Hi from rural Victoria

[LittleBlackDuck]

Hi, I have been a lurker on this forum for a while and have been interested in some of the esoteric ways people have tried to reduce their fuel consumption.

My wife and I currently drive a pair of Lexus hybrids and I am looking at some non-obtrusive ways of improving their fuel economy. Currently we get around 8.7l/100km in the RX450h and 5.6 in the CT200h. Personal bests are 8.2 and 4.8 respectively. I run them both on 91 octane regular fuel with no ethanol.

Trip profile is probably the biggest problem, with the daily commute to work being about 8km with no traffic to speak of. I try to use EV mode until I am at the bottom of our street (reverse up a steep driveway and 100m downhill) and then warm-up is on the roll at between 60-80km/hr. Temperatures range from 4C overnight in winter to 44C in summer and the cars are garaged overnight.

My initial thoughts are to try and retain heat to improve warm-up time and energy losses. Next are new tyres on the CT - suggestions welcomed for the lowest rolling resistance in 215-45R17.

Cheers for now.
Simon

[LittleBlackDuck]

Originally Posted by jammer191

Have you thought of or have you already put covers on either side of your radiator so that theres less air so it warms up quicker?

That is on my to-do list. I have just fitted an aftermarket TPMS to monitor tyre pressures, both for fuel economy and to prevent damage after getting a puncture.

Simon