Efthy2007

Did I see that correctly?!?!? 10.9 mpg on a LS 500 with a 6 cylinder engine?!?!? Turbo 6 cylinder, but 6 cylinder nevertheless. WOW!!! All of a sudden I feel a lot better averaging only 15 mpg with my V-8.....

nsaldanh

In city the LS500 has really poor mileage. On the highway at steady speeds it's much better. I regularly get about 35 mpg on a 100 mile trip at a steady 70 mph. On normal in city driving in the Orlando area I typically get about 17 mpg. My LS460s averaged about 31 mpg on the same highway trip, while in city I got about 19 mpg.

Efthy2007

I am truly surprised to hear that. In warm Orlando no less! The reason why Lexus went with the 6 cylinder engine was for better gas mileage, and added the turbos so not to loose performance/horsepower. That was also going to improve the Lexus’ fleet overall mileage numbers while trying to meet Federal regulations. It does not appear they were very successful in doing so, based on your numbers.
Regardless, I still can’t touch those numbers with my 2007 LS 460 (15 mpg city, 18-19 mpg highway). On a real cold winter’s day (Michigan winters) 13-14 mpg city on a perfectly tuned, perfectly maintained vehicle with 86,000 miles on it. Oh well, what can one do.......

Oliver Enterprises

I prefer not to speculate as to why Toyota would conclude to go with a V6 (turbo or whatever), because I think it's likely I (we) would be wrong. Even though I worked as a design engineer for Toyota, so I have some insight into their thinking. But I still won't speculate. But I will say 2 things. 1. In the case of Toyota, they arrive at a decision very thoroughly and with extensive background. And the merit of a final decision is nearly always a business case. Meaning, it depends on how it affects their business. No, not all companies think that way. Take Hyundai-Kia. I have background there too, I was a design engineer for them as well. Their decisions are based on, "how did Toyota do this," and "if we can't form this part out of free dirt, what's the next cheapest material we can find." And 2. Even though Toyota's reasoning told them to go with a V6, I think it was not the best decision.

Don't get me wrong V6 guys. But, the LS is supposed to be a luxury car. The idea of luxury is to have use of things in excess … that are not needed, or not required. To equip a vehicle with a V8, when a V6 is more than capable … is a luxury. If anything, Toyota should have considered going with a smoothed out version of their LFA's V10. Now that would be luxury. Totally unnecessary … hence a luxury. Ohhhhh what a vehicle that would have been.

Efthy2007

I completely agree with your assessment. It is “spot on”. Lexus and especially their LS line was suppose to be a tranquility luxury cruiser, a vehicle that ate up miles in complete serenity, ultra comfort, effortless, an isolation cocoon from the outside world. And a V-8 engine complemented that scenario perfectly. Effortless acceleration, without super chargers, turbos or anything else. Combine that with the first of its kind at that time 8 speed automatic transmission with its seamless shifting and one had an isolation chamber on wheels. A poor man’s Bentley or RossRoyce if you will,(although I wouldn’t exactly call a $100K+ vehicle a poor man’s anything).... And to go away from all that with the new generation LS 500 was a huge mistake. Especially when the competition, (think Genesis), still offers a 5.0 liter V-8 in both their G90 and G80 vehicles. I say someone made a huge miscalculation, a monumental marketing mistake if you will..........

aabassi

Got it! Thanks. So what’s the difference between your average MPG and your mpg after refueling?

Efthy2007

After refueling, is your average MPG since your last time that you have refueled, especially if you have “zeroed” your counters. Otherwise, it is your overall average MPG over longer periods of time./longer durations. That’s my understanding of it.

Efthy2007

Thank you for your wise input sir. It is very much appreciated. That is most likely exactly what my issue is; sitting for too long in heavy traffic and traffic lights. And you are right standing still you get 0 mpg.

Oliver Enterprises

aabassi - Another way to look at it.

MPG After Refueling: The LS 460 resets this automagically whenever you fuel up. I don't know if it does this if one adds a little gas, or if it has to be filled. I just fill mine up every time. But when the car is put in D and moved, that After Refueling is reset at that time.

Average MPG: Is based on since the last time the vehicle operator manually resets this value.

Oliver Enterprises

Oh, and I meant to add:

My best MPG for a full tank is 24.4 mpg. (I actually did in the 30's driving the car home cross country when I bought it, but I didn't record that).
My overall mpg since I first start recording it on the LS is: 19.8 mpg

My fuel cost on the previous tank of fuel was $1.94 per gallon.
That is 6 gallons of 87 octane, and
13.24 gallons of 93 octane.
Which comes out to an octane 91.13.
I mix them because I'm a nerd. Seriously. I saved $3.00 mixing it, big whoop. I don't care about that. It's a nerd thing.


Jason Oliver