whats your mpg on RX450h?
05-05-14, 08:43 AM
#616
No, I don't play soccer!
Here in central coastal California, we don't have to cope with harsh winters like the one you just endured. But my solution for cold mornings (i.e. temps in the 40s) is to use the seat heater when I first start the car. That way I don't rely on the ICE to keep me warm right off the starting block. Once the ICE warms up there seems to be enough ambient heat coming off the engine to warm the cabin, even without actually activating climate control. Keeping the air flow on recirculation also helps. I know that this strategy won't help much if it's really frigid outside and stays that way all day. But it could prove useful at times in other climes. One thing I've found to be of no use is seat-cooling in hot weather. All that seems to do is drain the battery faster.
05-05-14, 09:44 AM
#617
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05-05-14, 02:05 PM
#619
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I was never expecting to get anywhere near the high 20s mpg, I was hoping for something more along the lines of 20mpg in a 450h, that would be an absolute DREAMMMMM come true for me, and would at least justify the increased purchase cost. It would be silly of me to buy a hybrid if we got the same mpg as we get with a non hybrid. I think our 350 gets close to 15mpg in the summer and only 11mpg in the winter. Back to the drawing board...................
Last edited by euroja153; 05-05-14 at 02:11 PM.
05-05-14, 02:56 PM
#620
Just averaged 28.3 mpg on our 350-mile road trip from the SF Bay Area to Squaw Valley CA. Not as good as the 29.1 mpg on our Carmel CA trip, but then we didn't have a 6600 ft-elevation gain to deal with. But VERY HAPPY that we got home with a 1/4 tank of gas to spare (gas in Truckee CA and Tahoe City was $4.75/gal).
Last edited by cflutist; 05-06-14 at 09:58 AM.
05-05-14, 03:21 PM
#621
No, I don't play soccer!
I was never expecting to get anywhere near the high 20s mpg, I was hoping for something more along the lines of 20mpg in a 450h, that would be an absolute DREAMMMMM come true for me, and would at least justify the increased purchase cost. It would be silly of me to buy a hybrid if we got the same mpg as we get with a non hybrid. I think our 350 gets close to 15mpg in the summer and only 11mpg in the winter. Back to the drawing board...................
05-05-14, 03:23 PM
#622
No, I don't play soccer!
Just averaged 28.3 mpg on our 350-mile road trip from the SF Bay Area to Squaw Valley CA. Not as good as the 29.1 mpg on our Carmel CA trip, but then we didn't have a 6600 ft-elevation gain to deal with. But VERY HAPPY that we got home with a 1/4 tank of gas to spare (gas is Truckee CA and Tahoe City was $4.75/gal).
05-05-14, 04:08 PM
#623
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On the other hand, once out of the Tahoe Basin and over Donner Summit, you had a 6,600-ft. vertical drop to the Central Valley, most likely with the ICE off most of the way -- meaning that most of the energy you invested on the way up, you got back on the way down. The same principle would apply in skiing, only in that case the energy input comes from the chairlift (for which you paid, of course; and it was probably more expensive per mile traveled than driving your Lexus hybrid to Tahoe). And by the way, how was the skiing?
05-05-14, 04:37 PM
#624
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05-05-14, 05:12 PM
#625
We just completed a 460 mile return leg from Manhattan Beach Ca to Green Valley Ca and averaged 28.4 mpg mostly freeway driving and thanks to my brother in law we did it using regular 87 octane gas.
05-05-14, 06:38 PM
#626
On the other hand, once out of the Tahoe Basin and over Donner Summit, you had a 6,600-ft. vertical drop to the Central Valley, most likely with the ICE off most of the way -- meaning that most of the energy you invested on the way up, you got back on the way down. The same principle would apply in skiing, only in that case the energy input comes from the chairlift (for which you paid, of course; and it was probably more expensive per mile traveled than driving your Lexus hybrid to Tahoe). And by the way, how was the skiing?
No skiing, this was a concert tour where we performed Beethoven's Ninth Symphony with the Truckee-Tahoe Community Chorus at the Squaw Creek Resort in Squaw Valley CA (site of the 1960 Winter Olympics).
Can't wait for our next big road trip to Yellowstone National Park at the end of May. Will really put some miles on the car then. Just checked the odometer reading, we have 1591 miles on the car and it will be 4 months old in 2 days, so that is about 400 miles per month.
So like wine, are you guys saying that our mileage should improve with age?
05-05-14, 09:49 PM
#627
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05-06-14, 04:22 AM
#628
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Our 350 is AWD. FWD is not offered in Canada.
I think we will still go with the hybrid for our next car as many say fuel economy isnt the only joy about owning one. I hope to come back to this forum one day to report 20mpg numbers.
I think we will still go with the hybrid for our next car as many say fuel economy isnt the only joy about owning one. I hope to come back to this forum one day to report 20mpg numbers.
05-06-14, 07:40 AM
#629
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I'm a little over a year in on a 2012 450h AWD and I'm averaging 24.5 mpg. We do a lot of short trips to and from school and this really kills the mileage. Cold winter weather pulls the mileage down by about 5 or 6 mpgs as well. I get about 19 mpg in the cold months here in Atlanta.
