My MPG is abysmal. Is it the AT tires, or maybe something else? (1 Viewer)

[kty]

Hey guys, I'm the new owner of a 2015 LC 200 with about 240k on the clock. The dealer I bought it from put BFG KO2s (65s) on it, which worked well for me since it will be used for trips around the Southwest. But the MPG I'm getting is pretty abysmal -- about 9 MPG in stop-and-go city driving, and about 18 on the highway.

Compare this to the 2018 LC 200 that I drove at a dealer which got closer to 17 MPG on city streets when I took it for a spin. It was runnning Michelin Defenders.

Is this all because of tires, or is there something else that might be keeping my 2015 from getting better city miles even with the KO2s? I'm taking it to an LC shop next week for a post-sale check over and will ask them about it too.

Despite the abysmal MPG, I'm psyched about the LC that I'm now trying to convince my wife sell the minivan and buy this 2018

TIA for any insight/help.

 

[skrypj]

that sounds fairly normal. Not sure how fast your highway driving is but mine seems to be 18-20 before i went to 35x11.50's, and even with the 35's it seemed like I was getting 17-18 driving from Park City UT to St George UT and back doing 80mph most of the way. I didnt hand calculate it, but I did factor in the change in tire size.

Mine actually does worse driving around on the local roads and averages around 16 but is definitely not city. Its mostly 2 lane country roads.

If your tires are bigger than stock that will make the MPG read out slightly worse

 

[kty]

If your tires are bigger than stock that will make the MPG read out slightly worse

Oh really? That's interesting. Like 2% or 10% worse?

 

[linuxgod]

Oh really? That's interesting. Like 2% or 10% worse?

Exactly whatever the % difference in tire diameter is

 

[DallasTide]

Around town in stop and go traffic I get 10 or 11 at best. There are many times when my trip mpg is reading in the 8 range. Brutal. But I also tend to accelerate hard so some of this is self inflicted.

Highway is more like 16-17 mpg. I'm on 33s.

 

[TeCKis300]

Factory city MPG is only rated at 13. Wouldn't be hard to do worse there. Yes, more aggressive and larger diameter tires both would have an impact. Driving style as well.

With 35" AT, mildly aggressive city driving with lots of stop and go, 11 MPG (corrected for tire diameter) was pretty normal to see. A drive cycle I wish I had an EV for.

 

[MikeVpdx503]

Just as one comparison, I’m relatively stock with OEM front strut spacer and a similar size AT tire and I average 11-12 in city MPG and 17-18 hwy MPG (factoring in change in tire diameter). I got slightly better (1-2 extra MPG) with the original OEM tires and size. If MPG is a priority I would look hard at the Michelin Defender as that should outperform the KO2 in that area (and many others as well) all day long.

 

[Sandroad]

That’s ballpark normal for both city and highway. The KO2 is a heavy tire, which can whack city mpg. Be happy you’re getting 18mpg highway! The ‘18 you test drive very likely did not really get 17mpg in the city. The GOM (guess-o-meter) in the display is a weighted moving average and can read high or low on any particular drive.

 

[foolforthecity]

I would also add that the LC fuel light comes on absurdly early relative to pretty much any other vehicle I have ever driven which can give you the impression that your mileage is even worse.

 

[turbo8]

Another thing to consider is that the 15 has a 6spd transmission, while the 18 has a 8spd.

 

[stonepa]

How heavy is your foot? I get a consistent 14mpg in the city with my 2015 on BFG K02s.

 

[M1911]

Hey guys, I'm the new owner of a 2015 LC 200 with about 240k on the clock. The dealer I bought it from put BFG KO2s (65s) on it, which worked well for me since it will be used for trips around the Southwest. But the MPG I'm getting is pretty abysmal -- about 9 MPG in stop-and-go city driving, and about 18 on the highway.

Compare this to the 2018 LC 200 that I drove at a dealer which got closer to 17 MPG on city streets when I took it for a spin. It was runnning Michelin Defenders.

Is this all because of tires, or is there something else that might be keeping my 2015 from getting better city miles even with the KO2s? I'm taking it to an LC shop next week for a post-sale check over and will ask them about it too.

Despite the abysmal MPG, I'm psyched about the LC that I'm now trying to convince my wife sell the minivan and buy this 2018

TIA for any insight/help.

You are not going to get 17 mpg city in any 200.

I had a 2013 LC. I ran it on both K02s and Defenders. K02s reduced mpg about 1.5 mpg. My lifetime fuel economy (tracked by gallons pumped and miles driven at every fill up) was about 14.5 mpg.

I now have a 2020 LX with Defender LX/2. On the highway I can get 17-18. City is more like 15. The 9 mpg you are getting is low.

 

[kty]

How heavy is your foot? I get a consistent 14mpg in the city with my 2015 on BFG K02s.

I've actually been driving like a grandpa -- nice and slow. To clarify, my "combined" is 14mpg, but if I reset and just drive on city streets, no highway mixed in, it stays around 9mpg until I mix in some highway time.

 

[linuxgod]

City is 6-10mpg depending on time of year for me when I first went to bigger tires but nothing much else. Chicago, so it’s really really city, stopping all the time. Normally in the summer I see 9 in the city and 12-13 on the highway though I’m pretty modified now.

 

[M1911]

I've actually been driving like a grandpa -- nice and slow. To clarify, my "combined" is 14mpg, but if I reset and just drive on city streets, no highway mixed in, it stays around 9mpg until I mix in some highway time.

14 mpg combined is typical.

 

[Supra Turbo]

Im seeing right at 15.0 mpg combined with 285/65/18 KO2s. Its those @turbo8 skids providing additional aero

 

[M1911]

Im seeing right at 15.0 mpg combined with 285/65/18 KO2s. Its those @turbo8 skids providing additional aero

I find that my combined fuel economy is very sensitive to the mix of city/highway driving that I'm doing. On my 2013 LC, most of my driving was suburban (35-40) plus a lot of stop and go into the city. That gave me an overall 14 or so.

These days, I spend a couple hours most weekends on the highway and I'm only going into the office once per week. As a result, I'm getting more like 16 mpg in my LX.