Do Not Sell My Personal Information Jump to content


Recommended Posts

Hi All,

I had a very interesting observation in my LS430 over the weekend.

I usualy drive with the car in NORMAL mode and only switch the PWR ETC button on when I am over taking. This is because I read in the manual the PWR ETC influences the fuel economy negatively.

Over the weekend I did over 400 miles. I decided to leave the PWR ETC button on for the entire trip, as the trip would involve sporty driving and over taking.

I do this same exact trip about once a month.

In NORMAL mode I would get about 28mpg but this weekend with all the same settings and the exact same style of driving but in PWR ETC mode ON I got 36mpg...

Could it be that the PWR ETC button improves fuel economy on a longer trip??

Usualy on this trip I would have to refuel before I get home. But this time I got home with a quarter of a tank left...

All settings in the car are always the same and my driving style was exactly the same as usual.

IN car settings are:

AC on set to 16*C and to Auto

Air purifier set to Auto

Dipped headlights on the for the entire trip

Windshield wipers used 75% of the time (yes I do live in Ireland)!

CD player on set to random for the entire trip

SAT-NAV on with voice guidance for the entire trip

ANY COMMENTS?????

Link to comment
Share on other sites


  • Replies 59
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

And there was me thinking I couldn't do maths anymore, I thought I had the sums mixed up or something, logic tells my brain that PWR means more go and less mpg

My GS gets better fuel consumption in pwr as well

I reckon it is down to reaching cruising speed faster rather than labouring the engine a little

Also on the motorway everyone has always told me that cruise control removes lots of MPG,,, mine just sits at 70 sipping the fuel so it is almost economical, I switch between the two and the revs are always higher at the same speed when in foot control rather than cruise control

wierd isn't it ?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have noticed this recently also.

Fuel economy improving by about 10-15%.

And you get a much sharper throttle response - the engine kicks down a lot more often... sometimes making the ride less "smooth".

D.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

This is very interesting to me to discover this. On an 80litre tank of petrol 10%-15% improvement is significant. I have also found CRUISE CONTROL to be the most efficient way to drive. I use it as much as possible as the revs are always lower when using it.

WOW, how can Lexus under-estimate the PWR ETC fuel consumtion so badly? I mean if I had known this in the last 3 years of LS driving I would have saved significant money on fuel.

Any other fuel economy tips out there?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

interesting post but its down to how hard you accelerate to get to the optimum speed and knowing when to ease off and build the speed up slower ( the more you accelerate the more fuel it will drink ) ECT PWR on and light on the throttle sounds like the best way

Link to comment
Share on other sites


thanks for this post we are travelling to london on friday approx 220miles and back on the sunday approx 460miles altogether. our settings will be about the same so i will try this out and post back here on monday. when you said you got 36mpg. is this on the lexus trip comp or have u worked it out, and what was your average speed and is your car the facelift?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

thanks for this post we are travelling to london on friday approx 220miles and back on the sunday approx 460miles altogether. our settings will be about the same so i will try this out and post back here on monday. when you said you got 36mpg. is this on the lexus trip comp or have u worked it out, and what was your average speed and is your car the facelift?

This is on the Lexus trip computer. I'd believe it too, as on average I'd get 400 miles out of a tank from full to empty. I expect to get about 460 miles out of this tank, as I am near enough that already and the fuel light is not even on.

I am quite sure that there are VERY few cars getting that kind of mileage. For all the bad press Lexus get for fuel economy and also the bad press a 4.3litre engine gets, I am IMPRESSED. It gets way more effeciency than any other car I know. That is, if you don't drive it like a boy-racer the whole time.

I do over-take a lot and I do enjoy the acceleration. I love to remind the car it is after-all a V8...

I am looking forward to hearing your report on the drive over the weekend.

Other-things of note:

I had my seat air set to full cold.

I had a full trunk (not much heavy things though)

I had a passenger with the seat air set to hot.

Link to comment
Share on other sites


lol that is also true.the more miles the better how ever many. i will try it out any way. the trip comp will also read it higher as with all trip comps. were you on normal suspension or high, and if so many people are saying the same thing then it must be true; to the gs models have the switch. could ask in that section see what they say

Link to comment
Share on other sites

"ANY COMMENTS?????"

- If an LS430 can return 36mpg, my name is Kevin Philips Bong.

Not sure what that means, but moving on...

I had the car on SPORT suspension. I rarely use high suspension, mostly stuck in traffic, cause I think it looks a little better raised up... Even though the LS430 has the least amount of stare value of any very expensive car!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

If I get 490 miles out of a tank from full to empty what would the actual MPG be?

80 litres = 17.582 gallons.

490 divided by 17.582 = 27.86.

I bet that had you driven exactly the same but without the pwr/ect you would have got just over 30.

LS 430 had increased tank to 22.2 US gallons.Equates to 18.47 Imperial Gallons.Equates to 84.06 litres.

490 miles divided by 18.47 = 26.52 mpg.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

If I get 490 miles out of a tank from full to empty what would the actual MPG be?

80 litres = 17.582 gallons.

490 divided by 17.582 = 27.86.

I bet that had you driven exactly the same but without the pwr/ect you would have got just over 30.

LS 430 had increased tank to 22.2 US gallons.Equates to 18.47 Imperial Gallons.Equates to 84.06 litres.

490 miles divided by 18.47 = 26.52 mpg.

Having done the same trip several times always driving the same way, I would never get that kind of mileage. The only difference was the PWR ETC button on. So uneducatedly I am assuming PWR ETC button = better fuel economy...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

PWR ETC button = better fuel economy..., actually no it doesn't mean that at all it simply means you get to the speed more quickly and gear changes are more frequent and noticeable ( its the lead foot factor that uses more fuel ),

im going to test this with the PWR ETC button on and not push the car to any limits like boy racers do and ill give feed back on the results

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Well......

Hesitantly, I will say that having used about half a tank the consumption appears no different BUT, it is certainly livelier under all conditions, and I regressed about 20 years when I was cut up joining the M20 at J6.......... all he saw was my boot disappearing into the distance - very juvenile!!!!

It seems that whereas before while just trundling around, when the load pedal was pressed, the first thing the gearbox had to do was work out whether it needed a lower gear(usually YES) and then sort it out. Now with the switch on, it always seems to be in the right gear and just moves along very nicely thank you.

At the moment I'm keeping it on.......

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

 Share




×
×
  • Create New...