RX3302004

I never thought about it, but I have access to it at the local station. The price is higher but if it's worth it...

RX330inFL

You should see higher MPG values running ethanol-free fuel. How much will depend. You can give it a try for a few tanks, one is not enough to be statistically significant, to see how well it does for you. Do not use the onboard computer for your calculation. Instead, calculate based on miles traveled divided by actual fuel used.

kiwi

i have tried both (i also have an 04), and not just one tank, i have gone on and off different gas trying to find the better one and have come to two conclusions.

1 mileage in these vehicles suck.
2 mileage stays the same regardless of fuel. (i do get more "power" when i run ethanol free 91 octane). i run 87, which where i live may have up to 15% ethanol.

RX330inFL

Hate to see what you consider to be good mileage. For a tall wagon weighing in north of 4000 lbs. with a non-hybrid V6 gas engine I do not think it does too bad. Just the nature of the beast. In my highway travels I have seen a number of tanks with mileage above 28 MPG with a couple above 29. Believe I saw where jfelbab has averaged over 23 MPG total during the lifetime of his 2004.

jfelbab

I live in a rural area close to the border where ethanol is not mandated. I am required to have my vehicles emission tested and find no change in testing results regardless of whether I burn pure gas or use ethanol laden gas.

I buy premium ethanol-free gas (the only grade of pure gas available here) almost all the time as it is just 20 cents more than the price of regular gas with 10% ethanol. About 90% of my driving is on freeways or highways and I've averaged 23.1 MPG (measured) over the 10 year life of my RX330 AWD. I consider that pretty decent gas mileage for a luxury SUV. I fully expect the RX350 will deliver better mileage.

During the 10 years I've owned my RX330, the worst tank yielded 17.2 MPG (all city driving) and the best tank 28.7 MPG (all freeway).

Admittedly, I drive the RX like I'm driving a Luxury cruiser and reserve my spirited driving for my MR2, but I'm not practicing any hyper-mileage type of driving.

IME, my RX330 delivers around 1.5 higher MPG by using pure gasoline vs. Ethanol laced gasoline. I also see about 1.5 MPG improvement when burning premium and doing highway or freeway driving. I don't see any MPG improvement from using premium in city driving but the RX feels peppier and downshifts less when I use premium. Since my cost for premium vs. regular is currently $0.20 a gallon it makes economic sense for me to use it as I get more miles per dollar. A friend who lives in Milwaukee tells me that he has to pay $0.40 a gallon for premium and if that were the case, I'd likely consider burning regular as the cost incentive would be lost.

PS: If you are an Apple user...I've created an Apple Numbers spreadsheet for tracking and graphing mileage and costs as well as tracking maintenance and costs. You can see and update this spreadsheet from iPhones or iPads via iCloud. If anyone wants a copy PM me your email address and I'll send you the 7MB template. Here is a screen shot of the screens.

kiwi

for an SUV, these are not terrible, i simply implied that if fuel economy is in your top 3-5, then perhaps this vehicle (and maybe all SUV's) is not your best choice.

lex_rx

Exhaust system should last longer with ethanol-free fuel. My 2004 RX is coming up to its 10th year and I'm bracing myself for exhaust replacement.

Good thing it only has one exhaust pipe.

lexus114

ABSOFRIGGINLUTELY it is worth using Pee free Gas!!!

RX330inFL

Not aware of any scientific basis for that to be true.

hypervish

+1, absolutely agree!

Briand_OH

My $0.02:

If you're not going to be using your vehicle for any length of time over a couple of weeks, Etoh is the devil's own concoction on fuel system components from my unhappy experiences with boats, etc. Be glad you've got a PE gas tank! No thanks, ADM!

Either run most of the fuel out and add stabilizer or fill up with Etoh-free IMO.

Denvermgb

I don't think we have a choice in Colorado. Ethanol is added to all gas for the supposed emissions advantage.

RX330inFL

Like most states, you have a few stations there in CO which sell ethanol-free fuels:

http://pure-gas.org/index.jsp?stateprov=CO