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Hybrid Vehicles Lexus RX 400h Lexus RX 400h Test Drive - What Did You Think?
25 messages, Last post on Aug 31, 2005 at 8:11 PM
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I test drove a 400h today for about 30 minutes and about 17 miles. The drive was about half freeway at about 60-65mph and half suburban street driving at 20-40mph. This was in the Bellevue-Kirkland area of Washington state, in 70 degree sunny weather without using the A/C. I reset the average mpg at the start of the drive, and ended up with a 29.1mpg average! I would guess that my 2005 AWD RX 330 would not have done any better than 18-20mpg over that same drive. I was quite impressed! Without the energy display, I would not have been able to tell when the gas engine was being used...the transition was very seamless! Very smooth, and very peppy when requested to be! I really expect to go the 400h when my current 330 lease is up...it is a very impressive vehicle!
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Replying to: briegel (Jun 17, 2005 9:35 pm) I have my i605 Nextel cell phone set up with 1-button dialing so I can call out while the car is moving. After reading the manual and a lot of experimentation, I can use about 85% of the navigation system functions. Will be switching from supreme to 87 octane when I reach 1500 miles. My salesman recommended that I use supreme during the break in period although the manual does not say that that is necessary. So far the 400h is performing as I expected. Next month I will be taking it on a 2,000+ mile road trip and will report back when I return. |
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Replying to: mirex (Jun 18, 2005 6:26 am)
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Replying to: falconone (Jun 18, 2005 7:09 am) |
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Replying to: falconone (Jun 18, 2005 7:09 am) Took your advise and put in 87 octane at last fill up. Could not notice any difference in either performance or mpg.
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Replying to: mirex (Jun 20, 2005 3:06 pm) |
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My friend and I took one for an extended test drive around 3 weeks ago. We reset the mileage and took it for a 1/2 hour in varying condition in the NJ suburbs. We got 25.3 in 18 miles of driving. I think that's pretty decent. Maybe some participants here should post pictures of their mileage screens to appease the non-believers. Oh.. didn't Edmunds get 27mpg or something like that?
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Replying to: falconone (Aug 02, 2005 6:24 pm) |
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During a recent family getaway, I discovered that my wife's sister had traded her RX330 for a brand new 2006 RX400h AWD. My wife and I just recently bought a 2005 Cadillac SRX and my wife is less than thrilled with the mileage (she works managing environmental projects in Central Asia). So after a few days of driving the Lexus, I have a few impressions. I've never driven a hybrid but Lexus did their homework with this car. Driving it was pretty simple but there were some interesting differences. First, turning the key and not have the engine fire up immediately was weird at first but you get used to it quickly. Often the car decides to fire up the engine after several seconds in park or just when you're putting it in gear. And then there's the small vibration kick of the the gas motor that kicks in. At idle, the gas engine is pretty quiet too....so quiet that you can often mistake it being off. But it does announce itself under throttle, but not nearly as much as the V6 in my SRX, which is downright noisy by comparison. The navigation system has a nice display that shows what the system is doing at any given moment. It's nice to watch but probably not the display you want to have in the middle of your dash at all times. There is a mini version that you can use for the LCD display inset in the speedo display if you really want to see it. Otherwise the map is what most owners will gravitate to most often. Like so many Nav systems, this one has the lawyer nanny screen which tells you to make sure you're not crashing the car while using it and to "please accept this agreement"...every single time the car is started. Hey Lexus! How about just a legally binding contract that we sign at the dealership before we take the car off the lot? And since you can't input new destination information while the car is moving anyway, it's not like you can get into that much trouble. Regenerative braking is a little weird to get used to. Brake feel is very different and takes some getting used to. The brakes seem not to grab much at first and then really grab toward the end. Lexus might look into further ways to make this smoother. Those gripes aside, this is a wonderful vehicle. It's well appointed but noticeably smaller than my SRX. This is great for parking but not so good for cargo as the rear reminds me of a better executed and longer BMW X5. This car comes with the automatic rear hatch door motor, which is cute and probably even occasionally useful. The motor for the hatch does intrude into the rear ceiling space quite a bit. One thing I did notice is that this vehicle has more legroom than previous iterations of the RX330....which was useful since my extra tall frame couldn't drive the old RX330 at all. I wouldn't own this one strictly on long term comfort factors with knee room, but it was good enough for me to putz around town. Finally, my wife was driving the car and she noticed on one screen the average MPG that the vehicle has seen since it was taken off the lot about 850 miles ago: 25. Compare that to the 16 we've seen with our SRX and that sent my wife grumbling. Never mind that the more expensive 400h could not possible cost justify the price premium of even a 330, but as the old saying goes, it's the thought that counts, right? Not to mention the reduced emissions is something all of us can get behind. Overall, a well executed SUV. Time will tell how the batteries last and how the vehicle compensates for it over the next few years. But the smoothness of the entire operation was stunning to witness.
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Replying to: sevenfeet0 (Aug 29, 2005 2:04 pm) 2500-3500 gallons of gas savings at $2-3/gallon + 40-50 extra horsepower + a $2000 tax write-off was adequate justification for me. ...and as you kindly noted, that does not include the intrinsic value of knowing I am doing my part to minimize pollution and gas usage given my desire for an SUV. By the way, just finished driving my 400h 3600 miles across country. What a pleasure. Averaged 26 mpg. Not bad considering we had 400-500 pounds of people and luggage, spent much of the trip in summer weather, and averaged 70-80mph most of the way. |
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