My 2008 Es350 And The Gas Mileage That I Got

[TexasComputerMan]

I retired on 7/31/2009 and decided to take a trip to many of the National parks that I have always wanted to see, I did not go there to do all of the activities that these places offer, just to see and experience the sights that are there. Here is the trip list:

1) Rocky Mountain Natl Park Colorado

2) Crazy Horse Monument South Dakota

3) Mount Rushmore South Dakota

4) Iron Mountain Road South Dakota

5) Custer State Park South Dakota

6) Devil’s Tower Wyoming

7) Montana Mountains Montana

8) Yellowstone Wyoming

9) Zion National Park Utah

10) Grand Canyon Utah/Arizona (N. Rim)

11) Arches Natl Park Utah

12) Durango/Silverton Colorado

The important part that I want to share is the gasoline mileage that I experienced. I have a 2008 ES350 Ultra edition.

Here are my stats:

ES350 – Gasoline Mileage on latest Trip

DATE GALLONS MILEAGE GPM

8/23/2009 8.501 263.9 31.04

8/24/2009 6.257 179.8 28.74

8/24/2009 8.187 247.9 30.28

8/25/2009 10.457 296.9 28.39

8/25/2009 10.680 307.6 28.80

8/26/2009 6.610 171.9 26.01

8/27/2009 7.080 211.5 29.87

8/28/2009 7.517 194.6 25.89

8/28/2009 6.995 215.6 30.82

8/29/2009 9.229 286.6 31.05

8/30/2009 9.716 312.1 32.12

9/1/2009 6.917 202.8 29.32

9/1/2009 8.244 263.0 31.90

9/2/2009 13.743 420.2 30.58

9/3/2009 7.882 205.7 26.10

9/4/2009 8.016 231.3 28.85

9/4/2009 7.774 225.6 29.02

9/5/2009 7.541 236.3 31.34

9/5/2009 6.742 233.5 34.63

9/6/2009 7.174 210.1 29.29

Totals 165.262 4916.9 29.75

I like what this car did.

[justflyin83]

Yeah that seems about right for highway driving. I got 30 MPG a few weeks ago driving out of state in my IS350. It's nice to have over 300hp and still be able to get amazing gas mileage. That's the benefit of having a 6 speed transmission.

I retired on 7/31/2009 and decided to take a trip to many of the National parks that I have always wanted to see, I did not go there to do all of the activities that these places offer, just to see and experience the sights that are there. Here is the trip list:

1) Rocky Mountain Natl Park Colorado

2) Crazy Horse Monument South Dakota

3) Mount Rushmore South Dakota

4) Iron Mountain Road South Dakota

5) Custer State Park South Dakota

6) Devil’s Tower Wyoming

7) Montana Mountains Montana

8) Yellowstone Wyoming

9) Zion National Park Utah

10) Grand Canyon Utah/Arizona (N. Rim)

11) Arches Natl Park Utah

12) Durango/Silverton Colorado

The important part that I want to share is the gasoline mileage that I experienced. I have a 2008 ES350 Ultra edition.

Here are my stats:

ES350 – Gasoline Mileage on latest Trip

DATE GALLONS MILEAGE GPM

8/23/2009 8.501 263.9 31.04

8/24/2009 6.257 179.8 28.74

8/24/2009 8.187 247.9 30.28

8/25/2009 10.457 296.9 28.39

8/25/2009 10.680 307.6 28.80

8/26/2009 6.610 171.9 26.01

8/27/2009 7.080 211.5 29.87

8/28/2009 7.517 194.6 25.89

8/28/2009 6.995 215.6 30.82

8/29/2009 9.229 286.6 31.05

8/30/2009 9.716 312.1 32.12

9/1/2009 6.917 202.8 29.32

9/1/2009 8.244 263.0 31.90

9/2/2009 13.743 420.2 30.58

9/3/2009 7.882 205.7 26.10

9/4/2009 8.016 231.3 28.85

9/4/2009 7.774 225.6 29.02

9/5/2009 7.541 236.3 31.34

9/5/2009 6.742 233.5 34.63

9/6/2009 7.174 210.1 29.29

Totals 165.262 4916.9 29.75

I like what this car did.

[69HEMI-R/T]

That is a very nice trip and one I would like to make soon myself! Your mileage is on par with what I get on the road down here on trips between Houston and San Antonio visiting my Daughter and the family. I usually set the cruise control at about 74mph and get right at 30mpg with the AC on. What speed do you normally travel at to get those figures?

Which Natl./ State Park did you enjoy the most? Which drive did you enjoy the most? A little more information about the trip for us jealous ones!

My ES350 is also a 2008 UL model and we love it!

[ClayShooter]

Great trip eh TexasComputerMan?

I almost passed you out there. From Aug 1st to Aug 16th, I drove from Roanoke VA out to Denver and back through many of the spots you saw, including the St. Louis Arch, Devils Tower, Crazy Horse/Mt. Rushmore, The Badlands and best of all, managed to cruise into Sturgis SD during the huge annual bike rally in my White 2007 ES350 UL...Man was I getting some looks! A Lexus is just not something you see going down the main drag at Sturgis during bike week!

We stopped and got a burger and brew at "The Knuckle" saloon in Sturgis. What a picture. Me in khaki shorts and a polo shirt, girlfriend dressed much the same, getting out of a Lexus and strolling in as if this was our regular place to grab some lunch! HAHAHAH....everyone else around us was in black leather and doo rags! I think she was expecting a biker gang to abduct her at any minute, but she finally realized that 99% of bikers are just regular people. It WAS fun though...

I will give the Lexus engine/fuel-computer it's props. The ES went to the top of Pikes Peak outside Colorado Springs without a hiccup. We're talking 14,000+ feet here. As I was walking around up there, I'd get short of breath because of lack of oxygen, but the Lexus ran perfectly.

I didn't keep nearly as detailed records as you did, but all told, the trip was 4600 odd miles and avg trip mileage was 27.3mpg. I do tend to drive a bit on the speedier side however, so that pulled it down somewhat, not to mention 3 days in stop-and-go in Denver. The girlfriend has a pic of the speedometer outside of Colby Kansas. The cruise is set on 117mph, but there was no traffic and the road is flat as a floor out there. I think the ES enjoyed 'stretching her legs' a little bit!

I had the oil changed the day before I left. I wish I had gotten a picture of the guy's face (same guy) when I pulled in 17 days later for another oil change. He didn't know what to think!

I highly recommend everyone drive across this giant, great great country of ours and see it for yourself, from a car window, with time to stop and check out things that interest you. Whether it's something like the St. Louis Arch or the worlds largest ball of twine, get out there and explore!

I've driven cross-country twice now and will be taking a northern route through Michigan, Minn, ND, Montana, Idaho, Washington and back through Canada next spring. True, driving through the Midwest, the terrain doesn't change too much (No offense to those states' residents on this board), but there's still a ton of stuff to see and learn. I can really understand why some folks are hooked on RV'ing. Only down side is the RV can't do 117 on a West-Kansas Interstate....

[TexasComputerMan]

I want to answer some of the question s that 69HEMI-R/T asked.

I was totally stunned at the Grand Canyon. Even the pictures that I took do not begin to show the breath-taking vista that you see. Your first view is particurlarly stunning.

However, I really enjoyed each park for different reasons.

Yellowstone has some great water falls. Old Faithful was a disapointment to me. But the number of geyser's is great and interesting.

The Custer State Park had Buffalo and I was trapped by them for about 15 minutes as they crossed the road in front of me. We had to stop to let that happen. Boy! An Old Male Buffalo that lead the group and checked us out is Gigantic!

I went to MT Rushmore and have to say that they have created an amazing monument.

I went from Mt Rushmore to Custer State Park via the Iron Mountain Road. That was thrilling. It is a Very small road and passing cars coming from the opposite direction is a real 'trip'. And in two places, you drove through a one-car-at-a-time tunnel through the rock. Fun!

I then went to the Little Big Horn to see Custer's last battle ground. While I am not a Military genius, even I could see what an idiot Custer was. He split up his whole command into small groups and they were slaughtered by the indians. As you go over the battleground you can see where small groups of soldiers were killed all by themselves.

I stopped at the Devil's tower on the way to the Little Big Horn. It was interesting.

While I went to a number of other places also, the next great one was the Arches National Park. It was stunning.

The drive from Durango to Silverton started out beautifully, but it was a long way and all up and down, up and down mountians. I got tired of that.

I will be going back to the Grand Canyon to stay a few days and take a number of the excursions. And then on to Yosemite.

But enough for now.

If you can do some of these parks, please do. They are all terrific.