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Your Actual Gas Mileage (mpg) Please


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Hi Lexus owners,

Gas being so expensive, I want to start a thread for all to compare their actual MPG. Forget the EPA mileage as we should already know what it is by now and its never accurate. While its debatable, instruction to calculate your actual MPG here ==> http://www.fueleconomy.gov/mpg/MPG.do?action=calcMPG

Please use this format for easy reading:

Year/Model: 98 ES 300

Strictly City: 15

Strictly Hway: 31

Driver Type: Extreme Conservative

Comments: Yes, my hway doubles my city which is crazy. Kinda the reason for this thread. Yes, I've quadruple checked my mileage.

Driver Type Aggressive = Lead footed, What environmental problem? part time job, fund terrorists...JK, let keep politics out of this forum.

Driver Type Moderate = Tries not to burn rubber unless necessary

Driver Type Conservative = Should be driving a corolla instead. :-)

I rate myself "extreme" conservative b/c I'm cheap. Here's a list of what I do to save gas which I'm sure you all know.

1. Make sure my tires are properly inflated.

2. Keep trunk clean, no unnecessary load/baggage.

3. I don't floor my gas petal on turns just to stop at red lights.

4. Slow acceleration, I keep it under 2K RPM, poor lexus.

5. If red light is ahead, I allow the car to roll to a stop...if no one behind me of course.

6. AC only while I'm cruising.

7. I do rolling stops on stop signs. I live in suburb NYC, way too many stop signs, practically every 50 yards and I go about 2miles before finding a parking spot, how sad.

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'97 ES300 163k mi

driving type: moderate

mixed driving approx 60 percent highway/40 percent city

since I bought the car in February it has averaged a very consistent 23-24 mpg over 6k miles

that includes extreme cold and now lately heat and AC

UPDATE: just took an unexpected trip to Branson, Mo to pick up a friend with car trouble, over 450 miles round trip

averaged 29.44 mpg. Almost all highway, A/C on and 70-73 mph speeds.

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1993 es300

108,800 miles on the odometer.

Driven like a normal human being should drive a nice old car.

City driving: 21-23 mpg.

Highway driving: 28.5 mpg max.

Combined: 24.5 mpg average.

When the speed goes over 80 mph, the mileage drops like a rock. I usually don't drive this old car faster than 65 mph.

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1995 ES300

custom 18" wheels and 225/40/18 tires (I think tires/wheels probably impact fuel economy)

164,700 miles

Conservative driving except when getting on it along interstate onramps to get up to speed.

No discrete city vs. highway driving... all is combined. End result is 23-28mpg.

This is with mild driving in town and 70-80mph crusing on the interstates.

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2005 ES330 with 215/55R17 Option Rims

42000 miles. 3.3L Motor, Royal Purple Full Synthetic Oil.

City 18-22

Highway 25-27

Average 24MPG over a 16000 mile year of driving since I bought it off Ebay.

I do a lot of the 'hypermiling' tricks on freeway and coast as much as possible.

I find the 'Constant Pedal Pressure' Cruise method the most effective, along with turning Daytime Lights off during the day.

My wife however, does none of these tricks and drives mostly in the city (40mph avg).

I own a 2007 Camry XLE V6 and the difference in power/fuel economy over the Lexus is substantial.

I get 24 City/30 Hwy without even trying. The new 3.5L engine is a stunning achievement.

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2005 ES 330

Just back from a 1400 mile trip. Set the cruise on 70, got 26.2 mpg on regular. Temperature in the low 90's so the a/c got a good work out.

Three months ago took the same trip. Set the cruise between 75 and 80, got 26.19. Temp in the 80's so the a/c not in use a good part of the time.

Between trips I put a new KY filter on, used a few more psi in the tires. Next time I'll go back to 80 and quit worrying about saving pennies on gas.

Dave T

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  • 1 month later...

MILEAGE, HYPERMILEAGE DRIVING & TIRES

I have a 97 ES 300 with 135K I purchased last year. I am a "hypermileage" driver and do about 70-80% highway at 55-60 MPH (in the slow lane). My overall average is about 26-27mpg. I once did almost strictly highway at conservative speed on a whole tank and got just over 30mpg.

I'm in the process of upgrading from some fairly worn out tires to the high-end Michelin Primacy MXV4 this week and hope to get a quieter ride, better mileage, and an overall much better tire. It is quite expensive, listed on the Costco site at $143.99 (no surprise extra fees though, and total satisfaction guaranteed on all products...I'm a costco junky:), but they have a sale this week that will knock $60, I think, off the price of four tires. I did a lot of research on the ES 300 series and one of the threads showed this was the tire to stick with if at all possible for great performance all around.

A few months ago I read a thread that recommended using a special fuel additive, I think to keep the injectors clean, but I really didn't notice any difference in mileage with that. I also read a thread discussing the advantages of upgrading to synthetic oil, but I decided not to do that after some of the responses suggested problems with gasket seals after doing this.

For those of you thinking to yourselves, "why doesn't this guy just buy a Prius", I would like to keep my wonderfully comfortable and luxurious lexus, and just max out the mileage possible. I will never buy another regular gas vehicle in my life since I figure by the time my ES 300 gets 50-60K more miles, I'll be ready to buy an electric hybrid plug-in. "No plug, no deal" will be my next purchase. I figure the real roadworthy ones are about 3-4 years off.

I'm hoping to be able to report a substantial difference on my ES 300 with the better tires and the continued conservative driving.

Are there any other hypermileage ES300 drivers that have found any differences with tire upgrades?

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I find this thread interesting, it really shows that all the whiz bang hypermileage tricks people do don't really net you a lot of MPG gain, which is what I always suspected. IMHO, drive normally for your and everyone else's safety. For instance, full stops at stop signs are the law for a reason :o

2003 ES300, 117,000 miles (owned since new)

Always premium fuel

Driving 40% highway, 60% city; moderate to aggressive driver

Tires @ 30psi

City MPG: 18.5-20

Highway MPG: 27 or so

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City: 22-23

Freeway: 29-30

with 325,000 miles

325,000?!!!!?

wow, how did you do that? I would imaging that there was some major maintenance in there somewhere. Did you have any expensive items come up? I bought my 97 ES 300 last fall with 128K miles and have 135K now, It is a creampuff one owner car before I came along, with all maintenance done well. I just wanted to get an idea on things I can expect to come up in the next 3-4 years. I plan on spending for the 150K maintenance and changing oil every 3K. I was hoping I wouldn't have many other expenses. I'm sure glad to hear your mpg is still good at the high mileage.

What have you found I should expect for maintenance problems?

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2004 ES330

34,5000 miles

20 MPG Avg in NYC traffic

On highway I once got 29MPG. but as low as 35MPG

A/C on year round

Avid V4's tires (225/60VR-16) 34lbs. PSI.

Mobil 1 5w-30 K& Filters

normal driving

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