striderg3

So my car seems like its drinking fuel at a rate I have never experienced before.
It had an exhaust leak which I had fixed and that took care of CEL and VSC light.
Currently I'm driving on 245/40r18. I should probably mention I haven't switched to summer tires yet. I will this week.

In any case,
cold weather or warm, I have noticed the cars fuel gauge go down even if I'm driving like a grandfather, which I usually am since fuel prices are 1.50/L for me these days for 91 Octane.

Imagine this is the highest octane they sell to us chumps in Canada.
While 91 octane is the standard in most places in EU?

anyways... why am I seeing the needle move on short drives or even between turning engine on and off a few times... its like the bloody V8 is a V12. I believe Ferrari's would drink at the rate I'm experiencing. In which case, time for an upgrade? Lol

I can safely say I drive like most old men do. SLOW. My accelerations are turtle like and I'll still see the needle go down within 20mi of mixed driving... I mean I've owned a Mercedes v8 5.0L e500 and I actually use to see the DISTANCE TO EMPTY the computer reads, GO UP when I treated the car nice after a fill up... I have never witnessed this in the few months I have owned this car... No matter how nice I am to the car or how slow I take it... Cruise control... nothing helps. The needle plummets and the distance to empty has YET to wow me after a fill up..

this lexus however, with 148.000KM (which is close to what my Benz had) is sucking fuel too much for it to be NORMAL for a v8. I can tell because every time I go out. If gas needle is touching one line, within 20-30mi of driving, its now lost the same amount a car would lose after 60mi of driving. Something is accelerating my gas consumption... any thoughts???

Schmexus

How much are you getting PER TANK? You can't judge by what the needle says. That's just a reference for how much fuel you have left, approximately. It's not meant to be used as a mpg calculator. Starting on an incline will make it look like your full/empty depending on how level the car is.

darinmg

I average 24.5 in my 2007 gs430. This is 80% highway and the rest mixed city. I dont drive like an old man, but also not like a teenager with a lowered civic :-) I couldn't be happier...my 1995 toyota 4 banger only got 27 driving the same mix.

lex-ative

Can you give us what your MPG or KMG actually is, for us to have an idea?

The car should give you about 18mph city and 24mph hwy on average. You can squeeze as much as 27-28MPG on long drives or as little as 15-14 mph on aggressive driving.

striderg3

i am averaging about 18-19mpg... this can't be normal?
what could be a culprit? can't just be the tires having this affect because it was just as bad in the winter also.
and now that its hotter, feels like car is using even more fuel just to idle

i think my timing belt needs changing also.. since i am past 90,000miles.
would this be causing bad gas mileage and accelerated fuel loss?

thanks for ur reples

striderg3

judging by what you've said then im getting the right gas mileage for city.
but when I'm on the highway, it doesn't get better. it keeps sucking gas like i'm driving aggressively. or like im in traffic or stop / go. even with cruise control on for 10-15miles, i see the distance to empty go down a lot more than it should...
maybe the winter tires are to blame...

Schmexus

The average isn't going to jump up to ~26 as soon as you get on the highway. There is nothing wrong with your car. You're getting the same mileage as everybody else.

dellexus

I agree with schmexus

I get similar.

Local driving 18-22mpg motorways it can go upto 28-33mpg (personally have reached 33.3mpg and does not seem to go above that)

On a full tank twice I have managed to do over 400 miles on the motorway at constant speeds of 70-80mph with no heavy right foot.

dellexus

Took this pic 2 weeks ago.

As you can see I squeezed the max out of the tank as I could.

Around 30 miles of local driving and rest is motorway miles.

For a V8 I'm in love with the fuel economy my 3GS gives compared to my previous V8's I have owned.

Also I dont fill up anything other than Shell V-Power

tbilisi79

NYC traffic, stop and go, city it's 10 mpg, on the highway it will,creep into 20 -23 range. Got 25 once.
Driving slow barely makes a difference.
I got a v 8 so I could enjoy iit, and I do. Bad mpg or not.

BinaryJay

I get 30 MPG on the highway and around 19-20 MPG in Toronto city traffic (which is 95% of my driving unfortunately lol) using my little 9 year old 3 liter. The best I've ever seen it was on a very long road trip to the middle of nowhere I got something like 36MPG.

It is going to be stopping and going that kills fuel economy particularly on the V8, once you're moving it barely has to break a sweat.

worker

V8 in the city is not good for mpg. Too many idle horse to feed. Better on highway.

here is my fuel log for 2013. I do a lot of mix driving, which is why the last one jump up to 28mpg.



I have that exhaust leak too. Too lazy to change it but no effect on mpg. Just doesn't sound right.

SLOW4DR

iTrader: (2)

I have been averaging about 22mpg on 20" wheels. I sit in traffic on the daily driving home as well.

texbanc

You might check your throttle body or filters . My 01GS 430 averaged 20 around town and 25-28 hi way and I am heavy footed. My mileage was still good when I traded it in on my 09 GS 460.

Tex

dellexus

I agree 100%

If I wanted to get good mpg i would of got myself a diesel