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speedyg

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Everything posted by speedyg

  1. Have you folks reporting RX400h's pulling to the right tried letting go of the steering wheel on a perfectly flat road and seeing if it still pulls? It may be the camber of the road (slopes down towards the curb) that is causing the car to seem to pull right. With brand new tires my RX will "pull to the right" if the road surface slopes down to the right. The RX seems more sensitive to this than other cars.
  2. I uploaded some pictures I took doing a self oil change on my 2006 RX400h, hopefully they will be useful to someone :) http://picasaweb.google.com/endearing.lint/RX400hOilChange Stuff on the RX400h differs only slightly from the RX330 so the general procedures in this thread are pretty good: http://us.lexusownersclub.com/forums/index...showtopic=21979
  3. I had occasion to drive a brand new RX350 a month ago and was struck by how jerky the automatic transmission was when compared to the RX400h's CVT.
  4. I think the difference in squeaks & rattles lies in the age of the cars and luck. You are comparing brand new cars to one that's been in use for years. I have both a GS and an RX and have not found that RX's are built worse than GS's. The RX400h battery (51R if I remember) is pretty small, probably to keep the weight down. It's more vulnerable to running out of juice than larger batteries. Did you try jump starting?
  5. The Lexus rain sensors (at least on an 2006 RX400h and 2007 GS450h) are inferior to BMW's (at least on a 330i). It won't wipe unless there is a lot of rain and the light outside is shining just the right way. And when it gets triggered sometimes it swipes a couple times when it only needs to swipe once. Given how well the Lexus sensors work I'd prefer to have an intermittent setting rather than an automatic setting.
  6. On the freeway I get between 27 and 29 mpg. On my normal commute (which has quite a number of stop signs and not much freeway driving) I get 24 mpg.
  7. There are options to get it to handle better, but as far as I know there are no performance options to make it go faster. If you have a need for speed get a Corvette.
  8. I test drove an M45 and liked it but I like my much GS450h more. I would definitely consider it a step up. With the Active Stabilizer Suspension System option (note that this is NOT the same as the adjustable suspension which is standard) the handling is quite good. Worlds of difference from an ES or RX, which both ride like boats. For even better handling, replace the run-flats with stickier rubber. The GS450h is a good compromise I think. the GS450h you get great performance, good fuel economy, good ergonomics, good handling, good reliability, clean emissions, quiet smooth ride, and luxurious 4-person seating. The only thing you sacrifice is some trunk space.
  9. No idea why the active stabilization option isn't available on the East coast, doesn't make any sense to me. Personally I love the PCS and stabilization options :) The stabilization is most useful when cornering sharply (mountain roads, track, autocross, etc). If you don't drive in those situations often though, I would take the spare tire over the stabilizer.
  10. yes, that's the purpose of this procedure, to enable DVD watching without having to have the parking brake on
  11. Thanks for the info! I might just try it sometime, I think it would keep my wife entertained and stop her from complaining about my taking turns at speeds that make her nauseous.
  12. Yes, it's completely normal. I notice the same thing in the morning with my RX400h. When you first turn the car on it's completely silent and motionless, but then when the gas engine turns on to warm up the emissions control equipment you hear and feel it (the so called thump). I would of course prefer that the car remain on electric only but understand the necessity of the engine turning on so the mild thump doesn't bother me at all.
  13. Radar cruise min speed: According to the manual the radar cruise only operates down to 25mph, but I haven't tested how slow it will go yet. I think Mercedez-Benz is the only make that has a cruise that operates down to 0mph. Radar wavelength: supposedly different wavelength than radar detectors but I am 100% positive about that. Haven't noticed any cars slowing down when I show up behind them yet :) Headroom: I like to sit fairly upright, so if you recline more you'd have a little more headroom. Brakes vs. RX400h: Within a month of getting my RX400h, I learned how to brake smoothly. But new drivers will almost definitely experience the pulsing (deceleration not smooth) until they learn how to modulate the brake pedal. The GS450h doesn't have this problem.
  14. Car is super quiet and much smoother than the RX400h (no thunks when engine kicks in), acceleration is outstanding. But for those who enjoy the sensory excitement of quick acceleration combined with the sounds and vibrations of a powerful engine at redline, the GS450h will feel a little lacking. The run-flat tires that came with my car are Bridgestone Turanza ER33's. Haven't driven enough to have a strong opinion on these, but I think I will replace them with something better in the future. The brakes are much better than the ones in the RX400h. Not grabby, none of the pulsing you feel in the RX during regenerative braking. Haven't tested the stopping distance yet because the manual says to "avoid sudden stops" during the first 186 miles. The engine break-in period is 621 miles. Throttle control is also better than the RX400h's. Press lightly and the car leaps forward. No pause before you get full power. The pedal resistance also seems to be adjusted better, might be a 2 stage type of thing because it seems to be easer to modulate the accelerator pedal to stay on electric-only power. Maybe it's just my imagination but so far it seems like I need to press very slightly harder to cross the threshold from electric-only to electric+gas. The active stabilizer can't be turned off. So far it seems to work well. Can't tell that it is on. The car seems to handle well, but does feel weighty compared to my BMW 330i. I'll make final judgement after taking the car on some windy roads. The PCS and radar cruise control is awesome. With regular cruise control I find myself constantly enabling/disabling cruise, accelerating and braking when the cars in front slow down or when another car cuts in front of me. With the radar cruise, all I have to do is hold the wheel. When a car cuts in front of me, the car automatically slows down and speeds up to maintain my chosen following distance. If there are no cars in front of me it maintains my chosen speed. The accel/decel is gentle and smooth (unless a car cuts very close right in front of you, in which case warning beeps go off and the GS450h then slows down more abruptly. ) The GS450h cabin lighting is way too dim, especially if you have a black interior. If I drop something dark colored at night in the car, even with all the cabin lights on I would need a flashlight to find it. I suspect this is a problem in all late model GS'es. I do like that the lights are more focused though. In my RX400h if you turn on a map light it kind of glares in your face. In my BMW 330i and GS450h the map lights are focused. There is a pollen filter / micro filter button that I had never seen or read about before, but it's a bonus since some members of my family have pollen allergies. Pushing it causes the car to go into a 30-second filtration mode. The Gen5 voice recognition is pretty cool. You can say state names, city names, street names, house numbers, etc. The system understands when I say the names of nearby cities, but unfortunately I haven't been able to get it to recognize my city. The ML/Gen5Nav allows you to watch DVD movies, but only if the parking brake is engaged. I was sitting there in my car last night trying to figure out why I could hear the audio but not see the movie :) There are 3 screen width modes and basically you have all the standard DVD player controls (can use menus, make selections, pause, select chapters, etc). I wish the nav system voices could be changed/customized :) The Gen5 system seems to use 2 different female voices now, plus a computer-like voice. One of the female voices is the same as what is used in the Gen 4 nav, which is pleasant. It is used to give directions. But the newer female voice that you hear when you hit the talk button on the steering wheel isn't as nice in my opinion. Fortunately there is a setting that allows you to hear a beep instead of the voice prompt, which reduces to frequency that you have to hear that voice. The trunk is tiny, but I was expecting that so it doesn't bother me (not yet anyway.) If I need to carry any suitcases I will use my RX400h. My GS450h came with the preferred accessory package so it has the cargo net and trunk mat. Since I have the active stabilizer, I have the tool kit but instead of a spare tire I have the stabilizer battery and motor. Supposedly that helps even further to get the weight balance towards 50/50. According to the manual, the trunk lid is supposed to close it self when you lower it halfway but it doesn't. I saw another GS and it also had the same behavior. Does anyone have a GS where this works like it says in the manual? I can't detect any power assisting the closing of the lid, only latching the lid. The fold-out control panel by the driver's knee isn't as intrusive as an early preview had led me to fear. I think I can leave it opened without banging into it. But if you have really long legs you might have a problem. Cabin headroom doesn't seem to be a problem. I'm 5'10" and there is an inch or two of clearance, similar to what I have in my BMW 330i. The bump in the middle of the back seat isn't as obtrusive as I feared, it's a slight bump. But that middle seat would be really uncomfortable to sit in anyway because of the very high drive shaft tunnel "hump". Front seats are ventilated but if you wear thick pants I don't think you'd be able to feel it. Plus the fan is audible so I've been preferring complete silence and keeping the ventilation off. I suppose if I was wearing shorts and the weather was super hot the ventilation would be nice. The AVS has Sport and Norm settings. I can tell the difference. I keep it on Sport. But it's still less firm than my 330i with sport package. The Power/Hybrid/Snow switch I've only tried in the Power and Hybrid positions so far. So far I can't tell what the difference is, feels about the same to me. The car has hill-start assist control according to the manual. For starting the vehicle on an incline or slippery slope. Haven't had opportunity to test it. More info after more driving :)
  15. Yeah, since there are so few of them and they are in high demand, they probably won't have any sitting around as demos. I just picked my GS450h up, wrestling with trying to program the homelink. Grrr. I remember I also had the same difficulty getting my RX400h homelink programmed. Why can't they make it easier to do. Do you mind posting your opinoins on the car? Succeeded in programming the homelink. I think there is something strange about my remote, I tried a different remote and that one got programmed in easily. I'll definitely post additional opinions after I drive the car more (right now it only has about 30 miles on it). Thoughts so far: trunk is indeed tiny but I was expecting that so it doesn't bother me, the fold out control panel by the driver's knee isn't as intrusive as some reviews said, I could leave it open without banging into it, the active stabilizer can't be turned off, the bump in the rear seat isn't as bad as I had feared, the run-flat tires that come with it are Bridgestone Turanza ER33's I think I will replace them with something better, car is super quiet, much smoother than RX400h (no thunks when engine kicks in), acceleration is outstanding but you are so insulated in the car from noise and vibration that it doesn't feel as impressive as it would if the car had a regular engine that you could hear (if you like the sound of a powerful engine this car is not the right car), haven't tried the radar cruise control yet.
  16. Yeah, since there are so few of them and they are in high demand, they probably won't have any sitting around as demos. I just picked my GS450h up, wrestling with trying to program the homelink. Grrr. I remember I also had the same difficulty getting my RX400h homelink programmed. Why can't they make it easier to do.
  17. White! That's nice, I thought they would all be black on black for the first 2 months. I just got my VIN number today, my black on black Nav+ML+PCS+ActiveSuspension should be arriving at the dealership in the next 48 hours.
  18. Most ipod adapters don't disable your existing CD changer, they show up as an additional CD changer. I have an iPod adapter in my BMW, and was also thinking of having one added to my RX. Haven't gotten around to it though. This looks promising: http://www.vaistech.com/sli.html
  19. The www.lexus.com website has been updated with full information about the GS450h finally. http://www.lexus.com/models/gs_hybrid/index.html
  20. I'm on the list for a regular GS450h with PCS and !Removed! :) the same config you have. Hopefully mine comes in soon. Can the active stabilizer suspension be turned off or adjusted in any way? (Or is it always on?) What does turning traction control off allow you to do? can you do donuts or induce power oversteer?
  21. that sounds like a very frustrating problem. what did the dealer tell you? were they unwilling to take the vehicle and try to reproduce the problem? were they unwilling to tell you where the antennas/connections/etc were located? do you have other dealers in your area?
  22. From the invoice sticker on the NM edition I looked at, it appeared like the ~$9000 was just for the special NM stuff (floormats & color) not for the ML, NAV, etc. But then again I only looked at it briefly. Too bad the NM edition doesn't come with the Active Stabilizer or PCS (which supposedly includes the millimeter wave radar automatic-distance maintaining cruise control.) I heard from the dealer that some of the regular GS450h's coming in shortly will have PCS and active stabilization. One thing I am interested in finding out about the GS450h (NM edition or regular edition) is whether or not VDIM/Traction Control can be manually turned on and off. I think I read somewhere else that with GS430's you can turn off the traction control but it automatically comes back on above ~30mph.
  23. The NM edition (of which there are only 75) has a special Crystalline Ice color, NM labled floor mats, and a car cover. You pay $9000 extra for that.
  24. You have one of the NM editions right? I just saw one at the dealership today. Very eye catching color. I wonder when the regular non-NM ones will start coming in. Hopefully some will come with PCS and the Active Stabilizer.
  25. They replaced your car with a new one? wow, that's great! If you ever hear what the problem with your original one was, let us know :)
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