Interesting thing I noticed about the IS300....

1564 Views 16 Replies 15 Participants Last post by CountryBoy, Feb 8, 2002

DownShift

Discussion Starter · Feb 8, 2002

If you look at the MPG gauge on this car (p50 in the Feb C&D, or go to the link below) you will notice that it goes up to 80 MPG!...EIGHTY MILES PER GALLON!#[email protected] Are you serious Lexus???!!
Why would Lexus make the numbers go up that high? Seriously, driving the car normally, the needle will probably remain between the 40 and the 0 indicators (leaning more toward the zero). C&D got an average of 22mpg, you would need the hubble telescope to read that on this gauge thats no bigger than a quarter.
Someone please tell me they messed up and meant Kilometers P/G, or maybe its indicating how many gallons its drinking per mile. Like how the Bimmers' gauges read in Germany.
I doubt this car will ever see 40+mpg, unless its going 120 downhill with the wind to its back, in neutral, while being pushed by the Space Shuttle.
Lexus designers probably did this for the same reason that my speedo reads up to 160 mph....
So I may have answered my own question, but 80mpg??? Thats absurd. I doubt a 'yota Prius (or what ever that thing is called) can do that consitently!
Anyone else want to join my rant o'rant.
http://www.lexus.com/showroom/model/is_5speed_interior.html

Oh and I noticed that the MPG gauge and the Coolant temp gauge are reversed 180 degrees from looking at the website and C&D, another interesting thing...
humphf...

1 - 17 of 17 Posts

VWteknik

· #2 · Feb 8, 2002

Re: Interesting thing I noticed about the IS300.... (DownShift)

Nope, all MPG indicators are like that. Say you're going 70 down the freeway and you pop it in neutral. The gauge is going to give you an astronomical figure, based on your rate of speed theoretically staying the same. The gauge is useful for driving as fuel efficiently as possible (if that's your bag) but not an average MPG indicator. Hope that helped!

Obin Robinson

· #3 · Feb 8, 2002

Re: Interesting thing I noticed about the IS300.... (DownShift)

my 944 has the same thing. if i'm going downhill with teh car in neutral i'll get 70+mpg... then go up a hill and put your foot on the gas and it goes waaaaaaay back down. the car tells you how many gallons per hour you're using also... and that was way back in 1984

obin

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rs4-380

· #4 · Feb 8, 2002

Re: Interesting thing I noticed about the IS300.... (Obin Robinson)

the mkiv MFA's read "---" if you go above 100mpg, however its a fun game to try and get it to read 99.9 mpg

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ChicagoVeeDubs

· #5 · Feb 8, 2002

Re: Interesting thing I noticed about the IS300.... (rs4-380)

yeah in my parents RX300 its goes up above 100 sometimes (on highways coasting like you said), i like to think i actually get that much tough

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A4Jetta

· #6 · Feb 8, 2002

Re: Interesting thing I noticed about the IS300.... (DownShift)

Fuel economy gauge is a pretty numb idea invented by BMW. If you drive fast, you definitely use more gas. If you drive leisurely, you gonna save gas. Why they just get rid of the damn gauge under the rev counter.

Apollo-Soyuz 1975

· #7 · Feb 8, 2002

Re: Interesting thing I noticed about the IS300.... (Obin Robinson)

quote:[HR][/HR]my 944 has the same thing. if i'm going downhill with teh car in neutral i'll get 70+mpg... then go up a hill and put your foot on the gas and it goes waaaaaaay back down. the car tells you how many gallons per hour you're using also... and that was way back in 1984

[HR][/HR]

My dad's '85 Caddy Fleetwood Brougham had a digital instantaneous fuel economy readout as part of a rudimentary trip coumputer thing. It was fun to see 70 miles per gallon when he lifted at highway speeds

An aside: Despite the EPa rating of 14mph city and 21 highway, that car got 11 in the city and 28 on the highway. This from a car with all the wind-cheating properties of an Apollo command module parachute...

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3

TabulaRasa

· #8 · Feb 8, 2002

Re: Interesting thing I noticed about the IS300.... (A4Jetta)

quote:[HR][/HR]Fuel economy gauge is a pretty numb idea invented by BMW. If you drive fast, you definitely use more gas. If you drive leisurely, you gonna save gas. Why they just get rid of the damn gauge under the rev counter.[HR][/HR]

Umm...It's not a "numb" idea. It's a great idea. I loved having that gauge because with the instant MPG in front of you all the time, you could get more consistent gas milage--not just lower or higher milage. In addition, I've found that running at low RPMs != better fuel economy, especially when going up hills. For example I could go up a hill at 40mph in 4th gear at around 2000 RPM but going up the same hill in 3rd gear at the same speed actually yielded BETTER milage.

Having the readout as a separate gauge is much better than having it as a function on a cheesy trip computer. I liked having the trip computer in it's own spot on the dashboard, each function controlled by separate buttons. The way Audi has things setup with a up/down switch on a stalk really sucks. Also Audi engines are weakly engineered turds. http://****************.com/smile/emthdown.gif http://****************.com/smile/emthdown.gif

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4

-GTR-

· #9 · Feb 8, 2002

Re: Interesting thing I noticed about the IS300.... (VWteknik)

...you've got a lot of time on your hands don't you?

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A4Jetta

· #10 · Feb 8, 2002

Re: Interesting thing I noticed about the IS300.... (TabulaRasa)

To each of his own.
I didn't bother with both fuel economy gauge or trip computer, I can use my brain to calculate fuel consmption.
Audi builts V6, BMW builts straight 6. Are we talking apple vs orange? Bimmer doesn't built forced induction, except for Cooper S.

Matchschtick

· #11 · Feb 8, 2002

Re: Interesting thing I noticed about the IS300.... (A4Jetta)

For the same reason my IV GTI says 100mpg when I'm coasting....it can go even higher, if only for a moment, better than the gauge sitting at 40 all the time when it reality it's higher.....
p

[Modified by Matchschtick, 7:57 AM 2-8-2002]

Elliot

· #12 · Feb 8, 2002

Re: Interesting thing I noticed about the IS300.... (rs4-380)

quote:[HR][/HR]the mkiv MFA's read "---" if you go above 100mpg, however its a fun game to try and get it to read 99.9 mpg

[HR][/HR]

I dunno what kinda mk4 you've got, but mine goes up to 200.0mpg before hiting "---".

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myvwtoo

· #13 · Feb 8, 2002

Re: Interesting thing I noticed about the IS300.... (bigelliot)

my '88 Toronado had the same thing, my best was the old 99.9 MPG
My Avg. MPG was 13 though, on a good day

pallison14

· #14 · Feb 8, 2002

Re: Interesting thing I noticed about the IS300.... (simpdaddy)

It's been awhile, but I think the digital readout on the Saab used to go up to 999.9 mpg. Doing the LA to SF drive, I used to reset the computer and coast for as long as possible going down the Grapevine. According to the system, I'd "average" about 3xx mpg until I got to Buttonwillow.
Silly, I know, but it was still a fun way to break up a long drive.

A4Jetta

· #15 · Feb 8, 2002

Re: Interesting thing I noticed about the IS300.... (myvwtoo)

Trip computer sounds pretty funny, I should order my next car with one.

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Lackey

· #16 · Feb 8, 2002

So, basically, there isn't an issue here.

CountryBoy

· #17 · Feb 8, 2002

Re: Interesting thing I noticed about the IS300.... (DownShift)

I wonder what my TDI would say when coasting with the MFA. Man I need to swap that gauge cluster in.

1 - 17 of 17 Posts

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