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Lexus RX 350 Real World MPG

52 messages,  Last post on Sep 07, 2011 at 8:10 AM

You are in the Lexus RX 300/330/350 Forum.

What is this discussion about? Lexus RX 330, Fuel Efficiency (MPG), SUV

Messages Page 3 of 6

#13 of 52 Re: RX350 regular gas or >91? [jthoeft] by maximafan

Aug 16, 2006 (9:29 pm)

Replying to: jthoeft (Aug 16, 2006 11:25 am)
Wow! That's pretty awsome! That's even higher
than what the window sticker claims. I think
the sticker claims 20 in the city and 25
on the highway. I will be picking up my '07
Flint Mica RX350 tomorrow morning! I'm really
excited. I will be driving mostly in the city
though. But I look forward to my first road
trip in the RX which will probably be near the
end of October. I usually go up to the North
Georgia Mountains or North Carolina for fall
foliage season. Hope I get to see similar
mpg's such as yours.
 
P.S. I guess I'll be changing my Edmunds
screename soon.

#14 of 52 Re: RX350 regular gas or >91? [maximafan] by sxylxy

Aug 17, 2006 (9:39 am)

Replying to: maximafan (Aug 16, 2006 9:29 pm)
I've used three tanks so far (including the 1st dealer tank which I assume was premium). I started out with 22 miles on the vehicle. I've been using premium gas. 90% around town with low but near-constant AC use. I got 12 MPG wtih the first tank and 12.8 MPG on my second tank. The third tank is running at 13.4 MPG and the NAV system reads about .4 higher MPG. I do spend more than a bit of time at stop lights, but wow! Much lower than expected. My tires are at 37...is that too low?

#15 of 52 Re: RX350 regular gas or >91? [sxylxy] by maximafan

Aug 17, 2006 (11:18 pm)

Replying to: sxylxy (Aug 17, 2006 9:39 am)
I haven't had a chance to check the tire pressure requirements on the RX yet, but usually the normal pressure is 32 psi. If this
is what Lexus is recommending, you might be a
little over. I don't know if it's enough to
cause any problem, although it might affect
how smooth your ride might be. I know in my
2002 Maxima, if the tires were to get
over-inflated, I could definitely feel it in
the ride quality.
Usually, the psi requirement would be on the side of the driver's front door. I will be
checking this to see what the recommended amount is.

#16 of 52 Re: RX350 regular gas or >91? [maximafan] by sxylxy

Aug 18, 2006 (6:41 am)

Replying to: maximafan (Aug 17, 2006 11:18 pm)
The inside of the door on the Lexus says 30 psi and the tires themselves say maximum 44 psi. Wide range! I'll go by 32 until I get a more difinitive answer from Lexus.

#17 of 52 mileage by jthoeft

Aug 25, 2006 (6:41 am)

As I posted earlier, I've been getting 30 MPG on exclusive highway driving (70MPH on speed control) per the vehicle computer. When I look at overall mileage, with 70-80% highway, 20-30% city, I net out to 24 or 25 MPG. I'm pretty surprised that some are only getting 12 in the city and think it has to be how one drives. The RX 350 can really take off, but that has to eat into mileage. I get the best city mileage when I keep the RPMS below 2500, even when starting out from a stop light. It isn't as slow a take off as it might seem. On the highway I use the cruise control all the time. I also try to coast into stop lights as much as possible--I paid for the car's momentum, why waste it away as heat by braking if it can be used by coasting. It's kind of a game for me. I haven't looked at tire pressure since driving off the lot --4000 miles now.

#18 of 52 Re: mileage [jthoeft] by 831cruzer

Aug 25, 2006 (3:35 pm)

Replying to: jthoeft (Aug 25, 2006 6:41 am)
I have 5K miles on a AWD. I drive about 70% freeway, 30% city with a daily commute over an 1800 ft mtn pass. The vehicle computer is consistent at 22-23mpg. My manual calculations average about 21-22 mpg. I use premium, have not experimented yet with regular gas. The car has plenty of power over the mountain to pass the slow trucks. I have had the car for 3 months with air conditioner running almost the entire summer.

#19 of 52 Re: mileage [jthoeft] by maximafan

Aug 25, 2006 (10:15 pm)

Replying to: jthoeft (Aug 25, 2006 6:41 am)
jthoeft, I read with interest about your mpg
ratings and how you get the use of the power
out of your RX. I've had mine for a week and
I'm still trying to adjust to the action of the
accelerator pedal. I'm coming from a Nissan
Maxima in which it feels as though I didn't
have to press as far down on the accelerator
to have good pick up and go. For instance,
at the stoplight, with the RX, while I know
there's power under the hood, it feels like
I have to push down pretty far on the pedal
to take off at a good clip, thus I'm rarely
able to shoot off as quick as I could in the
Maxima.
Any tips for a smooth and quick take off in
the RX, or do I just need time to adapt to a
slightly different feel on the accelerator
pedal? Or is it just the weight issue of the
RX certainly being heavier than a Maxima(mine was a 2002) or similar car?
 
P.S. I need to think of a different screen
name pretty soon!

#20 of 52 Re: mileage [maximafan] by jthoeft

Aug 26, 2006 (7:07 pm)

Replying to: maximafan (Aug 25, 2006 10:15 pm)
My other car is a Boxster. I had just the opposite problem adjusting to the RX. The Boxster (mines a Tiptronic) has lots of peddle travel to get to the action, I feel the RX is very sensitive by comparison. I've squeeked the tires of the RX a few times when in a hurry to get out of someone's way. I really think it's just a matter of becoming used to the car. When I'm trying to drive for mileage, I am very gentle on the accelerator. A couple of more details about my mileage experience. The highway driving I've been describing is almost totally flat. I've been driving on cruise control; I'm using regular gas and the AC is on (we've had 41 days over 100 in Dallas this summer). By the way,is anyone kind of disappointed with the AC system? It seems to have to blow hard all the time and I don't feel it does a good job of keeping that big dash area cool. It's probably just the prolonged heat this summer.

#21 of 52 Re: mileage [jthoeft] by maximafan

Aug 26, 2006 (9:51 pm)

Replying to: jthoeft (Aug 26, 2006 7:07 pm)
So far, my experience with the AC has been
positive. As a matter of fact, it seems to
get too cold too quick! And I've got the black
interior and I live in Florida! I have noticed
that even though the car has sat in the garage
overnight, when I first start it up and turn
on the AC, it still blows on the high setting
and I usually have to put it to the lowest
fan setting pretty quickly.
 
The mpg indicator still fluctuates quite a bit right now, so I'm not sure how I'm doing with the gas mileage. All I can say is on my first week with the RX, I've gone approximately 252 miles with about 20 miles remaining(according to the cruising range indicator) of gas.
 
I've got to say I'm very impressed with how
this SUV rides. It truly is just like a car.
It's smooth, quiet, and even in curves and turns there's hardly a hint of any lean or body roll. Everything is so well executed inside and out on this car. Lexus really knows their stuff.
Oh, and the service at Lexus is A-plus!!!

#22 of 52 Re: mileage [jthoeft] by mss443

Aug 29, 2006 (11:10 am)

Replying to: jthoeft (Aug 26, 2006 7:07 pm)
I have a little more than 2500 miles on my RX350. With full A/C and using the mid grade gasoline (89 octane rating), I consistently get 26 miles and without A/C I get about 2.5 MPG. With 91 Octane, I got about a mile more than the above. The figures are based on a round trip of a total of 450 miles on the same day in I-80 (NJ-Pa.) (i.e., the route was not a flat one.) [I did not have to fill up the tank in between – NJ is a mandatory full service state and the gas is cheaper in NJ than in Pa.] For most part, the car was on cruise control at 69-70 MPH. Except for a couple of toll stops, the car was on full cruise throughout the trip. The usage information on the vehicle computer does not appear to be reliable – the vehicle computer indicated about 1.5 to 2.0 MPH higher than what was really achievable. In the combined city/highway driving, I get anywhere between 18 to 21 MPH depending on the drive segments. I am reasonably happy with the gas mileage I am getting from this car. To this date, not a single problem that I could think of.

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