theoryguy3

I've had my IS350 AWD for about a year now, no real complaints except the MPG is terrible. I was telling my sister about it (she owns a 2007 IS250 AWD) and she told me that her dealer told her to turn off the traction control. The reason being is that the ECT system is highly interventional and is not need under normal driving conditions, especially if you have AWD. I suspect most of us have the same problem. Below are my findings today:

ECT on for one year:





ECT turned off for one day, traveling 51 miles





That's pretty much a 6mpg jump from what I was previously getting I suspect it will improve over the next few weeks as I mainly drive 90% highway.

dizlex

That's nuts. The traction control isn't doing anything, except those rare moments when there's slippage. It's easily felt. It sure ins't coming on during your highway cruising.

theoryguy3

I actually drive very little in city normally 90-95% highway. This is day one though, I'm expected MPGs to improve but will see over the next few weeks. I suspect the people with the same vehicles getting +25mpg that I've seen on a few posts here have their ECT turned off. The other thing is if you have AWD, the ECT might be overkill (thats my theory).

anthonys2r

iTrader: (1)

Sample size is too small.. 1 year worth of driving vs 50 miles. Plus having S+ and Eco mode on the contrasting MPG's has a huge difference too.

theoryguy3

Fair point, honestly I expected maybe 10% improvement on day 1, not 31% (Eco Mode). I'm honestly hoping other people will try it out and display their results as well. I also think you underestimate how much the ECT intervenes. Additionally, I believe someone on this forum actually compared MPG ECO vs S+ and it was that huge a difference.

aha2988

lol

Lindenlea

Thanks for pointing this out-I for one appreciate any help in getting better MPG!

Swacer

Turn off traction control?

Well...whats the over/under on days until the car is wrecked?

Also, your sample size is so small. 51 miles? Heck, in the right 51 miles, I can get 30mpg out of my 6.2L. Coming from Lake Tahoe to Napa Valley, I got 51mpg in a Altima going down hill.

What you're seeing is not a real comparison.

Turn the traction control back on. You bought a 3.5L V6, accept the fact that your gas mileage will be lower.

Also, please find another dealer. No dealer should be telling someone to turn the traction control off. The traction control can be turned off for bad weather conditions, or when you really want ot have some fun with the car. If you're in neither of those situations, you should have it on.

theoryguy3

Like I said it's the first day, but the results were impressive. You're also exaggerating. The car already has AWD, don't think the car will crash anytime soon without the ECT.

ToyLexFAM

My normal 90% freeway / 10% town driving nets right at 25mpg in my 2014 AWD IS350 F Sport with traction control on. If I really work it I can squeak out 28mpg.

50/50 freeway/town nets around 22mpg.

I have never seen less than 20, and I was doing quite a bit of heavy throttle driving.

Spagolli94

I average 10-15 mpg in the city. But I live in a real city, not suburbs. When in the suburbs, I get about 17 mpg. On the highway, I get 23-25 mpg. All are well below the official ratings. And I consider my driving habits to be "normal."

bhvrdr

Your results have NOTHING to do with having your traction control off.

As you said, you have an AWD car so what that means is that there is even LESS of a likelihood that traction control is ever intervening as compared to the RWD counterparts,

In highway cruising, traction control is NEVER intervening. In order for it to intervene you would have to be on the ragged edge and losing traction/skidding out. Why would you be skidding out on your freeway cruise?

If you are driving like a racecar driver and you are taking your car past its traction limits enough to see your stability control light blinking (this would be dangerous on public roads) or if you are constantly traversing snow covered roads, then this is when your traction control/stability control is intervening.

When it does intervene (which it likely isnt for you) then what it does is REDUCE/CUT throttle and APPLY BRAKE (selectively).

What you are seeing has nothing to do with traction control. Everyone, please do not think turning off your stability control will give you better fuel economy.

Mike

Swacer

First day results are irrelavant.

You haven't factored in temperature swings, nor good quality/bad quality gas over the period of the year, you haven't factored the previous year's city:highway ratio.

Until you make a full comparison of 10k plus miles, to another year of 10k plus miles, the results are not worth the electrons used to type on this forum.

salvadorik

iTrader: (1)

I don't buy this. Very unreliable statement. I believe the difference in 5.9 MPG (24.6MPG - 18.7MPG) is primarily due to the driving in eco mode and on highway. My 3IS 350 F Sport gets around 26-27MPG on highway only. I tested it several times and it is not surprising to see 24.6MPG at all.

I am not sure how traction control reduces MPG. OP can you please explain how is it done mechanically (e.g. more fuel being pumped into engine, or is traction control constantly and slightly initiates brakes even if there is no traction loss, or what?)

byro

I've had my 3IS 350 AWD for about a month now and the fuel economy has been rather poor to say the least. I always get enjoyment trying to squeeze out ridiculous fuel economy figures in my old cars, but it hasn't been an easy task so far with the new car. My father drives a 2010 RX350 and I can usually manage 11L/100KM (21.4 MPG) per tank without much trouble.

My daily commute right now consists of 90% hwy and 10% city, but I average about 11.5L/100KM (20.5 MPG) per tank. I've had one road trip where one entire tank was driven on the highway, but I could only squeeze out 9.0L/100KM (26.1 MPG). Essentially, I'm nowhere near the 7.7L/100KM (30.5 MPG) that's advertised on the Canadian site. Mind you, all of this was driven in eco mode, where I try to make sure that green "eco" indicator remains on even when I need to accelerate/maintain speed.

I can somewhat live with the 20.5 MPG because the car is so beautiful and smooth, but it's disappointing knowing that if I try to drive even slightly more aggressively or use the Sport+ mode, I'll be driving that figure even further south.