Premio and RAV4 fuel consumption explained

Hello Paul, I intend to buy a second hand car and need to choose between a 2004 Premio and 1998 RAV 4. A friend says their fuel consumption is not different. Is this true? Emmanuel

Hello Emmanuel, the 1998 RAV4 fuel economy or consumption is certainly different from that of the Premio. For starters, here are the fuel economy statistics for both Toyota cars. Premio 2004 1.5 Litre petrol (Highway: 17 km/L) Premio 1.8 litre petrol (Highway:16.5km/L) Premio 2.0 litre (Highway: 16 km/L).
RAV4 1.8 litre petrol (Highway: 13.7km/L) and RAV4 2.0 litre petrol (Highway 11.7 Km/L).
These statistics presuppose that the car engine is serviced and well-tuned and not overloaded. Interestingly, I have witnessed a Toyota Premio 1.8L petrol give the fuel economy result of 18 KM/Litre during the Shell Fuel Save Unleaded race in Mbarara one year ago. Of course the car had fueled with efficient Shell Fuel Save unleaded petrol, was in a good technical condition and not driven aggressively.
So, you can push the fuel economy bar of your car by doing the same. The 1998 RAV4 has less fuel efficiency because of technical reasons. It has a loftier body with a higher coefficiency of drag.
This means it is less aerodynamic which creates more drag due to road winds and load on the engine or fuel toll. The RAV4 is by design heavier because of the transfer case and differential systems attached to the transmission.
RAV4 engines are built with the less efficient SAX11 engines with multi point fuel injection and 16 valves.
The Premio with its 1NZ (1.5L), 1ZZ (1.8L) and 1AZ (2.0L) comes with a combination of more fuel efficient Direct four (D4) and multi point fuel injection engines. The Premio engines are designed with fuel efficiency enhancing Variable Valve timing intelligent (VVTi) valve train system. RAV4 engines are heavier because they are built with aluminum intake manifolds while Premio engines have lighter plastic intake manifolds. This contributes to Premio’s lighter weight and better fuel economy.