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View Full Version : HS250h - Weeks 3 & 4 Impressions


kgenaidy
11-15-2009, 03:28 PM
- Simply put ... the car has continued to exceed my expectations. When I decided to get the HS250h ... I had thought that if I achieved over 42 mpg ... I would be happy. One month average is 45.59 mpg. I've now raised the bar to be at least 130% of epa (45.5mpg).

- Week 3 ... was a great commute week for mpg ... probably about 48 mpg for 310 miles. The weekend killed it though. Had to make short trips for errands and the car never warmed up. Ended the week at 46.24 mpg.

- Week 4 ... still a pretty good week for mpg ... 47.1 mpg for 325 miles.

- I have found the vehicle calculates mpg to be about 2.5 mpg high on average.

- I'm still searching for SHM and being able to find and control it. Starting to see it more often ... it really is quite something when you enter it.

- Interestingly ... the biggest challenge I'm facing surrounds coming to grips with the Lexus maintenance schedules and the dealership associated costs that go with them. The HS250h uses 0w20 synthetic and a 5k oil change seems ridiculous. This may be heresy ... but I have all but decided to do non-major service myself or at a less expensive alternative where I can watch the work being done. I'm just not willing to pay the price (I was quoted $193) for the privilege of having Lexus do a 5k service (oil change, rotate tires, generally inspect vehicle).

- I will be switching to Amsoil 0w20, K&N oil filter, and a K&N air filter. I know there are other choices ... but I have had excellent results in the past and will stick with it. Each time in the past when I did this ... my mpg went up a little bit.

msirach
11-15-2009, 06:23 PM
The last word I had on the 5k oil changes and doing oil changes yourself was make sure to document and keep receipts of what you use and mileage. I am doing them myself on our 2010 Prius and just completed the second change last week. I used a Toyota oil filter the first time and a STP filter the second. The STP was only 50 cents cheaper than an OEM. I am using 0w20 Amsoil.

coldcase
12-03-2009, 09:21 PM
Wow, are you talking mpg???? I am one month and 2000 miles and am quite disappointed with my mpg. I had a Camry hybrid before and averaged 39 mpg for the life of the car 75k.

Now the HS250h with the same basic engine and a better drag coefficient can barely manage 34 mpg or less,,,,town or hwy. I am familiar with all of the hypermile tips and have tried them....The gasoline engine is cutting in too soon and on the hwy all gas am only getting 35 mpg and keeping speed low to get that. ???? Will this get better when broken in?

coldcase (not the engine)

kgenaidy
12-04-2009, 06:04 AM
Yes ... it is mpg. My HS250h has about 2200 miles on it now. It seems to be starting to "break in" a little bit.

This week it has gotten colder in DFW ... and the mileage is going down ... I'll be lucky to get 42-43 mpg this week ... and I've had to work pretty hard to get it. Most of my driving is about 1/2 highway and 1/2 urban (40 mph and lights every mile).

On the highway ... I probably average about 40 mpg over "rolling hills". I drive 55-57 mph on this portion with cc. If not using cc ... it will probably go up a little ... but I use this portion of my drive to "rest my foot".

I make it up mpg's on the urban sections which really play into the sweet spot of the HSD system. I use P&G a lot ... and this is where my mpg's go up.

I know from experience "short" drives will kill the mpg's until the HS has warmed up.

I don't have any TCH experience ... but on my HS ... left to it's own devices ... it won't always do what you want. I find I have to "coax" it into glides where the ICE shuts off ... it doesn't do it nearly as often by itself.



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