NeoN

Maybe in San Diego you can get that sort of mileage year-round, but anywhere that it actually gets cold you'll see the RX fuel economy plummet in the winter when it has to run the ICE to generate heat. Even up here, just a few hunded miles north of you, I see a significant drop in fuel economy in the winter. If you factor year-round average fuel economy for an RX in "average" weather conditions, the RX doesn't handily beat either one, in fact my wife's E350 gets better fuel economy than my RX right now. Interesting. How about after 100k miles on the E350, think it will still attain better MPG than the RX400h? Doesn't the RX keep upping its MPG as it wears on?

Rey, This is for my stereo system. My amp is far too powerful for the puny stock battery. I had to hook up a second battery for fear of my stereo system draining my only battery to start my car. I would work on my car in the garage for a half hour or so and the battery would die completely. This was a major problem as I couldn't rely on my main battery to power the car reliably. Now I have a secondary battery for my stereo only, so I will never have to worry about my stereo killing my main battery. The relay I use separates my secondary battery from the primary one, as signals can only travel in one direction, aka from the alternator to my secondary battery or the first, and the secondary battery therefore can't drain power from the first battery. This sounds complicated, but its really not. The relay separates the two batteries, however, since the alternator cable can't be separated from the positive 12v+ lines(refer to the yellow optima picture in my engine bay) The main battery is charged by the alternator as well as by the relay. The relay acts as a device that splits power from the batteries, it charges one battery at a time, alternating between the battery with the lowest charge, as it is never charging two at a time. However this is skewed a bit because I have my primary battery hooked directly up to the alternator therefore charging it anyway (there is no way to separate all 12V+ lines under the hood without extensive soddering/splicing). Theoretically, If I could have the alternator cable running directly to my relay (to distribute the charge to either battery, (only charging one at a time)) and the starter cable running from my 12V+ battery, everything would be perfect, but thats not the case. The alternator now has the duties of charging both at the same time(yikes!) but its a lexus so I should be alright.

if the engine is too quiet, which I found to be the case... drop in a K&N air filter and hear that sucker roar... and get a few extra HP while your at it. Only $30 shipped from ebay, check it out I love my filter!!

I agree on the iDrive sucking, though it's suckiness has been somewhat diminished in newer generations. Honestly though, how often do you use the nav system? I don't drive to some place I need guidance to but more than once every couple of months. The MBZ nav system, while being light years behind Toyota/Lexus, gets the job done. I'd gladly trade some nav system usability to address all my other complaints. i actually use the navi system at least once a week, going to a random bar, party, city, restaurant, etc. It really helps having a useful navi that is TOUCH SCREEN! the benz you can't even touch arg stupid german cars however german cars handle much better but are less reliable, get less mpg, less residual value, tradeoffs...tradeoffs...tradeoffs

I totally agree with you, believe me, I would love to hook up some super stiff sway bars and drop the RX/firm up its suspension with a coilover kit or the H&R spring kit at least, but I'm not willing to lose my warranty so thats a no-no for me. totally agree man, I had to upgrade the stereo system myself, which now sounds good, but nowhere as nice as the old bose system in my ML500. I love music so that was a big drawback for me as well haven't taken my car to the dealer yet, so we'll see about that one I agree, my RX in the rain/snow isn't anywhere as close as the tank ML500 I used to drive, complete confidence in any situation. lol, the "I agree" screen is gone in the 08' model so lexus listened to its customers! I don't think the safety features are that bad, I turned off the seat belt chime so im pretty happy about that as well the "idrive" or whatever sucks, lexus Navi is 10 times better than any other system out there. mercedes is absolute junk, BMW's isn't any better. Lexus has the most user friendly in car entertainment system (navi/stereo). Plus all you need is a hack to use the phone while your driving.

couldn't agree more. Until a JAPANESE company comes out with a better hybrid SUV, i'm keeping mine. I don't trust german cars as they are all POS. end of story

Just curious as to see if anyone else would have bought a different car/suv if they could do it over again. I would def keep my RX400h, I just wish I bought one used so I could lower my truck and stiffen the suspension, it needs better handling but besides that its perfect!

hey so how do you like the tires so far? try a local tire shop or auto repair shop see if they can do anything for your speedo.

nice dude, matador red looks gorgeous

i love my black RX400h, sleek, sexy, matches my interior and im going to tint the rear taillights to match. black/polished wheels, should be sweet.

you guys think that window protectors would help? those tinted things that stretch over the top 3" of the window?

hey can't wait to see rey, good luck with the lip!

this happens in every car in the world, don't open the rear windows unless your going to open the fronts as well, or you'll be in for a big surprise, boooooom all that noise :chairshot:

good writeup, maybe we should ask the dealer what that button does, they should have a better idea

jesus that's sad, man. I hope you don't run into any troubles like that again, by the way, I carry a can of fix a flat as I hate working with stock jacks (puny little pieces of junk!!)

http://www.l-tunedparts.com/product/?id=1633 anyone thing that will fit our RX400h? do we have the active suspension from the factory? I don't think so right

aha just add some swampers, a lift kit and im ready to go

Looking for a new set of 20" wheels myself. I took these photos real quick while the guy was working with another customer. thanks that helps alot, i've been looking into 20's for the RX and i've set my sights on 20x8.5" rims with a 5 x 4.5" or 5 x 114.3mm bolt pattern, the wheel has to have a +35 offset although i'm sure a +33 would work or a +37, Tires would have to be a 255/45/20, much bigger footprint and a stiffer ride which i prefer :)

yea if I had to repeat the install I probably could have installed it in 2 hours knowing I don't have to remove all of the under carriage bolts in the wheel wells and getting the bumper back on was a pain in the !Removed! along with bolting the bumper guard up took almost 2 hours to get everything tight and secure since it weighs like 50 lbs and I had no help whatsoever. That is a great job Neo, Is there anyway to install it without remove the bumper? no sorry its nearly impossible since you have to mount the support mounts under directly to the frame

lol the volume control I had installed next to my mirror adjuster really helps as I was usually playing the bass at max volume and there wasn't a way to control it but now that I had full adjustability I usually play it at 1/4 to 1/2 of the volume my amp is capable of, alot better than my old car where I would drive down the street pumping bass and waking up everyone within miles.

yea if I had to repeat the install I probably could have installed it in 2 hours knowing I don't have to remove all of the under carriage bolts in the wheel wells and getting the bumper back on was a pain along with bolting the bumper guard up took almost 2 hours to get everything tight and secure since it weighs like 50 lbs and I had no help whatsoever.

thanks man, yea it took the better part of at least 4-5 hours, putting everything back together, I couldn't just rip off the front bummper and bolt up the grill since it had to be centered and look neat! I hope this writeup can help people attempting this install in the future, PM me for any questions

Here are the lower support mounts Here is another problem, along the lower passenger side of the grill guard, the lower support mounts, run into the A/C Condenser lines, you must bend these lines in order to make the Grill guard fit, as you can see mine almost rubs up against it, dangerous I know, but i'll be ok The Finished Product

Here are the upper support mounts, I bought about (20 washers per screw) and purchased 2" long screws to bolt up the upper support mounts to the grill guard, since the RX400h bumper is taller than the RX330 bumper,

Metal Front bumper disassembled With the grill guard mounts ready to be bolted down Everything bolted back together, sorry I forgot to take pics (my friend never came over to help me) in between, but all you have to do is bolt the bumper back onto the front and mount the grill guard itself and tighten the bottom bolts,