BillJoeBob

Tires can make a huge difference on MPG. If the tires you put on are on the higher performance side your fuel economy will suffer.

DaveGS4

iTrader: (2)

Not just the tires themselves, but the correct tire inflation can make a big difference.

NyCrAzY

What do you guys set your tires PSI to?

I'm not quite sure if my O2 sensors are bad or not ... anyway to tell? No CEL triggered.

GS4_Fiend

iTrader: (22)

35-38 depends on the tire.

GS4_Fiend

iTrader: (22)

Are you sure you cleaned the 2 hot wire, not the long needle which is the IAT.

NyCrAzY

I have BF Goodrich Long Trail tires (225's) and set the psi to 38.

And yes, I used the CRC cleaner and cleaned the MAF throughly including the hot wire.

BillJoeBob

Below is your tire compared to other tires. Second to last column is rolling resistance. I've found this rating to be accurate. The best tires I ever owned were a set of Michelin X-radial that consumer reports rated as a best buy. They were truly all around awesome tires and their rolling resistance was good. I have been a Michelin fan ever since. BTW this is just a couple of clips from the whole list. Your tire did not come in second to last but rather midway down.

jbl-1985

Well you have a lot of great suggestions from everyone here...frankly I don't envy you the problem you have. With everything you've done I'd be left scratching my head too. Do keep us posted as to what you do and if it has any positive affect on your mileage. FWIW, I get around 23 on the highway, and that's as good as it gets for me. The only way I get better mileage is if I am going downhill for an extended period of time...driving from Flagstaff to Phoenix hell I thought I was driving my Prius...well, not really. Good luck.

NyCrAzY

Thanks everybody for your suggestions. I am still averaging 13-15 mpg.

- I always fill up $20 ($3.99 per gallon) and I only get 68 miles before the low fuel light goes off. Which equals 13.6 gallons. But I should also note my job is only 2 miles and always city driving. But I will make a road trip to Baltimore which is 2 hours away from my house which consists of Interstate I-495 & I-95 so I will also report back reports from that trip soon in a week or so.

Also, my struts need to be changed. But I highly doubt that affects gas mileage, does it? (178k miles and still original 4 struts).

AND -

I don't know if it's just me but I feel like each time I step on my brakes, all the stopping force is coming from the front and not a lot of help from the rear. My front brakes are fairly new (5 months old) oppose to my rear which will need to be changed soon (probably good for another 7 months or so) ... so is that something that can be affected my gas mileage too?

hypervish

I think the two mile trip is really killing your mpg. The car runs' real rich and wastes a lot of gas when driving very short distances because it tries to warm up faster. I honestly think this is why your MPG is really bad, nothing mechanical is wrong with your car ( i don't think...lol).

The struts will effect mpg, but not by much, probably not more than a .2 mpg diff.

The RX has a front brake bias, meaning mostly the front brake's do the work. Also, the front end dipping more than the rear may be more noticeable in your case due to your struts needing to be replaced.

One more thing, that isn't really related to mpg is that since your driving consists of very short city trips, make sure you are changing your oil on time because the scenario you drive in makes it even more prone to sludge.

ski2days

fyi- Just drove 4000 mile vacation in 2002 4wd rx300.
125 total miles. New plugs, new filters, 33lbs air in Michelin LTX
Averaged 22mpg.( readout is about 1mpg higher than actual gal/miles figure when i fill up).at 60-65mpg.
Down to 19+ Avg at 75 mpg.

Never used the power mode except for braking on long downgrades.


overall Ave. about 19 mix.
overall Average about 17in pure town.

No change 87octane vs, 89. I use chevron or shell or off brand.

salimshah

When you travel longer distance, keep in mind that SUV has a large drag ... ie as you gain speed, the drag goes up and lots of gas is spent in overcoming the drag.

RX does fairly well between 60 and 65 mph. In 70's is starts getting poor mpg and above 80 you will get around 15mpg.

Salim

NyCrAzY

May I ask this though -

On a low fuel light last Friday, I filled up $20 (5 gallons) and the line was barely below the halfway mark.

And now (Monday night), I traveled 58 miles in total since my fill up from Friday and I got the low gas light.

Please tell me there must be a.problem ... I know I make short trips of 5 miles or less each time I start the engine but I feel like filling up $20 every 3 days is horrible.

NyCrAzY

Ive come to a conclusion that it is either -

My rear brakes

Or

All 4 struts

Or

Bad O2 sensor

But is there anyway to tell if I have a bad O2 sensor or not? Since I have no CEL light.

2002RX300

These might help: https://www.clublexus.com/forums/rx-...t-low-mpg.html

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