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Hybrid Vehicles Lexus RX 400h New Lexus RX 400h Owners - Give Us Your Report
97 messages, Last post on Oct 06, 2009 at 9:04 AM
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| Congratulations on your new RX 400h! This is the place to give us your first impressions! | |
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400h delivered last night as promised - before the end of the month. And in Savannah our first choice but not apparently in everyone's top choices! We were #12 on the list and car number 3 delivered by the dealership. Any way, I have not driven it yet and will not have much opportunity since it is my wife's car. I did drive the Dealer test model a few days earlier and it is impressive. I will borrow it at every opportunity, that is for sure. If anyone has questions, please feel free to fire away.
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Replying to: marmadmax (Apr 21, 2005 7:31 pm) Hope your wife loves it and look forward to hearing more about her adventures! |
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| Well, I bought the 400h yesterday. I was surprised to get off the waiting list so soon, but glad for it. It drives as people have said -- very, very quiet at stoplights, great pick-up. I drive 90 miles a day to and from work, so I'm looking forward to the gas mileage over my previous 1994 SUV. | |
| We picked up our (actually my wife's) RX400h this past Wednesday. We both love the vehicle. Here is my experience with gas mileage so far. I only drove it on 3 occasions in the city to this point. On each occasion, I got the worst mileage during the first 5 minutes of driving. It got progressively better (up to a point of course) in later 5 minute intervals. During the first 5 minutes I could do no better than about 18-23 mpg. However, in later 5 minute intervals the MPG got surprisingly good. In fact, I got as much as 58-60 mpg on a few intervals. The average during what were three 25-30 minute drives had to be at least in the low to mid 30s. I also found out (and this makes sense obviously) that if you "gun" the accelerator the average MPG takes a substantial hit. Now, here is my take on the first 5 minute interval. Someone please correct me if I'm wrong. I think that the reason for poor gas mileage the first 5 minutes of driving is likely due to the fact that the system is attempting to recharge the battery after not being used for a while. Once the battery reaches a proper level of charge the motors/battery are doing more of the work. Does this make sense. Thus, after my initial experience, I am convinced that the 400h will indeed live up to the EPA city rating and maybe even surpass it if one is a bit careful how he applies the accelerator. I have not done enough highway driving on it yet to come up with any real conclusion, but what little highway driving I have done seems to also suggest that the EPA of 27 is pretty accurate. I would be shocked if this vehicle is not a huge success for Lexus and hold its value very nicely. It was more than worth the wait. | |
I did some more testing with the RX400h this afternoon and here is some additional information about gas mileage. If the car is parked for more than a say a half hour, there seems to be a warm-up period after it's started for about 3-5 minutes. During this period, I discovered that the engine is running even when coasting at low speed (25 mph or less) and the current mpg on the screen shows it as less than 20 mpg. However, if it has only been a few minutes since the car was driven, the warm up period seems to be less than one minute. The current MPG then suddenly shoots way up even under some acceleration. On a little trial run to the local grocery store a few minutes ago, I was going about 25-28 mph and the current mpg was at 60 mph the entire 1.5 miles each way. I could not detect the engine running at all. Needless to say, I was very impressed. Now I understand why (from my post #1045) why I was getting the rather poor mpg the first 5 minute intervals the 3 times I tested it & the great mpg thereafter. It all has to do with the engine running no matter how slow you are going the first 1-5 minutes of driving the car after being parked for a while. Incidentally, yes the engine is totally silent for a few seconds as I start backing out of the garage but after a few seconds it kicks on and stays on for that 1-5 minutes depending on how long the car has been parked. I also did some testing on the Interstate this afternoon. With a rather strong cross wind (20-25 mph), I averaged right at about 27 mpg going at between 60 and 70mph. I hope this sheds some light for those that are interested in the gas savings aspect of this fantastic vehicle. I am now quite convinced that one can do even better than the EPA city estimate with the 400h. I would certainly be interested to learn of others experiences in terms of MPG.
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Replying to: cyclone4 (Apr 30, 2005 5:20 pm) |
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I just want to add that my wife and I picked our RX400 up this weekend and quickly put over 300 miles on. It was a trip to my parents house, mostly highway, and we calculated the MPG by hand (didn't trust the computer), and it was 24.5 MPG (same as the trip computer). I just want to add this is what my 6 year old Dodge Stratus V6 was getting before I sold it. I figure if I get the same MPG as my smaller, less powerful, less luxurious Dodge than I am doing pretty good. We love the car! 
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Replying to: kenlex41 (May 02, 2005 8:06 am) What speed were you traveling at on the highway? did you fluctuate speeds (as Lexus recommends), or were you on cruise? I found that higher speeds kill the mpg... Headless
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Replying to: headless (May 02, 2005 8:51 am)
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