Questions about gas milage and rpm driving

[The-Camry-Guy]

I have a 94 Camry v6 with thge 3VZ-FE engine. My first question is the following:

when i am cruising along the road/highway i can do 75-80km/h (46-50mph) with the engine running at under 2k revs. i presume this is in 4th gear (i have OD enabled). My questiion is this: is running the engine under 2k revs bad for the engine/car? iv head it should be above 2k revs. BTW my car is an automatic.

My second question has to do with gas mileage (fuel economy). I have calculated the fuel usage for quite a while now everytime i fill up. The average is 14.5L/100km (16.2 MPG). I do not usually take off fast, etc. Even when i drive very economically the best i have gotten is 13.4 L/100km (17.6 MPG). there is usually only 1 driver for the majority of trips. the tires are pumped up and are checked on a weekly basis. The engine oil, filters, etc have all been checked/replaced. Any ideas?

Thanks for your help!

[zythr]

I can answer the first question. No, it's not bad for the engine, Lower revs=less wear. This is one of the main reasons Toyota introduced the 4 speed auto in its cars back in the 70s (Cressida being the first model to get the 4 speed auto), In fact, in the brochure for the 82 Cressida, Toyota mentioned the benefits of having, at that time, the 4 speed auto in the car.


As far as gas mileage it does sound low. Are you using premium or regular? if you're burning regular, you may be using more gas, since the engine is tuned for Premium.

[The-Camry-Guy]

Originally Posted by zythr

I can answer the first question. No, it's not bad for the engine, Lower revs=less wear. This is one of the main reasons Toyota introduced the 4 speed auto in its cars back in the 70s (Cressida being the first model to get the 4 speed auto), In fact, in the brochure for the 82 Cressida, Toyota mentioned the benefits of having, at that time, the 4 speed auto in the car.


As far as gas mileage it does sound low. Are you using premium or regular? if you're burning regular, you may be using more gas, since the engine is tuned for Premium.

Thanks for your reply.

I use 95 RON petrol in the Camry. the manual does not say anything about premium, it says at least 91 RON so that prolly not the issue. Even if it was the issue it wouldn't make that much of a difference would it? Admittedly, i do a fair amount of city driving (some of the highway driving is stop and start) however i do also do steady highway driving. im not expecting that much just decend gas milage (for this car). any other ideas?

One more thing. I noticed some oil under the distriubtor (i think its hard to see). does any1 know where this would be coming from? could this be the cause of the car smelling sometimes after a drive?

thanks for your ongoing help!

[933VZFE]

I still have the original window stickersand sales kit that came with my 93 V6SE 5 speed, the stickers list MPG at 18 city 24 highway, realistically you're right in the ballpark. I get about 15-17 MPG's (M'sPG? lol) but also have a handful of small mods and a tiny bit of tuning.

Lower RPM's = less gas consumption, you want your RPM's as low as possible except during "spirited driving."

3VZFE's do NOT need premium fuel, you ONLY need premium if you get knocking/detonation with a lower octane or run a high compression ratio/forced induction.

[Zembonez]

There are a million things that can affect fuel economy on a sixteen year old car. Even items like worn bearings creating increased rolling resistance come into play. I think your fuel economy is well within reason... especially if the car is running well.