Just a FYI, the V6 gets better gas mileage than the I-4 on third gens...you should look to getting a V6

 

That's not an answer of my question. Sorry

Sent from my HTC-PG762 using Tapatalk

 

That's the point, v-6 gets better gas mileage, but i-4 can do much better with 5 speed tranny, and much much better with CVT. It's all about the gears. Plus I am talking about normal driving not off road or any thing extreme.

Sent from my HTC-PG762 using Tapatalk

 

Just a FYI, the V6 gets better gas mileage than the I-4 on third gens...you should look to getting a V6 
Dude, I am talking about third Gens. and I don't need v6 I need i-4 with 5 speed atleast.

 

Transmission swap is usually about 2k.

To swap two different technologies you have to consider some programming too, probably some chip needs to be changed and whole new set of parts. A custom job like that would most likely be another 5-6k on top of it.

If you were gonna spend that much money, I would look into getting a turbo done instead.

How does that save you gas? Well your engine will be more powerful and thus it won't have to rev as high which theoretically will save you gas..

Or you can completely swap out the transmission for a manual one LOL and get the best fuel savings.

 

For one source, Consumer Reports, the V6 does not get better mpg than the I4. The V6 got 15/29 while the I4 got 17/29. So mpg is same for highway and better for the I4 in city.

 

Hello stojanster and other 3rd gen rav4 owners...I've bee having the same idea about the 2.0 L 2008 rav I now own. I think it could be more responsive and more fuel efficient with more gears. Once drove in a 2009 Rav 4 here in Jamaica that was super responsive don't remember clearly but it could have had the extra 5th gear or been an awd. Experience has stuck in my head. Been looking at the 5 speed auto that is now kinda old since the redesign. Would love to do an upgrade to the extra gear.
So what I'm trying to find out is how much luck you had on your quest and an insights you might have. I dream of having a Rav that has good fuel economy and responsive nes while having a 2.0l engine. Those V6 and 3.5 litre engines could never be fuel efficient and gas is too expensive in this country

 

I don't think it's possible. The trans is controlled by the engine computer and so is the engine, so the ONLY computer that can control the 5spd auto is also the one that controls the V6 and it's not going to be able to run the I4 engine. Not to mention there will be more wiring for the 5spd auto due to the extra solenoid for the gear.

 

Thanks for replying and so quickly as well.
So the ECU would be the major component in the quest. I think it can be done. Not an eternal optimist but I would try it if I had a 5 speed auto to work with. The coding would prob be done at the dealership or by a tranny specialist. I don't like the new Rav...2nd and 3rd gen are my favourites. For me the tag of small suv needs to be maintained. With these engines size 2.4 etc they are just going more toward the large suv's that are gas drinkers. I have owned a 2000 Rav with a D4 2.0 L with 4 speed auto and a 2006 2.4 L vtec with CVT tranny. The 2000 was an awesome vehicle held back by it's tranny. The 2006 was sluggish in starting and the engine knocked/ cattled, it could go fast but had slow responsiveness. Toyota should have concentrated on making the Rav4 the only choice for small SUV buyers by working to make the 5 speed auto or manual a standard feature along with a smaller engine.
Do you think a Tacoma 5 speed auto could work in a Rav4? What do you think accounted for the responsiveness of the 2009 rav I had the pleasure of driving in?

 

I don't think there's physically the hardware inside the I4 computer to control a 5 speed. There needs to be a driver transistor for each output, if the board does not have the driver then the software has nothing to control. Not to mention the I4 and V6 computers may use different CPU's or ROM's that are not interchangeable, that level of software manipulation is akin to coding a program from scratch in machine code, there's probably a proprietary compiler used and I'm fairly certain the whole system is locked with encryption anyway. Even if it could be done the custom software coding needed would be beyond the expense of the car, beyond the expensive of probably 10 Rav4's.

Then you come to physical dimensions. Does the I4 and V6 share the same bell housing pattern? Do the mounts interchange? Are the axles the same size and spline count? Do the transmissions dimensions actually fit into the vehicle?

The Tacoma engine and trans point the wrong way. Not trying to be a debbie downer here but you need to do a bunch more learning about this stuff before you try to do any of it.

 

Even if it is possible the expense would be out of this world and possibly exceed the value of the entire vehicle. This is a fool's errand.