Woodland Edition/Hybrid Real World MPG

No personal experience with the Woodland edition, but the likely reason for the lower MPG rating is that the Woodland comes with Falken Wildpeak Trail tires, which are fairly knobby (and soft) compared to the various mediocre all-seasons that come on the other trims. Whether the additional snow / gravel / mud performance of a light all-season tire like the Wildpeak Trails is worth the potential MPG hit is up to you, but my experience with Wildpeaks is that they are excellent tires and when the factory Dunlops on mine wear out, Wildpeak Trails are likely to be what I install in their place.

The Woodland may be heavier. It may have more driveline drag. And of course the heavy tires that come stock.

How much different are the numbers you see? Is it a difference of 40 vs 38 or 40 vs 30mpg.
If you want optimal MPG, stick with the basic car. If you are okay seeing a slight hit, get the car you want?
Are you buying a Woodland because you like how it looks or do you need it to be a little more off-road capable?

The Rav is telling me around 40mpg so far on my second tank of gas. My driving on this tank so far has been "city" driving. I'll do the math and figure out the actual mpg when I fill it up again.

My woodland gets 37mpg

Temps have started getting a bit better in my area. I just calculated 38mpg. Last fill-up was 37mpg. Removing the crossbars was one of the first thing I did once I received it.

The roof rack and mud flaps surely add air drag.

Glad I found this thread. I just picked up my 2023 Woodland Edition on Monday and am getting to know it after 17 years of Prius driving. I was thinking about pulling the cross bars off since we probably won’t use the rack often. We are planning to get lower rolling resistance tires once these crazy rains stop in California and keep the originals on their own rims for use when going out places with gravel or rougher roads. Most driving is going to be on city streets & freeway. I just wanted a model without a moonroof and other premium features they’re throwing on all the XLEs around here. The Cavalry Blue is pretty great too.

clhahn said:

Glad I found this thread. I just picked up my 2023 Woodland Edition on Monday and am getting to know it after 17 years of Prius driving. I was thinking about pulling the cross bars off since we probably won’t use the rack often. We are planning to get lower rolling resistance tires once these crazy rains stop in California and keep the originals on their own rims for use when going out places with gravel or rougher roads. Most driving is going to be on city streets & freeway. I just wanted a model without a moonroof and other premium features they’re throwing on all the XLEs around here. The Cavalry Blue is pretty great too.

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That's an option, though it seems like a hassle to change wheels when you might want those tires unexpectedly in urban situations. Just staying light on the throttle could get you better MPG than the average lead-foot in another RAV4 version. A nationwide end to speed-obsession would conserve a lot of oil that we'll all miss fairly soon.

Related topic: I'm not generally keen on the bronze wheels but a green color would look more balanced with them. Green also fits the "woodland" concept. They could trade black for a military type green if we're stuck with only a few choices.

I just did a 300mi round trip of about 90% highway and hand calculated 38mpg in my Woodland. I’m starting to believe that salesman that said there really isn‘t much of a difference. I did take off the crossbars almost immediately as rarely ever need them.

My personal beliefs with absolutely no evidence…
1. The Wildpeaks are the biggest mpg hit but are still pretty damn efficient
2. The mudflats and crossbars are the next but still not by much
3. Biggest hit is driving efficiency. I have learned to drive very conservatively and utilize the regen braking very well.
4. uncontrollable factor: Winter fuel mix

This is just my two cents. Frankly, if the Woodland truly is less efficient by 2-3mpg, I’m still thrilled with 38mpg. Looking forward to Spring/Summer weather to see if I can get that 40+ mark!

Bill Mac said:

I agree that MPG numbers are a reflection on the way one drives. My 2023 RAV4 XLE has about 400 miles on it and the MPG is at 38.1. I didn't originally have the ECO setting on so that might change things a bit.

That Woodland sticker is very lame! It looks like the old Colorform stickers from years ago. The white border around the logo really makes it look worse.

Something like these with a bit of color would look better...
View attachment 193931

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Those old stickers do put WOODLAND in context!

Treillw said:

Looking at the Toyota website and Rav 4 brochure, the woodland edition Rav is said to have a lower fuel efficiency than the other hybrid models.

I talked to a dealership and mentioned not wanting one because of the worse he mileage. He told me that the woodland edition gets essentially the same mpg as all the other hybrids. "It might be a hair worse due to the .5" lift, but it's not appreciable". I told him what the Toyota documentation said and he said it was wrong.

Any real world experience on here? For that matter, any real world experience on the other Rav trims? I'm considering the XLE.

Thanks!

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Love my new 2023 Calvary Blue Woodland RAV 4 XLE!! Do mostly city driving getting 42mpg hand calculated. Have over 9 years experience driving non-toyota hybrid sedan. If I can just get better at parking I would be happy. I agree with the sales rep at this point.

AJR423 said:

MPG is definitely a behavioral thing beyond just the tech limits of any vehicle.

Side note: Toyota should replace this amateur-looking WOODLAND sticker, unless it's meant to be temporary.

View attachment 193740

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Replace it with the special edition Adventure badge, part number PT432-42182-02: PT413-42182-02 - Adventure Badge - Special Edition - Black. Exterior Emblem. - 2018 Toyota RAV4 | nashuatoyota Much better looking.

Woodland Hybrid is using NiMH battery pack compared to other trim with Li-ION battery pack. To produce the same power output the NiMH battery will be heavier. This will be the main reason the MPG on woodland is lower than other hybrid trims. Mudflaps, Roof Rack, Sticker Badge are just secret ingredients to camouflage this difference. NiMH battery is cheaper to produce but has less potential hazards associated with lithium products. Could be the reason why Toyota choose to use it on Woodland, the outdoor adventure edition.

iRAV said:

Woodland Hybrid is using NiMH battery pack compared to other trim with Li-ION battery pack. To produce the same power output the NiMH battery will be heavier. This will be the main reason the MPG on woodland is lower than other hybrid trims. Mudflaps, Roof Rack, Sticker Badge are just secret ingredients to camouflage this difference. NiMH battery is cheaper to produce but has less potential hazards associated with lithium products. Could be the reason why Toyota choose to use it on Woodland, the outdoor adventure edition.

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It seems like NiMH or LiPo just randomly used over trims. For my SE according manual: if sticker says AXAH54L it's NiMH and if AHAL54L - LiPo.

DrShadow said:

It seems like NiMH or LiPo just randomly used over trims. For my SE according manual: if sticker says AXAH54L it's NiMH and if AHAL54L - LiPo.

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I believe for 2023, NiMh is only in LE, XLE, and Woodland. All others have Lithium.

One month and 900 plus miles in my new 2023 Woodland. Have a mix of city and highway driving. I drive mostly in Eco mode and I have been taking it easy and not speeding. Highway I stay 65 to 70 mph. In town I try to do a slow start. Not a hypermiler but have been cautious as I break in the new vehicle. Trip computer is reporting 40.9 MPG over the life of vehicle. By math from tracking miles by trip odometer/gallons to fill my last tank was 42.3 MPG for the 442 miles I drove on it.

I am super impressed and very happy with this! Sticker says 38 city/ 35 highway/ 37 combined so to be getting over 40 MPG is awesome!!

Really love the RAV4 Woodland hybrid!!

I have a 2023 XLE with mudguards and roof bars on it. Hand calculating average is 41.3 and dash readout is saying 40.8. I have been driving trying to get good fuel economy but I’m not a hyper miler. I’m about 60/40 Highway, non-highway, but not much “city” traffic as I live in a not super built up part of New England. I have left it in “normal”mode since buying it.