Real Life Mpg Figures.

[TonyB]

Hoping to hear from anyone who owns a CT, and how the fuel consumption stands up to

Manufacturers claims, have heard that 69mpg is not realistic.

Is it a good Car, whats it like to live with , etc.

Rgds, Tony.

[Daviec]

Hi TonyB

I've had my CT200h for just over two weeks now and I've driven 700 miles. I have averaged 60 mpg which I'm more than happy with!

I don't like Economy Mode which I find a bit sluggish, but Normal Mode is more than acceptable and I have stuck to this most of the time. Sport Mode is great when needed, but I find that Normal Mode suits me - and my previous car was a Saab 2 litre Turbo!

The car is very comfortable. I chose 16 inch wheels and glad I did as the ride is quite firm. Quite honestly, on UK road with the potholes, 17 inch wheels are a waste of time!

The SatNav is great as is the Mark Levinson system, but you need time to learn your way around it!

There is a design fault though, in my opinion. The suspension is quite low and you have to be really careful opening the front doors onto a pavement, as it's likely to scrape if the pavement is not completely level. I have reported this to my dealer.

Overall I'm very happy with the car. It's not cheap but for a business purchase it's a no-brainer. For a private purchase I'm not so sure if it offers good value.

Hope this helps.

[hellom8]

Just had one on loan for three days, this is my experience.

MPG, with a mix of town, A/B roads and motorway the dash was reporting an average of 52.6 MPG. This was mostly driving in ECO mode but experimenting with the other two modes as well.

I didn't like the tinny noise when you touched the body work, the centre console restricts the seating position (but so do a lot of cars) the visibility out the back is quite restricted and the rear privacy glass is pretty dark.

The ride is bumpy (this car had 17in wheels) but the shock of the bumps don't reach you so it's actually pretty comfortable, the seats are supportive but not to tight.

I found it quite fun to drive, its not as slow as I thought it would be and its steering is nice and positive. The gearbox is very smooth, at first the throttle seems to do nothing and then give you too much (a bit like a Merc C200 TD auto I had for three days), takes a bit of getting used to as does the initial sharp brake pedal, all depends what you are used to I guess.

Cheers.

Ian.

[TonyB]

So How do manufacturers get away with claimed MPG Figures, the CT for example 68 - 70 mpg........

A guy at the golf club has a prius, and hasn't seen more than 58 MPG Average.

When you consider a GS300 can get 37mpg on a run at 80mph, I recon it's P**S Poor.

[hellom8]

The manufacturers put small print in saying things like "depending on driving conditions" etc.

I agree, the mpg returns are not good, especially as this is such a big selling point.

You’re doing very well to get 37mpg out of your GS.

I get 15mpg around town and manage to get 25mpg on the motorways in my 99 GS300. I don’t cruise at 80 though.

[alpine]

A demo car I tried this afternoon, with 2000miles of demo work under its bonnet, showed an overall average of 52.9mpg, with 49mpg on its current tankful.

I don't think it's a question of 'getting away' with the figures mfrs quote, they have to use the strict government test configs which are supposed to represent the real world but don't. But that's what they have to quote. All manufacturers have to do the same. It is possible to exceed standard test results in both directions, given differing driving styles.

[ct200hpoormpg]

Hoping to hear from anyone who owns a CT, and how the fuel consumption stands up to

Manufacturers claims, have heard that 69mpg is not realistic.

Is it a good Car, whats it like to live with , etc.

Rgds, Tony.

Hi there,

Stumbled across this thread when severely disappointed with our MPG figures (800 miles).

I have done all the things you read about - driven smoothly, no hard accelerating, and almost zero braking (planning ahead), maintaining fixed speed etc. - all added up to 47mpg! We're seeing our dealer to see what else we can do to improve things, but at the moment it's a bit of a joke.

One very revealing thing (and the main reason I'm posting) is that the EPA (USA equivalent of our EU testing) rates the car at 42mpg. Does that kind of number sound familiar? I thought so... seems like they know how to test a bit more realistically! Given the octane difference between the US and UK, plus my obsessive driving style, 47mpg seems ok now.

So.. buyer beware... I know I'll be checking the EPA figures before buying my next car!

Raj

[pete-]

You say the EPA (USA equivalent of our EU testing) rates the car at 42mpg. I should be interested if this was a US gallon or an Imperial gallon.

[ct200hpoormpg]

You say the EPA (USA equivalent of our EU testing) rates the car at 42mpg. I should be interested if this was a US gallon or an Imperial gallon.

Hi Pete,

That's a very good point, and in fact, running a conversion leaves a "UK" mpg of 50.4 odd...

Thanks for pointing that out - makes things a bit better (here I thought I had beat the labcoats in the US!), but my original point still applies. =)

Raj

[ColinBarber]

The current US testing is more demanding than in the UK. They perform more stop/starts, use Air Con, more extreme air temperatures etc.

I also believe the mpg figures are calculated with lower octane fuel which reduces the figures slighter compared to the UK.

[javadude]

The courtesy car I've got today is showing an average of 55mpg if that helps. Obviously no telling how its been driven.

[GJD]

Had mine now for 3 days, not long I know but I'm more than happy with MPG - getting round 56mpg so far, mixture of town and motorway driving.

Certainly appears that best economy is around town where I'm finding the MPG just goes up and up

Overall, VERY happy, think it is a lovely car!

[Goggy]

See my 1000 mile review above. But here is the section on economy with a bit more added.

Lexus say this car can do up to 68mpg. I do wish car manufacturers would give more realistic figures. I’m not sure how anyone could get anywhere near that figure. So far I have averaged 50mpg, which is still reasonable but well short of the 68mpg advertised. It’s fair to say on longer journeys the mpg average is more like 55-58mpg, but most of my journeys are less than 5 miles so the average is lower than most people will be able to achieve. If I stay in eco mode for longer drives I get up to 55-60mpg. In sport mode 45-47 is achievable for me, but on longer journeys 50mpg should be about right. Overall I think 55mpg for normal driving would be about right for most drivers.

I did a 30 mile journey last week on flat roads with speed limits of 30mph - 40mph. I achieved 60pmg!

On another longer 120 mile round trip, mainly motorway and fast 'A' roads I achieved 57mpg.

My normal 'around town/shopping' trips, mostly less than 5 miles in total, the average is 50mpg.

I was looking for a car that gave 40+mpg and would be very happy to get 50mpg. I knew the 68mpg was never going to be the case so I am happy with what I am getting.

[1432]

See my 1000 mile review above. But here is the section on economy with a bit more added.

Lexus say this car can do up to 68mpg. I do wish car manufacturers would give more realistic figures. I’m not sure how anyone could get anywhere near that figure. So far I have averaged 50mpg, which is still reasonable but well short of the 68mpg advertised. It’s fair to say on longer journeys the mpg average is more like 55-58mpg, but most of my journeys are less than 5 miles so the average is lower than most people will be able to achieve. If I stay in eco mode for longer drives I get up to 55-60mpg. In sport mode 45-47 is achievable for me, but on longer journeys 50mpg should be about right. Overall I think 55mpg for normal driving would be about right for most drivers.

I did a 30 mile journey last week on flat roads with speed limits of 30mph - 40mph. I achieved 60pmg!

On another longer 120 mile round trip, mainly motorway and fast 'A' roads I achieved 57mpg.

My normal 'around town/shopping' trips, mostly less than 5 miles in total, the average is 50mpg.

I was looking for a car that gave 40+mpg and would be very happy to get 50mpg. I knew the 68mpg was never going to be the case so I am happy with what I am getting.

Almost 5000 miles in 10 weeks - car says 55.1 - real use by fill up log 52.6

Mainly hilly south Pennine driving with 4 X 500 mile motorway trips at 'normal speed' ;) . Can't see a difference between economy setting and normal with a light foot! Did get a car reading of 60 on one 250 mile segment.

[chris_fletcher]

OK here is my addittion to this thread. Nearly 2 months in and my current tank is about half gone and the trip is showing 61.7mpg, with an average since new of 58.8mpg.

The last tank was 57.8mpg calculated on fuel use and included a 450 mile motorway journey at 70mph mostly. I reckon that the actual consumption is ~5% less than that shown on the cars computer.

I drive 99% in Normal with the odd bit of Sport mode at junctions, roundabouts and lights. "Pulse and glide" definitely helps and I have noticed an improvement since the longish motorway trip.

IMHO it is not necessary to drive like a old woman to achieve very respectable results

I am very happy with the car and the savings I am making vs the RX300, at this rate it will pay for itself on the fuel saving alone in about 4 years if I keep it that long.....Result!

[gmac70]

Ok having done a couple of hj dred mile my average mpg is just over 50mpg, although I've not adopted my driving style and have also had little blasts in sports mode to see how it handles around B roads. Build quality is exceptional and I don't believe the ride is hard.

It's not my Honda civic type s 2.2d and if I drove that at the spEeds I drove the CT200 would get similar mileage. I'm sure around town though it will be better. Spent a lot of miles on A19 and A1

Overall pretty happy with the car after extended test drive

[Goggy]

I'm still averaging 48 - 50mpg. This is low compared to what some are achieving I know, but most of my driving is very short distance and the car hardly has time to warm up. Longer journeys at 'A' road or motorway speeds are higher at 52 - 55mpg, but still not the best scenario. Best I have achieved so far is a 30 mile round trip on 'B' roads which gave 60mpg.

[gt1947]

I've covered around 250 miles over my first week with the ct200h and the mpg is showing 55mpg. This is mainly short stop start urban journeys with some short motorway trips. Stayed mainly in normal mode. This is pretty similar to my previous Prius, so I'm pleased with what I'm getting. I'll be filling the tank this weekend and resetting the reading to see if I can increase this.

[GJD]

I've covered just over 3,000 miles so far in my CT and am consistently getting 57 - 58mpg per tank of fuel, complete mix of roads / motorways and high use of eco mode on motorways, normal / sport when required.

Best I've ever achieved was a 260 mile round trip to / through London, 62mpg. Worst, 50mpg after a 70 mile 'sprint' in sports mode long the M4..........

Certainly haven't changed my driving style - simple LOVE this car, really is a pleasure to drive and the money it is saving me is a real bonus!

Highly HIGHLY recommend to all - :P

[John Leigh]

I'm a GP, live about 6 miles away from the surgery, do 2-3 home visits per day on average in an urban practice. I've done 800 miles in my CT200, mainly ECO (as it reduces the chance of me getting a speeding ticket) and am currently on 49 mpg. I used to use my '53 plate GS300 (which I have not got rid of) for work and averaged about 22-23 mpg from that

[andy w]

interesting post as i will be happy if my wife gets 20mpg through the week & should we hit the motorway at weekends i,d like to break the skin off 30 ? ;)

[Goggy]

I'm still averaging 48-50mpg doing short trips to the shops and work. The car hardly warms up before I park up again so it's a worse case scenario. On longer trips I get 52-54mpg. On an ideal journey doing 40mph on level roads it can be 58-60, but that is not very often. I have never managed above 60mpg even driving light footed in economy mode. Lexus, along with all car manufacturers should come clean and quote real life figures but they won't as they feel they would suffer unless all makers do the same.

I am still happy with what I get from mine as I knew the 68mpg quoted by Lexus would be unachievable.

[tinka]

Is the CT better value than, say, a Golf blue motion, and is diesel still the best option for economy. I just think that sitting in a jam with the engine off is appealing, with auto aswell. I know stop start is common now, but its not on auto's yet is it, and diesel will never be as refined as petrol.

I keep changing my mind about the CT, at the moment I'm liking it again, but not at the current used prices though.

[Sleepypete (FB)]

Is the CT better value than, say, a Golf blue motion, and is diesel still the best option for economy. I just think that sitting in a jam with the engine off is appealing, with auto aswell. I know stop start is common now, but its not on auto's yet is it, and diesel will never be as refined as petrol.

I keep changing my mind about the CT, at the moment I'm liking it again, but not at the current used prices though.

Hybrid vs Diesel is very dependent on what type of driving dominates your regular trips :

High speed motorway or A-road -> Diesel for the inherent economy

Urban stop/start -> Hybrid for carrying energy that's otherwise wasted

From what I hear of the blue-motion cars, the energy reservoir isn't that big so the stop-start stops being available for a while until it can regenerate enough energy. Plus it'll need the engine to move, which means clutch work and energy wasted due to mismatch between engine rpm and zero road speed. With the CT hybrid system, the motor can work from zero rpm so there's little energy wasted in heating up clutch plates.

Might be worth finding some impartial reviews (if you can) that tell you exactly how the blue-motion system actually performs. I suspect it's not on autos yet because I think it works on whether you have the clutch pedal down or up. I.e. Neutral + clutch up = engine off. Clutch pedal down = turn engine on.

It's much less wearing as a driver too, when you can drift along in stop-start traffic on brake to stop and no-brake to trundle forward a little.

Are the used prices staying at about £2000 under list price (at best) ? After looking at prices daily, I've stopped looking since buying my CT. That's something that's a long since learned lesson from IT - buy now, woulda paid less later

[Goggy]

I did look at buying a 1.6 Golf or a Audi A3, but the auto option (which I wanted) put both up with the CT cost wise and I felt that for the type of driving I do and the reliability and customer care, the CT was the better choice. Also, sit in a CT and you soon realise it is a luxury car rather than the bland feel of the German pair.

Also, although VW and Audi state 60-68 mpg it is more like 50-55 from what I hear, so much like other manufacturers, they quote best case, which is simply not doable. I think for town/city driving the CT can't be beaten by anything currently available, other than a maybe Prius if you like the shape. In fact I did also consider a Prius, same engine as CT and a few thousand cheaper, but I don't like the shape and there is too much cheap looking plastic for me.

But if you do lot's of motorway driving then maybe a Golf or A3 are an option. Hard choice, all three are excellent cars.

I am delighted with my CT, it is a pleasure to be in and drive. It has a feel good factor I've never had in a car before.