Lj12

any fellow canadians here? i'm curious to see what everyone is getting on their CT

i have about 2500km on it and am using about 6.4-6.5 l/100km, about 80% is city driving.

kind of disappointed with this, i was hoping to be around the 5ish range. i've been driving eco mode 95% of the time.

i'm new to hybrids, so does EV mode only work with speeds 40km and bellow?

does anyone get a weird cranking noise during startup? is this normal?? i've had this happen a few times probably 5 in total. i get this weird sound when i turn on the car, it sounds like something is being forced to turn the opposite direction.

prosperity

Lj12: Don't mean to tell you how to suck eggs, but why don't you ask your Lexus dealer? Things may be different in Canada, but my Lexus dealer in Adelaide, South Australia - including the service manager - will do ANYTHING to assist.

hdave

The dealers will probably keep telling him to "wait til 5k" then your mileage will increase.
They try their best to avoid anything related to mileage for hybrids, because it heavily depends on your driving style.



I'm also a Canadian (but I'm in the GTA)
I was also getting mileage in the 6s, but it got much better after just about 1k.
I think it might just be your driving style

Here's a few of my tips:
- you can set the little computer display to show instantaneous fuel economy, I love seeing this so I can usually adjust my driving to be as fuel efficient as possible quickly
- Sport mode actually saves gas, don't believe me? Try it for a few tanks.
- I turned off the tach, so even in sport mode I can see the eco guage
- NOTE once the eco guage needle passes the middle, the gas engine will turn on
- your economy will be crappier on short trips because the gas engine does not have enough time to warm up, when the engine is warmed up, it will turn off more often

- turn off the climate control if possible, i noticed that the gas engine will more readily turn off when climate control is off

- accelerate very lightly (with eco needle just at the middle) so you stay in EV mode until about 20km/h (or more if you can without pissing anyone off)
- then you can accelerate quicker, despite what you think, accelerating slowly is not most efficient, it is when you are at the range where you produce maximum torque

- if driving where the limit is below 70km/h, you can get to 70km/h and ease off the gas so the EV mode kicks in, and then gently give it gas so your car stays in EV mode
- Note, it is difficult for the CT to maintain this speed, so your speed might slowly decrease on level or uphill climbs

- on the highway, always try to increase your speed while going downhill, and slow slightly while going uphill (but please don't do this when there are lots of cars around because they will just be annoyed)

- stop and go, try to keep it in EV as much as possible, who cares if some people get annoyed, there is no point in letting the gas engine turn on if you are just going to stop again in 50 meters

- look far ahead, if you suspect a red light coming up, ease off the gas so you don't waste gas getting to a stop
- try to drive on streets with less traffic, so you can use this fuel efficient driving style without bugging other people

hdave

Also, can anyone else chime in with fuel saving tips? Maybe we can combine them all and post a sticky?

prosperity

A friend of mine asked his optician - a really old guy - whether throw-away contact lenses were environmentally friendly. "Stuff the environment, young man", he said, "consider your lifestyle". And so it is with petrol economy.

almario

very good proffesional advice, changed driving habbits, monitor the speed and throttle, PATIENCE,give way, accept and get use to it, this is a different way of driving if you want to get more mpg. for me, I define the personality of the person whose driving the vehicle when their driving, not all but thats my experience.