Lasted 2 Weeks

[Linas.P]

45MPG is not an achievement for modern car on motorway. My IS250 can do 45MPG if I stay under 70MPH... which I never do.. the best I get is like 41-42MPG, but because I do most of the driving in the city.. my average is 28 and that would be the place where hybrid would still do 35+.

That is no my opinion, but simple fact - hybrid is on motorway is like simple petrol just caring additional weight of Battery pack. You guys need to see distinction between "capable of" and "designed for" - very similar point as I made in RC300h discussion.. RC is not grand tourer, not saying you cannot grand tour in it, but it is simply not designed or good at it. Diesels are designed for motorways and modern ones easily gets 60-70MPG and indeed I hate diesels so much ... when they are in the cities, because diesels are not designed to drive for short distances in the city. This is where I would agree with your point - that diesel is fuel of devil... when driven in the city. Equally, hybrids are designed for stop and go, short trips in the city... obviously you can go on motorway with hybrid, but it is not designed for that and it is not it's strong point

[Alan Partridges Left Glove]

I'm currently getting around 45mpg and that's mostly motorway mileage which I'm happy with.

I've changed my driving style from my Volvo diesel to the IS300h and I'm enjoying every drive more and more.

Brake grind is a ball-ache so I try to avoid feathering the stop peddle.

[capese21]

My GS does 45mpg  average mixed driving   

44 minutes ago, Linas.P said:

hybrid is on motorway is like simple petrol just caring additional weight of battery pack

Do you know anything about the Atkinson Cycle type engine that Lexus use?

 

45 minutes ago, Linas.P said:

Diesels are designed for motorways and modern ones easily gets 60-70MPG

 Real world BMW 320d is 50 mpg.

[marrat]

If you look at real world fuel consumption numbers, hybrids using the Atkinson engine like the Prius and IS300h are very close to their diesel counterparts when only motorway usage is taken into account. Who drives only in cities or only on the motorway? I'd think an hybrid which does slightly less MPG on the motorway compared to diesel, but crushes the diesel in city trips, should have preference. The only thing diesel has going for it IMO is the high torque at low RPM.

[capese21]

3 minutes ago, marrat said:

The only thing diesel has going for it IMO is the high torque at low RPM.

This is where the electric kicks in and gives you the torque, but silently without the engine imho. 

[ganzoom]

What effects efficiency/energy usage the most at M way speeds isnt weight its aerodynamics. Which is why a 2 ton Tesla is more efficient and uses less energy at 70mph than my sub 1.5ton Nissan Leaf. 

Diesel as a fuel contains more thermal energy than petrol, and diesel engines run a higher compression ratio, so are more efficient. But the Toyota hybrid petrol units have been shown to have just as good thermal effiency as diesel engines by running the Atikinson cycle and electric power to make up for reduced torque. 

Our IS300H returns better mpg than our old diesel Civic in all conditions. IvI've seem some really impressive mpg readings on long trips. This was 100 miles on M1 than 20 miles in the car park that is the M25/North circular at rush hour. 

[tayaste]

Well, I'm only averaging just over 34mpg. However, the car rarely gets used and when I do use it, it'll only do about 15 miles in a day. I've only filled it three times since I've owned it. Best mpg is just over 36 and worst is just over 31.

I'll take it for a long good run one day to see how it does.

 

[Linas.P]

2 hours ago, capese21 said:

Do you know anything about the Atkinson Cycle type engine that Lexus use?

So it is because of Petrol engine with Atkinson cycle, not because it is hybrid. My point was mainly because OP was saying ... I barely get 35MPG (after 2 weeks).. and that sounds to me like motorway @90MPH type of result. While in diesel you can still get reasonable MPG, hybrid will punish you for anything above 70...

Again this is pointless discussion, hybrid by design is most beneficial for city driving in start/stop traffic. If somebody does 30k miles a year on motorway, that is simply not the best type of the car to use. You can do 30k miles in Aston Martin.. as say.. oh I love it and never get tired, but it doesn't it make it most practical choice.

[Alan Partridges Left Glove]

Bloody hell, this thread got depressing quick.

I'll do my 35k per year for the next 3 years and I'll show my arse in Woolworths window if I don't love every one of those miles.

Goodbye all

[capese21]

17 minutes ago, Linas.P said:

Again this is pointless discussion, hybrid by design is most beneficial for city driving in start/stop traffic.

Hybrid makes sense in all types of driving 30k a year on the motorway or 5k around the town.    

[steveledzep]

6 minutes ago, Alan Partridges Left Glove said:

I'll show my arse in Woolworths window

Which Woolworths would that be Andrew ?  Pretty safe promise I'd say 

I do about 8k miles each year and love the Lexus experience without getting hung up on mpg, just like you I guess.

[Linas.P]

I am happy to hear you have many ways to use your hybrid, thought it doesn't make it any less or more suitable for certain types of driving.

[Alan Partridges Left Glove]

I'll show my arse in Woolworths window

Which Woolworths would that be Andrew ?  Pretty safe promise I'd say 

I do about 8k miles each year and love the Lexus experience without getting hung up on mpg, just like you I guess.

[emoji6]

Okay, Burtons window.

[Linas.P]

I am sure you still like it as it is, though somebody driving 12k miles a year in dead lock traffic would love it all the way.. because this car was designed with that in mind.

[ganzoom]

9 hours ago, tayaste said:

Well, I'm only averaging just over 34mpg. However, the car rarely gets used and when I do use it, it'll only do about 15 miles in a day. I've only filled it three times since I've owned it. Best mpg is just over 36 and worst is just over 31.

I'll take it for a long good run one day to see how it does.

 

You must have the heaviest right foot here, you do know we have speed limits here in the UK  :). 

[tayaste]

I'm easy on all my cars. It's just with the IS, when I use it, it barely gets chance to warm up before it's switched off. 

Now the Mrs's IS does see a better mpg (at least on the dash readout) but I don't track the real time fuel expenses on that so can't give a real time comparison.

I'll take mine for a good run and feedback but I'm positive it'll do well.

[Alan Partridges Left Glove]

My current "From Refuel" readout is showing 49.2mpg with a quarter of the tank gone.

That's with a mixture of city (up to 30mph) and m-way miles (up to 80mph) in normal mode.

Anyway, I've chosen my car which I love the drive, handling, comfort and looks so whatever I get to the gallon it doesn't matter as I have it for the next 3 years.

The day I drive a car to maximise the fuel efficiency rather than enjoy the experience is the day I hand in my keys and get a bus pass.

Drive it how you want to (within reason) and enjoy but above all, be safe out there (Hill Street Blues reference for those old enough to remember)

[lex3]

My thoughts exactly Alan - and I do have my bus pass which gives me free travel all over Scotland!

For me, nothing beats traveling in my choice of car for all the same reasons - love it!

And to throw another spanner in the works re petrol consumption here's my dash from my IS250 SE-L!

A few litres of petrol put in at Harthill SS on the M8 and drove to George Square Glasgow - 27 miles, mostly through 50mph road works with nose to tail traffic.

Only put in a few litres as the next day I was going back to Edinburgh to pick up my IS300h!!!

lex3 - should now be lex4!

Ian

[Linas.P]

That is pretty amazing MPG for IS250. I always knew it can do well, though never had a chance to drive as slow as 50MPH. Kind of proves my point that you don't need hybrid to have great MPG on motorways. 

Anyways, as I mentioned I only bring up the topic of decision between hybrid and diesel, because from first post it seemed that Andrew is concerned about it.

[Alan Partridges Left Glove]

That is pretty amazing MPG for IS250. I always knew it can do well, though never had a chance to drive as slow as 50MPH. Kind of proves my point that you don't need hybrid to have great MPG on motorways. 

Anyways, as I mentioned I only bring up the topic of decision between hybrid and diesel, because from first post it seemed that Andrew is concerned about it.

When new, I think I just drove my Lexus as I did my Volvo diesel (plus jumping in and out of Sport mode didn't really help)

I've learnt to drive in a different manner but getting just as good performance with only a 6-8mpg difference from my last diesel burner.

[Linas.P]

That is very true, you need to get used to rather relaxing driving manner in these hybrids as they both stimulate it and reward you for that.

Hence my point.. you had option of either adapting to the car and enjoy-it as you did, or other option - continue driving it as if it diesel in which case - I would say it is not the most suitable car.

[Flytvr]

My normal Lexus is currently with a Lexus dealer and I have a 300 Executive as my loan car. I've had it for about 3 days and I'm very impressed. The interior quality is superb and many of the silly Japanese traits that annoy the hell out of me in my Lexus are no longer present in the 300 Execute. I even managed to get the sat nav working!! ;)

This morning I managed to work out how to reset the trip computer. I found the reset button whilst looking for the now non-existent fuel flap release button :)  Anyway, a 1 hour trip saw 49.8 mpg (mainly motorway, 70mph+). Impressed.

[capese21]

On 08/12/2016 at 1:42 PM, Linas.P said:

That is very true, you need to get used to rather relaxing driving manner in these hybrids as they both stimulate it and reward you for that.

Hence my point.. you had option of either adapting to the car and enjoy-it as you did, or other option - continue driving it as if it diesel in which case - I would say it is not the most suitable car.

Your point is drive a car, any car gently = more mpg, drive it harder =less mpg which is true for any car petrol diesel et al.

I drive my GS on on a mix of roads at a mix of speeds & get average of 40 to 45 mpg. No gentle driving not slow driving just normal as I would drive any car.  The outside temperature makes the most difference to MPG imho.

 

Ed

 

[Linas.P]

No my point is that you need to drive Lexus hybrid more gently than diesel, to achieve good MPG. That is manly because Lexus are very heavy cars and start stop fashion hurt economy much more than on say Volvo S40, equally you should never do 65+ MPH if you want good fuel economy, at 90MPH Fuel economy on any Lexus hybrid drops like a rock... And yes you can say one should not drive at 90 anyway, but that is not my point.. Diesel woudl be at it's best at that speeds 70-90MPH, while hybrid has ceiling. That is why my IS250 returns better MPG, than IS/RC300h on the motorway.

[capese21]

28 minutes ago, Linas.P said:

No my point is that you need to drive Lexus hybrid more gently than diesel, to achieve good MPG.

No not really. I don't and achieve pretty much the same as my previous diesel (which had a smaller capacity engine) My wifes newish Mazda 6 diesel does similar MPG to my GS. 

Most cars fuel economy will drop as the speed increases including diesels!! 

 "Start stop fashion"  the engine would shut off & use electric power

You clearly have not owned a Lexus Hybrid.