truonghthe

TL is the lowest fuel consumption out of Lexus IS350, BMW 335i and Infinity G35 even the new WRX thanks to out date SOHC and no direct injected. People need to really stop complaining about MPG you are driving a car that capable launching 0-60 in 5.7 secs and 1/4 mile in 14.2 sec that weight around 3700 lbs. If you need something more fuel efficient then I suggests that you should go to CA and buy the special Honda fit hybird that has 100 mpg, /thread.

CLtotheTL32

iTrader: (3)

My 2 cents is that if you have your Twitter username and hashtags on your rear window that you're a Romney supporter and a 2012 TL is for you

94eg!

Fuel cleaner is a joke. Here is what 105k mile intake valves look like with only Chevron 87 octane. This is my wife's Honda Pilot when I did a valve adjustment. Ports & valves are so clean you could eat off them. Also notice how the runner is all blackened from the EVAP, EGR & PCV system, yet perfectly clean where the fuel sprays. Bottom line is if your using a quality brand detergent gasoline, you have nothing to worry about as far as your fuel system is concerned.

LaCostaRacer

Did you have a SUV of similar type (V6 250+ HP) on similar commute or are you just assuming you're going to get better on the same commute?

I think the TL does pretty darn well for the size and performance of the car. I drove a Suburu Outback (4cyl 2.5l 5MT) that got worse gas mileage than the TL on the same commute.

The key to this thread on gas mileage and the 100's of other threads on this subject is simple: AVERAGE MPH shown on MID- the lower the worse your mileage is going to be. If it's in the low 20's, stop complaining and look at what you're doing on your commute. I see some people are seeing this correlation more now.

If you want to consistently save money in fuel:
1. drive less
2. drive smart - coast to stop lights, keep highway speeds under 70
3. keep your tires inflated and watch out for some brands- I lost 1-2MPG switching tires to Michelin Pilots
4. possibly change your commute- I saved 2mpg doing this to regain the loss on my tires- simply by taking the freeway instead of going by way of beach to work.

You can change air filters, spark plugs, and other things and you will see a very small change in gas mileage. You might want to check your O2 sensors though.

ZOMGVTEK

Unless you have something really wrong with your car, the driver has by FAR the largest impact on the vehicles MPG. Throwing maintenance parts at a car is fine, just don't expect it to be saving you money.

For some reason people think driving at highway speeds is best. This is entirely wrong. Highway MPG's tend to be higher since you're not usually stopping. Almost every vehicle on the road gets peak MPG's below 40 MPH. City speeds are best, it's just the stopping and idle that trashes your average. Avoid both and you'd have no problem breaking 30.

http://ecomodder.com/forum/showthrea...you-15182.html

Acceleration tends to not have that big of an impact on efficiency, half or even 3/4 throttle acceleration is usually fine, as long the engine remains loaded. Try and find a better route to your destination if you're always running into stops or traffic. If you can't avoid it, live with the impact.

I'm very happy with the TL's MPG's, its better than any other car in my household, and I don't drive enough for it to really matter anyways.

wajo22

I was getting poor gas mileage on my car (15 mpg city and 24 mpg highway), and after inflating my tires to 34 psi, reset my gas pedal, and reset my MID; and here's what I'm getting now driving in both city and highway:

TerpNation

huh? how you do that?

CLtotheTL32

iTrader: (3)

He reset the ECU. Look it up.

Acura-OC

On one MPH is 25 and on the other is 53 what a bunch of bs. I do not need to reset anything to get same MPG.

Acura-OC

I have 2005 Lexus RX 330 (zero to 60 in 7.5 sec. vs. 2008 TL 6.8 sec). Same commute to work on my Lexus I consistently was getting 17 MPG on a regular gas on TL I consistently get 15 MPG, but If I ever get on a freeway the best I could get from RX is 21 MPG where TL gets 30 MPG. One thing I noticed is that TL transmission is tuned different it is always too happy to downshift with slight touch of gas pedal. I do not care about small difference because with my small commute my cost difference even with premium gas is less than $10 per month. But yes, I did expect a newer car lighter in weight to have a better city MPG.

wajo22

What's bs about it? They're not good mpg?

Acura-OC

Distance traveled 2 miles and 3 miles.

wajo22

I guess you'd consider this one a bs as well.

Acura-OC

I am calling bs on inflating tires and resetting "gas pedal" having huge effect on MPG that you are claiming, because I am getting same results without all of the stupid thing you want to go through. You might as well masturbate before you start you car see if that will help.

joubit

Wajo22, don't bother with Acura-OC, man. You can tell that guy's an idiot. I'm new to this forum, and like every other car forum on the internet, Acurazine is no different. There seems to be a truckload of morons in here.

Acura-OC

No dramatic improvement? Really? Then listen to a local specialist and reset MID, drive on the freeway for an hour with 60 MPH and congratulations you did it. Ave. MPG has a direct relation to Ave. MPH there is nothing you can do about it unless you are driving on flat tires which you've said in your first post that you've done more then just tires. So you can join your new friend Wajo22 in a group masturbation. By the way smart people educate themselves by using search.

wajo22

If you're debunking my experiment, then do it so others can understand at least a pittance of your argument. Just as "smart people educate themselves by using search," they're also capable of expressing clearly what they mean without sounding cheap.

06NH6MTTL

iTrader: (1)

Op, please understand the tl also dumps fuel at start up to warm up 3 catalytic convertors, plays a big factor in the overall picture

350

iTrader: (4)

Mine bounces back and forth between 17 and 18 MPG, average speed 22 MPH cause of traffic, and I have a heavy foot. My SUV before this got 11/15... so I'm loving this fuel sipper lol.

joubit

I finally reset my MID this morning after filling up the tank, reset my gas pedal, and inflate my tires to 35 psi. I also pour a bottle of Techron in the fuel tank; and I can tell you that I saw a slight improvement in the gas mileage but a significant one in performance. The car accelerates better. The MID, for the first time since I bought the car, shows 18 mpg for city---although the traffic was unbearable. Thanks a bunch, wajo22. I'll report for highway later.

CLtotheTL32

iTrader: (3)

18 in city with heavy traffic is good!

I hate cars

This is THE most retarded mpg thread so far. Contrats guys, it takes a lot to top the retardedness of all of the previous mpg threads.

MPG= Average MPH. Everything else is minor in comparison.

AN AIR FILTER CAN NOT AND WILL NOT AFFECT MPG. IT'S COMPLETELY IMPOSSIBLE. STOP MENTIONING THE AIR FILTER IN A MPG THREAD.

"City" means nothing. One person's city might have a 5mph average, another person's could have a 45mph average. Average mph is the only thing that matters.

You don't adjust the fucking gas pedal. You reset certain parameters that the ECU has learned from your driving style such as transmission shift points and throttle response. If your mpg changes from this, you're imagining it just like the air filter.

You can't reset the MID, drive 2 miles and claim an improvement. You need to drive for hudreds of miles to validate any changes. I can go on the grapevine which is a large hill, reset the MID at the top, and show people the MID reading >50mpg with an 85mph average speed for 30+ miles.

imakeholesinu

I'm an Obama supporter and I don't complain about my TL's MPG.

geekybiker

My TL gets better mileage than my wife's CRV. Its not a gas sipper by any means, but its among the best of its class.

ez12a

just to clarify the driving conditions for the picture i posted:
-From Pasadena, CA area to Oceanside, CA majority of it on the 5 fwy.
-Nighttime (colder, denser air)
-little traffic.
-reset while on the fwy (to measure hwy mileage only).
-Cruise control set at ~60 mph. The trip time pretty much validates this speed.

94eg!

You cannot reset while in route. It's just not a valid test for "highway mileage". It's not like our cars are warmed up when we get in them and drive every morning. Then dropped from an airplane at 65mph onto the deck where we start the engine on touchdown.

If you're not factoring in daily starts, stops, warmups, on-ramps, etc, your test is pointless. Even 100% "freeway" driving includes all those things. When I drove 88.7% freeway, 17.7miles each way (15.7miles is freeway) every day, at 70mph top-speed, I always averaged 30 or 31 mpg over the course of a full tank. Including starts, stops, warmups, on-ramps, up-hills, down-hills, etc... 800' elevation variation total starting at 2800', up to 3200, then back down to 2400.

ez12a

pretty sure that's what someone else did in the "experiment" to test what mpg a TL can get at a different speeds. oh wells.

what if I am testing for mpg given that a car is warmed up and at speed? who can say that's not a valid test? I'm not the EPA. I also did an elevation look up and it drops precipitously in the first 10 miles (that is, given a 91 mile route via google maps. at 84, I may have skipped a good portion of that drop). Then goes up and down at around the same altitude.

i would even venture to say recording stops and starts makes things less valid/accurate, since every driver accelerates differently, every driver also waits varying amounts of times for warm up (if any). starting a "test" at a given speed is more accurate, letting cruise control handle maintaining speed. Less variables.

I hate cars

It's not valid if you're trying to compare to other TLs. I wouldn't want to play games to get a better number because the car is getting the same mpg either way and you're only cheating yourself over a number which doesn't mean anything.

If you're trying to compare changes you made to your car such as different mph, different air pressures, sure, reset once you're up to speed to take the start-stop variables out. However, you need many miles to be accurate. Cruise control is a bit spastic and brutal. A few miles of driving won't tell you a thing. A slight incline or decline that's too small for you to notice can be a 5mpg change. A 5mph head wind or tail wind will make a measurable change. Even corners and AC on or off will make a difference. Cruise control will not get you the best mileage nor make it more consistent. You need to make a change and run a few hundred miles before declaring a real change.

TerpNation

HOLY BATMAN!

NOTICED AN IMPROVED DIFFERENCE!

WTF??

ez12a

Yes, my original post intends to show a lower cruising speed will net you higher mpg.

if one were to re-read it, i mention netting ~24 mpg all said and done, this being over 3k miles.

I am well aware of other variables, but obviously this is not a scientifically controlled experiment, rather anecdotal and fairly applicable to most situations. I can throw my bike on top and lose 5 mpg going 65 mph.

on another note it really pains me to see the TL struggling to break 30 with a bike lol. But that's a given with something sticking an additional 3 feet into the air.

TLtrigirl

iTrader: (1)

^^the pic you posted has to be without the roof rack. there is no way the TL with a roofrack gets that type of mileage. i know...i had a roof rack on mine. i never saw over 30mpgs in the 6+yrs it was on my car (this was without bikes). with bikes, i only got about 23mpgs avg 50-60mph.

NetoAzul

could be worse OP, my EVO use to get 14city/ 21hwy.... Do what I do and grandma drive. don't need to be racing the TL.

ez12a

yeah that was before i had my rack. I'm not driving back to LA this weekend but I can reset and measure the mpg on the highway with the rack (and this time i'll be going ever so slightly uphill from OC) during my next trip up (w/o bikes).

What speeds do you drive with the rack on? IIRC i remember in a different post you mentioned doing 75+ with a bike without problems. You definitely will not be getting high 20s let alone 30 at that speed. bikes be crazy aerodynamic drag.

iirc i get high 20s doing 65 with a single bike on top, 2 sprocket rocket bike mounts (one being empty). It's definitely a struggle to get 30 with a bike. My rack is also a fork mount, so the bike is in a little more aerodynamic position. That extra front wheel will create much turbulence with air being forced through the spokes.

on another note:
at the moment my MID indicates 30 avg mph, 24 mpg over 300+ miles. empty rack with just bars and fairing.

I hate cars

Try 6mpg city, 26 freeway. My turbo car probably has the biggest swing between city and highway of any car I've seen.

wizardjjr

K&N drop in + Royal Purple can boost mpg.

I hate cars

I seriously hope you're kidding. If not, you have a lot of learning to do.

splew

OP, I think your poor mileage is a direct result of city driving. Also, lumps of lead attached to your ankles are likely a contributor too. Try replacing them with some feet that possess the ability to press the gas pedal softly.

Like others have said though, the TL doesn't get great city mileage regardless. It's not exceptionally heavy, but it's no featherweight either. More mass takes more fuel to get moving.

Even with my 6MT and it's short lower gear ratios, I only manage somewhere in the high teens in heavy city traffic. Try modifying your route to include higher speed/less congested roads. I average 27mpg on about 45% highway/35% rural roads/20% urban roads, and that's with speeds up to 85mph. If I actually went the speed limit, I would probably get around 30mpg.

TLtrigirl

iTrader: (1)

i had two upright mounts on my rack with an old school faring. doing 70+mph...i was around 22mpg (with two bikes). i would get maybe 25-26 on an empty rack going avg 45+mph.

i've driven up to 80mph with the two bikes (tri racing bikes) on the roof. no issues. windy days the bikes turned into a sail at times as i felt the car pull. i've driven as fast with bikes on the roof of other cars i've had as well. never an issue. must be my cali lead foot.

now on the MDX...can't even tell. hitch rack...out of the way of the frontal winds. 23mpg at avg 62 mph.

Renescent

I get 29-30 MPG consistently at 75-80 MPH, cruise control and AC on.

For comparison, my V6 STS4, under the above conditions, can only return a best of 24.5. (largely because it's AWD)

Comrade

Ever since I started commuting to work, I get the rated 21 mpg on an average.

When I go for long drives, I get up to 30 mpg on the highways. I always refuel at Chevron because I was told that it gives best mileage.