1st Long Journey

[ALAW]

Evening folks hope your all well. Just completed the first of our pilgrimages to Cornwall  give or take a couple of miles about a 700 mile round trip. Got to tell you the UX was a most enjoyable relaxed ride. Mostly all motorway apart from the A30 run into Cornwall which is now dual carriageway. The seats were comfortable no problems there and there was no noticeable wind or tire noise. I used the radar cruise very good what an innovation this is. We stay in a caravan so we took quite a heavy load down with us lowered back seats to get it all in no problem at all the under boot floor storage was utilized to great effect. Didn't need to put any air in tires going or coming home .TPMS registered same pressure all tires. Fuel well i remember you telling me you get better performance in summer as opposed to winter with a hybrid. I also remember on another thread someone posting about the drive modes. I used to leave it in Normal as the dealer told me. Then someone posted he was told Eco in town normal on b road and sport on motorway. Ive done this with varying results on regular runs i do. Going to Cornwall i did this and i achieved 51mpg of which im well happy. im now at 4K plus miles and my mpg has improved greatly may well be the warmer weather or the fact I'm driving in Eco a lot more. So to sum up a very enjoyable ride and the UX met all my expectations and my demands and needs.

[Gorb]

I didn't know about using the different driving modes to optimise the fuel economy. Does anybody else have experience of if this works?

[Ed the Ted]

“I used the radar cruise very good what an innovation this is.”

Brent……Because it keeps and maintains a pre-set safe distance from the car you’re following, eliminating any tailgating hazards, I’ve used this feature on motorways and also ‘A’ roads.

[steve2006]

I’ve always been weary of Cruise Control mainly because I never feel I am in complete control of the car without my foot on the accelerator pedal and being almost an instinct/muscle memory moving it from there to the brake pedal should the need arise.

Also where do you put your right foot when cruise is activated, left foot has a nice rest area but right doesn’t. So flat on the floor then hope you hit the right pedal in an emergency situation ( mine is not radar BTW).

 

[Spacewagon52]

Normal cruise control on fairly busy motorways is a waste of time. The new radar cruise, though I have never tried it, seems more suited to our busier motorways. I would like to try that one day, however I am becoming a tad weary of “gadgets” just for the sake of them. The small house we are renting in Sussex has more gizmos than a Tesla! 

The blind in the bedroom is electrically operated with a remote control. My wife loves it! My comment was: “Something else to go wrong! Why can’t people just pull a cord?” 

Thinking of cars and “gadgets” My 1998 LS400 has nearly all the extras I need in a car. Hidden safety features aside, abs, air bags, VSC, etc. The only thing I can think of adding would be folding electric mirrors. 

Probably to do with age.

Do any of you guys have gadgets in your car that you would be loath to give up?

 

 

[paulrnx]

Cars are meant to be driven and fully operated by drivers. I’m so glad I’ll never be buying and therefore ‘driving’ autonomous vehicles. Radar guided cruise control is for people who can’t be bothered to pay attention and maintain safe distances. It also makes for quite jerky progress as the traffic ebbs and flows Thin end of the wedge I’m afraid and not really for me.

[Ed the Ted]

The UX is the first car I’ve had with radar cruise and as a result I’m using it more, with previous cars I would have to constantly re-adjust the speed manually therefore limiting its use during busy times on the road. 

David in answer to your question the gadget that I would loathe to give up is automatic head light dipping. 

Paul I can assure you that I always pay attention and don’t tailgate but consider it another tool in my armory towards driving safely.

[ColinBarber]

6 hours ago, Spacewagon52 said:

Do any of you guys have gadgets in your car that you would be loath to give up?

HUD for me. I could easily live without it, but I do believe it increases safety by not taking your eyes off the road.

I quite like blind spot monitors as well - I certainly like them on other people's cars as they are less likely to pull out on me 🙂.

 

[Beduffshirl]

Radar Cruise is at it's best in areas with Average Speed Camera's, particularly long lengths of Motorway in Roadworks. It's so easy to forget and gradually build up speed if it's quiet. Sure using it improves the MPH too.

Only frustration for me is that it the control moves it up or down 5mph at a time. 1mph per click would be much better

 

[Navnan2]

On 7/5/2021 at 7:24 PM, Gorb said:

I didn't know about using the different driving modes to optimise the fuel economy. Does anybody else have experience of if this works?

Hello Gordon, I remember seeing a comment on this in one the other threads before now. This advice was given by a dealer. Basically Economy in town, Normal on A/B roads, Sport on the motorways. I decided to follow this guidance after reading it and over a number of months my average fuel economy moved from about 48 mpg to 52.5 mpg today and still climbing slowly. I didn't reset the computer at the time of my change to my driving behaviour so its coloured by some old driving behaviour. I have just done a reset now so it will be interesting to see how the average settles for the period going forward.

[DanD]

I never use ECO. I find it frustratingly sluggish with little gain in economy over Normal mode.

[EvilRacer329]

I’ve not really found the different driving modes don’t affect fuel economy much, the way I drive makes far more of a difference!

Nick

[dublet]

Did about 350 miles this weekend and tried eco mode, somehow it actually seemed to make economy worse. Got up to 58mpg in my RC 300h just cruising nicely in normal mode, dropping down to 52 when mixing in a few twisty B roads with no other road users.

[EvilRacer329]

The theory on Eco mode is that, because the initial throttle response is so sluggish, it encourages enthusiastic drivers to put their foot down much harder when initially very little happens. It’s helpful if you actively want it to underestimate his mic throttle you want and gives drivers with imprecise throttle control a smoother drive, but I hardly ever use it. Sport is for fun, twisty roads, and Normal is well-judged for everything else.

Nick

[Malc]

9 hours ago, dublet said:

Did about 350 miles this weekend and tried eco mode, somehow it actually seemed to make economy worse.

I've tried this on several occasions with my own car and now drive in PWR mode over ECO coz I KNOW PWR mode, with my driving style, is more economic fuelwise ........  usually pretty quick off the mark and chasing the pants off boy racers at the lights etc ........... and long journeys when I can too of course

Malc

[The-Acre]

On 7/6/2021 at 12:29 PM, Spacewagon52 said:

Normal cruise control on fairly busy motorways is a waste of time. The new radar cruise, though I have never tried it, seems more suited to our busier motorways. I would like to try that one day, however I am becoming a tad weary of “gadgets” just for the sake of them. The small house we are renting in Sussex has more gizmos than a Tesla! 

The blind in the bedroom is electrically operated with a remote control. My wife loves it! My comment was: “Something else to go wrong! Why can’t people just pull a cord?” 

Thinking of cars and “gadgets” My 1998 LS400 has nearly all the extras I need in a car. Hidden safety features aside, abs, air bags, VSC, etc. The only thing I can think of adding would be folding electric mirrors. 

Probably to do with age.

Do any of you guys have gadgets in your car that you would be loath to give up?

 

 

We rented a new (and beautiful) barn conversion in Cornwall, and for the two weeks we were there we never worked out how to operate the oven! And why the oven had WiFi is beyond me. I like gadgets but this was just nuts, and no point reading the instructions, the book was like a novel!

[Navnan2]

On 7/7/2021 at 5:16 PM, Navnan2 said:

Hello Gordon, I remember seeing a comment on this in one the other threads before now. This advice was given by a dealer. Basically Economy in town, Normal on A/B roads, Sport on the motorways. I decided to follow this guidance after reading it and over a number of months my average fuel economy moved from about 48 mpg to 52.5 mpg today and still climbing slowly. I didn't reset the computer at the time of my change to my driving behaviour so its coloured by some old driving behaviour. I have just done a reset now so it will be interesting to see how the average settles for the period going forward.

Averaging 57.5mpg following the guidance I describe above, and no, I don't drive around like a Sunday driver but I do follow the posted speed limits (mostly).

[NemesisUK]

On 7/7/2021 at 5:16 PM, Navnan2 said:

This advice was given by a dealer. Basically Economy in town, Normal on A/B roads, Sport on the motorways.

Interesting..

The handbook suggests..

"Normal mode - Provides an optimal balance of fuel economy, quietness, and dynamic performance. Suitable for city driving"

"Eco drive mode - Helps the driver accelerate in an eco-friendly manner and improve fuel
economy through moderate throttle characteristics and by controlling the operation
of the air conditioning system (heating/cooling)."

"Sport mode - Controls the hybrid system to provide quick, powerful acceleration. This mode also changes the steering feel, making it
suitable for when agile driving response is desired, such as when driving on roads with many curves."

One generally doesn't need quick, powerful acceleration on the motorway, usually smooth constant speeds, with very shallow corners.

 

Are these fuel economy figures from the OBC (after a reset mid journey) or calculated from brim-to-brim refuels? 

[Navnan2]

2 hours ago, NemesisUK said:

Interesting..

The handbook suggests..

"Normal mode - Provides an optimal balance of fuel economy, quietness, and dynamic performance. Suitable for city driving"

"Eco drive mode - Helps the driver accelerate in an eco-friendly manner and improve fuel
economy through moderate throttle characteristics and by controlling the operation
of the air conditioning system (heating/cooling)."

"Sport mode - Controls the hybrid system to provide quick, powerful acceleration. This mode also changes the steering feel, making it
suitable for when agile driving response is desired, such as when driving on roads with many curves."

One generally doesn't need quick, powerful acceleration on the motorway, usually smooth constant speeds, with very shallow corners.

 

Are these fuel economy figures from the OBC (after a reset mid journey) or calculated from brim-to-brim refuels? 

Hello Peter,

Basically I started a new Trip on the 6th July as far as the OBC is concerned and left it running. Since then I have done 664 miles and the computer this afternoon tells me my average over this period 58.2 mpg. In this mileage are a number of motorway runs to Bournemouth including where a smart motorway is being constructed so keeps me at 50 for 20+ miles each way (M27) which must influence my experience I guess. On those runs I am in Econ to the motorway slip, Sport on the 70mph stretches, back to the Econ in the 50mph road works. If I pop down the shops its Econ, and reasonably clear single lane roads Normal.

So not following guidance you found but I am very pleased with the results I get using the approach I quote.

Hope that is helpful.

 

 

 

[EvilRacer329]

I measure my fuel economy at every fill-up, and use an app to compare it to the trip computer's estimated MPG in each instance before resetting. That means I've been able to track how accurate the computer is at estimating actual fuel economy. Lexus is doing pretty well here - it about averages out as spot-on. A far cry from my motorcycles or other cars I've driven where the trip computer seems to be pulling the numbers out of it's exhaust...

Nick