jerrykam

Folks I just completed a vacation trip (Colo Springs to San Diego) round trip mileage was approximately 2300 miles. Route included freeway and secondary roads. Driving speed was set at 80mph when ever possible. During the drive it was not uncommon to drive several hours at 80mph on cruise control. The vehicle had 5000 on it at the start of the trip. Mileage was very consistent under the following conditions:

80MPH A/C Off 28.0 MPG
80MPH A/C On 27.5 MPG

I estimated the vehicle load (driver, passenger and all the vacation stuff ) to be 500lbs

The vehicle is stock with the exception of the muffler which has been replaced by two super turbo mufflers and running Mobile 1 5w30 synthetic oil.

I'm curious if anyone else has experinced gas mileage in this range.

Jerry K.

MagusFuria

wow, thats awesome gas mileage compared to mine. I get about 20 mpg, but most of my driving is on local roads. I'm hoping to do another NY to Cali road trip in the summer with the SC instead of my sister's RX3. If your pulling 27mpg thats goods news for me =)

As far as others I dont think anyone has reached your mpg that I know of. Try a search in the forum as I recall a thread about SC gas mileage awhile ago. hope this helps =)

Jesse

mmarshall

Part ( but not all ) of your good mileage can be explained by three things:

1. The small difference between the AC-off and AC-on is due to the SC430's high power and torque and the efficient Lexus state-of-the-art AC compressor. The 4.3L V8 has so much power that you can run at a low throttle setting most of the time, and the AC drag on this engine is minimal.

2. The synthetic oil adds, on the average, about 1 MPG.

3. Your mufflers cut down on the back pressure and help the engine run more efficiently.

dmizock

Add to the variables MMarshall outlined above, wind direction and speed. Even with a low coefficient of drag, the SC (or any vehicle for that matter) will get better mileage with a 30 mile per hour tailwind than going into a headwind. The difference could be as much as 2 to 3 mpg or more.

I recently drove from Knoxville, TN to San Diego. My overall average for the 2,250 mile trip was 25.9 mpg at 76.1 mph. The vast majority of the trip was highway with a small amount of local driving included in the mix. The a/c was on and the Mark Levinson stereo was playing loudly the whole trip (to drown out the noise from the run flats)! I was quite pleased.

drjsienko

NICE MILEAGE, LIVIING HERE IN NEW ENGLAND BETWEEN THE HILLS AND TRAFFIC I HAVE NEVER SEEN ANYTHING BUT 22 OR SO EVEN HITTING THE OPEN ROAD TO BOSTON .
HEY TELL ME MORE ABOUT YOUR MUFFLER SYSTEM. GOOD SOUND? TOO LOUD?
GOT ANY INFO ON THE PARTICULARS.

Jayson

Your gas mileage results are incredible! The best I have ever gotten on my SC400 is 26mpg on I-35 running from Dallas to Austin.

Joe Peters

The best gas milage I have seen is 23.5 and that was
resetting it for a full tank and straight onto the Interstate.
I have 42000 miles on my 2002 sc430. I was driving
75-80 mph. Is something wrong?

SpeadRacer

best I've ever gotten is 25 mpg driving from Illinois to Georgia when I picked-up my car last year (spring).
around town I'm averaging 21-22 city and/or highway, with or w/o A/C and/or with or w/o top up or down.

I am very pleased with it, especially when compared with my tank of a Range Rover or Porsche.

MarsB007

UMM... how do you guys get such great gas mileage? I get 15.5 on average in the city!!! Is everyone here driving on the highway?

RodF

I second that motion. 16 tops. But lots of city driving.

SpeadRacer

gee guy's...

don't really know what to tell you...

I'm currently getting 21.7 mpg, and am only driving around town.
I live and work in the city (assuming you can call Savannah GA. a city...)


and... I'm also running on two (left) tyres both with leaks from new home construction...

I guess I'd better make an appointment for Friday... I'm getting tired of filling them up every other day.

well, sorry I can't be much help... but, have you asked your local dealer(s)...?

MarsB007

maybe i have a lead foot... gotta stop taking off from lights everytime!

SpeadRacer

is an SC430 considered a true 'Sports Car'...?

if it is, then your probably driving it properly and getting appropriate mileage.

but, if it isn't a true sports car... then maybe driving like a Granny might be recommended and considered.


ha ha ha...

I don't drive use the freeway(s) much... except on weekends... so, I try and drive less aggressively to save on gas.
I also try and drive the SC430 as much as possible... especially with the higher gas prices these day's.

The Porsche, Jaguar and RANGE ROVER all are gas guzzlers...


but, with that said... even my 'Callaway' edition 4.6 Range Rover gets about 15-17mpg.

so, try taking the brick off the pedal and let me know if that helps...?

reset your mpg and let me know after a day or two... now, I'm curious.

Seattle SCone

Probably too much a generalization here. My wife's Porsche Boxster routinely puts in about 33 miles per gallon, much better than my SC430 ever does even on the open road. The Boxster is actually quite a fuel conservative car despite what most people mistakenly assume.

SpeadRacer

hum...
me, I have a Porsche RUF C-4... solely a 'track car', so, I won't even mention fuel economy...


but the boxter huh... I considered a Boxter S... but bought the SC430 for the girlfriend to use... she looks so good driving it with the top down... I wanted a hard-top convertible and I really like the idea of having run flats (RF) for her... call it peace-of-mind, which the SL500 didn't offer back in '02.

I'm a worrier... so, the RF were one less thing to worry about.