jim256

I doubt the extra expense of the hybrid would be worth it. Over about 42 mph, you'll be on the gas engine all the time, and with a lead foot, the generator will add a little torque but you'll still be bringing on the gas engine all the time. It's a 4 cylinder, so it won't have as much pickup as the 350, either, when you are cruising. If you scroll through all these posts, likely you'll get as low or lower than anyone who has posted.

I'm in a small town, and consistently get 40+ in ECO mode and a pretty light throttle, but on interstates, 70 mph, the instant readout is about 35-37, pretty much the same as a 350 will get at those speeds.

boe

I can live with a little lower. I keep my cars about a decade on average. I live in LA where even the highways are stop and go so all cars get much worse mpg than they claim. I also hate going to the gas station so the less visits the better- particularly when you have to go in and pay only to stand behind someone taking 10 minutes to pick a hard back low filter, high menthol gold pack of something that no clerk can find (nor should they have to) and then pick their lucky lottery tickets which are the birthdays of their family members but they can't remember those dates. My goal is to get in an out for some I guess it is a day trip.

If I could get an IS300h I'd most likely get that but I don't know how long it will take before they make a US version (or if they will). Right now my 2 top choices are the Accord hybrid and the ES300h.

bartman44

My 2014 ES300h has 3500 miles on it and my average is 43.8 mpg. Only recently it had been sitting at 44.1 mpg, but the Florida heat requiring a higher setting for cooling the cabin has reduced it -- that plus having accidentally leaving the car running while making a long restaurant stop during the hot early afternoon. A very noisy environment drowned out the warning tone indicating that the car was still on as I locked the car.

Back to the mileage. I drive in Eco most of the time, but select Normal mode from standing stops to take advantage of the traction motor assist. By doing that, the ICE doesn't run inefficiently (lugging down) during those periods....same for small hills or rises to bridges. I seldom use Sport mode, but have used it for merging onto interstates. My regular terrain is flat and I go easy on acceleration, but not excessively so. All in all, the way I drive seems to make the difference. My neighbor has the same car and struggles to get 37 mpg.

chromedome

The Accord Hybrid is probably better if you're looking for the best fuel economy. Honda's hybrid system uses the motor-generator as the transmission so there's no loss from Toyota's CVT setup. The Accord's engine is also smaller but is more efficient and makes more power.

The Accord is no Lexus but Honda could outsell the ES if they made a big TL hybrid.

LexBob2

The TL and smaller TSX are both gone, replaced by the new TLX. The exterior dimensions are smaller than the TL but the interior dimensions remain the same. The trimmed 3+ inches off the front and rear overhangs. From what I gather there aren't any plans for a hybrid TLX. Yet...

I've been doing some research for a new car purchase and recently read up on the Acura sedan line.

gfr1

I'm with you, Boe. I buy for range, first, then fuel mileage, as long as I desire the car in the first place. My ES300h has been an excellent car. It is coming up on two years old and no write-ups. My total average is a little over 37 mpg. I just keep up with traffic, in city driving and in city traffic it runs about 35 mpg, but with a little freeway it goes to 36 & up. I drive from North Texas to CA at least annually, at posted speed limits on cruise control. Texas is around 75 mph, with W. Texas 80 mph, for around 400 miles, as I recall. NM & AZ are 75 and CA, around 65 & 70. Headwinds is the worst mileage offender, I've found. On one occasion, in West TX, at 80 mph, with headwinds of 30 to 35 mph, in a dust storm it got down to 30 mpg. That seemed terrible to me, but when you think about it, that's not so bad, actually, compared to other cars. Downwind at 80 mph, with a 10 to 15 mph tailwinds, mileage went up to 40+ mpg. Trips average around 38 to 39 mpg. Don't accept some opinions that the hybrid doesn't do better that non-hybrid during cruise. I have calibrated my odometer, speedometer & corrected consumption. Strangely, my odometer reads slightly low. For 100 miles, it indicates 97.6, so I have to factor it. The speedometer is dead-on between 65 & 80, as close as you can read it. I have a rather expensive precision GPS, that reads out to two decimal places and have repeatedly checked the calibration for up to 188 miles. For this year, at my last refuel, in May, I'd driven 6023 miles, with an uncorrected 38.863 mpg, or 39.835 w/odometer correction. I have a spreadsheet formula that shows my average indicate mpg is 40.391, or 39.834, corrected. So, my indicted mpg is only reading 0.559 mpg high, or 1.4% high.

I understand your consideration of the Accord Hybrid, but you need to consider the fuel capacity, along with what I've read, is a road noise issue. The ES300h shows a 17.2gal. tank, in sales pamphlets and 17.0 in maintenance pubs. I'm guessing that maintenance pubs don't consider the filler neck as tank capacity. All my refuels have been to the filler neck. My first refuel, the needle was dead-on the "E", my engine was still running and it took 17.312 gals., just short of 700 miles local driving. It isn't widely broadcast, but the Accord Hybrid has a 15.8 capacity and the "plug-in" version has a 12.2 gal. capacity! Not so good, if you're looking for range.

boe

I test drove the accord hybrid. Performance was fine. I really didn't like the seat though. I have a TL now and the seat is very luxurious. The accord was comparable to my old ford escort or perhaps my old Honda civic. A total POS seat for a $40,000 car. I can't imagine sitting in that for hours at a time. In addition the GPS would be a step down from my brother's 2008 explorer. I can't see spending $2000 on a gps that is a downgrade from a $100 phone.

If they made a TLX hybrid I'd want to check it out but it doesn't look like that is happening in the near future. Maybe they'll surprise me - they already did once by keeping the beak that is killing their sales. I haven't checked out the TLX in person yet but from what I've read, it has the same antiquated GPS as the current Accord and the TLX seats are a drop in quality from the old TL.

chromedome

Honda has good engineering but it doesn't seem to know what to do with its Acura models, this coming from a former Accord Euro/TSX owner. A hybrid TLX would do wonders for their sales by targeting both performance and efficiency.

In China at least, Lexus has cornered the luxury hybrid market - the base ES300h is $60k after a ton of import duty is slapped on while an Audi A6 2.0 Hybrid is almost $100k. Local owners certainly love the low fuel consumption, just half or a third of a non-hybrid exec sedan, especially when gas is more than $4.50 per gallon.

BIGABQ

OK I'm just a newbie. I now have one week under my belt with my 300h. Coming from a 2013 Pathfinder avg. just 17 mpg around town I'm at 35.9. I have kept it in normal almost all the time. I am extremely pleased with my MPG so far. I still have much to learn about driving my 300h but I am excited so far. I just have fun driving it around town. The car is great, I'm so happy with my purchase.

jollick

Congratulations BIGABQ, I have had my ES300h for one year and 9 months and still love it.

Arty101

Congrats BIGABQ. You'll enjoy your new ride, especially when you pass by the gas pumps.

bartman44

At 3500 miles on the odometer, I'm averaging 43.8 mpg on my 2014 ES300h.

jollick

After a year and 9 months driving 15,000 miles, my total average since buying the car is 36 mpg.Still not bad for a car this size and living in a hilly area and this past winter being so cold. Most of my driving is stop and go around town with little to no highway driving so far. You are lucky to live in a relatively flat area, the ES300h's mpg excels there. Congratulations.I am still very happy with the car.

Mhobizal

Not sure how you accomplish 43 mpg, would you like to explain? How fast do you drive??

chrisk008

Just took my car in for it's 40K service. The car has been flawless, zero issues and runs as new. Mileage from day one to now has averaged 37.9. When I choose to go easy on the car I can run at 40+mpg. Normal driving with occasional use of sport but never using Eco then my mileage stays around 38. Driving is mixed highway, AC is frequently cranking as I live in Anthem, AZ. Zero regrets in my purchase, would do it all over again.