Quite possibly. In normal or custom mode, the green eco light comes on when there is no throttle or when using very light steady-state throttle to maintain speed. I mean barely touching the pedal kind of light. Just a little extra throttle pressure and the light goes out. The light also stays on during cruise control unless the pedal is used for acceleration. I've noticed a marginal increase in mpg when using cruise control and the eco light is on, but nothing special, maybe 1 mpg when city driving.

But really, I would not have purchased a V8 if I was worried about MPG.

 

There you go. I turned the eco light off on day 1 of ownership. I think it is distracting anyway.

 

feels like a 4cly civic lol

 

I use it if I am on the highway on cruise control and just relaxing.

 

Is that something I missed in the configuration or is this something that the dealer needs to program?

 

You can change it from the car's settings menu yourself. Nothing special needed fortunately, but unfortunately, I don't remember where it was under.

 

LOL. I will take a look and find it. Thanks.

 

It is in the gauge's menu I believe, the one you get to by hitting the "squares/folders" looking button on the right hand spoke.

 

That is correct. When you get to Settings there are two types: Vehicle Setting and Meter Settings. It is under Meter Settings.

 

In eco mode I find the transmission shifts a little smoother and the downshifts less annoying in stop and go traffic so tend to use it most of the time as my commute includes a lot of that. Even though it is less willing to downshift with throttle input but it also doesn't tend to throw you into top gear as readily so ironically I can get 1-2mpg better in normal or sport mode.

 

I almost panicked reading this thread. I’ve had serious issues with our prior Honda cars with VCM (2010 Pilot/2012 Odyssey burning oil) and have friends who’ve been burned by GM small block AFM lifter issues so I purposely bought this Lexus with the hope that there isn’t any cylinder deactivation junk. AFAIK no one has been able to make a reliable cylinder deactivation system that doesn’t somehow compromise reliability long term. One of the reasons I passed on a new 3 or 5 series with the latest B58 as it has cylinder deactivation now also. Knowing BMW’s track record when it comes to new tech…

 

Eco Drive Mode alters the throttle map to soften throttle response, ramps back the A/C compressor and fans and tends to upshift sooner.
If a driving situation develops that requires full throttle, you Do Not need to fiddle with Drive Mode *****... just floor it, you will get WOT!
We use Eco Drive Mode when traveling alone or as a couple. I use Normal when double dating for the extra weight and the conversational
passengers needing full Air Conditioning capacity. I call the Drive Mode Eco, "Active Eco" because you Act to turn the **** and it Acts different.
The separate ECO indicator light is "Passive ECO". You do nothing and it changes nothing, it's there to teach you how to drive more light-footed.
You can turn off the ECO light nanny in settings as FirstLexusIS500 described.

 

From my observations, Eco mode hits 5th gear at 22 mph and 6th gear at 28mph, exactly the same as normal and sports mode. Sports+ seems to hit 5th at 23mph though but still seems to hit 6th at 28mph.This is all while accelerating very gently as my neighborhood makes me go through 5 stops and 2 yields to get to the main road.

As far as I can tell, there seems to be no reason to use Eco mode over normal in city driving. On highway where you're mostly cruising, the mpgs seem to be almost exactly the same as Sports+! On a flat 30 mile run, sports+ gave me 31.9 mpg and 31.4 mpg on the return with speeds hovering around 63-68mph due to traffic at 57°F. Winter runs in Eco mode struggled to go over 31mpg (10°F).