Activ8

Since having the software update my Home Screen crashes almost every ignition start... but then going into the main menu and selecting nav... then going back to the home screen seems to cure the problem. This has been fine to live with until Lexus get another fix... but last week I was getting a really strange one. I was about to get on the motorway (M54) at Telford and the sat nave said please take the 18th exit at the roundabout.... there was 6 or so exits on the junction and it wanted me to go around the roundabout three times... Like a fool I did it partly to see what would happen and if it was counting the junctions. I have not been back since so cannot tell if this is a software problem or a mapping problem in general!

Whilst I have no idea of what CO2 my car is pumping out (disappointing if it is that high)... if I drove in eco mode at about 75 on the motorway I would probably get around 41mpg too. However motorway driving is not the strong point of the car from an economy point of view. I always drive in normal mode on the motorway and stay between 70-80... now the trick is not to have a light foot and accelerate up to speed quick and then back off completely and catch up your speed. this will give you a better battery assist. Without hypermiling I can easily get 48-52 mpg real world economy (brimming method) on a 50+ mile run between Staffordshire and Warrington on the M6. Hypermiling in good warm weather was getting me high 50's and early 60's when I first had the car last September. Where the care does great is on flat round town runs where I have managed 15mile trips in the 80's. The strange thing about your figures is that the 16" rims should perform better than the 17's.

I am waitin That's ridiculous! Can the dealer reverse the process? Lexus do seem to have dropped the ball on this one. I am waiting for a reply... The dealer is having to speak to Lexus about it. If anyone is contemplating the upgrade I would hold off until they sort it.

Well since I had my car on the 1st of September the system has crashed a total of 3 times... Since having the update on Tuesday the system has crashed at least 3 times every day. I have asked them to put the old software back on!

Don't worry to much about it my F-Sport gained about 4mpg after the first 1000 miles. Also the winter air knocks around 3-4mpg off the numbers too... You notice these things more with a hybrid. I have a similar route to work and I get around 47mpg at the moment this will be 50+ in the summer. Also don't drive too gently I sort of zoom up the hills and coast down them (this also used to work well for my prius). Also when accelerating from a start get up to speed as soon as you can (safely) then back off the gas completely and catchup the speed in EV (if under 40mph and the road flat) this can really increase your MPG.

Doing a standard trip between Stoke-on-Trent and Barnmouth (186 mile round trip winding A and B roads and very hilly) I averaged 47.3 mpg and that was driving in D mode with little in the way of consideration for fuel saving and just enjoying the drive. This was using the brimming method to calculate. The computer was telling me 48.6 mpg so not hugely different. The best I have had is 73.2 mpg (computer) on a one way 15 mile trip that was all through the town although reasonably flat terrain. Very impressed so far! :)

The use I find best for the paddles is to charge the battery more when going down steep hills without having your foot on the brake. My old prius used to have a B setting on the gearbox but dropping it down a gear on the paddles in the IS seems to work just as well.

I would phone Lexus or your finance company and get them to shift things along.

When I was speaking to my dealer he told me that they are only getting around 200 new cars for the year to sell and that they are one of they busier dealers in the UK. Of that 200 he thinks that maybe a third will be IS models another third will be the CT and the rest GS/LS and RX. Whatever the split it is unlikely that the IS will be a common sight on UK roads!

Good point Roger... I forgot that they did 16" wheels that could account for much more than my 18" ones although I did think they were 17's on the car I tested... Maybe someone with 16's would do much better. I do think that the mapping on the F-Sport and premier encourage more sporty driving due to steering weight and sharp throttle response. I doubt that there is any real performance difference between the models... be an interesting drag race though!

I have the 18's This would make a small difference to MPG as the wider rubber has more friction but should be no more than around 2mpg or so. If there was a big difference to the wheel tyre weight there maybe another 1mpg to add. As the rolling size is very similar acceleration and other performance should be the same. In reality I think we are going to average mid to late 40's in the F-Sport or Premier driving normally with the luxury early to mid 50's driving normally would seem the norm. The cars will get better with 3-5K miles on them.

Today my F-Sport was at the dealer having a couple of dealer fit parts fitted and I had the Luxury model for the afternoon. Two observations... I got better fuel economy on the identical run by about 8 mpg the website states 5mpg better for the luxury... I had wondered why the difference is quite big given that the website states power and weight and performance are the same... however driving the luxury after the sport the throttle response is very different in the different modes... Eco in the F-Sport feels somewhere between eco and normal in the Luxury and sport mode in the luxury fells like normal+ in the F-Sport and Sport mode in the luxury is nowhere near as aggressive on the throttle as it is in the F-Sport. Speaking with the service technician afterwards he told me that he believes the computer mapping is different and that the F-Sport and Premier have much more aggressive map which has both engines working together more often. I don't think unless you jumped out of one and straight into another you would notice much performance difference between the two well apart from the fuel economy that is!

The above 60mpg is good to know... That gives me something to aim for...

On the steering wheel controls you can set the trip to show MPG from Reset or from Start of journey or from last fill-up. The default is since last reset so this will be since you picked the car up unless you reset it. I am not sure why they get more efficient... it may just be that things loosen up but after a few thousanf miles you do see the figures go up by a few MPG. You can also learn to drive the hybid by looking how it is storing energy... The trick with the prius was to accelerate quicky up to speed and then back off the gas completely so that the EV light comes on then catch up the speed on the throttle position in EV to maintain the speed. Likewise ensuring your battery has good charge by going a little quicker on an A road before you start a hilly climb gives much better battery assistance and greater fuel economy. You can then recharge the battery on the decent by gently braking all the way down the hill to increase charge... If there is someone behind you and you don't want to dazzle them with constant brake lights you can drop down a gear on the paddles and it has the same braking effect (on the prius you have a B position on the gear lever for just this reason on the 300h the paddles do just fine). It can actually be quite fun challenging yourself on a route you do often to see just how much better MPG you can get. The MPG unlike most cars is very dependant on how you drive it.

Depends upon how you drive Rob... but 45+ would be relatively easy to achieve even with a little spirited driving once the car has loosened up!