I've read alot of reviews and some consider the LS V8 as very good and some not that good vs full efficiency wise ??? that is the truth. awd please ?

 

comparing to a lot of other NA v8 in the market (segment), i think the v8 in ls460 is one of the more fuel efficient one

not with the latest generations, mb and bmw have boosted version of the v8 and things start to shift. those drivetrains produce more power while maintaining better and better fuel efficiency. imho the gap is closing up quick. but of course, imho, those setups also carry more uncertainties on reliability.

 

Just for grins I track this information:

on my 2009 on the highway if I drove 55 I would get 24 mpg. at 70 between 22 and 23 mpg.depending on the number of hills.

in town 16 to 18.

on my 2013 I only have 2000 miles to go on but the mpg seems to be about the same on the highway in eco mode. Mine is a F Sport and if I put the car in Sport+ my MPG drops to 22 mpg on the highway. ( I do it anyway)

I hope this helps.

Keep in mind that the total cost of ownership must also include maintenance costs. My 09 LS never cost me a dime except for normal service.

 

I have 08 LS600hL (awd) and my experience with the whole MPG thing is in the city I average about 18-19 in stop and go traffic, sometimes less. On the highway (road trips) i have seen in the ballpark as high 27-28 (cruising speed about 75-80; no AC on just windows and sunroof cracked, no PWR button on as well). For as regular driving around town no traffic I normally see about 20-21,so overall i say that its pretty decent given the weight of the car.

 

This is what I am getting on my recently acquired 2011, but I have not tried ECO mode - I am still enjoying "punching" the engine.

 

I consider the 4.6 to be a remarkably efficient engine considering its 82hp/liter output. Even though it has variable phasing on both intake and exhaust cams, the base cam profiles must have fairly aggressive lift and duration to achieve that high specific output. All else being equal, more aggressive cams make an engine more efficient at higher rpm while sacrificing lower (cruising) rpm efficiency.

These cars get great fuel economy considering their size and weight. However, if the base cam profiles were less aggressive and the intake and exhaust systems tuned appropriately, I'd bet cruising economy could improve 5% easily. It would cost 20 or so hp though.

Even though nobody buys a car like an LS for the gas mileage, I find the good mileage mine gets certainly adds to the pleasure of ownership

 

I have not read the technical specs yet for this engine. Does the 1UR-FSE employ variable valve timing and lift at any rpm or just variable valve timing.

 

I don't think it's effective. I owned Daimler V8 Super end its engine (4 liters) offered the same power as LS 460 (about 370 HP) and had exactly the same acceleration time. It used the same amount of fuel as my LS 460 does, but that car was made in 1999!!!

 

Hey, Devh! This engine uses variable valve timing only, no variable lift like Honda vtec or BMW vanos. The 1UR-FSE has an electric stepper motor driven variable intake cam and a conventional oil pressure driven variable exhaust cam. I don't know about this engine specifically but variability of 35 to 55 degrees is common these days.

 

You sparked my curiosity. It would seem that engine was supercharged. Imagine how far we come where we can be naturally aspirated and produce more horsepower with direct injection and variable valve timing. Supercharging and turbo charging makes it easy to add more power but it complicates and greatly reduces short and long term reliability.

 

I looked into it just now. It would seem Toyota has a Valvematic engine which will do lift. Toyota is a little late to the game but imagine if the LS engine had lift then it would be a beast.

I have the Toyota motor that has VVTL-i in my other car and it's a blast to drive after 5600 rpms.

 

Would that be a 2ZZ 1.8L in a GTS Celica or Corolla? I've driven a Celica with that motor and it was amazing!

 

Devh, yes, the engine was supercharged (this is where model name comes from)

 

It was swapped into my MR2 Spyder. I have a stand alone where I can lower the lift point and tune the motor for more power. Naturally aspirated it will do 0-60 in 5.2 seconds and get 40MPG on the highway in sixth gear. For what it's worth it puts the logic behind the Prius to shame.

 

Supercharging and turbo charging can give out big gains but at the expense of of reliability.

Taking a look back at that era it would seem the Mercedes 6 liter AMG motor naturally asperated had close to the same power figures as our car. Even the 6 liter V12 was just a little more then what we got.

Unfortunately the trend is changing and it would seem there is no escaping forced induction for these newer cars to meet newer fuel efficiency standards. I hope the LS doesn't go this rout.