Edmunds.com | Inside Line | Auto Observer Your Account | Help | Directory
You are here:
![[F]](http://a332.g.akamai.net/f/332/936/12h/www.edmunds.com/media/townhall/webxicons/site.gif){kind=small}
Forums
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
You are in the Lexus RX 400h Forum. Your Host is pf_flyer
|
Replying to: _hacksaw (Jun 08, 2005 11:01 am) As far as sunroofs go, I wouldn't buy a car without one. I love the light it brings into the car and mine is almost always at least popped up. Whenever I park, living in California where it's hot in the summer, I always leave it popped open to keep it from getting too hot inside. Early mornings or evenings it's wonderful. My husband, though, won't get one in his cars because he is tall and they do impinge on headroom. But he does appreciate it in my car. I open mine all the way often, except when it's cooking hot out or on the freeway. Occasionally we'll even do that with all the windows down, too. The kids love that. |
|
|
I just picked up my new Flint 400h Monday afternoon. I have a 24 mile commute on a four-lane parkway here in CT. In the morning, it's a clear shot. The afternoons are about 50% rush hour stop-and-go. So far, I've been cautious on acceleration, etc, but have cruised at 65-70mph when the road is clear. My results on a 212 mile interval, which included about 20 miles around town, were 28.9 mpg! I was very surprised with the relatively high figures after seeing so many 23-24 numbers. A few things I've noticed -- 1) laying your foot into it from a standing start costs a lot more than I would have guessed (ie - many miles to nurse the mpg's back!), 2) the passing acceleration is great!, and 3) running the A/C hard at highway speed seems to cost about 1-2 mpg. If I had to guess, I think my mileage would drop to ~24-25mpg if I start using the car's power and drive like I would in my other cars. Overall, I'm really happy so far. The only thing I've found a bit odd is that the electric-assist steering is a little heavy at highway speed, even compared to German cars. And....there's no excuse for not having the ability to either play mp3 cd's or connect an iPod. Other than that, perfect score so far...
|
|
|
Replying to: shelt (Jun 18, 2005 7:27 am) SUVs -- you've come a long way baby! |
|
|
You folks are great. I've been monitoring your forum for about three weeks to glean whatever insight I could to help formulate my decision take the 400h plunge. I'm happy to report I traded in my '02 Mercedes-Benz E-class last week and took a 400h home to meet the family. I must admit I was a little concerned I might miss certain aspects of the Mercedes, but so far this has been a home run and I would make the same decision again. This is my first Lexus and I'm very pleased with the overall quality built into this automobile. The fact that it's a hybrid is icing on the cake with a cherry on top. I've looked at SUV-type vehicles before because I like the interior flexibility to create more cargo room as needed, and sitting a little higher off the road, but the mpg ratings were always a huge turn off. To get the vehicle I've wanted and help save the environment at the same time... like I said before, home run. I do have a question for you. I have about 200 miles on my car so far and averaging 24 mpg with mixed driving, mostly city. Is there a break in period after which I might see an mpg improvement? 24 mpg is certainly respectable for this type of vehicle, but I expected something closer to 26+ mpg. Thanks again! |
|
|
Replying to: lexus400h (Jun 27, 2005 8:41 am)
|
|
|
Replying to: lexus400h (Jun 27, 2005 8:41 am) |
|
|
|
|
Replying to: lexus400h (Jun 27, 2005 8:41 am) http://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/fe_test_schedules.shtml I was rather surprised by some aspects of the profiles especially the "highway" profile. I have always equated "highway" with "freeway." I had read that the EPA highway test was for a speed of 60 MPH wihch seemed reasonable given most freeways being somewhere between 55 and 65 MPH speed limit now. It turns out that the actual profile is more for something like what I would drive on a non-freeway country highway. It just touches a 60 MPH peak speed a couple of times and the average speed is surprisingly low: 48 MPH - much slower than one will usually be going on an uncongested freeway. The city profile is less surprising, but it doesn't represent the driving I'm usually doing when not on a highway/freeway. It looks like pretty urban city driving rather than the typical California more suburban city driving. For some reason they have two pulses of high speed (56 MPH) - the first one I think is just to get the engine warmed up because it is a fairly short test, not sure why the second one is there. Then most of the test goes between stopped and 25-35 MPH. 40 -45 MPH would be more typical for the main surface streets around where I live. With 23 stops (about one every half mile), the average speed is 20 MPH. The tests don't seem to represent typical driving. My freeway driving is typically much faster than the "highway" test. Non-freeway driving around here is generally somewhere between the city and highway tests - stops a bit less frequent than the city test and average speeds considerably higher. Given the way the tests are done, it isn't surpising when our actual fuel mileage is different from the EPA numbers. Actually, when I look at the EPA test profiles it surprising to me that I get as close to the EPA numbers as I do. Freeway (~65 mph) I'm generally seeing around 27 MPG (or 26 when the AC is having to blast). Suburban surface streets, MPG varies more than on the freeway. Depending on AC load, traffic, speed, lights and hills plus how aggressively I'm driving, I see anything between 24 and 32 MPG. When conditions are just right, I've even seen high 30's. I've been getting 26 to 27 MPG over a tank which has included a fair amount of AC. |
|
|
|
|
Replying to: lexus400h (Jun 27, 2005 8:41 am) Other factors: short trips. There is a mileage penalty for running with a cold engine in all cars, but the mileage meter makes it obvious. When I do a lot of short (<10 minutes of driving) errands, mileage gets pulled down - 24 MPG wouldn't be unusual. AC. In my driving seems to cost between 1 and 2 MPG when it has to run hard. In heavy traffic it could cost even more (not going many miles but the AC still runs). |
|
|
Replying to: gagrice (Jun 27, 2005 8:58 am) 
|
|
|
Replying to: lexus400h (Jun 27, 2005 1:45 pm) |
|
You are here:
Forums
Hybrid Vehicles Lexus RX 400h New Lexus RX 400h Owners - Give Us Your Report
New? Join Now!
Forum Tools
Search Forums
Browse by Vehicle
2008 Lexus RX 400h
Browse by Board
Browse by Topic
Today's Chats
