Hey fellas,

Is it just me or anyone else getting bad mpg after the recall software update for the 2018/19 TLXs?

Im by no means a hyper-miler, and used to get 16/17 city, but now I can barely get 13mpg, and on eco mode!

Just wondering if anyone else is having a simililar issue.

 

Not sure if it's the same recall that affected all TLX model years, but I haven't noticed any drop in mpg in my 2015 after the recall.

 

Had my software update last month, no difference in mileage

 

Had the update done a couple months back and am right at 26 mpg on my 18 with AWD in sport mode over the last 400 miles. This is the highest its been with no highway miles included in that figure so no negative effect at all.

 

How long are you sitting in traffic?

 

One hour to get to work....9 miles from home lol. Still though, it wasn't that bad, however I went ahead and reset the ECU by unplugging the battery for a hour and I am happy to say MPG is back to normal (my normal that is). I honestly don't know what caused it, but I'm glad in the past 3 days I've averaged 16.7mpg.

 

Does eco mode really do anything for anybody other than give you sluggish acceleration? lol. I guess that's one way to save mileage. I know at highway speeds it wasn't doing much of anything in terms of mileage, which is understandable. I remember on my first 30 or so tanks, I couldn't tell much difference in mileage among Sport, Normal, and Eco other than I thought I had to stomp the gas to get the thing moving in Eco mode. I could be wrong, though, and maybe things may have changed since then. I usually just leave it in Sport mode nowadays. On almost pure highway drives, I still get 35-40 mpg in my V6 in Sport mode (pre-software patch... not sure about after the patch). I sit in 1.25-1.5 hour traffic, so I gave up on the mileage thing. lol.

 

No fuel economy issues since the update.

 

I recently had the software update. I've seen no difference in mileage.

This last weekend my wife and I traveled from the south side of Houston up 45, around beltway 8 over to the Bellaire area. Drove around a bit and came back. I used ECO mode which I never use much at all. I averaged between 33 and 34 mpg. Mostly highway (70-80 mph) and some city. I think I'd probably get about the same if I used Normal mode. I don't use Sport mode much. My normal mode is Normal.

 

No issues after update, although I monitored it closely after reading this thread. OP, you should have double checked MPG with the manual method (gas pump+calculator) when your car displayed such low numbers. But then again, 16.7mpg is pretty decent for your hour-long stop-and-go commute, during which you average 9mph. There isn't a car in the world besides a hybrid or electric that can do better for that commute.

So agreeing with Rocketsfan on that. I've experimented a lot and found little-to-no improvement with ECO. In fact, I find ECO and NORMAL just result in a lazier ZF9 than it already is. So I leave it in SPORT and get the best throttle response and most crisp shifting possible. I think gas saver modes like these, on any vehicle, simply modulate the engine and transmission to keep revs low. Anyone can feather the throttle on their own.

Last I'll say on the subject, I set my personal best MPG on an all-highway (60-80mph) drive last week. 60degF. 10mph tailwind. SPORT mode. V6 SH-AWD with VCMuzzler. I got 36mpg and the MID said I could have gone almost 600miles on the tank.

 

I only use ECO mode until my engine is warmed up in the morning or after a long stop, or for highway cruising. Otherwise NORMAL or SPORT is reasonable on gas (V6).

 

The update that you all had done was called a PGM-FI update. The PCM increases the voltage slightly to the low pressure pump in the tank, what this does is keep the brushes cleaner inside the pump. No one should notice any type of change what so ever in there vehicle. When the update is complete, it does clear out the current MPG calculator on the MID. If anyone was wondering.

 

Have not noticed a difference. If anything I feel like my MPG average displayed in car is inflated. I have to really try hard to get it below 20. On the highway I usually get 33-35. I have a V6 so these numbers seem really high for what it's rated. Whatever, I'm not complaining.

 

I use fuel tracking app and what's calculated on the app vs the onboard computer differ up to 2mpg. The car does inflate the actual fuel economy a little bit.