I was wondering what my 2001 LS430 can do on highway. l had a business trip in NJ. Drove from Boston to NJ on Sunday, light traffic. Filled the car and went on the road driving at 65 to 75 mph set on cruise control. Around NY the car showed 26.5 MPG. I slowed the car down to around 65 to 70. By the time I got to my destination in NJ the car was showing 27.1MPG. This was a 310 mile drive.

On the way back from NJ to Boston, I filled the car and drove between 65 to 70 most of the way on cruise control. When I got near home, the car showed 27.4 mpg. I filled the car up to get exact number for the mpg and calculated it to be 27.2 mpg.

It is amazing that a car with this weight and an 8 cylinder engine can get 27+ mpg. The secret to this amazing mpg is the radar controlled cruise control.

One thing that made a difference was that I didn't have any stop and go traffic. When I drive to work, I hit a lot of stop and go traffic. Typical mpg is 22 - 23.

 

Yes, Highway mileage is amazing on this car. I get 25-26 purely on highways. But I get 16 on local roads. I drive mostly highway and my average is 22 mpg.

My 740iL had similar mileage though. I wonder what people get on other luxury rides.

I fail to understand why V8 SUVs can't provide this kind of highway mileage. I know the aerodynamics and all but does that alone make so much difference?

 

I'm suprised you only got 27mpg at 65-70. I got 27.5mpg going 75-80 between Phoenix and Tucson (230 mi roundtrip, flat). One guy I know got 28mpg between Tucson and San Diego (~375mi each way) going 80 to the AZ border (220mi) and 65 the rest of the way, and that includes climbing over a 5000 ft mountain from BELOW sea level.

The secret to the great mileage is the low drag coefficient from the 400 hours the LS designers had the car in the Japan Railways bullet train wind tunnel (bullet train cruises at 300km/hr, so the tunnel is much quieter noise-wise than a wind tunnel for autos). My wife's LX has a nearly identical engine as the one in the LS except bored out to 4.7L instead of 4.3L. On a flat road at a constant speed, the weight of the car is not an issue (6000 lb LX vs 4000 lb LS) since the acceleration at a constant velocity is zero. The major difference wind resistance, and at 80mph, the LX only gets 16mpg vs. 27mpg for the LS...nearly a factor of 2!

 

I get similar numbers s you guys/gals have!!! L.G.N.M

 

The drive I had from Boston to NJ was winding with hills. There was also traffic but it was moving most well. I never hit stop and go traffic but got close. I'm wondering how this car performs on flat straight roads like LA to LasVegas? I'm wondering if the LS can get 30mpg?

I was wondering if a radar guided cruise control is as effective on other cars. If so, it should be installed on many more models of cars.

 

I'll let you know how it performs as I travel cross country starting on April 18th. Take a look at 3 attachments, and my 1st leg of travel in the thread here. https://www.clublexus.com/forums/ls4...the-ls430.html

Hopefully I'll be able to upload pics and post updates along the way...

 

I get 13.5 average here in the city

 

As long as I don't drive like a madman, about 18 city and between 23-28 Highway (75-80 or 65 with cruse on).

My wife's RX only sees around 20 max...interesting....