MikeP

Took my LS in for its 10,000 mile service this morning and noticed a lower EPA gas mileage estimate on the stickers of several new GS's. The original estimate for the GS300 was (I think) 22/30. The revised estimate was 20/27, a pretty significant difference. Anybody else notice this? What's the reason?

Mike

my06GS300

The hwy mileage of the GS300 is specified as 30 mpg. I did not notice the 27 mpg reclassification.

I wanted to test Lexus’ claim of 30 mpg for hwy. I drew from LA to Las Vegas ( last weekend)
Here are the conditions:
- Car just passed the 15k service and it is in perfect condition.
- Full tank of premium unleaded gas just before entering the freeway in LA and the same in Las Vegas.
- Driving distance 280 miles each way
- 4 adults sitting in the car ( The GS is a 5 passenger car )
- perfect driving condition, driving with traffic, no speeding over 85 mph, average speed 65 mph
- Using 6 gear most of the time
- My driving was OPTIMIZED for best gas performance minimizing any unnecessary breaking or acceleration, keeping good distance from cars in front of me.
- A/C running but the temperature in the car and the ambient about the same
- I have over 32 years ( about 800,000 miles) of driving experience with really light foot and consider myself a GOOD DRIVER

Results:
LA to Las Vegas – 28.8 mpg
Las Vegas to LA – 29.4 mpg
Average mileage – 29.1 mpg

(Las Vegas is in higher elevation than LA)

The 29.1 mpg is a very good mileage. However, it is not 30 mpg! The 30 mpg is a misrepresentation of truth. Maybe somewhere on a car track, but not in real life and not on AVERAGE. The 29.1 mpg is only about 3% from the 30mpg claim and I am sure that if I would be the only passenger in the car with clear objective to get a 30mpg results and driving in the middle of the night with 55 mph speed that I would do it. Car manufacturers are getting away with the manufacture friendly standards and test methods. The 30 mpg AVERAGE hwy claim is not substantiated. If Lexus changed the mileage to 27 mpg it is just the admitting the reality and the truth!

XeroK00L

Hmm wonder why the change...did EPA recently change their test procedure or what?

Thanks to my06GS300 for the real-world report. From your report, I think 30mpg hwy mileage is a very legitimate one and definitely reproduceable with less passengers.

My '02 ES300 on the other hand has never achieved nearly the 21/29 EPA mileage. The best I've achieved with strict highway driving, no passenger and minimal load is about 27mpg. And in my regular mixed driving I almost always get less than 20mpg.

MikeP

This morning I saw one GS300 with the 22/30 EPA mileage sticker and several with the 20/27 sticker. The cars were on the lot of Sterling McCall Lexus in Houston. I had to look twice because I was always impressed with the 3GS300's gas mileage. If the revised mileage is more accurate, it's only 2 mpg more than the GS430 and LS430.

Mike

costanza

My '06 GS300 has 3500 miles and we got 31.6 mpg on a recent 300 mile trip w/ 2 adults & 2 kids, cruise set on 80mph

JHStrange

I'm guessing that the EPA tests are not hitting 85mph and probably average 60mph. It's amazing what a few MPH can do to the mileage.

Fusion400

ive been able to get 30mpg quite a few times using cruise and travelling strictly on the freeway.

kb2yza

not sure but just an Idea...We aren't comparing AWD with RWD are we?

XeroK00L

Ahh hahahahaha.... ROFL thanks, good job kb2yza!!

Now I need to hit some wall for being fooled by this trick question.

MikeP

Good question...........Since the cars I saw were in Houston, I didn't think about AWD. This is from the Lexus website: "Estimated fuel consumption: 22/30 mpg city/highway (RWD), 21/27 mpg city/highway (AWD)." I remembered seeing 20/city, but it's possible it was 21. I should know better than to trust either my eyes or worse, my memory.

my06GS300

XEROKOOL,
You did not get my poit. Just because you reach (with all the driving tricks ) the 30mpg, this does not justify to print it on the sticker! The 30mpg is NOT justified and not correct ( in my view).
Again, I am not saying that the mileage is not good. What I am saying: that it is overstated.

GFerg

I remember a post from probably a while back that some members here actually got better than the claimed 30mpg, with similar driving conditions. I could be wrong though. Have to find the thread.

trent

My 06 GS300 has been getting around 26.5mpg in city traffic, I have about 3,400 miles on it. Haven't really taken the car on a road trip yet, but I'm very satisfied with the fuel mileage.

hziemba

I have an 11 mile trip 5 days a week, with a mile in a residential section, a 2 mile stretch of highway with 4 lights - usually pretty well sync'd, followed by 8 miles of interstate that moves at 65-70. WIth that kind of driving, I average 23 MPG for the week.

On a long trip (like 100+ miles), I get 27-28. If the whole tank is spent on a single trip (i.e. only 1 warmup phase), I should get 29, perhaps even the 30 if I kept a constant 55.

It's that "driving while warming up" that pulls the number down. As best I can tell, it takes about 3 miles to warm up, during which I'm getting about 15 MPG, so I guess one can do the math to see what one would get for a certain kind of driviing.

I don't drive the car "hard", or cruise at 80, either of which would certainly pull the overall gas mileage down.

I've never had much faith in the EPA numbers, though I think they're good for comparing cars, because they are all run on the same cycle. I think it would be a safe bet that the 430 gets 2-3 MPG less, under the same driving conditions.

costanza

Tricks? The 30 mpg is for HIGHWAY driving, where many people use cruise set to 70 or above. I already posted where I got OVER 30 mpg with cruise set to 80 over a distance of about 300 miles on the highway. We also get 25 mpg or better around town.