FinLex

A good diesel with a good auto box will do just that: give good mileage no matter how you drive it.

It's really simple: if you wan't to get proper mileage out of ANY car, you have to drive accordingly (edit: at least with a manual, autos are more consistent). If you don't care enough to make the effort, you shouldn't be complaining. The 220d is in this sense a bit more demanding than many other diesel cars, but it will give decent mileage if you go through the trouble to alter your driving style. One more thing. You can accelerate as fast as the car will go and still get proper mileage. It's not accelerating that kills your fuel economy, it's braking! My driving style is: quick acceleration, quickly to the right gear and then steadily onwards avoiding unnecessary braking and stops.

The petrol automatic is obviously a more comfortable ride, but seriously: the fuel consumption is NOT identical. I admit I haven't driven the petrol version apart from a couple of quick test drives, but I have a 1.6 petrol Corolla with manual tranny and I can barely hit the same figures that I do with the 220d Sport. Now, the 250 auto is a lot heavier car than the Corolla, it has a lot more power and it has automatic transmission. There is NO WAY it would give me the same mileage that I get with the Corolla and 220d. One thing is for sure: you have to really concentrate to get proper mileage from 220d. The petrol auto will surely give a more consistent mileage regardless of your driving style.

I find it very interesting that just about everyone here seems to be disappointed on the fuel economy of the 220d. I have the Sport version and have never had a total tank average worse than 43 MPG. On pure motorway the tank AVG is around 48-49 MPG. It's not the most economic diesel in the world, but it's just fine in that aspect as well. I have done about 8500 miles on mine. I haven't noticed any dramatic improvement on the mileage, but the responsiveness has got a lot better since new. Performance/economy ratio is spot on, IMHO.

I don't know much about it, but I know it's ANNOYING. Haven't been able to track down the cause, but I have noticed, too, that it doesn't occur with a passenger. Anxious to know what the dealer has to say about it!

We have the VDIM as an option on all versions except for Sport where it is standard. It's not easy to get that MPG here either. You wouldn't believe the roads my Lex has seen. I mean seriously, you would not. But the traffic isn't that much of a problem I don't have the MM package. Want to know why? It costs 5900 € here, about 4000 £. And I practically never drive anywhere not already knowing how to get there. The ML would have been nice, but still not worth that much. Same goes for the camera since it has the sensors anyway. Hope your rattles are gone. Mine rattles a bit here and there but it's no surprise on these roads. There is no such car that would remain silent for long here.

There is one thing the petrol is missing and that is the VDIM. It may not be much of a nuisance to you in the UK and Ireland, but believe me when I say that it makes all the difference here up north. The basic VSC is a lot more sudden in its maneuvers. And once again I must say that I'm getting a very persistent 46+ mpg with my 220d Sport. Haven't seen a petrol car that can match it in everyday use.

That's true. But it's possible to go from 2nd straight to 4th with the Sport.

I disagree. You don't have to use more gears with the Sport if you don't want to. You just have the option to do so, if you like. Also, I think the Sport is just as economical as the other versions, if you drive it smoothly and in the right gear. That is, unless your doing 75+ mph.

I must say this again: I'm extremely happy with the mpg I'm getting with my 220d Sport. My overall mpg is sticking to 46 mpg with 3000 miles on the clock. For comparison, I get very similar readings with a 2004 Corolla 1.6 petrol. The Corolla is extremely frugal for a petrol car, but only manages to get the same mpg with about a 1000 pounds less weight and a lot less power. I haven't driven the IS 250, but I doubt I would get anywhere near this mpg with one of those. As for the responsiveness, the Sport is a lot better than the regular I tested. It's still not a rocket off the line, but once you get it going it's very strong. If you don't absolutely have to have an automatic transmission, I would say buy an IS 220d Sport!

I mentioned earlier that in Finland we've had this problem with the EGR valve reported on Toyotas with the same diesel engine. It seems that what we have come to know as the EGR valve, you are refering to as the fifth injector. Cultural differences, then. This problem has brought on big feelings up here, because Toyota happens to be the number one seller in Finland. Therefore there has been a lot of cars going to safe mode and limping to service. The reason why I'm only talking about the Toyotas is that whereas Toyota sells like mad, Lexus has only been able to put a hundred or so IS diesels on the road. So it's kind of hard to know whether or not this problem is occurring in the Lex. Most likely it is, when it seems to be pretty common in the UK. Anyway, I think this problem is big enough that Toyota and Lexus should have done a recall on it. The reason why they haven't, I believe, is that they're not sure if they have it sorted out yet. They have tried a slightly different injector and the software update was aimed, among other things, at making the safe mode trigger a little less intrusive. Still the problem seems to be there. So the problem is very persistent. I'm sure Toyota and Lexus are working to solve it but it has already taken them too long IMHO. I just hope they get it right before my Lex comes across this. One final thing. A common belief up here is that the problem can be avoided to a degree by avoiding idling. Also pushing the engine hard every now and then is believed to keep the injector clean and running. Worth a notice, I think.

Ahem... Why would Lexus use miles in defining the moment for the step up? Seriously these step ups are SOP for Toyota. I mean Lexus. Well, both. Hope it happens on mine, too. I've been happy with the responsiveness from day one, so a couple of step ups would make it really great!

I can confirm that this can be done. There can be some confusion if both keys are close to the car, but otherwise it seems to work fine.

A February 2007 220d Sport here. Not much miles on the clock (2000 or so), but seems to return around 46 mpg on the highway. That's right, 46 mpg with a fresh Sport. The best trip average I've seen so far was almost 48 mpg. Very happy with mine, obviously :D

Here up north we can get the leather also with the sport package. I've understood that the same goes for Germany. Not that it matters to me. I like the suede better.

Here in Finland many Toyotas with the same diesel engine have had similar problems. The reason is said to be the exhaust gas recycle valve (EGR) which doesn't work like it should. This causes the car to go to limp mode. The VSC is disabled because of the limp mode.

I don't think the official tests are driven in the perfect way for economy. They are driven the same way for each car, while each car has it's own way of reaching the best economy. The figures are correct in that they don't come from Lexus, but still not very accurate because the tests are not driven on public roads. I would say the Sport gets very similar economy to the non-Sport. With the Sport you have more of a choice to pick the best gear for every situation. This compensates the fact that the high-speed driving comes with higher rpms.

You must be feeling great! Congrats! About the seats. The quick guide lies. If I remember right, it says you have to push the seat button while holding down the button on the fob. It's the opposite: hold down the seat button and then push the button on the fob. Should work.

The one who opens the driver's door will win the election...

It's actually quite easy: http://us.lexusownersclub.com/forums/index...ost&id=3748 The desired info is on the 3rd page.

What comes to the official figures, I'm sure the difference between the two is too big. The numbers come from an official test, but the problem is that the standard test is driven the same way with every car. When you own a car, you can adjust your driving to the character of that car to get the best fuel efficiency possible. The standard test can't do that because the test is... well, standard. Now, the question is: Did Lexus optimize the standard gearing to get a low official figure, thus sacrificing usability and fuel consumption in real world driving? Then they decided to offer sport gearing for those who want a more involving drive. Thinking about the nature of these drivers, Lexus then didn't put much thought to the official figures of this sport version, which shows in the results. After Lexus noticed that the shorter gearing had a lot of people on it's side, they decided to offer the same gearing to the Luxury version. This is how I see the scene. I'm sure that the official fuel consumption tests haven't been done to all of the versions. The different gearing is a big enough change to justify the tests, but otherwise they just used the same figures.

Been reading this forum for a while now and thought I'd throw in my 2 cents... For 2007 Luxury version (SE-L ?) there is an option for the shorter final ratio. No extra cost. This is the information I got reading the local Lexus site and talking with a sales person a couple of months ago. Not sure if this stands for Brits though. Matus, you wondered in another thread about the different fuel consumption on Luxury vs. standard. With the normal gearing the consumption is the same, the difference comes with the "sport" final ratio.