Interesting fuel economy comparison
#1
04-22-2009 | 03:01 AM
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Joined: Dec 2005
Posts: 774
From: Canada
Interesting fuel economy comparison
My wife and I test drove a white 01 Lexus LS430 that has about 80K miles.
I love our 92 Accord, but that Lexus brought smiles on our faces that were from ear to ear. It was without any doubt the finest, most comfortable automobile that either of us had ever driven. We acted like a couple of kids in that car.
When we got home, just for the hell of it, I thought I'd compare the fuel consumption of a 2008 LS460 to our Accord.
Here are the fuel economy specs for our 125 horsepower, 2822-pound, 1992 Honda Accord (presumably, when it was new):
http://www.fueleconomy.gov/FEG/noframes/8886.shtml
Highway: 28 mpg
City: 21
Combined: 24
Compare the above to a 380 horsepower, 4320-pound, 2008 Lexus LS460:
http://www.fueleconomy.gov/Feg/noframes/24864.shtml
Highway: 24
City: 16
Combined: 19
Absolutely amazing - especially the highway numbers. Even though the Lexus is a behemoth of a luxury living room on wheels, it's fuel consumption is actually in the same ball park as our 92 Accord - when our Accord was new!
In short, manufacturers have made some vast improvements in automotive fuel efficiency over the past 17 years.
(Of course, fuel cost is only one factor - albeit a big one - in how much it costs to own a vehicle, but I'm grasping at straws here. I think I'm going to determine our Accord's a present-day mpg. It would be pretty depressing if the number turned out to be the same or, heaven forbid
, even less than the luxury living room on wheels.)
I love our 92 Accord, but that Lexus brought smiles on our faces that were from ear to ear. It was without any doubt the finest, most comfortable automobile that either of us had ever driven. We acted like a couple of kids in that car.
When we got home, just for the hell of it, I thought I'd compare the fuel consumption of a 2008 LS460 to our Accord.
Here are the fuel economy specs for our 125 horsepower, 2822-pound, 1992 Honda Accord (presumably, when it was new):
http://www.fueleconomy.gov/FEG/noframes/8886.shtml
Highway: 28 mpg
City: 21
Combined: 24
Compare the above to a 380 horsepower, 4320-pound, 2008 Lexus LS460:
http://www.fueleconomy.gov/Feg/noframes/24864.shtml
Highway: 24
City: 16
Combined: 19
Absolutely amazing - especially the highway numbers. Even though the Lexus is a behemoth of a luxury living room on wheels, it's fuel consumption is actually in the same ball park as our 92 Accord - when our Accord was new!
In short, manufacturers have made some vast improvements in automotive fuel efficiency over the past 17 years.
(Of course, fuel cost is only one factor - albeit a big one - in how much it costs to own a vehicle, but I'm grasping at straws here. I think I'm going to determine our Accord's a present-day mpg. It would be pretty depressing if the number turned out to be the same or, heaven forbid
, even less than the luxury living room on wheels.)
#2
04-22-2009 | 09:05 AM
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Joined: May 2006
Posts: 18,398
From: Wisconsin
Be careful. Since those MPG numbers are based on the same testing, they should be consistent with EACH OTHER. If you get 20% worse in your Accord, then you can probably safely predict that you'll get 20% worse in the Lexus. Driving habits (including traffic & hills) are tremendously important to MPG.
Ever since EPA started publishing MPG numbers, people have argued it doesn't reflect real life (whatever that is). EPA has adjusted their procedures for measuring MPG several times. There have always been people who drive in steep hilly areas, or in heavier traffic, so they get worse MPG. You can ALWAYS take the same car & give it to 3 different people in 3 different cities, and get WAY different MPG in "real life". If you want the numbers to mean anything, they have to be measured by a rigorously consistent procedure.
Those numbers for the Accord have been adjusted to the current measuring procedure, so they're not the same as what would have been on the window sticker in 1992.
Ever since EPA started publishing MPG numbers, people have argued it doesn't reflect real life (whatever that is). EPA has adjusted their procedures for measuring MPG several times. There have always been people who drive in steep hilly areas, or in heavier traffic, so they get worse MPG. You can ALWAYS take the same car & give it to 3 different people in 3 different cities, and get WAY different MPG in "real life". If you want the numbers to mean anything, they have to be measured by a rigorously consistent procedure.
Those numbers for the Accord have been adjusted to the current measuring procedure, so they're not the same as what would have been on the window sticker in 1992.
#5
04-22-2009 | 12:53 PM
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Joined: May 2006
Posts: 18,398
From: Wisconsin
If it's well maintained, it'll get better over the first several thousand miles as the rings seat into the cylinders & general break-in stuff.
If you're lucky, it almost stays the same from then on. But eventually things will wear out. A drop in MPG can tell you to start looking for things going wrong. Maybe even non-engine stuff like corroded brakes that drag a little bit.
If you're lucky, it almost stays the same from then on. But eventually things will wear out. A drop in MPG can tell you to start looking for things going wrong. Maybe even non-engine stuff like corroded brakes that drag a little bit.
#6
04-22-2009 | 01:11 PM
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Senior Member
Joined: Dec 2005
Posts: 774
From: Canada
No, but I feel like I'm under some kind of kid's automotive zombie spell when it comes to that car we drove. Neither my wife not I can stop thinking or talking about it.
Ridiculous.
Over the years, we have easily been able to resist all newcomers into our spacious, two-car (whoops, there I go again) garage. On those rare occasions when we did walk into a new-car showroom, usually the new cars were too cramped for me and we never even got the urge to take a test drive. I once sat in an Avalon that had pretty good room, but, again, it was not an exciting car, so we didn't even bother with a test drive.
After all of these visits, we'd sit back down in our very roomy Accord and drive away thinking that we owned one hell of a great car.
A friend of our's just bought an "09 Corolla. He even let me drive it while he and my wife were passengers. It's a nice little car, but I think our 92 Accord is a better vehicle in every respect except gas mileage. For example, the dash on that Corolla is a disgrace and the rest of the interior isn't much better. Our car does not have a single tear, or even wear spot, on its upholstery, and no deterioration on any of the dash or door trim. The only place the interior has some minor fading is the deck under the rear window.
I would not be a bit surprised if our '92 still outlives that Corolla.
Anyway, back to Lexus. A couple of weeks ago, there was a black/tan, 1998 Lexus LS400, 240,000 km, advertised on an local on-line classified-ad site. I'd sat in a few LS400s that were much older than that, but never driven one, so I bamboozled my wife into going to take a look at it by telling her that we would be "just looking" and would not be buying a vehicle with that number of miles on it.
Well, I instantly found that I fit just great in that car - plenty of leg room for my 38" legs - and it drove spectacularly well and my wife really liked it, too. The interior was almost showroom condition, and ultra-luxury to boot, but the exterior showed its age and miles.
After the test drive, very surprisingly to me, my wife actually suggested that we go to the Lexus dealer, which just happened to be nearby, in order to find out if they had any newer, lower-mile vehicles.
That's where we saw, and drove, the white, '01 LS430.
It had even better headroom than the LS400 that we had just driven, and was an even better all-around looking, and driving, car. For example, its turning radius is very tight - even tighter than our Accord, I'm pretty sure.
It is a fantastic car in every way. I would not be surprised if our Accord gets a roomate in the near future.
(This is the reason I started the thread about prices of vehicles at dealer-only auctions. I'm a stingy SOB, so if one can save several thousand dollars by buying a vehicle there, I'd become a temporary car-dealer in order to do that.)
Thanks again, Jim. With my careful maintenance, our soon-to-be 18-yr-old Accord still runs very well.
(How's this for reliability. The only lamp I've ever replaced on the car is the back center brake light- and that only once.)
Ridiculous.
Over the years, we have easily been able to resist all newcomers into our spacious, two-car (whoops, there I go again) garage. On those rare occasions when we did walk into a new-car showroom, usually the new cars were too cramped for me and we never even got the urge to take a test drive. I once sat in an Avalon that had pretty good room, but, again, it was not an exciting car, so we didn't even bother with a test drive.
After all of these visits, we'd sit back down in our very roomy Accord and drive away thinking that we owned one hell of a great car.
A friend of our's just bought an "09 Corolla. He even let me drive it while he and my wife were passengers. It's a nice little car, but I think our 92 Accord is a better vehicle in every respect except gas mileage. For example, the dash on that Corolla is a disgrace and the rest of the interior isn't much better. Our car does not have a single tear, or even wear spot, on its upholstery, and no deterioration on any of the dash or door trim. The only place the interior has some minor fading is the deck under the rear window.
I would not be a bit surprised if our '92 still outlives that Corolla.
Anyway, back to Lexus. A couple of weeks ago, there was a black/tan, 1998 Lexus LS400, 240,000 km, advertised on an local on-line classified-ad site. I'd sat in a few LS400s that were much older than that, but never driven one, so I bamboozled my wife into going to take a look at it by telling her that we would be "just looking" and would not be buying a vehicle with that number of miles on it.
Well, I instantly found that I fit just great in that car - plenty of leg room for my 38" legs - and it drove spectacularly well and my wife really liked it, too. The interior was almost showroom condition, and ultra-luxury to boot, but the exterior showed its age and miles.
After the test drive, very surprisingly to me, my wife actually suggested that we go to the Lexus dealer, which just happened to be nearby, in order to find out if they had any newer, lower-mile vehicles.
That's where we saw, and drove, the white, '01 LS430.
It had even better headroom than the LS400 that we had just driven, and was an even better all-around looking, and driving, car. For example, its turning radius is very tight - even tighter than our Accord, I'm pretty sure.
It is a fantastic car in every way. I would not be surprised if our Accord gets a roomate in the near future.
(This is the reason I started the thread about prices of vehicles at dealer-only auctions. I'm a stingy SOB, so if one can save several thousand dollars by buying a vehicle there, I'd become a temporary car-dealer in order to do that.)
If it's well maintained, it'll get better over the first several thousand miles as the rings seat into the cylinders & general break-in stuff.
If you're lucky, it almost stays the same from then on. But eventually things will wear out. A drop in MPG can tell you to start looking for things going wrong. Maybe even non-engine stuff like corroded brakes that drag a little bit.
If you're lucky, it almost stays the same from then on. But eventually things will wear out. A drop in MPG can tell you to start looking for things going wrong. Maybe even non-engine stuff like corroded brakes that drag a little bit.
(How's this for reliability. The only lamp I've ever replaced on the car is the back center brake light- and that only once.)
#7
04-22-2009 | 02:57 PM
Super Moderator
Joined: May 2006
Posts: 18,398
From: Wisconsin
Tight turning radius - that car is rear-wheel-drive, right? FWD axles severly limit steering angles, and at first everyone complained about wide turning radius. Now we've all become so used to that. Compare against BMW or Merc turning radius.
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