NeoN

The BMW is rated at 16 mpg city / 24 mpg hwy and the Mercedes, 16/Highway 21 MPG, while the heavier RX400h is rated at 27 mpg city and 24 mpg highway, handily beating both German cars by a long shot when it comes to fuel consumption.

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?

I don't understand, what is all this for? I'm not being facetious, I just don't know much about cars. Rey

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.

Back Again/

We have about 8,000 on the 400h. Very nice machine. Drove it from Seattle to Phoenix for Thanksgiving - we hit every kind of weather. Even had to detour around a nasty wind storm in southeastern Utah. Truly a joy to drive. My only gripe was that, because it runs so quietly, I found myself driving sorta fast in some situations I probably should not have been. The good news is that the car didn't seem to care - so I guess I don't. Have an issue with the backup lights I'd like to share.

For some reason the backup lights are next to useless. Initially, I thought that the LEDs were just not bright enough, but they are. After some checking it became apparent that the lights point up rather than down. So, the backup lights light the trees - not the ground. I'll bring it to the attention of the dealer the next time I'm in. Would like to know whether anyone else is experiencing the same problem.

regards,

Fenton House

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!!

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.

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

- handling is too soft. Too much body roll. Lack of feedback and responsiveness. I'm sure others will chime and say that it's a luxury SUV, and it's smooth because that's what people want. I guess one man's smooth is another man's crappy handling. There are many other luxury vehicles that are still smooth but handle much better.

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.

- No subwoofer in a $50K luxury SUV with ML sound? In general, I'm very unimpressed with the ML sound system, even in comparison to the ML systems in other Lexus vehicles.

- Lexus dealership service. When I took it in to get the ECU failure repaired, they returned it with TWO door dings in it.

- "AWD" system. Sure all four wheels can be made to go round and round, but to call the RX an AWD is the greatest exaggeration in history.

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.

- The general treatment of Lexus customers as morons that will kill themselves given the opportunity. Everything from the "I agree" screen to locking out most functions while driving, to the obnoxious warning lights for even the most minor of issues like low washer fluid.

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

I've since come to the realization that I don't need an SUV, and I don't need a hybrid to meet my needs. I am likely to sell this thing in the next year and get a BMW 535xi wagon or a MBZ E-class wagon (if they come out with a sport package for it). Either one gives me the space I need, has gas mileage comparable to the RX, handles light years better than the RX, comes with better dealership service, and generally treats drivers like they are intelligent enough to dial the phone or use the nav system while driving.

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.

Honestly, you couldn't pay me enough to buy a Volkswagen Toureg. It is probably the least reliable SUV in the US. I read an interesting "blurb" in Car & Driver that described their experience driving a Honda Civic Diesel (outside of the US). It wasn't even close to achieving the gas mileage that a Prius gets - so much for a "better" idea! :chairshot:

Seriously, there wasn't anything better when we bought our RX in 2005 and there STILL isn't anything better, all things considered. Ours is a keeper!

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!

Many thanks to everyone who's contributed to this thread, and to RXREY's tire thread. I was driving along the freeway the other day and a truck in front of me dropped a ladder in the road. It was rush hour, so swerving into another lane to avoid it was out of the question. The best I could do was get far enough over so that I only ran over it with the two left-side wheels. Both suffered cuts in the sidewalls, though only one started leaking. That one held air long enough that I was able to get off the freeway before the low tire pressure indicator came on. Long story short- I put a set of Bridgestone Alenza's in 255/55 R18 on the car yesterday. It's been raining a lot here lately so I have no interest in testing their handling characteristics at the moment, but my initial impression is that they are a lot smoother and quieter than the Michelins they replaced (and I think they look nicer too).

As I pondered this decision the other night and was debating whether I wanted to go with the larger tire size or not (and the associated speedo error) I decided I'd do a quick test. Since I had the old tires on the car, I reset the odometer and took a measurement on my commute to work. the odometer, with the original tires, put the trip at 15.0 miles. Two independent sources:

http://www.mapmyride.com/

and

http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/

put the trip at 15.3 miles. I then put the new tires on and retested today and got 14.7 miles. So, this tells me that the new tires introduce some additional error, but that there was already error present with the original tires. A quick calculation puts the error at 3.9% with the new tires, up from 2.0% with the old tires. This translates to an error of 2.5mph (low) at 65mph, or an error of 2,500 miles low on the odometer over 100,000 miles. Not a huge deal in my book. Nonetheless, I'm still looking into ways to calibrate the speedo. Calls into the local dealership parts/service department and to Lexus corporate have yielded nothing, as the canned response is that Lexus does not recommend modifications to the vehicle, including the installation of non-factory sized tires. On my old Bronco I was able to replace a $5 plastic speedo drive gear with a different ratio to compenstate for larger tires. I'm still investigating whether such a part exists for this vehicle, or whether there's a computer adjustment that's possible. I'll post if I come across anything.

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?

These pictures are good to show not only the Toyo Proxes S/Ts but the mud guards, nerf bars and soon the new front end lip. Keep an eye out for my new pictures. Jan,2008. Rey

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

You are definitely ready for the Baja 1000.

Tom

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

Hey I was looking to see what the stock RX 400h 18" wheels offset is?

I'm actually looking to buy a new set of rims that could make my RX handle better, anyone know what size of offsets is possible for my car?

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 :)

Don't you love it!?

That's the same one i have on my rx350 right now :)

you did a great job with that. i still don't understand how the dealer got it on my 400h in less than 2 hours, but maybe they did it wrong and i never noticed? All the brackets are on it now on the 350 so they must have kept the parts when switching it...

anyways it looks beautiful!

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

That's sick!

Keep it at reasonable levels or start saving for hearing aids.

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.

Don't you love it!?

That's the same one i have on my rx350 right now :)

you did a great job with that. i still don't understand how the dealer got it on my 400h in less than 2 hours, but maybe they did it wrong and i never noticed? All the brackets are on it now on the 350 so they must have kept the parts when switching it...

anyways it looks beautiful!

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.

...a face only a mother could love!

Seriously, that took more work than I would've thought = nice job!

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,