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I love my little RX 2000 AWD
I do not however love my gas mileage I drive all city, always and get around 14 MPG
the car runs fine
Im not looking to improve the MPG really as theres not much to do..
I know if I had wanted good city MPG i shoulda gotten a mini cooper or mazda 3
but I wont give up my visibility or AWD or towing ability for MPG
I get about 190 Miles on a tankful
thats too little for me to always be running to the gas station..and why is it when I add 2 Gallons to the tank the Gas Guage goes up almost 1/4 of the way..on a 17 gallon tank thats wrong.. I wish we had DTE gauges.
Anyone thought about getting someone to expand the gas tank somehow to like say 20-24 Gallons? Id be willing to put in more at the pump to worry about if I have enough gas or not for this simple trip.
i get about 18 MPG on the highway by the way.

Any suggestions?
I use 93 octane gas and everything on my car is clean and redone for its 90K checkup and such with new spark plugs to and wheels are fine.

I literally have friends with pickup trucks that get better MPG then my little small awd SUV
By the way I constantly am playing the throwing game with popping into neutral when i drive so i can coast and save gas..My car does Not coast more then a few yards before feeling likes its pulled back..i hate it but I love the AWD feature.
tried a comparison with a Volvo 850 turbo vs mine on a flat field going 40 MPH and letting go off the gas at the same time, the volvo went a whole 50 yards farther then mine did without having to shift into N
other RX owners around here have the problem to

Anyway, anyone found a solution to getting more Miles out of their RX?
190 miles on a tank is sad to me when my accord buddies whine about not getting 600 on a tank. thats apples to grapes though.

-Pat

bob2200

In general, I seem to recall that extra gasoline tanks were popular in the US along the Mexican border, where people would drive down to Mexico to fill up a lot cheaper than in the US. I seem to recall they used trunk space for the tanks and of course the extra weight will reduce MPG even further. I think I was reading about this back when I had a diesel car, so maybe this was more popular with diesel cars.

Since you're doing city driving, you certainly don't have the problem of not having gasoline stations handy for refills. At about 8 pounds/gal., you'd be saving about 80 pounds if you only filled up to half a tank (i.e., ran between almost empty and half-full). In the winter, there would be a reason to keep the tank more full to prevent condensation.

Are your tires inflated high enough? I run mine at about 32 psi.

bkr300

im happy to hear im not the only one getting 14. how often do you have to fill up?

Privacy

Your for sure not the only one getting 14 mpg..
my father whos a car guy says its just how i drive but thats BS..even with cruise control and doing granny starts taking forever to get to my speed and keeping my rpms under 2000 i still get 14 or 15
I will look into getting maybe an extra 5 gallons or so added it seems like a good idea if I ever want to use this car for trips
I fill up once a week, maybe twice if i drive allot..
Its the one downfall of this car
its driving me insane that i cannot accurately tell how much gas I have left in any way shape or form
Ive found out the hard way when My gas Light comes on I have MAYBE 4 Gallons left..To bad I cant do an aftermarket DTE setup in my car

I drive alone in my car with no cargo. Im 170 pounds, the car just seems like its got so much weight it has to motivate.
I keep my tires at 31 psi

Its so bad for me I have been looking for other cars to sell this for..I just cant find any other SUV with this quality for the price..I paid about 9 Grand used for it 2 months ago and its the best deal on a car with this level of luxury and quality I could get
anything smaller like a RAV4 or CRV cant tow worth a dime. and is built like crap IMHO and anything bigger gets the same or worse MPG..

I have had some fun with this car so far...Xenon headlight upgrade..installed a 600 watt JBl 12 inch sub..new Hankook 16 inch all terrain tires and such
Compared to the BMW X5 and MDX Id take this guy anyday, The funky style has grown on me and Ill someday go to an RX330

My only hope I keep thinking why its this bad is MAYBE its a brake rubbing a little I could get fixed..but thats just wishful thinking and I think my brakes are fine..

bkr300

i drive fairly hard and still get 14. altough i do have FWD so that makes up for a little

carguy07

Wow! I get 17-18 and drive 95% city with AWD. How low does yours go if you drive aggressively?

salimshah

Here is a comprehensive list [please add].


Drag:
How is the free roll?
Brakes dragging? [Have the fluid replaced/flushed ..The release of brakes depends upon fluid flowing back freely]

Tires/wheels:
Alignment (abnormal tire wear).
Inflation (although answered .. listed here for completeness)
Tire treads? [Is the tire pattern all-weather]

Engine:
Air filter.
MAF [have it cleaned.]

Driving habits:
Gas - brakes, or coast and gradual start.
Warm-up idle.
Drag ... SuV profile and you rapidly consume more gas as the speed goes up [ex: the rate of gas used in much more for 5mph change 75-80mph vs 55-60mph

Load:
Extra weight that can be left at home.
Extra electrical load.



Environment: [users may have little control]
Terrain
Head wind
Long stops and short go.


Salim

Privacy

HA HA!!
when I drive mine HARD like a sports car and I do it more often then not simply because..well..its a great car
I get around 13-12, shockingly not far from when Im normal.
thats with very hard takeoffs pedal to the metal take offs racing the guy in the bmw next to me kinda deal though so not to bad actually.

always funny to beat them and be in my little SUV.. ( drive safe kids!! )

just wish It was better fuel wise when I am driving like my grandmother.

Free roll is terrible unless in N
brakes aren't dragging

tires are properly aligned
and right pressure
and Tire tread is New and all weather

Air filter brand new and MAF sensor JUST cleaned at 90K


I give it a minute to warm up
I coast whenever possible, so much so my friends think I drive a stick shift going from neutral to drive so much and coasting
We dont have much wind here..and I dont go much above 40 MPH..

extra load? ZERO just me
extra electrical juice? only when I run my sub..and my headlights stay off almost always...

terrain? nah I have no control but its all flat here.
no wind.
nothing

I feel like I could drive a hummer and get better MPG the way I can drive conservatively..maybe our engines arent sized right for the car and the AWD really sucks...
Pretty much the only time my car is useful for what it is , is when I take it off road
and Mark my words, Im the only Lunatic in the area who takes a 45,000$ lexus OFF ROAD and it actually does very well ill say though the suspension is a little mushy and I could use more ground clearance and It does a Great job towing as well.

salimshah

How about open road driving? Does you mpg register lot better using cruise? On a down hill 9may be difficult if your terrain is flat, do you get 100mpg on the instantaneous display settings?

I am looking for clues ..

Did the poor mpg happen after certain point, like the 90k service or you have had the same mpg ever since the odo showed close to "0" miles.

How long the brake pads last for you?

Have you jacked up each wheel to see if they spin easyly and smoothly [free roll check].

If you do go off roading, is the ubderbody all clean?

Try removing fuse for 20mins or so [to reset the ecu] .. you will loose seat settings and radio presets.

Then reset your mpg display and lets see what gets registered.

Salim
With rush hour traffic [city] and hills, I was averaging 18.7 mpg, but after air filter and MAF cleanup, I am getting 19.4 ... averaged over couple of months. Mine is a FWD.

MuayThai13

Wow, I thought mine was bad,

I'm getting used to it, so I try to keep my average at about 12.5L/100 kms
from the tank I get about 450kms (279 miles), and that's with 80 city

ps. need to change air filter

blueridge

My AWD is usually 18.5 MPG with about 70% highway. I've seen it as low as 17 when I'm about 50% highway but I usually don't drive it less than 50% highway. On road trips with about 95% plus highway I usually see 23 MPG.

I did take a 1 MPG hit when going to a P235 tire, but gained a little back when I had to change out the knock sensors. I also see a 1 MPG gain by using German Castrol oil but I've been doing an AutoRX treatment and have been using dino 5-30.

Privacy

Ive tired jacking it up and all the wheels move freel

Its been this way ever since I bought it..Brake pads are fine and I check the rotors, they barely even get warm so They dont rub and there is plenty life left

I can get 18 MPG on pure highway

I have taken the battery out to reset the ECU for 20 minutes on many times..it does not good to help me out
though I hear it somehow learns your driving habbits and adjusts for them

270 miles on one tank would be amazing for me. really.
im 100% city driving and most dont ever do that..

The underbody is completely clean, I wash the car under and all over everytime I go offroading, takes a good hour but I have the sense of mind my car is not harmed by my foolishness on the weekends.

On a down hill yes I get 100 MPG

FWD seems to be the big factor here vs my AWD

they did go in and change the spark plugs at the 90K..allong with the other services
Before they changed the spark plugs the car would start and instantly idle at 750 RPM
very quiet. very nice.
after they changed them out, the car revs up to 1300 RPM sounds like a Fairly loud peice of Junk car for about 5 minutes then idles at 800 RPM or so after its warmed up..I hate it and dont know why the change But I got better gas before this happened about 16 to 17 mpg . They all say its normal and its the car getting itself warmed up and ready but It never ever did that before...
what at the 90K service would cause this change..

any ideas? thats the ONLY thing I can think of..

habeeb89

iTrader: (3)

I am actually not surprised at all with the real world MPG's you are getting, I average around 16 in the city. This is with nothing but Shell V-Power (93 octane), car has new air filter and fluids.

lexus114

Pbeaugrand, instead of adding a bigger gas tank,I would try to figure out why the RX is only getting 14mpg.

salimshah

Maybe just maybe we have the culprit.
You could be getting more gas into the engine on the idle side.
Is there slack in the throttle cable [Lexmex on occasions has suggested removing the slack by threading out the sleeve, to increase throttle response ... I am suggesting you go the other way to test and have 1/8"~1/4" slack].
Once the cable is out of the picture, we need to clean out/replace IACV valve and confirm all vacuum lines are good including PCV valve. Since you are loosing dollars out of the exhaust, you may like to have your RX hooked upto advanced diagnostic [not a low cost OBDII reader, pay Lexus if you have to]. Typically the shops will not touch the fuel system (idle etc) due to emission issues. They will either say it is "normal" or replace one sensor after another.

By the way at 90k, the plugs are not replaced unless the owner asks for them.

Beyond this, I am running out of ideas. You may like to hunt down a trained Lexus/Toyota mechanic. Some times they are sitting board in the Lexus shops, looking for a challenge. This may be it. So set up an appointment, through your service rep.

Salim