I’m sorry, I just don’t believe an outrageous claim like 39 mpg. An RX 450h is not capable of that much efficiency. I would believe 30 mpg, but I have never come close to that myself. I would be happy with a consistent 26 mpg. Today, I have been bouncing between 23 - 24 mpg in combined driving. I have also found that a vehicle’s built in computer is almost always off at least .5 to 2 mpg per tank. Have you done manual calculations? I also use an app called “Fuelly” & it will calculate your mileage at each fill up & the RX never exactly matches. Usually, the RX is saying the mpg is higher than Fuelly’s calculation. They also have database of other RX 450h owners across the USA & their average mpgs. No one is getting 39 mpg.

 

39 mpg (~6.0L/100km for us canuck folks) doesn't seem too outlandish under ideal conditions. Mobob's "mostly backroads driving without traffic" would definitely rank as one of the best ways to hyper-mile if you can take it easy and stay on the battery most of the time. I myself have seen 5.8L/100km (~40 mpg) on my 450h in similar conditions (alas, only on a short trip to a quieter part of town under perfect conditions); so if his/her daily commute is mostly that, 37-39 mpg per tank wouldn't surprise me too much.

Unfortunately, most regular folks aren't lucky enough to have that kind of commute regularly; so the mileage for the 450h can really vary wildly. Fwiw, my last few tanks now that the weather has gotten warmer (and possibly summer gas blend rolling out) has been consistently around 7.1L/100km (~33 mpg) according to the trip computer and pretty much bang-on if calculating manually.

 

Mobob is the ONLY person on this app that is getting crazy good mileage on just 3 tanks, in the winter, on winter fuel, on a vehicle not yet broken in - very suspect!

 

To be fair, there are a few factors that are very much in Mobob's favour over the past few weeks:

- https://www.timeanddate.com/weather/...-york/historic. Weather the past 2 weeks in NY has been mostly > 50F / 12C and clear weather, which is near perfect conditions for hybrid mileage. I think winter conditions should be pretty much over in that region.
- If we look at Mobob's individual tank entries, s/he has driven 470 miles in one week, mostly in the city. That's quite a lot of miles compared to the other users, and if it's all long, slow drives where the ICE doesn't even need to warm up much, 40+ mpg is certainly possible.

It's hard to judge just by 1 or 2 tanks, as even on the fuelly site, there were a couple of users who have reported the occasional high 30s/40 mpg per tank if you drill into their detailed fill-up history. If you're able to run on batteries quite often, engine break-in is not quite that big a factor. I was already getting the equivalent of 33 mpg on my very first tank after driving off the lot.

 

Are the battery packs the same in the 19's? Did Lexus bump them up? I haven't researched yet, might look into that.

I've gotten high 30's but only for like one leg of my commute which I know drops about 500' in elevation over 23 miles. But then I have to come home and it settles back to low 30's. I'm not sure what kind of conditions you'd need to get 40 over a full tank. Even if it were perfectly flat and you could maximize EV mode, the engine has to come on eventually. Would be quite a feat.

 

Battery packs should be identical in the 19's.

One caveat I have after looking at Mobob's two tanks on fuelly is that the fillup is only at 9 and 10 gallons. That sounds pretty low, and could be prone to error due to the pump (different pumps can top off at different points), so the manual calculations may not tell the full story of how much gas was actually used in the week. Mobob did mention that his/her on board reading was in the 37-39 mpg range, which sounds more realistic compared to 43-44mpg.

The only time I've ever seen the 5.8L/100km (40 mpg) on mine was after a fillup one time, and then spent the next couple of hours on some back country roads with a few low undulating hills where ICE activation was very minimal. If Mobob never has to go into an urban area with traffic lights and hard acceleration, that's the only way I can see a complete tank being at 40+ mpg.

 

I still don’t believe any of it. Toyota is not known for stellar fuel economy in many of its best sellers. The Tundra is at the very bottom of the heap. The Tacoma gets terrible fuel mileage for a small pickup. Toyota builds mostly reliable & comfortable vehicles. My 6.2L V-8 Camaro beats my RX in highway mpg and it only has 2500 miles on it.

 

I can't imagine that you are able to get that kind of mileage. Are you re-setting BOTH of your mileage calculators each time you fill up? If you don't, then your MPG will be skewed. If you are truly getting that kind of mileage, I'd like to know what kind of 'regular' gas you're using. And, you should probably let Lexus know about the exceptional MPG.

 

Gadgetman1, I just want to say that you're one of the reasons I signed up here. As I was researching about the RX I frequently came across your posts, which are neither fanboy nor troll-y... You seem to be an unbiased source of experience and your collection of cars also makes you valuable for contrast and comparison.

I just got an RX, coming from a '17 Highlander SE, and the difference between now vs then, is I expected the Highlander to legitimately approach the claimed mpg rating. I'd always wanted a 4R, but the abysmal 18mpg average pushed me away. The reality was 22 vs 18. So I felt foolish for not getting what I wanted. In the short time I've had the RX, I realize that until the thrill wears off, I'm not even gonna' hit the (again claimed) 22. I looked at the 450h... wondering how consistently people are in the 30's vs about 28(?) For the couple grand difference... I thought it may be a no-brainer, but in my area, there are way fewer 450H than 350's... so it's harder to seriously discount MSRP.

I'm also curious HOW people are driving when they consistently hit around 30? I have a friend who got an RC 350, but his other car was a Prius and he's had trouble accepting lower mpg so he drives it mostly in ECO... I'm at the other end of the experience, having been previously influenced by numbers (that didn't hold up anyway)... I'm just going to enjoy the car and keep the tank full. I'll start thinking about mileage in a few months. I do find the 450h compelling however... and something like that will probably be next... so I'm happily following this thread.

 

Was your question directed at 350 owners or 450h? Just checking before I weigh in.

 

Since it's a 450h thread, I expected (possible) replies from 450h owners. I was also making a bit of a comment that I wish people would note HOW they drive when they quote mileage. The friend I mentioned, he makes it his whole goal to get the best possible mileage, at the expense of enjoying the performance aspects of his car. Of course everyone doesn't drive the same all the time, but I like when people note, within a mileage discussion, how they typically like to drive. I cited myself as an example of a new RX guy, mentioning that I'm enjoying the pep of the car and driving a little more aggressive than usual (fast off lights, but not speeding outright... fast in corners... getting up to traffic speeds while still on the ramp... you know, FUN stuff that's still legal)... and that heavy foot is costing me mileage.

So... if a guy has a 450h... and says, "I drive the hell out of this thing and get 30mpg"... it's more impressive than someone like my friend, who's nursing every mpg out of his car and IMO losing the joy of driving.

 

For a lot of people (I'm guessing stereotypical prius owners), the joy of driving IS about nursing every MPG out of their car.

I drive aggressively and have been getting 24MPG on average in the winter. That being said, you can still drive aggressively and and get the most of out of hybrids. For example, heavy acceleration to the speed limit, and then coasting on electric. Another example would be to whip around corners to preserve exit velocity.

 

Thanks for the praise Getty! I really try to be objective in all of this. I have owned all kinds of vehicles & I can say the Lexus RX 450h is one of the better ones. It hasn’t been as trouble free as I was led to believe it would be, but it’s certainly not a lemon. I’ve had a few of those & one really recently that ended in a buyback. I’m disappointed in the mileage I get with the 450h, but after having several 350s as loaners, I can say with great certainty that it gets better mpg & the hybrid system works so well that I forget about being in electric or gasoline mode. The 450h doesn’t suffer from the dreaded noise/vibration as the 350 does, but the CVT transmission does take some getting used to. If you’ve ever driven a Nissan or FCA CVT, you will know that the Toyota/Lexus CVT is light years ahead of the rest & far superior. Would I buy another Lexus? Probably, but maybe not the RX. I’m not looking to get out of mine anytime soon.

How do I drive my 450h? I live in Texas & it’s wide open here. I drive the posted limits in town & use cruise at the posted limits on the highway. Sometimes I will go slightly above the posted highway speeds if I’m getting left in the dust or encounter slower drivers consistently. City streets here are mostly 30 or 35 mph & highways are posted between 65 & 75 mph. Interstates are between 75 - 80 mph. Most of my driving is combined. I drive a local freeway at 65 mph & some local thruway streets that are 40 mph. I’ve never run a complete tank in city driving, so I have never hit anywhere near 30 mpg city. I have run several tanks in all highway driving & I have never hit 28 mpg highway. A few times I got 26 mpg & considered that pretty decent for the size & weight of this SUV. I usually run in Normal mode or Sport mode for better steering feel. I’ve tried running Eco mode, but the results were frustrating. To sum this up, I’m not aware of a luxury SUV that can tow 3500 lbs when I want & get consistent mid-twenty mpg when not towing. This is a very good SUV. It has flaws that Lexus has chosen to ignore & that hurts it, but I would never say don’t buy one. There are many other SUVs on the market that I would say don’t buy. For anyone that’s consistently getting 30 mpg highway, I would say congratulations & start publishing those results. I think I’m pretty average on my fuel mileage & my wife tends to do a little better than me on her car, but not in the Lexus. Sometimes, she does worse than me. Anyone getting high 30s mpg is not driving in typical real world situations. I suppose deserted country roads would yield fuel mileage, but that’s not typical or the norm for probably 80% of us.

 

Again, thank you Gadgetman. I suspect you and I are somewhat alike. Let me put it this way... while I was shopping and expecting to possibly buy a GX over a 4R Limited... sitting in an RX, waiting for my salesman to pull up a GX... planted a seed... deep. The 12.3" info-display... ran by the mousy-joysticky thing... probably sold me. It's a good thing I didn't see (realize) how awesome the F Sport instrument panel is... or I'd have had a hard time not getting an F. I like Gadgets... *shrug*

I appreciate your anecdotal commentary on your mileage. That's what I'm saying everyone should do. There's a cliche' often applied to all ventures; "YMMV". When people are having a "scientific" discussion about numbers, I feel it's valuable to disclose as much info so the study considers variables.

Then again... it's certainly possible that you're making me feel better about not realizing how close I was in $ to a hybrid option, especially considering the downright LOW mileage I'm getting in the new RX. I did have one day of mostly highway driving, where I felt I was driving normally and got 22mpg... so I expect that's about where the RX will settle in, once I get over the giggly joy-riding. As a complete noob to "luxury"... I'm completely beside myself every time I drive this thing. Everyone kept telling me the Highlander was really nice, but more than anything it was oddly UN-thought-out details, combined with a complete lackluster performance... that quickly chipped away at my happiness in that vehicle. It took me about 1 week to just look at it and want to barf (because I knew, well... that's IT for a while! because if you barely drive a car and trade it in after a year, you lose $5-6K... if you drive it for ONE WEEK and trade it in... you lose $5K)

The RX... on the other hand... has been pure joy. PURE. JOY! I absolutely love it. Everything about it is awesome IMO. I've been "discovering" details for a week. I'm a little lucky in that I didn't really have any expectations beyond "the driving experience" from the test-drive... so all the things you guys have already known about has made this past week like a surprise Easter-egg hunt... for a kid that didn't even know the Easter-eggs were there. The Lexus is full of little presents (and sometimes not so little) to discover and open... did I already say pure joy?

Thank you for your input also. I too drive aggressively (for now anyway), and I like your take on it. My joy in driving is in getting UP TO the speed-limit... not in seeing how fast I can go. The thing I like about hybrids is they are typically quick off the line. I fully expect my next car to be a Lexus... and I fully expect it to be a hybrid.

About the joy of driving... It is funny... everyone is different, but I was trying to convince my buddy to let go of the mpg mentality when he's driving his RC 350 F-Sport... if you see that car (paddle shifters, etc)... THAT is not the Lexus to choose if you're in it for mpg.

 

I figured, but wanted to be sure.

I posted a lot of what I do when I drive up in Post #145. https://www.clublexus.com/forums/hyb...l#post10467782

But I drive it pretty conservatively. To me its more of a game, and I'm probably strange that I enjoy that. I like getting the car into EV mode, keeping it there, seeing if I can navigate traffic AND be efficient. I have a pretty hard rule about not being a hazard though - I keep up with traffic and just drive the car when I need to. I pick my moments to be all OCD about it (ha ha).

Part of that also has to do with my commute - there just isn't opportunity to really have fun. There's like one bend in the road I can corner aggressively and a small bit of interstate where sometimes you can hit the gas, but that's like 2 spots on a 23 mile drive. The rest is always in dense traffic, so I use the hybrid in other ways to have fun.