Improving Fuel Consumption On 2Lt Rav4

[pgp001]

Mine idles at 700 rpm when its hot.

Phil

[Molnboman]

Mine idles at 700 rpm when its hot.

Phil

Thanks Phil I will check mine out this week and update ya!

[bothwell_buyer]

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.

I feel really hurt by your comment on fat people ! So you thin k I should only ever carry my 93 year old father who is now about 10 stone.... or should I wait til he's 8 stone ?

[bothwell_buyer]

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:

As far as I know, they use a steel tank that straddles the rear propshaft.

[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.

I feel really hurt by your comment on fat people ! So you thin k I should only ever carry my 93 year old father who is now about 10 stone.... or should I wait til he's 8 stone ?

Depends how fuel efficient you want too be, but if you think 10 stone is 'fat', then by you will have some lonely journeys ahead.

By the way hard to pick up sarcasm on the interweb so i hope your not serious, just in case my apologies if actually did offend you :)

[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:

As far as I know, they use a steel tank that straddles the rear propshaft.

A good reason to fill up right to the tippety top sometimes then

Mine idles at 700 rpm when its hot.

Phil

Thanks Phil I will check mine out this week and update ya!

Mine's about 600-700 when hot, although it's hard to tell exactly which with the graticules not being marked in 100's of RPM.

It is smooth though, and does not drop to 400RPM and almost stall, which is a sign the O2 sensors are not being used.

[pgp001]

I have an "Utragauge" on mine which gives the actual RPM digitally.

It also help with controlling my driving "style" to achieve a better mpg.

I am currently getting a regular 32mpg on very mixed but mainly short six mile runs to work.

Phil

[Molnboman]

Just a wee update.....after I changed the info to MPG I was gettin averages of between 35 - 39 mpg!...I was driving like Miss Daisey right enough...but if this is even close to accurate the I am happy camper...cause I thought if I was getting cose to 30mpg I would be doing ok! The car is running sweet though... even with my studded winter tyres on....didnt help that they were well under inflated and I was wondering why it was "bouncing" all over the road with very light ateering! hahaha Must say though at slow speeds over surfaces the ride can be a bit choppy.....now I know what they meant in the reviews.....but it soon clears when the speed picks up. Is that just me or am I right in thinking that?

Safe Drving Guys

A

[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 welcomeCheersAllan

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?

Apologies fir the late reply. No it was Swedish registered. Engine and cabin warmers with heated seats are standard on oretty much every car up here. One you have it....you never buy another car without them. Makes winter driving smost bearable!

[bonjo]

high octane fuel by itself is wasted on this model as the ignition and compression is optimized for 95. In fact higher octane burns slower so the flame spread is out of sync with the mechanical movement of the engine parts.

So technically the engine is not at it's optimum performance!!

How much of this is noticeable, I do not know but you won't gain anything unless you have some other issues with the engine which the higher octane can cover up.

the only benefit high octane may have is all the claimed additives they put in it. This may be the reason why some people say they get better fuel consumption. If so you can replicate this by buying your own fuel additive/ cleaner; although a lot of them are just rubbish!

the VVTI engine is a big gas guzzler when warming up. So a good quality full synthetic oil would be beneficial when the engine is cold. I use Mobil 0/40 (from new) and this improved the fuel consumption by 5~10%. This is in addition to the other suggestions