I have complained about the poor fuel mileage of the RX400h. The car was tested by the Lexus field rep. His explanation was that Lexus has built this vehicle for performance and not fuel economy, and that it was designed to be driven by femaies!! What ever has happened to the great Lexus care of customers? This is my fifth Lexus in 15 years.

 

where do u live in il...

i live in chicago and ive asked a few customers hows the gas milage. they say they range from 25-29

if u live near corn country of il. ur obviously not going to get as good milage

 

Fuel economy is obviously a big topic with the 400h. Many of us in other forums have posted our realworld everyday driving mpg. In a poll with 55 400h owners responding only 10% are getting poor mileage, over half of that group is getting 25 mpg or better. Short trips are mpg killers in this car. Other than that since your vehicle checks out within specs its your driving style. Man or woman, coasting, anticipating slowing down and using cruise control whenever possible will raise your mpg. Driving the suv with a lead foot or driving it the same way you would drive a gas engine car will never maximize your mpg. At 3000 miles i consistently get 26 to 28 mpg.

 

Isn't that what the car was designed for? It's true that short trips kill the MPG average in any car, but I would assume that a lot of short trips are the result of "city driving", which is supposed to be the target market for hybrids.
What's the optimal usage pattern to get MPG in the upper 20's?

 

Read the 2nd page of this flyer about how the EPA determines fuel mileage. http://www.lexus.com/assets/models/h...ance_guide.pdf

Then, go read about how poor gas mileage the 330 gets in the city. Several posts on the boards of people getting 14-15mpg in the city. Thats right on par with my Dodge Viper with a V10.

Point of the story is...you have to accellerate really slow in a straight line on a very flat surface road with no AC on to get your 31 mpg. I assume your daily driving is the opposite of these factors, thus reducing your gas mileage.

Rarely ever, if not ever, has a car actually had the same gas mileage as what is stated on the sticker, because we drive so differently than the EPA test.

 

city driving is what the car was designed for. stop and go. hence the regenerative braking. and with the ac off

 

I live in Chicago

 

LCB, thanks for the link. It's unfortunate that the EPA tests are so unrealistic. That proves what I've figured all along - that the EPA estimates are upper (positive) limits rather than averages.

What makes me wonder, though, is how many people have complained about mileage in the low 20's on the RX400h, while others are reporting high 20's or better. Since there is such a disparity, there must be something about the usage patterns that explains it. There has to be more to the difference than grade of the road and hard acceleration. I've always assumed that it's the mix of highway and city driving, as you would expect the 400h to get worse numbers as the percentage of highway driving went up. Now I'm not sure if that's the whole story or not.

If you're in the 20's with the 400h, you're still doing better than the 330 owners. I can attest that I'm one of the people getting about 15 MPG with a pretty short 4-mile "city driving" commute to work.

 

Looking at the Lexus recommendations for attaining better mileage (http://www.lexus.com/assets/models/h...ance_guide.pdf) , they do recommend using premium gas. I know that was what was said to me when I purchased the car. However, I was also told (when gas was cheaper), that regular was fine. Now, if premium truly helps you get 2 or 3 mpg better, then despite the increase of 20 cents it is economically sound to use premium. Or, does the inbetween grade for 10 cents more a gallon do the trick. Any experience? I did figure it out mathematically even with a 5% discount. Anyone have experience? I wasn't complaining about the mileage before, but I'm getting ok mileage, not spectacular, not poor. I also haven't put much effort into getting good mileage other than letting it coast after I reach my desired speed.

 

Past 1000 mile mark today. Average 27.3 mpg. 80% hwy 20% city/local road (2 round trips between Columbus and Cincinnati). Can't complain. I am happy with the number so far.

 

I've never seen better than 22mpg (2500 miles). I really don't drive it that hard either.
It is better than my V8 Toyota Landcruiser though, so I'm not really complaining.

 

OK all I have to put in my $.02. I have had two diff 400h loaner cars. Both times I put many miles on them and the last time I put about 800 miles on it. The first loaner I was extremely disappoint getting only 21mpg or so at its best. The second one I constantly was over 22mpg and after the 800 some miles I put on it the average was 23.1mpg. Mind you I hit 100plus mph, drove like a maniac, and NEVER tried to save any fuel. I drove the living heck out of that loaner and still managed 23.1mpg.

So the question is can different 400h get different gas mileage?

Jerry

 

it might depend on how many miles did they have on them... I just got Prius for my Wife, and 3rd tank is 10% better than 2nd.

Aditionally, at the same time, some RX330 drivers are complaining about 16mpg....

 

For those who own the RX400h, you should know that it takes a few tank full to fully charge the onboard hybrid battery. Until then, you will not see outstanding fuel economy.

When my sister got her Prius, it was giving her about 34 MPG. Took about 1,000 miles, then the gas mileage improved to high 40s. For comparison, the old 4-banger Accord was doing 20 MPG in similar driving situation.

The RX400h does not have a coolant thermo like the Prius, which keeps the coolant warm for days. So if you do a lot of short trips in your RX400h, the fuel economy won't be good.

 

it is not good in Prius either (short mileage trips). But what people need to understand is that in similar petrol powered car, it is worse! Which is why I mentioned 16MPG for RX330...

Diesels are the worst when it comes to initial warm up, they need most time...