nice tips on improving fuel economy, so I wanted to add another for you. My previous car, a 1999 Camry, had very little airflow into it with all the windows and sunroof open. Recently, I was picking up a lot of retaining wall concrete blocks, so I placed a large heavyweight blanket in the cargo area with the rear seats flat. On the way to pick up more stones, I had all 4 windows open and the moon roof open. When I hit 60, the blanket flew up and into the front seat. I was shocked the air flow could be that high. I've heard that open windows can decrease gas milage some, but maybe it's more significant in the RAV4. Just a thought. Needless to say, I had concrete chips and dust all over the dash and front seats after this happened.

 

[badkarma]

Aerodynamics plays a large part in mileage. If your motor has to work harder against air resistance you're going to burn more gas period. A vehicle with open windows is horrible aerodynamically.

Regarding the octane of gas. In my current toyota the ECU starts out at a default timing setting and when it detects knock it wil pull the timing back until there's no more knock. However, if I put in 94 octane after a tank of 92, the ECU will not advance the timing back to the original timing setting. In order to take advantage of a tank of 92 octane or higher racegas, I have to pull the jumper for the ECU for a minute or so to reset the ECU to its original state. I don't know how adaptive the RAV4 ECU is, my car's 12 years old now pre-ODB2, but without knowing what the EAV4 ECU does when it sees knock it's hard to say whether 89 or 92 octane will yield any difference. TBH though, considering the price difference in 87 vs 92, even if 92 was better mileage I'd imagine lower mileage at 87 would still be cheaper.

PS. People have run dyno runs on my Toyota 94 vs 92 octane and seen 20-25rwhp difference. Mind you we're talking about a turbo motor that can take advantage of good gas. The RAV4 engine is normally aspirated and NA motors rarely require high octane gas unless it's high compression, etc, etc.

 

[flyingn]

turbo vs. normally asperated. not same animal. So rules are not the same. You will NEVER get 25 hp with octane change on a non turbo engine. Never..

just wanted to clear that up for the people reading this

 

[badkarma]

turbo vs. normally asperated. not same animal. So rules are not the same. You will NEVER get 25 hp with octane change on a non turbo engine. Never..

just wanted to clear that up for the people reading this

Right. You'd be lucky to get 25rwhp with a couple grand worth of mods on a NA motor. My point was the what the ECU pulling timing, does it advance timing when you put in higher octane gas? Or do you have to reset it?