Gas Mileage

[Lex3486]

With gas prices so high, I'm beginning to really notice my cars' gas mileage. I'm getting on average around 17 MPG and I drive mostly if not all city. That usually equates to around 200 miles per tank of regular gas, whic btw was up to 1.85 last time I got any...grr...anyhow, so I was considering replacing my fuel filter and possibly running some injector cleaner too. Can anyone attest from personal experience that this would help my gas mileage any?

[SW03ES]

It may, what would help a lot is changing the spark plugs and wires.

In all honesty though it depends on how you drive. If conserving gas is your main concern then use the accelerator sparingly. No jackrabbit starts , keep acceleration under 2000 RPMs, be smooth and subtle.

[tundra-lover]

I've only noticed a difference of around 3mph if I run the car hard? For the most part, I get 20-21mpg every time around town, and the last all freeway drive to California with the cruise set on 85-95mph the whole way with the AC on, I got 28mpg.

My 97 is mostly stock, with synthetic Mobile 1 oil and tranny fluid, new iridium plugs, RedLine Water Wetter and new coolant, new paper air filter, 91 octane, and tires aired up properly. I'm contemplating a new re-usable air filter?

[SW03ES]

You are decidedly in the minority, I get about 17 around town too.

[steviej]

synthetic oil, K&N filter and calm driving give me 22-24mpg in town and ~30mpg in all out highway.

I get 55mpg on the zuki, so if the the mercury is above 50, i'm bikin it.

steviej.

PS, the zuki runs Mobil 1 synthetic too. I had to throw that in. :D

[Lex3486]

That's all good and well, but I was hoping to hear from someone with a 92-93 model, as I know the newer ones get better mileage. Heck, my mom's 96 gets better mileage! Different engines=different mileage. I can't seem to determine what's avg. for my vehicle. BTW, I'm runnin new spark plugs (Bosch Plat. 4+, I was sold on the concept...now whether or not they're worth a danm I dunno ), Castrol GTX oil, K&N filter and a freshly rebuilt tranny :D, slightly worn tires (that could probably use some air here and there ) but they're in balance, could probably use an alignment...that's about all I can really think of. I took my ginormous and heavy sub box outta the trunk but didn't seem to notice much diff. so I put it back b/c I missed it

[steviej]

couple of suggestions that may help on top of what you've already done.

1. Fuel injector/rail cleaing

2. Fuel filter replacement

3. O2 sensor replacement (even though not throwing trouble codes, they get old and sluggish)

4. thorough throttle body cleaning (#1 and 4 may be accomplished by a motor vac, I think, but not completely sure as I have only read about them briefly. skperformance can give you more insight on this service.)

I like synthetic oils. Just switching to them is good for 1-2 mpg. If you like Castrol products, try Syntec and see if your mpg comes up. Can't hurt.

steviej

[Lex3486]

Thanks for the suggestions! I recently installed new head gaskets and did some cleaning on the EFI system so it's probably about as clean as it's gonna get. I've never had any experience with synthetic oils.

[blake918]

It may, what would help a lot is changing the spark plugs and wires.

In all honesty though it depends on how you drive. If conserving gas is your main concern then use the accelerator sparingly. No jackrabbit starts , keep acceleration under 2000 RPMs, be smooth and subtle.

The new wires don't really do much because I changed my wires(which were the origionals) on my LS with 225k at the time, and the mileage stayed the same. However, I don't let my LS rev over 2k rpms, and I get 21mpg, and this is a V8!!! :) Being gentle on the gas is the best way to conserve! ;)

[tundra-lover]

I think one of the problems I just noticed was that your running a Bosch plugs in a Toyota! That is a No, No for foreign vehicles. I would be willing to guarantee a instant change if you change back to a Denso plug, and I would suggest running an iridium plug. Usually in past experience, it has caused more problems using the American plugs in a Japanese motor! Good luck with it, and I think most of us would be interested in the results.

[mburnickas]

my 98 is stock and have done the Denso plugs, Toyota wires, Toyota fuel filter, PVC, and 100% synthetic in all fluids but my brakes. Get 22.7 to 23.5 MPG going to work and city. Highway is up there (near 30 or over). I thought that was low!

**Side note: My engine oil has been sampled and sent for analysis with some miles on it. Can't wait to get it back...

With the gas prices going in the pockets of the manufactures I take the Gixxer to work as much as I can. Can beat the 0 to 60 in about 3 seconds and you can get on it and still get 35 MPG in the city. Or 55 to 60 MPG going steady.

I am with steviej on this one.! :D

Also I would not recommend an oil-glazed air filter on todays cars. Causes to much oil on some electrical sensors. I have had problems in the past and they all stopped when I got rid of the glazzed filters.

I DO use one on my gsxr1100 but I have no sensors or emissions!

[SKperformance]

SPend $100 and get a motor vac cleaning

a basic cleaning is not the same

new plugs are good but so is a new rotor and cap

i have bosch 4's i don;t think they are amazing but good enough

i won;t know until i dyno different plugs but i really couldn;t care less

Keep the tires as much as there max is if dong only highway then a few lbs over won;t hurt either , the reduction in rolling resistance is significant

synthetic oil is great for reduction in gas

a cold air intake is your best way to spend a few hundred and save way more in gas and get performance out the box

i have a 70 litre tank which gets me 500-600 km

[LivinLrge]

Hey guys hows it going, I have a 97 ES300 I get about 25mpg maybe 24.4 or so.

I refill my tank when it gets to half so it doesnt seem like it is putting that deep of a hit on my wallet or card :) When you go to refill the gas, the pump clicks when it is getting full. So you let it go down a little bit and maybe you get another half-gallon in the tank; and you stop pumping when you can see the gas, you know. If I stop when I see the gas the first time I can only go about 170 miles until i get to a half a tank (city driving keeping RPM's under 2250; or the first line after the 2000mark) If I slowly pump gas the entire time I am refilling the tank I can go 260miles give or take until I get to the half tank mark. Anyone know why this is? I have been pondering it for quite sometime...

Now both times wheather or not I pump the gas slow or fast, when I go to refill the following time i can only put in maybe 10gallons at the most,which would lead me to believe that their is nothing wrong with the gauge, because in reality a half tank is 9.2 gallons~ so it is a little off. But what I am not understanding is how pumping my gas slow or fast can make so much of a difference? I mean if i get 260miles for a half tank that comes out to be about 500miles a tank of gas? that doesnt seem right to me.

This is a little out of left field im sure your thinking after reading this; but can anyone shed some light on this situation? or has anyone had the same exspreience? Thanks in advance guys.

P.S: Also what is a good cold air intake system out there for lexus? K&N I just always thought of was for perfomance cars, or geared to them anyhow; I dont see the es as a perfomance car :)

Thanks Again

[mburnickas]

I fill up today at 5:52 am. 247 miles and filled up 10.3026 gallons. That is 23.97 MPG going back and fourth with A/C on. That is fine with me.

Either I have a good engine, all the fluids I installed helped or I am one granny driver! :P

[tundra-lover]

I've only noticed a difference of around 3mph if I run the car hard? For the most part, I get 20-21mpg every time around town, and the last all freeway drive to California with the cruise set on 85-95mph the whole way with the AC on, I got 28mpg.

My 97 is mostly stock, with synthetic Mobile 1 oil and tranny fluid, new iridium plugs, RedLine Water Wetter and new coolant, new paper air filter, 91 octane, and tires aired up properly. I'm contemplating a new re-usable air filter?

Sorry, I should have said a difference in 3mpg not mph. I do have a side note:

Interestingly, in recent local news segment, they spoke of gas mileage. From what I gathered, there is no difference in the station BRAND of fuel- as tested here in Salt Lake City Utah. It all came from the same place! Some of them did have some different additives, but there results showed no benefit to upgrade your octane level unless specified in your owners manual (for example: supercharger, turbo, high compression). In other words, if you wanted more performance, and changed from 87 octane to 92 octane- THERE WERE NO PERFORMANCE GAINS.

I think someone here posted a section in our manuals stating the car didn't require high octane. This being said, and since I'm at a higher elevation, I haven't noticed any changes with running the 87 octane vs the higher octane. So, I guess I'll just keep running the cheap stuff!

[SKperformance]

I used to use shell only

now i won;t touch the stuff

i recently had to buy gas elsewhere and the improvment out of the parking lot alone was amazing ,it pulls much stronger and i get more mileage in all 3 of my cars

so here to you with you garbage gas shell

so basically try different vendors

there are different makes that do make a difference

i use canadian tire gas which is sunoco

just like pioneer which is actually cheaper and gives you a discount on top

[Lexusfreak]

Get yourself a digital tire pressure guage (about $7 - 12) & make sure all tires are inflated properly (in addition to what others have mentioned here).......you can cost yourself bigtime in fuel exonomy if they are even 3 - 5lbs underinflated!

sk, I was told for years that CT gas was Esso

[bdonkersgoed]

SPend $100 and get a motor vac cleaning

a basic cleaning is not the same

new plugs are good but so is a new rotor and cap

i have bosch 4's i don;t think they are amazing but good enough

i won;t know until i dyno different plugs but i really couldn;t care less

Keep the tires as much as there max is if dong only highway then a few lbs over won;t hurt either , the reduction in rolling resistance is significant

synthetic oil is great for reduction in gas

a cold air intake is your best way to spend a few hundred and save way more in gas and get performance out the box

i have a 70 litre tank which gets me 500-600 km

I pretty consistantly get around 600 - 630 kms on about 58L of fuel (I think my car has a 60 Litre tank, but it is never bone dry when I go to fill up). This is doing mostly highway driving, and I drive pretty conservatively. My ES300 is also a 5-speed manual transmission which may help a little.

Regards,

Bryan

[Lex3486]

Well I just rolled in from our Florida trip yesterday and on avg. I was gettin 27 mpg with the windows down and A/C off around 75-80mph and about 22 with the windows up and A/C on, same speed. Either way, at or near 350 mile range on 87 grade gasoline. No complaints from me! One thing I'm glad of though is that I don't live where I went b/c gas is mostly around $2.05/gal. there! Guess I'm just spoiled that here in TN prices are still $1.89 b/c I hear from other parts of the country it's about the same as it was in FL. :whistles:

[bdonkersgoed]

If you guys really want to save some gas, get a small motorcycle. I have a little 250cc Kawasaki Ninja and that little bike gets an amazing 70-75 mpg, and that's driving VERY aggressively :) I bring the bike up to about 10000 rpms every time I accelerate :) And it redlines at 14000 rpms :) It is not a fast sportbike by any means, but it car still take on most cars on the road with a 1/4 mile time around 14 seconds.

Bikes are so much fun, and a really cheap way for someone like me to commute to work and university. Some people say that bikes are too dangerous, but those are usually the people who have never driven one before. You have amazing handling and stopping power on a bike when compared to a car. I'm not saying that they are as safe as cars by any means, but they aren't as dangerous as most people think. If driven very carefully and under the assumption that all cars on the road are trying to kill you, you can really reduce your risk of a collision.

Regards,

Bryan

[Lex3486]

HAHA That's right about assuming all cars on the road are out to kill you, b/c that's really how it feels. I ride dirtbikes but on occasion get the urge to break the rules and go out on public roads some Bikes, I have a feeling, are gonna grow alot in popularity if gas prices don't go down, and I say bring it on; they're less wasteful (use less gas) and not as harmful to the environment (less emissions). Did anyone mention they're a blast to ride? B)

[bdonkersgoed]

I haven't rode a dirtbike in a LONG time . . . I think it has been about 10 years or so . . .

Ever since I was a kid, I was always fascinated with motorized vehicles. Anything with an engine that moves, I wanted to try driving it :) Even if it was a riding lawnmower :P

First, when I was little, I drove a little 50cc minibike, then a small 80cc dirtbike. Then when I was 14 I made my first big purchase ever (I was an avid saver) and bought a 1993 Artic Cat Lynx Snowmobile. The Snowmobile was SO MUCH FUN, especially for a kid my age. You could take a saftey course and then ride on the trails all over Ontario (which are quite extensive). Then, when I bought my first car when i was 16 (1993 Mazda MX-6) the snowmobile sadly had to go so that I could afford the car. That car was loads of fun and I drove it for two years until some stupid kid hit me and totalled my car :( However, it was for the best, because with the insurance money I was able to get my ES300 B) Then, a couple of years later, I got my 1999 Kawasaki Ninja 250R, which is cheap to run, and so much fun! You can drive the snot out of it and still get a consistant 75 mpg! I basically drive my bike whenever I can, and take my car only if I must. It saves so much gas money (especially now), and is so much fun! And the little Ninjettes are cheap to buy too

Anyways, to all you Lexus owner out there, I suggest to buy a bike . . . it is the perfect compliment to any E300 B)

And Lex3486, you should make your dirt bike licensed for the road. . . that would be awesome B)

Regards,

Bryan

[steviej]

Anyways, to all you Lexus owner out there, I suggest to buy a bike . . . it is the perfect compliment to any E300  B)

see vehicle #2 below. :P

[amf1932]

Does it look like this?

[steviej]

yep, it do. :D