Bob04

Short time period mpg based off the on-board computer are notoriously inaccurate.

Stroock639

maybe in a VW... the E class (the era mine's from at least) likes to cheat and start out at 15.5 regardless of when you hit reset, but after a few miles things even out

i've compared the trip computer to the actual miles driven / fuel added and on both cars the accuracy was to .1 mpg, and the whole drive (from that picture i posted) the instantaneous mpg was hovering around 34 mpg the whole time so i think that 33.8 figure can be trusted... one of these days i wanna do an all out hypermiling range test, i have a suspicion that 750 miles on 1 tank is doable

AJT123

All I was saying is that the last two V8s were very efficient. I remember when I first got my 430 and took it on a road trip going about 70 and checked my tank average and it was 27 something, my jaw literally dropped. My last car was a much lighter V6 and only got 1mpg better on the highway.

Gridlock, though, and all bets are off- I could barely break single digits when I lived in the thick of Los Angeles and it was frustrating. I don't imagine the 460 would do much better. I'm sure the 500h would do very well in situations like those. It was impossible to get above 35-40MPH 95% of the time, I really was in the middle of it all. LA traffic is stuff of nightmares.

SW17LS

I agree it should have an available V8. Everything in the segment has a standard 6 now.

I gotta say, having driven the S450 vs the S560, the 740 vs the 750, the G90 3.3 vs the 5.0, even a Range Rover SC V6 vs the V8...I don't think I would spring for the V8 in any of them. The 6s are just so similar, you really don't notice the difference and certainly not for the cost differentials which are 5 figures in all but the G90.

Just not going top drive 65 and get run over. Speed limits on those roads now are 70.

Thats just not reality even in the LS400. I made this same trip in my LS400 many times, and mileage was a little better than the LS460 but we're talking 26 vs 25. Never get 30 on a trip where you're just driving vs trying to get good mileage. I did get 30 in my ES on that trip.

The bottom line is, times change. My LS460 has 100 more HP than the LS400, and an LS500 has 125 more HP than an LS400 and a ton more torque. Bottom line is, the TTV6 is more efficient, much faster, and the car feels much peppier than the older V8 cars.

Stroock639

yes unless you're mmarshall the 400 probably wouldn't get over 30 mpg from just 'regular' driving, but when i would make the 170 mile drive between UMass and NY i'd generally average 26-28 mpg depending on temperature and stuff... that picture is just to show that 35 mpg is obtainable under ideal circumstances and waiting until you've already gotten up to speed before hitting reset lol

the 500 definitely has much more usable torque but even it S+ it didn't feel that much faster than my 400, nothing remotely close to the E55, and it doesn't have the immediate kick that the V8 does when you step on it at a low speed

i'm happy you mention this because i realized i'd never actually watched a proper acceleration clip of the 500, luckily this dutch channel often provides these:


0-60 in 5.7s
0-100 in 12.5s

compared to 6.1 and 14.3 for the twenty year old LS i wouldn't say the 500 is "much" faster... i'm actually kind of surprised that an E55 from 2002 with only 50 more hp is like SO much faster than the new LS, i think the nearly 5000 lb curb weight of the 500 probably accounts for much of that

AJT123

The 500 isn't "much faster" at all. Negligibly faster. Per Motor Trend, there is a .3 second difference in the 0-60 tiime.. The last 460 they tested was 5.6 0-60. They got 5.4 I believe on the 500.

I've also read two publications that said the car feels sluggish until the turbos really wake up.

The V8 may have less of it but you don't have to wait for the torque.

I get that V6tt is just the way it is now (per my many, many posts where I complain about downsizing), but it's not "much faster" than the V8 it replaced.

703

luxury is not about faster or not, its about linear torque for smoothness, which is why the rolls and Bentley still use v12 engines even if you could add turbos. When Lexus downgraded to v6's, they have dropped the class of the vehicle. There is no other way to argue about it. This is the mindset of luxury car buyers, and also the expectation when they sit in the car and either be driven or the one driving. They are there to impress their guests on the quality of the ride.

bitkahuna

iTrader: (20)

(about bold) not always... a friend leases one mercedes e class after another. he had no idea his current e300 has a 4 cylinder engine.

southernx

Lexus LS 500h RHD

Lexus LS 500h RHD

One trait apparent with the hybrid during overtaking manoeuvres, however, was the droning noise from the engine, courtesy of the continuously variable transmission component of the multi-stage hybrid drivetrain system. That was with the pedal pressed all the way to the floor, of course.

Driven in the same manner as the twin-turbo car, the hybrid returned a fuel consumption of 9.0L/100km – just over a litre less than the conventional LS, which finished up at 10.1L/100km. Expect the hybrid powertrain to widen the gap between the two around town, where hybrids usually excel.

Maybe due to different weight distribution or just lighter weight, the LS 500 felt a little more agile changing direction than the hybrid, and the steering required slightly less correction at the straight-ahead.

mmarshall

So your friend buys or leases a new vehicle without even looking under the hood? Sounds like you need to spend a little more time with him doing some research (or teach him how to do his own). Of course, I'll admit that the way some engines are packaged under the hood today, with all of the big covers that hide and block access to so many things, it can sometimes be difficult, without pulling some of those covers off, whether to tell if you have a three-cylinder EcoBoost or a 700 HP Hellcat/Demon Hemi.

AJT123

I'm on your side here lol, I hate that they dropped the V8. I'm probably one of the most vocal opponents of it. Totally agree. My old V8 is only 290hp but it's plenty powerful and it's a world class engine, literally. First thing publications would gush about on the old LSs were the V8 engines how smooth and refined they were/are.

Stroock639

unfortunately that's most people, but also not really that unfortunately since who cares

SW17LS

You need to drive one. It FEELS much faster. Power is available much lower in the RPM band, and it has a LOT more low end grunt than any LS before it. Its not about 0-60 times.

SW17LS

You do realize EVERY other flagship luxury sedan has "downgraded" to a 6 cyl right? The A8 has no available V8 either.

If "this was the mindset of luxury buyers" then all those flagship cars would be overwhelmingly sold with V8s and they aren't

Its a different world guys, the old V8 had its day but its over. The only people who seem to really care are people who have older ones and wouldn't be buying a new one anyways,

bitkahuna

iTrader: (20)

quote of the day.

he's hardly alone, i'd bet 90% of consumers do not look under the hood before buying a car. even if they do, what exactly are they looking for?

i have never looked under the hood of any car i've bought/leased.

what would be the point of spending more time with him since the 'news' to him that the car has a 4 instead of a 6, while surprising, didn't change his enjoyment of the car at all.

and about 'teaching him to do his own [research]' - that would presume he is interested in being 'taught'. he's an enormously successful individual who could buy 5 S63's and a Gulfstream jet if he wanted but he's perfectly happy with 1 e class. he did just buy a town home on NJ beach (not his only home) for a million in cash so i don't think i (and certainly not you) should presume to be able to teach him something unless he asked.