RX300

Spacewagon52 · July 28, 2021

18 minutes ago, b4u2 said:

@Spacewagon52

That's very poor!

Yes that is the official figure for urban driving.

b4u2 · July 28, 2021

@Spacewagon52

And motorway driving?

Spacewagon52 · July 28, 2021

3 minutes ago, b4u2 said:

@Spacewagon52

And motorway driving?

28 if you drive steadily. I have never been able to get 30 mpg out of my old RX 300.

b4u2 · July 28, 2021

1 minute ago, Spacewagon52 said:

28 if you drive steadily. I have never been able to get 30 mpg out of my old RX 300.

Mpg means nothing to me as find it difficult to work with gallons. I work with miles and ££££

Spacewagon52 · July 28, 2021

1 hour ago, b4u2 said:

Mpg means nothing to me as find it difficult to work with gallons. I work with miles and ££££

Yes I fully understand that but that does not give you a comparison between cars.

Petrol has gone up (at current in price. If petrol drops in price your fuel consumption does not change!

If a car does 22 mpg and another car does 30 mpg the extra cost depends on the price of fuel. I have explained that for 250 miles you will pay £18 more than me with a 400h, at current prices. If the price of petrol goes down you will pay less than £18 every fill up.

Are you regretting buying the RX300?

b4u2 · July 28, 2021

It's lovely car and not sure why you think or ask if I am regretting buying it but I didn't actually realise properly how expensive and costly it will be to run.

Spacewagon52 · July 28, 2021

3 minutes ago, b4u2 said:

It's lovely car and not sure why you think or ask if I am regretting buying it but I didn't actually realise properly how expensive and costly it will be to run.

With all due respect, you were told more than once about the fuel consumption. Either you did not read the replies to your enquiries or you ignored the advice.

Quite frankly I do not have a lot of sympathy for your lack of knowledge. You were given advice by members on here. In the end your post was blocked BECAUSE you were asking the same question.

You need to think carefully before you post, otherwise members will ignore you.

Barry14UK · July 29, 2021

My BMW E39 3 litre which is only just a little older than your RX has only returned 28mpg at best since I had it with 55K miles on the clock and this keeping close to speed limit on motorways. Yet it is lighter and more aerodynamic than the RX which I am surprised can do as well without the hybrid help.

Prince Bob · July 29, 2021

9 hours ago, b4u2 said:

It's lovely car and not sure why you think or ask if I am regretting buying it but I didn't actually realise properly how expensive and costly it will be to run.

Unfortunately a 3.0 petrol suv will never be economical or cheap to run, just enjoy the car for what it is

Delphius1 · July 30, 2021

I get roughly 200 miles out of 40 litres of petrol. MPG averages between 22-26 depending on the amount of dual-carriageway I do. Normal mixed driving to work I get usually around 23mpg but a couple of days doing 10 miles up the motorway to pick the Mrs up from work and it goes up to 26mpg.

The thing to remember with the RX is it's a big lump, so there's lots of inertia. If you take your foot off the throttle it shouldn't slow down much and keep rolling for quite a way. Learning to take your foot off the gas well before a junction will increase your mpg.

One thing I've found is that accelerating, no matter how feather-footed you are, gets you roughly the same mpg. Doesn't matter if you floor it and get up to speed quickly or lightly press the throttle and take longer to get up to speed, it seems to work out the same.

Using the car's weight seems to be the key to better mileage, which makes sense because on the overrun, when you shut the throttle and coast up to a junction the injectors stop pumping fuel into the cylinders. The longer you do that for, the more fuel you save.

Spacewagon52 · July 30, 2021

1 hour ago, Delphius1 said:

One thing I've found is that accelerating, no matter how feather-footed you are, gets you roughly the same mpg. Doesn't matter if you floor it and get up to speed quickly or lightly press the throttle and take longer to get up to speed, it seems to work out the same.

That is exactly wat I found. Even if I drove like Miss Daisy, the consumption did not seem to improve - Average 22 mpg for mixed driving. My 400h averages 30mpg.

In £ terms, I save about £18 over 250 miles with my 400h compared with my RX 300.

Malc · July 30, 2021

Jeez I'm pleased I never have to worry about mpg and cost£££ in my delightfully comfy powerful limo ....... I think on a good run, say 70mph on the motorway ..... fully laden I used to calculate about 30mpg ... and down to late teens ........ when poodling around and not warmed-up

One of the joys of owning a big Lexus........... . just pull into the forecourt and fill-up when the orange low fuel light comes on ........ there's usually about 100 miles left in her of the 85.1 litres capacity ( I think that's it ! ) .... usually costs @ £90 on a refill ..... it's only money :yahoo:

The RX300 is probably old technology, but younger than mine ............ no biggish Lexus could be expected to be low in fuel costs .... but you probably save in reduced maintenance bills coz it's a good quality car compared to many others with cheaper to run fuel costs

It's great you enjoy your car, that's one of the main benefits of owning the car you really really want ........ and lower maintenance costs too

Malc

b4u2 · July 30, 2021

Someone mentioned to me that the rx300 was actually built and designed for the American market and that's why it has a big engine and very large car. You also have to bare in mind that fuel is much cheaper there, probably half the price. Here in the UK it seems to only go up basically, very rarely does it drop in price but because it's a lot cheaper in USA then the 3l v6 isn't expensive to run.

Alan305 · July 31, 2021

Regular petrol is around $3.20 per US gallon, roughly 60p a litre, but a year ago was $2.20 per US gallon so goes up about the same as here.

When I first went to the US many years ago it was the equivalent of 50p a gallon, happy days. Google says petrol in the UK in 1990 was £1.80 per gallon.

JBPRX400h · July 31, 2021

When I first started driving in 1969 petrol was 5 shillings (25p) a gallon and beer was 1 shilling and sixpence (7.5p) a pint. Not that I combined the two of course!

JBP

royoftherovers · July 31, 2021

56 minutes ago, JBPRX400h said:

When I first started driving in 1969 petrol was 5 shillings (25p) a gallon and beer was 1 shilling and sixpence (7.5p) a pint. Not that I combined the two of course!

JBP

And in 1969 John, your first car was ??

On 7/28/2021 at 8:18 PM, b4u2 said:

It's lovely car and not sure why you think or ask if I am regretting buying it but I didn't actually realise properly how expensive and costly it will be to run.

Do tell us about the RX you have bought B4U2.

Age, mileage, colour, owners etc.

JBPRX400h · July 31, 2021

It was a Ford Thames 15cwt van, John. Unusual in that it had a 4 speed gearbox rather than the normal 3 speed. If you weren't careful when changing from 2nd to 3rd gear the column mounted gear lever would move to the new position but the sloppy rod linkages to the gearbox would stay in 2nd gear and the whole lot would jam solid. The solution was to stop the van, crawl underneath and jiggle the rods free before getting back in to carry on with your journey.

Oh the memories!

JBP

royoftherovers · July 31, 2021

5 minutes ago, JBPRX400h said:

It was a Ford Thames 15cwt van, John. Unusual in that it had a 4 speed gearbox rather than the normal 3 speed. If you weren't careful when changing from 2nd to 3rd gear the column mounted gear lever would move to the new position but the sloppy rod linkages to the gearbox would stay in 2nd gear and the whole lot would jam solid. The solution was to stop the van, crawl underneath and jiggle the rods free before getting back in to carry on with your journey.

Oh the memories!

JBP

It was a popular vehicle in its day especially within the construction industry and cheaper than the equivalent Ford saloon.

And did it have vacuum wipers John?

Spacewagon52 · July 31, 2021

1 hour ago, JBPRX400h said:

It was a Ford Thames 15cwt van, John. Unusual in that it had a 4 speed gearbox rather than the normal 3 speed. If you weren't careful when changing from 2nd to 3rd gear the column mounted gear lever would move to the new position but the sloppy rod linkages to the gearbox would stay in 2nd gear and the whole lot would jam solid. The solution was to stop the van, crawl underneath and jiggle the rods free before getting back in to carry on with your journey.

Oh the memories!

JBP

John, that has brought back wonderful memories for me. When I passed my test in 1974, my father had a Ford 400E for his small holding. I drove it for over year. It had the 3 speed box (column change the same). My uncle, who was in partnership with my father, worked for Rediffusion. He had an option to buy the vans they were getting rid of. My father worked for the local bus company and he was able to get old bus seats. My uncle fitted out the 400E (1963?) with bench seats and a home made roof rack. We joined him and his family for a holiday in Yugoslavia, camping. $ adults and 4 children - no seat belts - no ABS - no air conditioning. All the way to Porec on the Istra peninsula. It took us three days to get there and 3 days back. 8 days on the campsite!

An experience few people can contemplate, at the time it was done.

royoftherovers · July 31, 2021

2 minutes ago, Spacewagon52 said:

John, that has brought back wonderful memories for me. When I passed my test in 1974, my father had a Ford 400E for his small holding. I drove it for over year. It had the 3 speed box (column change the same). My uncle, who was in partnership with my father, worked for Rediffusion. He had an option to buy the vans they were getting rid of. My father worked for the local bus company and he was able to get old bus seats. My uncle fitted out the 400E (1963?) with bench seats and a home made roof rack. We joined him and his family for a holiday in Yugoslavia, camping. $ adults and 4 children - no seat belts - no ABS - no air conditioning. All the way to Porec on the Istra peninsula. It took us three days to get there and 3 days back. 8 days on the campsite!

An experience few people can contemplate, at the time it was done.

Magical recollections Davey. We are so very lucky. Soon John (jpbrx) will post some photos of his visit today and we can all enjoy more magical memories. We are collecting a lot of Johns on the Forum these days!

Spacewagon52 · July 31, 2021

2 minutes ago, royoftherovers said:

Magical recollections Davey. We are so very lucky. Soon John (jpbrx) will post some photos of his visit today and we can all enjoy more magical memories. We are collecting a lot of Johns on the Forum these days!

When I find the 35mm slides I will try and scan some to show some photos of the journey.

We went over the Grossglockner Pass and boiled-up on the first hairpin bend! Not surprising, with four adults and four children plus camping gear!

JBPRX400h · August 1, 2021

Here is one of the few photos I have of my old Thames van, NME208. My friend taking the picture owned 606UKX. This was when eight of us likely lads were about to embark on a tour of the continent in the two vans back in 1972.

Yes, John (Royoftherovers,) it did have vacuum driven wipers. The speed was infinitely variable (when they were working properly) by a little knob in the middle of the dashboard. More often than not though the diagphram in the vacuum pump would split. The wipers would still work but slowed to a crawl when going uphill and then went berserk going downhill.

David, my van had an Ercol two seater settee in the back for the extra passengers - very posh!

All very different from a Lexus.

Spacewagon52 · August 1, 2021

3 hours ago, JBPRX400h said:

Here is one of the few photos I have of my old Thames van, NME208. My friend taking the picture owned 606UKX. This was when eight of us likely lads were about to embark on a tour of the continent in the two vans back in 1972.

Yes, John (Royoftherovers,) it did have vacuum driven wipers. The speed was infinitely variable (when they were working properly) by a little knob in the middle of the dashboard. More often than not though the diagphram in the vacuum pump would split. The wipers would still work but slowed to a crawl when going uphill and then went berserk going downhill.

David, my van had an Ercol two seater settee in the back for the extra passengers - very posh!

All very different from a Lexus.

Sorry John can't see the photo?