jerryray Posted March 10, 2006 Share Posted March 10, 2006 What State allows a write off? I got the federal under clean air vehicle, But State ?? Personally, i would get the 350 for a couple of reasons. Long term wise, i think it would be cheaper than the hybrid. It will take at least 10 years + to gain back the difference in price from the gasoline savings. Also, i like the wood trim in cars instead of the aluminum...just my opinions. I just got $2000 federal and $3736 state tax write-off...let's see that would make it cheaper than the RX330! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
resmer Posted March 10, 2006 Share Posted March 10, 2006 What State allows a write off? I got the federal under clean air vehicle, But State ?? Colorado does - I have claimed two Priuses in past years, and my RX400h this year. There may be others... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Statman Posted March 10, 2006 Share Posted March 10, 2006 Yep, in Colorado... I got a $3736 write-off! Alternative fuel! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wwest Posted March 13, 2006 Share Posted March 13, 2006 The 3.5L V6 in the RX is not the new DFI 3.5L V6. For anyone truly requiring AWD I would suggest waiting for the new Acura RDX with SH-AWD. Instead of SH for Super-Handling it should be FO-AWD for fully optimized. Or maybe SH/FO-AWD. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SW03ES Posted March 14, 2006 Share Posted March 14, 2006 The pros for the RX 350 (1) It's got more Power than the Hybrid (More like why bother with the extra complexity of the Synergy drive-- where's the Synergy in that!!!). I am not carting SHAQ O'neil (Basketball Player) around everewhere I go... The 400h is about 350 lbs *heavier* than the RX 350 Have you driven both? The linear nature of the CVT and the torque of the electric motors will make the 400h feel more powerful off the line. (2) The 5th gen NAV displays 300% more information (Pixel wise) Can't argue with you there, the screen is much improved. (3) It's an evolved design , where they have hopefully incorporated feedback from two previous designs. Not really. All the RX350 is is an RX330 with a bored out engine increasing its displacement and some minor changes like the thicker windshield from the 400h and the new nav system. All the other components are unchanged from the 330 and are identical to the 400h. My driving environment is mainly HWY driving with very little Stop and Go traffic, and we average less than 15,000 miles per year. Then you're really not going to reap any of the hyrbid's fuel savings benefits. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wwest Posted March 16, 2006 Share Posted March 16, 2006 "...evolved design....??" In a "back to the future" sense, yes. As of 2004 the VC, viscous clutch/coupling, mounted across the center diff'l's two output shafts in the earlier RX300s, was abandoned. At the same time the difference in the final drive ratios of the front driveline versus the rear was actually increased to farther "natively" bias the torque to the front. Dynamic torque apportioning upon front wheelspin/slip was left entirely to the use of braking and dethrottling. Now here we are with the RX350 with the VC again in use and a return to the final drive ratios of the RX300. What gives...?? We all know, or should know, of the too early ATF "contamination", burned and darkened at less than 40,000 miles, and the apparently resulting premature, ~70,000+/- miles, transaxle failures of the RX300 series. My guess is that the VC in the RX300 became such a great source of heat during actual front wheelspin/slip operations that it caused localized heating of the ATF via heat transfer from the PTO case to the center and front diff'l case. The question becomes is what was changed in the interim to allow the use of the VC again?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SW03ES Posted March 16, 2006 Share Posted March 16, 2006 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wwest Posted March 16, 2006 Share Posted March 16, 2006 The RX400h uses DBW(e-throttle), BBW, Brake By Wire, and EPS, Electric Power Stearing. The EPS via "cooperative control", is integrated with VSC and will therefore actively RESIST turning the stearing wheel in a direction that would lead to exacerbating a VSC activation circumstance. EPS will actually RESIST turning the stearing wheel at all during hard acceleration. I would whole-heartedly recommend that anyone considering an RX400h or HH purchase subscribe to http://techinfo.toyota.com and read up on the VDIM sections thoroughly Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SW03ES Posted March 16, 2006 Share Posted March 16, 2006 If anyone could actually decipher what you're saying, what bearing does this have on the topic at hand? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wwest Posted March 16, 2006 Share Posted March 16, 2006 If anyone could actually decipher what you're saying, what bearing does this have on the topic at hand? Trying to come to the next purchase decision myself. Right now the new Acura RDX is in the lead due to the dynamic front to rear and rear side to side engine torque allocation. Just don't like the cluttered look of the dash/intrument panel. The AWD RX400h appears to dynamically allocate engine torque front to rear but still uses Trac braking for side to side torque "forcing", LSD "virtualization". Until I actually get to drive an RDX the RX400h certainly seems to have the best overall VSC/Trac system. Confusion factor is that the new RX350 has the VC again making it possible to convert it to rear torque biasing with a slight modification of the center diff'l. But luckily I don't need to be in any hurry to make my decision, I will certainly wait to test drive the RDX and possibly even wait to see the 2007 RX400h in the fall. If it helps any at all, if I had to make the decision right now it would be the AWD RX400h Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SW03ES Posted March 17, 2006 Share Posted March 17, 2006 But what you have to understand is that the vast majority of people don't think like you do. I can understand if these postings are just you thinking out loud, but they just seem like incoherent ramblings to most of us... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RX400h Posted March 17, 2006 Share Posted March 17, 2006 I can remember a time when WWest was extremely concerned about gas mileage. Now it seems he has abandoned concern for efficiency and is adamant about buying the best handling SUV. Wwest, does the Acura get good mileage or what? If it's not a hybrid, save your money! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SW03ES Posted March 17, 2006 Share Posted March 17, 2006 I also remember that time lol. I believe he swore he'd never buy an RX400h because Lexus chose to emphasize performance over mileage and swore up and down that the car would not only never come to market, but would be a huge failure. I also remember that nobody could post anything in here without having to listen to him whine about it too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wwest Posted March 17, 2006 Share Posted March 17, 2006 Just call me John Kerry. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wwest Posted March 17, 2006 Share Posted March 17, 2006 I can remember a time when WWest was extremely concerned about gas mileage. Now it seems he has abandoned concern for efficiency and is adamant about buying the best handling SUV. Wwest, does the Acura get good mileage or what? If it's not a hybrid, save your money! "...extremely concerned about gas mileage....." ME...?? You're reading my statements completely out of context. My concern was not so much about gas mileage but about the compromise of HP vs fuel economy that was being made with regards the RX400h design. "...adamant about buying the best handling SUV...." No, there were lots of SUVs that were better "handling" than the 2000 AWD RX300 and then an even better selection when I traded up to the 2001 AWD RX300. Life is about compromises. Additionally I do like to tinker. My RX300 even has a custom microprocessor installed between the climate control ECU and the mixing vane servomotor. The custom microprocessor continually "watches" the position of the system outflow control servomotor feedback potentiometer and if it "sees" it moving "toward" the defrost outlet position it "inserts" a false feedback indicating the outflow position is already at defrost. If the servomotor then begins to reverse then we know the destination wasn't defrost and we back out of the control loop. On the other hand if the destination was/is the defrost outflow position then we immediately begin moving the mixing vane servomotor to the full HEAT position via falsifying its feedback. At the same time we directly command top speed for the blower motor. So now by the time the system outflow servomotor has finished moving the outflow controls to the defrost position the blower is at full speed and the heat level has been turned up to HIGH. While all of this is going on we have also biased the IAT, internal air temperature sensor, to make the OEM ECU "think" the cabin is suddenly grown quite cold. As a result of digital signal processing the OEM ECU will not fully react to the sudden large change in the IAT signal for about 30 seconds. After it does the OEM ECU will begin to command full heat and high blower and our ECU will then drop out of control except for maintaining the false biasing signal of the IAT sensor. A digital potentiometer is mounted on the dash so the driver can readily downward modulate/control the windshield blower and heating level as long as the system is left in the deforst position. In my 1992 LS400 this task was much simpler since the OEM ECU would instantly respond to a sudden large change in the IAT signal output. All I had to do in the 92 was have a simple STSP switch that I flipped just before switching the system to defrost/defog/demist mode. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wwest Posted March 17, 2006 Share Posted March 17, 2006 Were I to buy an RX400h.... I might buy a small single wheel, swivel wheel trailer onto which I would mount one of the new inverter style gensets so the hybrid batteries could be continually recharged via a small highly efficient method. Overcome the need to "fire up" the HUGE 3.3L ICE simply to provide ~5000 watts of battery charge capability. Mill the heads of the 3.3L to increase the compression ratio to ~13:1 and install a custom ground intake camshaft to provide an Atkinson cycle mode. ICE output HP would decrease substantially but would I care? Find a method of simulating front wheelspin/slip each time the accelerator pedal is depressed or further depressed so the MGR, rear motor, would provide its maximum level of torque. Use the same method anytime the accelerator pedal is returned to idle, fully released, position so the primary source of coastdown braking would be via regenerative braking at the rear. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RX in NC Posted March 17, 2006 Share Posted March 17, 2006 wwest, I'll give you the same unsolicited advice I gave you about a year ago. Quit rehashing and !Removed! around with the already-here, stop-gap hybrid technology and turn your proclivity to tinker towards hydrogen-fueled automotive technology. That is the true future of the automotive world , that is how America will finally emerge from our budget-killing addiction to oil, and that is where the next Henry Ford/John DeLorean/Bill Gates/Steve Jobs/Michael Dell is going to make a freakin' fortune.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wwest Posted March 17, 2006 Share Posted March 17, 2006 wwest, I'll give you the same unsolicited advice I gave you about a year ago. Quit rehashing and !Removed! around with the already-here, stop-gap hybrid technology and turn your proclivity to tinker towards hydrogen-fueled automotive technology. That is the true future of the automotive world , that is how America will finally emerge from our budget-killing addiction to oil, and that is where the next Henry Ford/John DeLorean/Bill Gates/Steve Jobs/Michael Dell is going to make a freakin' fortune.... Not out to make a fortune and I try not to "tinker" beyond my own inate intelligent level and/or knowledge. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skyfish400h Posted March 17, 2006 Share Posted March 17, 2006 Were I to buy an RX400h.... I might buy a small single wheel, swivel wheel trailer onto which I would mount one of the new inverter style gensets so the hybrid batteries could be continually recharged via a small highly efficient method. Overcome the need to "fire up" the HUGE 3.3L ICE simply to provide ~5000 watts of battery charge capability. Mill the heads of the 3.3L to increase the compression ratio to ~13:1 and install a custom ground intake camshaft to provide an Atkinson cycle mode. ICE output HP would decrease substantially but would I care? Find a method of simulating front wheelspin/slip each time the accelerator pedal is depressed or further depressed so the MGR, rear motor, would provide its maximum level of torque. Use the same method anytime the accelerator pedal is returned to idle, fully released, position so the primary source of coastdown braking would be via regenerative braking at the rear. I think wwest would be great on that new show "American Inventor", where he could pitch all these ideas to a panel of judges and see if he gets any votes... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SW03ES Posted March 18, 2006 Share Posted March 18, 2006 If they could understand what the hell he's talking about lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RX400h Posted March 18, 2006 Share Posted March 18, 2006 It's possible he has a copy of the "Time Machine" movie. I do and I'm not nearly as technological as he is! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
irieblue Posted March 18, 2006 Author Share Posted March 18, 2006 Ok, this discussion has moved off track somewhat. After some thought, I'm leaning towards a 2006 400h. The other question I have is have there been any rumors or spy shots of the 2007 RX 400h (or whatever they end up calling it?) . Any idea on when to expect a shape change for the current 330/350/400h? i.e Will the RX get the L-finisse styling this year? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rx330driver Posted March 18, 2006 Share Posted March 18, 2006 No, it will look exactly the same, just a few improvements in cabin sound and stuff like that, convenience upgrades. You probably wont see another redesign for another...2-3 years...seeing that the GX, LX, SC, have older designs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
irieblue Posted March 18, 2006 Author Share Posted March 18, 2006 Ok. Did some more digging. Seems like lexus has a concept vehicle (possibly) slated as a 2008 model http://a332.g.akamai.net/f/332/936/12h/www...xus.hpx.500.jpg story here.. http://www.edmunds.com/insideline/do/News/articleId=109352#6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SW03ES Posted March 19, 2006 Share Posted March 19, 2006 Gotta follow the design cycle. The RX300 came out in 98 as a 99 model. The RX330 came out in 03 as an 04. So, 5 years between redesigns. If thats true we'll see a new RX in 2008 as a 2009 model. They wouldn't have come out with the RX400h now if they were planning on a major overhaul next year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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