MX5NES350

This past week the wife and I visited Niagara Falls (CA) for our 9th. We left from our house in Lehigh Valley, PA and took a trip outside Rochester for a stop over so we weren't beat once we got to the Falls. 5 1/2 hours there and another 1 1/2 to Niagara with a stop over on Goat Island. My wife insisted she drive up since she likes driving the GX (she has a ct200h) so she did. Clocked a good many miles and were pretty damned comfy going up there. Even she, with her heavy foot, was able to squeeze 19.4 mpg's out of it for the trip. Took it on excursions around Niagara (CA) and went to a few places north of there (Niagara on the Lake, Butterfly Conservatory, wineries, etc.). Nice time there, albeit a bit more 'touristy' than what we are used to. We haven't been to a tourist trap in a LONG time. Side note - more than a few people asked what the GX was and were gazing at the interior. Ummm... Big "L" on it... model... but whatever. I think I might have made a few converts just by multiple sittings at the valet station

I drove it home and was able to get 20.7 mpg's on the way back, construction zones and all. I was, needless to say, surprised since I was usually getting around 25 mpg's on the RX which is lighter, smaller displacement, and a CUV. It seemed, at least to me, 75MPH was the sweet spot for max mpg's - YMMV. I was also pleased in how comfortable it actually was coming from the RX. It took the highway bumps quite well and, other than some massive crosswinds at various points, remained very stable and quiet for the trip. The only disappointment, since it has the aerodynamics of a brick, is the thing is a bug MAGNET when going through the farm country, which there was a lot of on the way to and from. But nothing that a good touchless car wash couldn't take care of for the most part. Got home, took it to the Lexus car wash nearby, cleaned out the interior and wiped it down with Chemical Guys products... all good, shiny, and new smelling again. In a couple of weeks I'll be detailing it to get rid of any fine scratches that are in the paint from normal w&t.

She, per her M.O., packed about 5 large bags for a 5 day trip (compared to my one medium and one small) and damn... the storage area handled that really well even without folding down the captain's chairs - I really should have taken some golf clubs in retrospect. Come our annual in-law trip to LBI in July I will use my Roof Bag. I bought that thing 5 years ago (review can be seen HERE) and it has been a great item to have since we take a couple of dogs with us that Summer week. I am getting cross bars next week since they help in securing it to the roof. I really want the hitch and I think she is thinking of that as an Xmas gift so am holding off.

I got one stone chip about half way up on the top of the left front quarter panel. Picked up some touch up paint today at the Lexus dealer (and an additional rolled blanket) and that is being taken care of tomorrow. I have the clear-bra (non-Lexus) on the entire front, 1/3 the way up the hood, matching quarter panels on the front, a-pillars, mirrors, 12 inches on above the windshield covering part of the area around the sunroof, door edges. and the door cups. I am actually surprised it took this long for a stone to find it's way past the RockGuard. It took less than a month on my old RX. With all of my PA Turnpike driving to airports when I had the non-protected ES350 I vowed never to go 'without protection' By the time my ES went through 3 years of that mess it would have cost $2,500 to get my front done in the Starfire Pearl. Ummm... no. How about I just get another car? So I got the RX new and didn't drive it off the lot without the non-Lexus company coming over to do what I wanted. And then, thanks to him doing it at the dealer, he then got a contract with my dealer for all of their vehicles (he then got contracts at the BMW, Porsche, Audi, Toyota, Volvo dealers... and more). And sure... there is a dealer mark-up if you get it done at the dealer but it protects your baby and IMHO it is worth it. I personally didn't get it done at the dealer on the GX as I was able to go directly to him for all I wanted done at a lesser cost.

Next week is a business trip to Boston so we'll see how it goes on that one I don't think I will be disappointed.

Now the wife is looking at her ct and saying that when that is paid off next July to plop some additional funds to the side and get a UX after it has a year to get the bugs out of it... as long as it is produced and on time.

Craigyyy

GX is a great road trip vehicle. Yeah surprisingly the economy isn't that bad if you're only on the highway, you can squeeze 400 miles between fuel stops.

Acrad

Thanks for posting road trip! Great to hear... I'm actually surprised of the HWY mileage of this vehicle. Heck my G35x.... barely averages 21MPG and I have already gotten 20.5MPG in the GX for something that weights like 1600lbs more. Ok... Infiniti has 5 more HP but is 61 ft-lb deficient on torque. Maybe it is because I am near sea level but getting on it the other day I believe the C&D times of 6.99/sec to 60.

tecman

Any pics of your GX on this trip MX5NES350?

Nice post

Oldmanb777

I agree, some pix would be nice. Glad you had a good trip.

MX5NES350

Sad thing is that any part of Niagara that would be a scenic pic was closed this time of year. The good parts won't open until May. I wanted to drive down to the side of the falls on the US side. Closed. OK... drive down to the falls on the CA side... closed. Only walking trails were open and even some of them were closed because it was still in the 40's and the signs read that there was some kind of icing event that closed down stairways and other tourist areas