Sandman

GS300 RWD

(I posted this on another thread but thought it would be a good idea to highlight on its own thread)

Today, I took my first long distance highway trip. It was about 140 miles round trip. On the outbound leg it was all highway (about 55 miles) and I kept my speed between 80 and 90 mph (Kudos as always to my Valentine One! Don't leave home without it And as C/D says "Once you try the arrows you'll never go back!"). I'm very pleased to report that the car achieved 32.5 mpg at ~85mph while driving into a 10mph headwind! That number is what the car trip computer reported. In the middle of my journey was about 30 miles of stop and go and the return leg was again highway but through rush hour and I spent the last hour creeping in stop and go traffic. I still finished the journey with about 31mpg. I was so thrilled that this car can accelerate like it does and yet get such incredible mileage. By comparison my 01 GS300 would get about 23.5 mpg on a trip from Atlanta to Orlando at about 85mph avg.

And this car is so comfortable. My 01 GS left big shoes to fill and this car has done just that.

bitkahuna

iTrader: (20)

That's terrific! Way to go and thanks for the report.

looknow12

The best way to check is to see how many miles traveled since fillup and divide by the gallons you then fill up with.

Lexus' MPG meters always seem to show better than actual. You will also notice that tghe AVG MPH will show higher than the speedometer. Set the cruise control on a flat road reset avg mph and you'll see it will show 2-3mph higher (Source: 03 & 04 GX470, 05 RX330). I don't think that can fully explain the reason for the in accurate increase in MPG, but it's a start.

flipside909

Makes me want to spring out and buy a GS300. I'd take that kind of gas mileage anyday. That's leaps and bounds over my 2JZ-GE 3.0 I-6 and a thirsty 20mpg average freeway/city mileage. And at $40 fill ups average per tank, it gets pretty pricey. Way to go GR series engine fuel effieciency. Give it up to the Toyota/Lexus engineers for that accomplishment.

XeroK00L

31MPG is amazing!! The EPA estimate is right on target this time. Things are looking really good for the new GR-series engines!!

LexFather

Holy crap that is good news. B/C I was filling my car up today and was like "A Prius is not a bad idea".....
Thanks for the report, Sandman, bring that car out to a SELOC meet!! www.seloc.net

Sandman

I'm still feeling the thrill of having a nice performing car that doesn't totally flip the bird at the environment! I did take Looknow12's advice and manually check the mileage as a comparo. I'm pleased to say that the numbers were within 0.5 mpg. And I think that on the refill today that I probably added more fuel than the fillup yesterday - based upon the needle position after the refill. Not all pumps kick-off at the same point. I try to nurse them closer to the top but don't want an overflow all over my new Mercury Metallic Finish! So this overfill may account for my calculated number being 0.5 mpg less than the computer said. I'll run more comparisons over the next week or two and I'll report back if I see any big discrepancies between the computer and a manual calc.

I don't doubt that the system may have overstated the numbers on older models - I really have no info other than what Looknow12 stated. But on this new model I'd be surprised if Lexus would allow such a large inaccuracy. With Direct Injection and the high compression of this engine - to get good performance it requires the ECU to provide very accurate amounts of fuel with precise timing. So determining how much fuel is being used should be very easy and very accurate. And determining accurate distance traveled should also be easy to do with little error. So I'm optimistic that what is being reported is accurate - but I'll keep watch on this to make sure.

Sandman

And we are lucky in Atlanta - gas prices here are about the cheapest in the country!

Thanks for the invite! I'll try to join up for one of the next meets. It would be good to meet the Atlanta crowd in person.

flipside909

I use the 3 click method for filling up. I'm **** and have to round of the dollar to the nearest 5 cent.

Sandman

I'll have to try that.

I have this same disfunction too. Maybe I need therapy.

flipside909

Haha this remotely reminds me of that Amex commercial w/Jerry Seinfeld and the perfect pump deal.

Sandman

LOL! I remember that commercial. I always use my credit card too - but still I like to see a trailing zero - or at least a 5!! What's up with that?!?