MustangSal

If the engine of our hybrids only run a portion of time in comparison to a 350 which is always - shouldn't there be some compensation towards how often the engine oil is serviced? Accumulated rolling miles is one thing because for most cars, it's the standard. Why not a compensation for hybrids like the 450?

Im2bz2p345

The engine is also detuned and I have a hard time believing hybrid owners push their engine as hard.

Since the engine doesn't stay off the majority of the time, it's probably not significant enough to affect the engine oil change service schedule, but I do see your point.

I change mine at 10K miles (full synthetic) per the owner's manual and I'm sure that I could push it longer, but why risk it with the price of our vehicles?

~ Im2bz2p345

natertater

agree with Im2bz2p345 while you probably can go a bit longer its not worth risking it. Better to keep your engine running well os it lasts longer. Besides when you first start your car very little of the first mile or two is on pure electric (when the engine is turned off). after that typically you use the engine with or without the electric motor to accelarate to the speed limit. Then once you are there you either cruise in EV mode or you cruise with engine. So if you drive roughly 20 miles to get to work and you dont take the highway (because when cruising on the highway you are almost always using the engine) and take streets instead you probably wil have gone 3-5 miles at most on cruising in EV where the engine is turned off. Though that is a bit high i think. 3 miles each way = 6 miles total each day. for 5 days a week this turns into 30 miles a week. 52 weeks x 30 = 1,560. Thats how many miles theoretically you travel on EV. So you could wait until about 11,500 miles to change your oil (assuming you are using synthetic and replacing every 10,000 miles) but i dont think it is worth it. Though you can make the argument that while they are at a stop light idling are engines are shut off.

I hope this wasnt to confusing, though in summary yes you could wait longer, but if you are driving a gs hybrid lexus you can afford to change your oil every 10,000 miles instead of 11.

ChronoR

Because our engines start stop more often, I'd argue that it requires engine oil changes at lower miles than one would otherwise expect. Comes out in the wash so it's about the same.

MustangSal

Yeah. It was just a thought about process more than anything. I change at 10k regardless.

Am more interested in the hearing about the detuned engine now. Really?

.2 quicker than a GS 350...with a detuned engine? Electrics pushing pretty good then, ehh?

ChronoR

They don't add up linearly because of the different torque peaks but our GS450h's features 200HP electric motors (two of them in fact but only one is used for thrust). That's more than enough to make up for the gas engine's lower power.

Keep in mind that it's the previous generation GS450h that had the detuned GS350 engine. In the 4GS, it's not so much detuned but modified for Atkinson Cycle resulting in lower power (and narrower power band) than the detuned engine but significantly better fuel efficiency. The electric systems were slightly buffed in exchange but the 4GS GS450h is still slower than the 3GS edition.


Personally, I love instant electric kick on my GS450h. A common phrase for modern turbocharged cars is "there's negligible lag" but we actually get instant response. Only pure electrics have it better but we can go 500 miles.