Finding Meaning in Margins

So, it’s been nearly a month since I upgraded the 5th gear in my 1st gen RAV4. Now is as good of a time as any for an early progress report.

So, what are my thoughts on it? Honestly, it’s amazing. Makes the car so much more driveable, and far less annoying to drive on the freeway. I knew all of the math and did all of the calculations going into it, but something about only seeing 3200rpm going 80mph was mind blowing. There was actually a slight re-learning curve to driving this car, because now I had to wait a fair bit longer in the 4-5 shift.

So, did it do everything I wanted it to and more? The answer, is an absolute, unambiguous and unequivocal sorta.

So, what were my goals here? The primary objective was to lower RPM on the highway. The sub-objectives of that were to reduce noise, reduce engine wear, and improve gas mileage. So let’s take those one by one.

Reduce noise? Check. The car is noticeably quieter now, given that engine speed is lower, i.e. there is less overall movement inside the engine, and there is less air moving through it. There is still plenty of noise from the tires and other… “sources”. But hey, we can just turn the music up until we can’t hear it, right?

Reduce engine wear? Probably. I don’t really have a way to check that in the short term, or really at all.

Improve gas mileage? Well, not immensely.

Marked in orange is the tank fill in which I replaced 5th gear. This is only showing 2022, due to my schedule changes in the new year I figured it would be best to keep the variables separate. So, what am I seeing? It definitely fluctuates, which isn’t surprising. I have had both the lowest and highest MPG for the year after replacing the 5th. There may be more going on here. I commute to college, and with an increasing number of people returning to in-person work, the amount of traffic has only been increasing. Also, it only affects gas mileage when I’m actually in 5th gear (duh) so in any stop and go traffic, MPG is unaffected by this change. Still, not bad for a 26 year old turd with 200,000 miles on it.

So, is this upgrade going to pay for itself? Not for a while. Ultimately this was more of a test of if it were possible and peace-of-mind, not so much an actual immense improvement. I hoped for a massive improvement, but never expected one.

But, that doesn’t mean I can’t search for more? Where else could I pick up some mpg? Improving aero is practically out of the question, there’s not much I can do about the shape of the body, nor am I willing to lower this car (it’s my 4x4 car, after all). Same thing with tires. I’m sure I’d pick up some MPG switching to a more efficient tire, but I’m not willing to sacrifice the off-road capabilities. Turning off the AC is a non-option, at least later in the summer. It’s not so bad right now. This car was optioned without cruise control, and I’m sure that would be a big help by keeping a more consistent speed and load on the engine. I have some MR2 leftovers that I might be able to cannibalize to add cruise to this car, but that’s a can of worms I don’t yet want to open. There are some places to reduce weight, but everything there would make the car less of a daily driver. The other option is to ditch the antiquated 3S-FE and swap to a much more modern motor. My eyes are set on the 1AR-FE from the Toyota Sienna or Venza, which would bolt up to the E250F transmission. But, that will take time and I’m not in a position to do that any time soon. So for now, this 3S must suffer a bit longer. The E250F is also far from being the most efficient transmission, but nothing else that’s easily accessible has the capabilities I am looking for.

Well, I will keep looking for ways to improve, but for now I should leave well enough alone. Anyways, this car started leaking like a sieve, and it looks like its the oil pan gasket. Well, that sounds fun to fix. Maybe I’ll have to start using my MR2 to commute again. I should invest in earplugs.