Average Mpg Best I've Managed

[shcm]

Bit late, but back on topic(ish)

Shcm has recorded some really good fuel consumption and will hopefully comment when he looks in.

Well possibly, but I'm not sure they are any better than anybody else.

Just for the collection, here's my only photo of completely inaccurate mpg:

I tend to run 400 miles between fills most of the time. For calculated values:

The best I ever achieved with the 4.2 was 51mpg, which was far higher than the official extra urban figure.

I've not done so well with the 4.3. It's better on a "combined" (mway + urban) run than the 4.2, but not so good on a long haul run yet. Best I've managed is 49.4 calculated, but the vehicle was very heavily loaded and coming down the A9 from Inverness, it felt like I was running into a very strong headwind for 100 miles or so at least, which doesn't help.

Did get 99.9 up for a few miles after re-fueling, much like LH did.

Recently the error between my actual and displayed mpg, seems to be getting smaller again. Look at the graph in my sig and you'll see the two lines started close together, then moved apart and are now coming back together again. I have no explanation at the moment. Something is probably just wearing somewhere. Possibly both the divergence and convergence are both related to long distance runs, but not exactly conclusive at all. Still it is nice to have a display that is only about 1 to 2 mpg out at the moment.

I also get the feeling the vehicle is very slightly less economical after the Mr T. ECU re-flash, but I haven't analysed it properly.

[bothwell_buyer]

Hi - and thanks for depressing me! The best I seem to be able to get from my 2 litre petrol Rav4.2 is 29.1mpg [which I reset every thousand miles or so]. Next time I change my wheels I will be aiming for a diesel... Jo

Hi and welcome to the meandering mayhem that is the RAV section of the TOC. This is the place where drifting off topic has been reduced to an artform - generally by the moderators ;) The diesel/petrol debate is rarely off the radar here for more than a few weeks. I think the general concensus is that you need to be doing more than average mileage to make the capital investment in diesel pay off. HOWEVER, the price differential on the fuels has just about disappeared ( thank goodness ) and the upward trend in fuel prices seems inevitable, so even if you have to rely on residual value to balance the books I can't see you loosing out by going for diesel.

If you stick arround one of our caledonian cousins, Bothwell Buyer will log in and explain that if you want 400BHP on tap, you can't rely on Kingo's diesel chips to provide it. He is not around so much at the moment as he is busy converting Anchorman's train to run on 2 Toyota F1 engines, but he will be back ( we hope )!

if I was you. I'd be spending my time converting red diesel to clear.... to make up for all those gear changes you need to do before reaching 40mph.

as for the 2 litre doing 29mpg - I must ask in my best English (pewk) how on earth do you manage that?

I get 21-25mpg with my 400+bhp 1998cc, 0-60ft in less than 2 seconds and runnning revs up to 7000rpm. Do you know (ken) that the RAV actually has more than 2 forward gears?

My other RAV running at 270bhp just now does around 24mpg, but then its used for short trips to the local shop.

Quite impressively, our 2006 Transit Luton van does about 350 miles on a tank of diesel, altho haven't tried the red stuff in it yet.

[junebug1701]

Best I've done on a road trip was 28.3 mpg. That would be about 34 mpg in Imperial gallons. Not bad for a 269 hp V6 and auto tranny.

[three5]

I also get the feeling the vehicle is very slightly less economical after the Mr T. ECU re-flash, but I haven't analysed it properly.

Mmmmm! - I wondered about that as well. Have a feeling that max torque is less than it was - maybe to reduce the flywheel problem?

[local hero]

Agree with above, mine seems slightly heavier on fuel since ecu update although slightly smoother, or are we just noticing that fuel has gone up in price

[anchorman]

I suspected mine certainly wasn't any better from the day it was done and only credited better ful consumption to improving weather. As a matter of interest I took my EGR off the other day and although it was sooty as you might expect inside an exhaust, I wouldn't call it carboned up. I don't know how much is down to the flash, how much is down to only high grade fuel and how much is down to fresh oil at regular intervals???

I gave it a flush out with carb cleaner and it looked like new. I can life with the fuel consumption if it behaves in other ways.

[three5]

I suspected mine certainly wasn't any better from the day it was done and only credited better ful consumption to improving weather. As a matter of interest I took my EGR off the other day and although it was sooty as you might expect inside an exhaust, I wouldn't call it carboned up. I don't know how much is down to the flash, how much is down to only high grade fuel and how much is down to fresh oil at regular intervals???

I gave it a flush out with carb cleaner and it looked like new. I can life with the fuel consumption if it behaves in other ways.

Anchorman,

are you going to write up ( pictures? ) your EGR removal and clean? Personally, it sounds like excellent preventitive maintenance and something that I would be happy to do. Can't remember if I've said this before, but my brother and I both bought identical XT5s at the same time from the same dealer. Mine runs on Shell almost all the time and his runs on the weasely stuff from the supermarket. As they have done very similar mileages I am tempted to do both vehicles and see if there is any difference in carbon build up. It would hardly be definitive evidence, but it would be an interesting "indication". How many miles have you got on yours now?

[dave.m]

I also get the feeling the vehicle is very slightly less economical after the Mr T. ECU re-flash, but I haven't analysed it properly.

Mmmmm! - I wondered about that as well. Have a feeling that max torque is less than it was - maybe to reduce the flywheel problem?

Had mine in for it's 20K service last week, ECU upgrade also done. Driving back home on motorway I thought it seemed

a bit sluggish / flat ?

[anchorman]

I suspected mine certainly wasn't any better from the day it was done and only credited better ful consumption to improving weather. As a matter of interest I took my EGR off the other day and although it was sooty as you might expect inside an exhaust, I wouldn't call it carboned up. I don't know how much is down to the flash, how much is down to only high grade fuel and how much is down to fresh oil at regular intervals???

I gave it a flush out with carb cleaner and it looked like new. I can life with the fuel consumption if it behaves in other ways.

Anchorman,

are you going to write up ( pictures? ) your EGR removal and clean? Personally, it sounds like excellent preventitive maintenance and something that I would be happy to do. Can't remember if I've said this before, but my brother and I both bought identical XT5s at the same time from the same dealer. Mine runs on Shell almost all the time and his runs on the weasely stuff from the supermarket. As they have done very similar mileages I am tempted to do both vehicles and see if there is any difference in carbon build up. It would hardly be definitive evidence, but it would be an interesting "indication". How many miles have you got on yours now?

It's very easy to do and I did take some photo's but the Battery in the camera ran flat so I don't have any of the finished article. I will post a bit later......

Sit tight!!!

[anchorman]

I suspected mine certainly wasn't any better from the day it was done and only credited better ful consumption to improving weather. As a matter of interest I took my EGR off the other day and although it was sooty as you might expect inside an exhaust, I wouldn't call it carboned up. I don't know how much is down to the flash, how much is down to only high grade fuel and how much is down to fresh oil at regular intervals???

I gave it a flush out with carb cleaner and it looked like new. I can life with the fuel consumption if it behaves in other ways.

Anchorman,

are you going to write up ( pictures? ) your EGR removal and clean? Personally, it sounds like excellent preventitive maintenance and something that I would be happy to do. Can't remember if I've said this before, but my brother and I both bought identical XT5s at the same time from the same dealer. Mine runs on Shell almost all the time and his runs on the weasely stuff from the supermarket. As they have done very similar mileages I am tempted to do both vehicles and see if there is any difference in carbon build up. It would hardly be definitive evidence, but it would be an interesting "indication". How many miles have you got on yours now?

Hi Chris

I would also be very interested in your comparison of the two EGR valves. Mine has done about 22k and has run on almost exclusively high grade diesel and I was expecting the carbon to resemble the hard crusty stuff that you get in the upper cylinder but in fact it was quite soft, more like soot. Here is an over view of cleaning the valve;

Start by pulling the plastic cover off. Obviously the exhaust needs to be quite cool as it is very dangerous when hot.

You need to start by removing the plug from the EGR valve. Squeeze the clip and pull off the connector;

Now with a 12mm socket, undo the two bolts on the cylinder head;

.....and the two on top of the EGR valve;

Be careful not to drop the gaskets and lift the pipe off. Next undo the two remaining bolts in the top of the EGR valve;

As the bolts are flanged, I had to just remove the two bolts in the cover and wiring harness mounting bracket to allow them to clear;

Now lift off the valve. This is the engine side;

......and this is the upper inlet;

You can see the carbon inside. I then used an old paintbrush and a tin of carburettor cleaner to wash out both sides of the valve.

My camera Battery went flat so I cannot show the finished result but I can tell you that with little effort it was nearly as bright and shiney as the outside. This photo is of the opening into the inlet manifold. I didn't bother with it because I didn't want to get carbon inside the manifold and given how soft the sooty deposit was I reckon the whole of the inside of the manifold would be similar and it was not hard enough for build ups to cause an obstruction;

The main thing is that I believe I have cleaned enough out to eliminate or reduce the risk of the valve sticking. When refitting the valve I just cleaned all of the mating surfaces with a light rub with wire wool (it comes clean very easily) and the whole job took no more than 20-30 minutes. Refitting is just the reversal and don't forget to pop the plug back on before the ignition is energised or it will throw up a fault code.

For those that don't fancy doing it, don't worry too much as it is covered by an extended 5 year or 100,000 mile warranty but I considered it a kind of insurance policy rather than risk it sticking and having to "limp" home. In the event, I doubt it would have stuck because the carbon was so soft but it will be interesting to see your comparison Chris as it will tell us more about the risk.

Cheers

[HEMI]

I also get the feeling the vehicle is very slightly less economical after the Mr T. ECU re-flash, but I haven't analysed it properly.

Mmmmm! - I wondered about that as well. Have a feeling that max torque is less than it was - maybe to reduce the flywheel problem?

mmmmm makes you think that TGB do know about the flywheel probs then ay?lol

[OldSkoO1]

Awesome Anchorman,

Cheers

[vivianM]

Very much regret not had time to read all the posts on MPG but just back from a short holiday in Yorkshire.

670 miles total mileage - onboard computer reset when filled up at home with Morrisons diesel - average for whole trip 39.7 MPG - mixed motorway, steep hills up and down - many minutes crawling in traffic in York, Scarboro., Whitby etc, a fast trip to Alnwick and back to York and last day back to Derbyshire - and yes I had a spare wheel for the T180 with me and used the super performance of the T180 much of the time!

Do not think that was too bad as the Aircon was on much of the time - yes Yorkshire was very hot last weekend but Scarboro. and Whitby will be avoided like the plague next time as all car parks were full up.

Guy

[duncerduncs]

Just filled mine for the first time...

Covered 464.2 miles and filled it with 45.83 litres, giving me 46.05 mpg :D

Not bad considering the advertised mpg is 48.7

[local hero]

Just filled mine for the first time...

Covered 464.2 miles and filled it with 45.83 litres, giving me 46.05 mpg :D

Not bad considering the advertised mpg is 48.7

I've just had a week around mid/sth Wales, got to say stunning scenery + not a dual carriageway anywhere, I would tell you where I've been if i could only spell some of the place names other than Tenby, one place we saw was CWMYPTIL or similar, looked like the bottom line of an eyesight chart Anyway I digress or Dai-gres in Welsh.. I did three tank to tank fills + despite my OBC showing an overall average of 49.7mpg for the whole trip of 730mls, my true consumption was little better than 40-41mpg, which for a large car mostly fully laden is not bad but a little dissapointing compared to the OBC figure.. P.S if anyone wants a job thats recession proof become a signwriter in Wales they must make a fortune + nobody can tell if youv'e spelt it wrong Stew

[tokm]

In my 02plate VX petrol, recently i've been getting 29.8mpg, best ever was 34mpg going upto longbridge in birmingham up the m40 from buckinghamshire. Would people consider that a respectable MPG? Must admit (on occasion) I do have a bit of heavy foot ..

And while I'm here.. Whats everyones thoughts/comments/views on getting an ECU re-map for it? Most people I've spoken to said being a petrol, there would be very little gain, of either performance or MPG :( Others have also suggested trying the other usual trick of new exhaust.. something custom made by topgear in aylesbury that'll let the engine breath a bit and hopefully get me some more torque at least.. Or is this all bull?

I suppose what I'm really getting at is, does anyone have any suggestions of easy tricks there are increasing MPG or performance.

Cheers for your comments/tips/advice.

T

[shcm]

I would also be very interested in your comparison of the two EGR valves. Mine has done about 22k and has run on almost exclusively high grade diesel and I was expecting the carbon to resemble the hard crusty stuff that you get in the upper cylinder but in fact it was quite soft, more like soot. Here is an over view of cleaning the valve;

Start by pulling the plastic cover off. Obviously the exhaust needs to be quite cool as it is very dangerous when hot.

You need to start by removing the plug from the EGR valve. Squeeze the clip and pull off the connector.......................

(lots of photos - that don't need repeating here.....)

Anchs - did you renew any of the gaskets when you did that?

I'm slightly curious about it too and might whip the valve off mine to have a look at the next oil change. Like Chris, I'm willing to do pictures for comparison if you want (although obviously it won't be as good a comparison as Chris'), or do you have enough data now?

Cheers.

[anchorman]

I would also be very interested in your comparison of the two EGR valves. Mine has done about 22k and has run on almost exclusively high grade diesel and I was expecting the carbon to resemble the hard crusty stuff that you get in the upper cylinder but in fact it was quite soft, more like soot. Here is an over view of cleaning the valve;

Start by pulling the plastic cover off. Obviously the exhaust needs to be quite cool as it is very dangerous when hot.

You need to start by removing the plug from the EGR valve. Squeeze the clip and pull off the connector.......................

(lots of photos - that don't need repeating here.....)

Anchs - did you renew any of the gaskets when you did that?

I'm slightly curious about it too and might whip the valve off mine to have a look at the next oil change. Like Chris, I'm willing to do pictures for comparison if you want (although obviously it won't be as good a comparison as Chris'), or do you have enough data now?

Cheers.

Didn't renew the gaskets. They are very good quality stainless steel and wipe off like new.

Always interested how you go on so yes, please report with piccies! I missed the view of the valve after cleaning so that would be good.

You can actually get EGR cleaner so might be worth a try;

http://www.wynnoil.co.uk/home.php

[shcm]

Always interested how you go on so yes, please report with piccies! I missed the view of the valve after cleaning so that would be good.

OK then, took it apart today, so here are some photos for the "EGR valve compare and contrast scrap book" :). Enjoy!

If you want to be pseudo-scientific about it, here are the facts and figures. This is at just short of 30k miles. Vehicle has run on the following over time:

Tesco Diesel - 32%

Esso Diesel - 4%

BP Ultimate - 3% (It seemed to run like an out of condition fish on that. Sorry, wouldn't touch it again)

Shell V Power Diesel - 18%

Shell Diesel (called Extra isn't it?) - 43%

Of late it runs mostly on Shell, with occasionally V Power Diesel.

deposits were soft and sooty.

Manifold:

Valve body exhaust port:

Valve body manifold port:

Then after cleaning. Not quite as bright as a new pin, but probably OK:

You can just about see the clean valve "stem", but not really any of the valve itself. I believe the valve actuates by moving right to left (it's in the left hand bit of the housing):

Whadya think? About the same state as Anch's before cleaning?

Easy bit of hopefully, preventative maintenance.

[local hero]

SHCM, didn't you use Millers diesel additive for a while, or have i got the wrong person? If so would that keep the EGR etc cleaner, I use it when i fill up with ordinary diesel, but mainly I use Shell ultimate, TBH not noticed any difference whatsoever...Stew

[shcm]

SHCM, didn't you use Millers diesel additive for a while, or have i got the wrong person? If so would that keep the EGR etc cleaner, I use it when i fill up with ordinary diesel, but mainly I use shell ultimate, TBH not noticed any difference whatsoever...Stew

You're right! Forgot to mention I'd tried just the one bottle of Millers.

I used to notice the difference with V power, but lately don't. That might be post ecu-reflash, but can't be sure.

[anchorman]

Nice work shcm!

I would like to compare one that has run on supermarket weasel pee to see if the carbon is harder (enough to cause it to stick). It sounds like yours was the same as mine in that the soot was very soft and easy to clean. In that respect I guess the valve will to some extent be self purging.

Stewpot

The valve is effectively sitting in the exhaust so it will always be sooty. I think we would benefit in making some comparisons between grades of diesel.

BTW stop putting lager in your diesel - its a waste.