lexusthai

I've had the '02 LS430 for almost 4 months now and have been averaging about 11 MPG. I usually drive about 5 miles to work, and get stuck in traffic most of the time, as I live in Manhattan, NY. Some tanks I get 10.7 some tanks I get 11.5 mpg. So I basically do city driving, hardly any highway miles. The car is a Lexus CPO and had 43600 miles when I bought it, and now has only 46,800 miles. So the engine isn't that worn out, it still pulls strongly at all speeds (well, haven't gone over 110 yet).

Is 10-11 mpg normal for an LS commuting mostly in the city? What are you guys getting? Is there something wrong with my car, that would cause such low fuel efiiciency? Is it just my first V8?

Eritsuke

I have a 2006 UL LS430, and when I look at mine, I get a usual mileage of about 14.2 - 14.6. The last two times I filled up that what I usually do. That's when flooring it every once in a while. I bought mine brand new also, I don't know if that has anything to do with the equation.

bkw

Drive from Westchester into midtown Manhattan every now and then. I see about 13mpg, but on those rainy days when the route from the saw mill allll the way down the west side highway is jammed, I'll see about 10.

I6turbo

iTrader: (1)

WTF?? I guess the low speed is killing you guys, but at an average speed of about 30 MPH I get ~22 MPG. I've actually calculated it based upon miles and fuel consumed, and I've checked the onboard computer -- both methods were within a .1 MPG of one another. 11 MPG? What's your average speed on these tanks of fuel?

lexusthai

Average speed? Don't laugh, around 11-15 MPH! And this is absolutely disappointing for me since I usually drive fast (I also do drag racing).
Maybe the low speed is killing me like u said. but I'm always stuck in traffic.

bkw's info, my 11mpg is normal for heavy traffic then.

And Eritsuke 14 is not bad at all.

But above all, I6TURBO, I'm jealous of your 22mpg! This is an LS430 we're talking about right?

vraa

iTrader: (2)

16mpg in suburban driving. It's risen to about 18mpg solid adding 60 miles of commute a day.
I'm fine with the number, 16mpg was the number I got on my X5 in suburban driving.

I have a lead foot.

pvo

iTrader: (2)

I have an 04 and average around 18+mpg with 24mph.

GRAND_LS 4

iTrader: (2)

I Avg 27MPH, and get 21-22Mpg all the time. On a 400 though.

LEX012006

Thats odd, my 01 430 is getting about 18 in the city and 25-30 on the highway. I live & work in Long Island (8 mile commute to work) but I travel into the city (sometimes bklyn) every weekend though. Sometimes get stuck in LIE traffic on Sundays, but always get surprising gas mileage though. Maybe you need to take a very long road trip?

daryll40

You guys getting 11-12 MPG have something wrong.

I live in PITTSBURGH. Mileage here is TERRIBLE. Hills all day long. STEEP hills. Stop and start. My 2004 LS has never been out of the Pittsburgh area...it's all city driving. And I mix my gasoline too....when it gets to half tank I alternate 87 octane then 93 octane the next fill. So my average octane is about 90.

All of that being said, I get a solid 17MPG here. Trust me, this is GOOD mileage! Wife's AWD-V8 Explorer gets 13 with the same type of driving an daughter's AWD 2005 CR-V (just traded for a new '07) got 20 MPG for reference.

You have something wrong. Go get it fixed!

mixednuts

Only traveling 5 miles one way in stop and go traffic would yield terrible gasoline mileage with any car or truck. The engine probably reaches operating temperature about the time you reach your destination! This kind of driving is also rough on the oil, as it never reaches operating temperature either.

Mako88

On watered down CA crap gas I've gotten 14.5, 14.6 and now 16.1 on the last tank (all at 25mph avg on trip comp). I quickly learned to turn the "sport" mode off, and to stop using "4" in lieu of "D" for the Automatic (don't ask, I found the lack of engine braking disconcerting when I first got the car last month so I flipped it to 4...mistake).

Those changes helped a bit, but there's no way around it, the LS drinks gas like Peter O' Toole downs Martinis.

RA40

iTrader: (6)

One trip I got stuck and it took 2 hours to cover 4 miles...that used 1/4 tank-5 gallons. Around town, I've varied form 11-16 typically, this is usually 1-3 gear at best. LS400 though.

I6turbo

iTrader: (1)

Yes, '03 LS430. But I think the killer for you is the low average speed. Mine is 30-32 MPH with practically no stop-and-go traffic of the sort that causes 11 MPH average speeds.

You could test to see if anything is wrong by resetting the fuel mileage computer and driving at 55-70 MPH for a few minutes (if you can find a place up there to do that ) and see if you average around 25 MPG under those conditions. If so, I'd say that is a strong indicator that the low average MPH is the culprit, and there's nothing wrong with your car. Even if it gets 'normal' mileage at highway speeds I suppose there still could be something causing it to use too much fuel at low speeds (though it runs normally at higher speeds), but that's very unlikely.

Eritsuke

Okay, so I've been driving my car around everywhere and went to San Francisco and drove it around there all weekend since that's where I stayed for the majority of it. By the time I got down to a quarter of a tank, it says that I averaged 16.8 miles. Although if I get stuck in traffic a lot, I'll usually get 14 mpg.