I drove 155 miles today from Houston to Austin, Texas, and averaged an incredible 31mpg at around 75mph. I was expecting like 26 or so, very pleased with the result. Anyone else getting mpg like this?

 

That is cool. What modes did you use? It must be a lot of highway driving?

 

It was all highway driving with the exception of the first and last 7 or so miles. First time I ever used eco mode, I normally just leave it in sport all the time but I was curious what mpg the car was capable of in eco mode. I am not at all disappointed.

 

I would get mpgs like that in long drives to SF as well on my ISF.

yeah if you coast and the uphills are minimal she’ll take care of you.

 

Yes here as well. I can get 30 on flat roads with not that many stops. And being FL, there's no shortage of flat roads. Stops are another story.

 

Also this can really help some cars.
For those who don't know read up on Top Tier. Our Infiniti is very sensitive about fuels and threw a light/codes a couple times a year at least until I started only using top tier fuel. Its only done in once in about 3 yrs since even using low grade instead of high as Infiniti recommends it don't throw a light. It always does it with our non top tier stations. Citgo still caused it once but so far thats the only one I hit that gave us issues. May just been the one station too idk, and it went out on next fill up at a Shell?
https://www.toptiergas.com/licensed-brands/

 

I have gotten very close to 30 MPG driving between Redding Ca and Sacramento on Highway 5. I use Eco mode and I am going 75 to 80 mph.

 

Last week while driving home from evacuating from hurricane Ida. All highway, filled up and reset the meter right before getting on the interstate home.

 

Did you do it on one, or both ways on the same day? Sometimes elevation change or preferable wind helps with that

 

I'm a new owner and have been reading up on eco mode. Seems the internet consensus is that it is only useful for city driving since it dampens your throttle response. They (the internet guys) say you are better with normal throttle response on freeways since you may want to pass or accelerate.

 

While this is true, you should use eco mode on the freeway as the engine switches from the Otto cycle to the Atkinson cycle only in Eco mode. The change takes some time though, probably a few minutes. Without running on the Atkinson cycle you'd probably average 18 MPG or less.

 

Are you sure it actually does this? It isn't pointed out in the current model information and the highway mileage reported on the window sticker is a modest 24 mpg. You'd think that for the EPA tests they'd certainly use eco mode to get the best result they could. Not disputing you, just curious as to where I can find a reference to the switch during Eco mode highway driving since Google can't seem to find one. I did see one very old page (2014) where the two engine cycles were mentioned but it also only said that Lexus may use Prius type cycles.

 

I could have sworn I saw somewhere that the engine only uses the Atkinson cycle in Eco mode. I may or may not be wrong about the eco mode part. Apparently, it just actuates the Atkinson cycle at 'cruising speeds' (whatever this means) and then it actuates the Otto cycle when at higher revs (I would assume 2,500 or more?). Here's a link to a press release about it https://mag.lexus.co.uk/atkinson-cycle-engine-work/

 

Thanks. That's a nice article but it does beg the question about when the timing changes and how it is actuated.

 

Found this recent video. It doesn't talk much about Otto or Atkinson, but it does give a really nice tour of what's under the hood.