Pretty much low to mid 400's per tank. The 04-06's are supposed to get slightly better mileage w/ the 6 speed. Mixed use but generally highway @ 70-75. Head winds def make a difference. So does terrain change.

 

Man, you ain't kiddin! I can tell immediately when I have a strong headwind. I lose at least 1.5 - 2 mpg. Not to mention the car starts to get a little squirrely..

 

If you're driving 60mpg with no wind and then hit a headwind of 30mph your vehcle drag is increased by 2 1/4 times due to the additional wind.

 

It gets squirrely? Mine moves around slightly. It's barely noticeable but do have to actively keep the car straight. Car has 109. Besides tie rod ends, any other standard parts to replace?

 

Well, I guess squirrely is probably an over statement.. Yeah, you could say you have to "actively" keep the car straight... It's noticeably worse with winter tires on the car. I've got just shy of 170K on it, and I've done LCA bushings and stabilizer links. Other than that, I keep being told the rest of the front suspension is ok. It holds an alignment very well, but as I have mentioned in the past, this car is used 95% on the highway for a commuter from Milwaukee to O'Hare, so it doesn't really get the front suspension "exercised" on city streets very much..

 

This is about what I get

 

In a way I'm disappointed to say this....the LS430 is the smoothest car we own, tracks straight, doesn't vibrate, etc. My wife's 2011 should be the one that wins that category, as it's only got 63k and is newer and perfectly aligned. I dunno, I think my BMWs ride has deteriorated, due to the rubber getting old, it has the lowest miles (52k) but is 11 y.o.

The thing about the LS430 that I have gotten used to, is it dives. I was hoping the LCA bushings would have corrected that, but again the indie told me I should notice no difference at all, and he was correct. Anybody who drives the LS430 for the first time doesn't seem used to this nature, and it is very jerky when they stop. I'm totally used to it....

Time to fill up at Costco today, I've gone around 350, and my computer is reading 19.7....hope I can get it up to 20 by the time I fill up. just sounds better...

 

I filled up 19.8 gal at Costco today...oddly, if one were to take the tank avg, and multiply it by 22, it would equal my miles traveled plus the range left over. It can't be that simple, can it? Who knows how range is calculated, but no algorithm can predict the future.....I went 390 miles, check out how close the math is...the range was 47 at time of fill-up and off by 4 miles. Also, I think the range said over 385 after filling up, I guess it may go even higher depending. All in all a useless feature hahahahahahaha I just assume when the orange light turns on, just fill up asap, no need to run out just as one reaches the pumps, not good for the car anyway...

 

Yesterday I had the chance to go on a 110 mile highway ride, so I reset the mpgs once I was on the highway and doing about 75 mph. To my disappointment, when I arrived, I had gotten 24.5 mpg. My sneaking suspicion, was that when I return, it should be much higher. It was, 29 most of the way and settling at 28.8. The "real" mpgs is likely right down the middle. I suspect if things were perfectly flat, the mpgs would be in the 27's. The route was identical, and as a matter of fact at the end of the return I hit bumper to bumper which moved the mpgs down...I used to experience the same when I took trips to Montréal in my Nissan, the return was much better. imho it's pretty difficult to understand why Lexus reported a 23 mpg highway on this car, unless they reported higher and the EPA picked on them (the unlucky 15% that gets verified--this happened with the 2012 BMW 328, BMW said 36 highway, and the EPA immediately tested one and said nope, 33, whereas GM will say 25 on a SUV that only gets 19, and it slides... )...

 

The best I got was around 610 miles on a full tank (topped) probably over 22 gallons. I had maybe 10-20 miles left that I could go and this was 98%-99% highway driving. In town and day to day driving is a different story I am lucky to get 20mpg and usually get 17mpg-19mpg.

 

When I replaced the rotted-out mufflers on my 2012 LS460 AWD with glass packs from Midas ($375 installed), fuel economy went up by 4 MPG. Suburban/small town driving. Gobsmacked.

 

The best way to get the best fuel economy with this or any car is:
1. Have tires that are in good condition and a good size. Air pressure at 36 psi.
2. Motor oil at full synthetic 5w 30. Change about every 6,000 miles.
3. Good clean ATF. Change at 60,000 miles.
4. Wheel alignment must be spot on. Lower control arm bushings must be spot on. (That means that the front wheels must always be facing straight. If they wobble, then, that scrubs off fuel economy.) See a good alignment shop that does it the old fashioned way.
5. Use good grade of premium fuel.
6. Surprisingly cruse control isn't always best. Steady foot is. Cruise control on hills can cause the transmission to wonder, cutting fuel economy.
7. When i was a kid they had the Mobil Fuel Economy Contest. The couple that frequently won published a book. Had some surprise, not many tricks.

Should get maybe 28 mpg.

Loren