Mileage and range?

Martin Bailey · August 22, 2023

Hi all,

Am new to the world of Lexus, having ordered my first one, a UX 250H a couple of weeks ago. Won't get it until December-time, unfortunately.

I see a lot of conflicting statement around MPG for the 250H, with some people saying they have seen 60+MPG. Even the Lexus website is confusing, as it says up to 50.1MPG, but a lot of the reviews online suggest it's listed at closer to 40MPG? I'd be interested to hear what the general concensus is.

Also, what about range (on a full tank of fuel, throwing electric into the mix). How much range do you see on average?

Thanks!

ColinBarber · August 22, 2023

I’d say low 50s is easily achievable in summer. You would need to drive very carefully to average in the 60s over multiple drives.

Fuel tank isn’t very big but you should be able to get 400 to 450 miles from a tank full.

But these thing are very dependent on driving style and the type of journeys you do.

Gary H · August 22, 2023

I've had my UX250h for almost three and a half years (it goes in a couple of weeks' time), and yes, it does all depend on what your style of driving is.

The fuel tank is indeed rather small in the UX, but given the hybrid nature of the engine, it doesn't really need one. Plus, it's been notably cheaper in terms of filling up than my last car as a result of the smaller tank.

In terms of economy - during colder months I can get high 40's going back and forth to work. During warmer months, that usually tops out in the mid-50's. I can squeeze that towards 57/58mpg if you're really light on the throttle.

When it comes to distance drives, mid to high 50's is about the average depending on road conditions, climate control usage e.t.c... For me, I need to have a pretty heavy right foot and driving in winter for that to drop to the likes of 50/51/52mpg.

I have achieved over 60mpg a handful of times on distance runs, but that's more the exception rather than the rule.

Overall given it's engine size and power output, I've been very happy with it when it comes to economy.

rayaans · August 22, 2023

This is very dependent on driving style and journeys.

Having driven a few UXs as loaners in short trips anything between 35-37mpg at a sedate pace but normal driving.

On a motorway run I got 43mpg albeit at 75mph steady cruise

Lmafudd · August 22, 2023

I've had mine six months and the average is showing as 49.9mpg. Not bad as sometimes one just cannot resist a swift acceleration!

Navnan2 · August 22, 2023

29 minutes ago, Lmafudd said:

I've had mine six months and the average is showing as 49.9mpg. Not bad as sometimes one just cannot resist a swift acceleration!

I am similar to you Charles. I find it sad trying to get high economy figures to prove a point, just takes the pleasure out of driving. I get similar figures to you and enjoy the occasional bit of speed/acceleration. The economy figures we get are just a bonus, not the b all and end all of driving a UX.

Martin Bailey · August 23, 2023

Interesting! I agree that you don't want to drive like a nun on prozac just to get 5MPG better performance. 49.9MPG is pretty damn good, though!

I'm comparing this to my outgoing car - a 2015 Jaguar XE, which I've managed to achieve 50+MPG on several occasions, but generally still get 40-45MPG.

Can anyone share their experiences of overall range on a full tank? I can get just under 500 miles out of the XE, so will be interested to see what the range is in a smaller tank but better fuel economy.

Bezzer · August 23, 2023

Only had mine a couple of months and mpg is always around the 50-52 mark on the display, that’s just knocking about, no long journeys, properly checking on fill up amount and trip gauge that isn’t far off. Range display after fill up always shows as 400 give or take a few which shouldn’t be right given the tank size, maybe it doesn’t count the low fuel reserve.

David Claridge · August 23, 2023

I’ve had my 3 year old 250H F Sport for 2 and a half years. It’s got 17k miles and I’ve done 15k of them. In winter it returns 46mpg and in summer 52mpg. Recently I did a cross country route, all 30 and 40 mph limits and it returned 59.1 mpg. I guess the range is 400 miles. I generally fill it up at a quarter of a tank. I never let it get too low. Old habits never die. I don’t focus on economy but nor do I drive it with a lead foot.

Don C · August 24, 2023

Most of those reviews are US based and their 3.8 litre gallon equates to 48mpg imperial. A new UX will improve considerably after a couple of thousand miles and even more with high grade fuel as it won’t hold the timing back so much. They are a lot quieter with decent fuel in too.

Martin Bailey · August 24, 2023

Just now, Don C said:

Most of those reviews are US based and their 3.8 litre gallon equates to 48mpg imperial. A new UX will improve considerably after a couple of thousand miles and even more with high grade fuel as it won’t hold the timing back so much. They are a lot quieter with decent fuel in too.

Aaaahhhh, I forgot about their different gallons. Doh!

Just out of interest, why does the MPG improve after a couple of thousand miles. Is it literally that the car is 'broken in', so parts within the engine move with slightly less friction? Or is it that the car gets better at estimating it over time? (As you can probably tell, I'm no mechanic!)

Also, are you saying that the engine will run quieter with the Premium fuel as opposed to the standard stuff? Why is that? I also understand that you are supposed to get better fuel economy from the premium fuel - has anyone ever done a study to see whether the savings outweigh the additional cost of the fuel? Would be great to see a UX getting 70MPG with a 'loose' engine and better fuel 😃

Don C · August 24, 2023

20 minutes ago, Martin Bailey said:

Aaaahhhh, I forgot about their different gallons. Doh!

Just out of interest, why does the MPG improve after a couple of thousand miles. Is it literally that the car is 'broken in', so parts within the engine move with slightly less friction? Or is it that the car gets better at estimating it over time? (As you can probably tell, I'm no mechanic!)

Also, are you saying that the engine will run quieter with the Premium fuel as opposed to the standard stuff? Why is that? I also understand that you are supposed to get better fuel economy from the premium fuel - has anyone ever done a study to see whether the savings outweigh the additional cost of the fuel? Would be great to see a UX getting 70MPG with a 'loose' engine and better fuel 😃

No problem Martin, I was 29 years in vehicle development so can find my way round 😉. Yes, the car will be tight at first in almost every moving part. It will also do some learning based on your driving and it is programmed to be suppressed while the engine beds in. When these things change depends on the mileage and the way it’s driven but usually by a couple of thousand the tightness will have gone and by about four or five thousand the mapping will have relaxed and it will feel a different car. As for the engine noise, the big risk in getting optimum performance from it is to advance the timing so as to get the fuel to start pushing on the downward piston right from the top of the stroke. Think of it like pedals on a bike, if you only start pushing part way down it isn’t as effective as right from the top. They do this by timing the spark far enough in advance for the expanding gas to reach full pressure near the top. The problem is that if they do it too early the fuel will flash rather than expand and you get a knock which is sometimes described as pinking (really called detonation). There are sensors that hold the timing of the spark back but it reduces the effectiveness as described. Now what a lot of people don’t realise is that high octane fuel is less volatile than low. It doesn’t go bang like an explosion it burns in a very predictable and consistent manner so by using high grade fuel, it not only keeps the fuel system clean, it allows the timing to be advanced without knock and it really smooths out the engine to sound better. You rarely get enough improvement to cover the extra cost but in my mind I prefer the sound especially in a Lexus and I’m happy that the fuel system gets some protection as the fuel is dosed with detergents.

Martin Bailey · August 24, 2023

2 minutes ago, Don C said:

No problem Martin, I was 29 years in vehicle development so can find my way round 😉. Yes, the car will be tight at first in almost every moving part. It will also do some learning based on your driving and it is programmed to be suppressed while the engine beds in. When these things change depends on the mileage and the way it’s driven but usually by a couple of thousand the tightness will have gone and by about four or five thousand the mapping will have relaxed and it will feel a different car. As for the engine noise, the big risk in getting optimum performance from it is to advance the timing so as to get the fuel to start pushing on the downward piston right from the top of the stroke. Think of it like pedals on a bike, if you only start pushing part way down it isn’t as effective as right from the top. They do this by timing the spark far enough in advance for the expanding gas to reach full pressure near the top. The problem is that if they do it too early the fuel will flash rather than expand and you get a knock which is sometimes described as pinking (really called detonation). There are sensors that hold the timing of the spark back but it reduces the effectiveness as described. Now what a lot of people don’t realise is that high octane fuel is less volatile than low. It does go bang like an explosion it burns in a very predictable and consistent manner so by using high grade fuel, it not only keeps the fuel system clean, it allows the timing to be advanced without knock and it really smooths out the engine to sound better. You rarely get enough improvement to cover the extra cost but in my mind I prefer the sound especially in a Lexus and I’m happy that the fuel system gets some protection as the fuel is dosed with detergents.

Excellent. Thanks for taking the time to provide such a detailed response.

Don C · August 24, 2023

38 minutes ago, Martin Bailey said:

Excellent. Thanks for taking the time to provide such a detailed response.

They’re a lot to a Lexus that makes it stand out. Yes, the powertrain is Toyota but everything else is top notch and better than the German brands. These tests they do on cars tell you what to expect new but repeat them at five and ten years and then see which is best. A ten year old BMW with 100000 miles is no doubt elegant but it’s a liability.

Gary H · August 24, 2023

On 8/23/2023 at 7:18 PM, David Claridge said:

I guess the range is 400 miles. I generally fill it up at a quarter of a tank. I never let it get too low. Old habits never die. I don’t focus on economy but nor do I drive it with a lead foot.

That's similar to me, although I tend to fill up when I’m between a quarter and a half. I can count on one hand it’s been down below a quarter. I always like to have a sensible reserve!

I'm generally on the slower end of the driving spectrum so yes, based on my average MPG, a full tank for me has near enough always been into the 400's in terms of miles.

nivlem · August 31, 2023

I have my UX Fsport design for more than a month now and already done atleast 3100miles. Always getting 50-56mpg even with a heavy right foot. Range from full tank is about 486 miles range. I dont think premium petrol really makes the difference in terms of performance or MPG. You can barely feel the difference so rather save some few quids rather than filling up with premium petrol in my opinion.

Govanguy · September 2, 2023

I`ve just returned from a round trip to Southampton from Scotland.

Mixed traffic on the way down, slow at times. 52.1mph

Much faster coming "uphill" , final 150 miles at 80mph with cruise 51.9 mpg . Both journeys in Eco.

Martin Bailey · September 2, 2023

1 hour ago, Govanguy said:

I`ve just returned from a round trip to Southampton from Scotland.

Mixed traffic on the way down, slow at times. 52.1mph

Much faster coming "uphill" , final 150 miles at 80mph with cruise 51.9 mpg . Both journeys in Eco.

Do you know roughly how far you get on one tank?

Don C · September 3, 2023

10 hours ago, Martin Bailey said:

Do you know roughly how far you get on one tank?

I’m curious. I never even consider how far on a tank as you can work it out. It’s a 43 litre or 9.46 gallons. It’s about 490 miles.

Govanguy · September 4, 2023

On 9/2/2023 at 11:18 PM, Martin Bailey said:

Do you know roughly how far you get on one tank?

My journey to Southampton was 437 miles.

When I left home with a full tank I realised that it was going to be tight reaching Southampton . My fuel tank mileage indicator showed , perhaps 50 miles to spare. i.e. a full tank would take me 487 miles.

I had to top up on both journeys to put my mind at rest that I wouldn't`t get caught out.

I thought range anxiety only applied to all electric vehicle owners...lol

Don C · September 4, 2023

That trip computer can’t be relied on. It makes predictions on current during style. It will always predict short.

Govanguy · September 5, 2023

16 hours ago, Don C said:

That trip computer can’t be relied on. It makes predictions on current during style. It will always predict short.

My 487 miles indicated wasn't far off your estimation of your 490

Richard1200 · September 8, 2023

Mine is 2 years old this week. Still only 5000 miles so very low use, no motorways just local shops etc, never reset the trip and it’s showing 52.8mpg.

Weatherwax · September 13, 2023

So many variables driving style, weather, roads used i.e. mostly motorway or mixture or just local.

I've had my current Fsport coming up for 6 months I took delivery on 1st April working out MPG the old fashioned way dividing miles travelled by gallons (divide litres by 4.546 to get imperial gallons). So FYI here is the data so far in order some of the figures are over a couple of fill ups when I've been on holiday.

1st 3 months of ownership > 49.96, 53.76, 48.55, 55.01, 51.84 which equates to 50.64 mpg overall.

from beginning of July to date 54.13, 53.73, 54.97 the car now has approx. 4000 miles on the clock.

So as Don C has said the mpg improves as you put the miles on. I've owned a variety of Japanese made cars & found that they like running hot and mileage improves significantly on long journeys. I got 50mpg out of a Subaru Impreza 2lt on a long journey but I was 'hypermileing'

I'll admit that I take childish pleasure of using sport mode when at traffic lights & elsewhere now and again. Its my first SUV style car having owned a long line of hot hatches & sports cars but I'm very impressed with its handling and performance.

Stompe · September 13, 2023

Just be aware..... Be careful when selecting Sport mode, it will Rip your face off, and pull 5g round corners, and the Smoke from the Tyres will gum - up the Air con, enjoy 😀