Improving Fuel Consumption On 2Lt Rav4

[Molnboman]

Hej

Just wondering if there are any major things I need to look at to improve fuel consumption on the Mark2 petrol 2ltr Rav 4 other than the usual tyre pressure, no Roof Rack, regular service, easy on the right foot etc etc

Was a bit freaked when I drove 120km and noticed I nearly used a quarter of a tank! I know I shoudn't expect more than 30mile to the gallon, however,just wonder if they are any add ons like air fliters, injectors etc etc that will improve fuel economy. Would changing to high performace unleaded help as opposed to standard 95?

Cheers

A

[Joylove]

Yes high RON fuel will up the mpg, and often the increase in price balances with the increase in mpg, with the bonus of a more perky throttle response.

Other than that give it a good service, oil, filters, plugs. Since you have a 2003 is the Check Engine light on? A bad O2 sensor can make for rich running and they are partial to an O2 sensor or four on occasion.

[igormus]

Hej

Just wondering if there are any major things I need to look at to improve fuel consumption on the Mark2 petrol 2ltr Rav 4 other than the usual tyre pressure, no roof rack, regular service, easy on the right foot etc etc

Was a bit freaked when I drove 120km and noticed I nearly used a quarter of a tank! I know I shoudn't expect more than 30mile to the gallon, however,just wonder if they are any add ons like air fliters, injectors etc etc that will improve fuel economy. Would changing to high performace unleaded help as opposed to standard 95?

Cheers

A

hi mate

do not expect a false info.

as far as i heard your rav is powered by 1AZ-FE engine and it looks like it is the same engine powers mine. Ok normally i used to fill it in wit 95. Service history is started from a blank list each 15k (kms) as specified in the service records book.I have experienced fuel consumption is 9.9 - 10.0 ltr/100 kms when city drived on winter tyres and 9.7 -9.8 ltr on summers subject to keep pressure in limits as 2.2 kgf/cm2 ( i also admiss 2.1). The mode of driving is without sharp acceleration on the traffic light etc. why should i ask for more? for off roads this consumption is quite normal. It's understood all filters are changed during each service. Wait for others to compare with yours thoughts. Cheers/Igor

[Molnboman]

Thanks for the tips so far. No engine check light so far and the car is running quite sweet, with no chugging, spluttering or any obvious mechanical issues. I also need to aclimatise to having a petrol agaon after all the oil burners I have owner in the last 15years!

More tips or pointers welcome

Cheers

Allan

[Davrav]

More tips or pointers welcome

Cheers

Allan

Well, you can look forward to being warm on cold mornings for a start..................

[igormus]

Thanks for the tips so far. No engine check light so far and the car is running quite sweet, with no chugging, spluttering or any obvious mechanical issues. I also need to aclimatise to having a petrol agaon after all the oil burners I have owner in the last 15years!

More tips or pointers welcome

Cheers

Allan

sorry - forgot to tell you the climate system is ON during each drive

cheers

[Molnboman]

More tips or pointers welcome

Cheers

Allan

Well, you can look forward to being warm on cold mornings for a start..................

Hahahaha your'e not kidding there! Would take 10kms before the heating in the diesel Zfira would kick in! My Rav has heated seats and and a cabin heater which pre heats the car prior to it starting, which makes a huge difference!

Cheers

A

[jedi134]

If you are going to be running super unleaded fuels all the time, it may be worth disconnecting the Battery for say 10 mins, then reconnect it, the engine will then hopefully re-adapt its self to the higher Octance in the fuel and you may see some improvement in MPG?

Its free and worth a try I suposed?

1.Remove any non aero dynamic parts? ie wing mirrors, number plates, square fog lights, the round ones are more aero dynamic. ;)

2.Only accelerate downhill??

3.Stay in the slipstream of a huge HGV when traveling on the motorway.

[firemac]

Thanks for the tips so far. No engine check light so far and the car is running quite sweet, with no chugging, spluttering or any obvious mechanical issues. I also need to aclimatise to having a petrol agaon after all the oil burners I have owner in the last 15years!

More tips or pointers welcome

Cheers

Allan

Hi Allan,

No tips, apart from endorsing the obvious ones. We've got two automatic VVT-i's, one is 02-reg with 70K+ miles, the other is a 3-dr 54-reg which has nearly 37K miles. We've had the 02 snce new and bought the 54 in May with 27K miles up. In my opinion, the petrol engines are not particularly economical - the 02 shows about 23 mpg on the trip computer and is really accurate whilst the 54 shows 33.5 mpg but is about 20% optimistic. Mind you the 02 is my wife's car, is used mainly in town and she wears lead filled shoes.....

However I reckon they make up for the cost in fuel through being otherwise cheap to run. Ins is OK, servicing with Mr. T has always been reasonable and reliability has been 100%. Also the auto boxes are about the best I've ever used so they've always been good to drive.

As far as I'm concerned the good points more than off-set the fuel consumption. That may or may not make you feel better......

[Joylove]

Thanks for the tips so far. No engine check light so far and the car is running quite sweet, with no chugging, spluttering or any obvious mechanical issues. I also need to aclimatise to having a petrol agaon after all the oil burners I have owner in the last 15years!

More tips or pointers welcome

Cheers

Allan

How does it idle? Dies it drop down to 1000RPM quite soon after starting and settle at a smooth 600RPM once fully warmed up?

Other than that it sounds like there isn't much more than 30mpg to find on a run. Interesting you have heated seats, is it an Aussie car?

[mystic]

I have a 2002, i tend to do a lot of short town journeys at the moment, but still i get a good 33mpg, on motorways or longer drives i can get it up to 36mpg or so..

What it comes down too is your driving style, im quite an aggressive driver but am training myself to to be more fuel efficient.

The main rule is drive like an old man..

Slow and steady,

No overtaking,

Stick to speed limits,

60-70 on the motorway,

Accelerate slowly,

Plan ahead so you only brake when needed (friction = bad),

Use the engine breaking,

Correct tyre pressure?,

Don't fill you tank up unless you need it (extra weight = bad)

Don't accelerate downhill,

Don't carry excess weight (or fat people ;) )

The rest is down to you, the end of the day, if you have a lead foot you won't see much improvement, also adapting you driving style is much harder than it looks.

[pgp001]

I think you meant don't accelerate "up hill"

Phil

[jedi134]

How many miles do you think you get out of a full tank of petrol, until the light comes on? Roughly.

Its looking like my D4d will be averging 400 miles to a full tank of diesel, and it was brimmed right to the filler cap. I`m pretty sure this is pants for a diesel rav?

[mystic]

How many miles do you think you get out of a full tank of petrol, until the light comes on? Roughly.

Its looking like my D4d will be averging 400 miles to a full tank of diesel, and it was brimmed right to the filler cap. I`m pretty sure this is pants for a diesel rav?

I don't know a full tank i work to the rule of 'miles to a tenner', you may be able to work it out if i give you some numbers, so for ten squid i get between 60-70 miles. I have no idea what it takes to fill the tank up but if your diesel cost more than say £60 to fill, then your not even doing as well as you petrol cousins..

[jedi134]

I know this isnt scientific. But i am now half way through the last segment on the fuel indicator, on my way to the warning low fuel light coming on. How many miles do you recon is left to go.

To a tenner i belive im getting around 50 miles

[skye blue verso]

On the wife's 4.1 3dr only managed 28.7mpg on a long motorway run to Birmingham and back, running at about 70mph max on Sat Nav.

[mystic]

I know this isnt scientific. But i am now half way through the last segment on the fuel indicator, on my way to the warning low fuel light coming on. How many miles do you recon is left to go.

To a tenner i belive im getting around 50 miles

you can easily get 20 more when the light is on, probably more than that but i don't have the nerve to let i go any more, you should be getting more than 50 with a diesel, does someone have a heavy foot?

[OldRaver]

FWIW I get around 400 mls to a tankful also. This is a very rough estimate.

[Molnboman]

Very interesting feedback. Just for the record, I own a petrol not an oil burner, however, loving some of the tips and comments. Not a huge fan of driving on a near empty tank due to the fear of sucking up rust and gunge from the bottom of the tank!

Thanks for all the contributions though.....it has helped ease my paranoia and it's always helpful to hear other driver's opinions on the Rav4!

Many Thanks

Allan

[Molnboman]

Thanks for the tips so far. No engine check light so far and the car is running quite sweet, with no chugging, spluttering or any obvious mechanical issues. I also need to aclimatise to having a petrol agaon after all the oil burners I have owner in the last 15years!

More tips or pointers welcome

Cheers

Allan

How does it idle? Dies it drop down to 1000RPM quite soon after starting and settle at a smooth 600RPM once fully warmed up?

Other than that it sounds like there isn't much more than 30mpg to find on a run. Interesting you have heated seats, is it an Aussie car?

It does that and setlles down quite quickly to 600. The engine sounds really healthy ( touch wood ) and compared to the diesel Zafira you hardly notice it is idling!

The car is a standard Swedish issue and heated seats are pretty much standard in every car here. The cabin heater is an option and is lovely to have during the Winter. I can post some pics if you Guys are interested.Just let me know.

Cheers

A

[jedi134]

FWIW I get around 400 mls to a tankful also. This is a very rough estimate.

Thats good to hear, I would have expected more, will have to investigate further, and do a more accurate fuel/mpg check

[OldRaver]

All to do with the right foot (for me) - I'm sure if I drove at 60mph max. I could add another 100 miles easily. :)

[Davrav]

Not a huge fan of driving on a near empty tank due to the fear of sucking up rust and gunge from the bottom of the tank!

As was very kindly pointed out to me by another member here, that's quite unlikely to happen. If the feed was from the very bottom of the tank you would always be sucking up what's down there.........

There is always several litres left in the tank when the light comes on.

The tank/pump/filter arrangement is carefully designed to prevent 'stuff' getting into the system

[Joylove]

I reckon they use a plastic tank like most cars in the last 20 odd years, no chance of rust down the bottom.

OP> Would lock to see some pics! :yahoo:

[Molnboman]

How does it idle? Dies it drop down to 1000RPM quite soon after starting and settle at a smooth 600RPM once fully warmed up?

On the above question. What is the correct idle speed for the 2lt vvti engine?.....It was after start up, settling at 1000rpm.....but I forget to check after my 120km journey back home. Should it drop down to 600rpm on tickover and when should it do this miles v time?

Was pleased that it started first time after sitting for eleven days in a !Removed! dusty airport carpark where it had clearly been the target from some excellent bird sh*tting from the local seagulls! :ffs:

Cheers

A