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lucasb7

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  • Lexus Model
    RX330, GS450h

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  1. GS450h owner checking in! I absolutely love my car. As "SOMEONE ELSE'S GOT MY NAME" says, I really didn't care about recoup. Enjoyed the extra power and handling of the 450h and I never regret my decision. I've seen maybe 15 450hs and I'm in a very affluent and educated part of the country. The rarity is actually part of the reason I went to the 450h, it is very individual and personal. I think the main reason is because people a)want more gas mileage, or B) are immediately scared of the tiny trunk. Whenever I show my car to friends they call me crazy, (though they LOVE the way it drives and the power is intoxicating).
  2. The GS450h and the new RX450h have a made up ability to do this. In drive it uses the CVT mindset and sets RPM to necessary output. But when you move it over to the user shifting mode with "+" and "-", it has predetermined gear ratios that do not actually exist. It just tells the CVT to go this ratio and stay there until it gets a "gear change" prompt from the user. But, the car is faster in the "D" or CVT mode. The only thing I have found the fake gears to be useful for is engine braking. And the 06-08 have a similar feature in "B" mode.
  3. I own both an RX330 and GS450h and I find that the GS is the more solid out of the two. I have had several rattles to deal with in the RX, but none in the GS and I'm nearing 10,000 miles. The only problem I have had with the GS is a left front parking sensor always telling me it was dirty when it wasn't. I think the 2008 Model refresh brought with it some improved quality and design to eliminate some of the problems experienced in the 06-07 cars. Or maybe they pay more attention to the higher ranking GSs? Whatever they did worked for me! And I am very excited about the 2010 RX450h!
  4. If you still want to buy the car in Cali... I would say the best Northern California dealer is Lexus of Stevens Creek. They are awesome (ask for greg). They deal from the start they dropped 3-4k as their first offer. Considering the low supply of the 450h I had to search all over for the one I wanted I called over 13 dealers in NorCal and Stevens Creek was the most accommodating. I would say monterey/seaside and magnussens came in second, also Monterey offered to beat any other offer. But I actually found my car at Lexus Marin, they were pretty good but nothing like stevens creek. I know know nothing about SoCal but I have heard some good things about Longo Lexus.
  5. Just to clear things up I scanned the owners manual. On pg 201 It says "If the vehicle gets stuck in fresh snow or mud, TRAC and VSC may reduce power from the engine to the wheels. You may need to turn the system off to enable you to rock the vehicle in order to free it." "Quickly push and release the button to turn off TRAC." "Push and hold the button for more than 3 seconds while the vehicle is stopped to turn off TRAC and VSC"
  6. One thing I'm slightly confused about is that Lexus provides the GS450h with the trac/vsc off switch. Considering how conservative Lexus is I seriously doubt they would put that switch there if the hybrid system couldn't handle a little wheelspin.
  7. this is a quote from a post on CL a while ago. Think of the gs430 as the 450h because it has VDIM "It started snowing here in DC early this morning but really didn't start to stick until this evening. I thought this would be an opportunity to test out The AWD GS300 and the GS430 with VDIM and see how they fared. We have about 5 inches on the ground now and the streets are slick. Here goes.... I pushed the start button on our Matador Red AWD with Mark Lev. etc. Our back lot which slopes away was mostly empty except for a few service cars. I drove the GS300 slowly in circles until I felt where the traction started to break. The 17" all season run flats had good pull up the hill when going straight. It was very responsive to the throttle. When I took a u turn the rear would swing out like a RWD car. At low speeds the VSC didn't really kick in. After getting a feel for it I drove out on the road and as long as I didn't make a sudden throttle change or hard turn it was very stable. It had a little oversteer drift but it was totally manageable. When I got on it and took a turn the VSC would kick in to bring me back in line but in a fairly wide arc. I was trying to test the limits which a normal driver might not do in the snow.... I dusted the snow off our Black GS430 with 18" runflat all seasons. We have these orange foam squeegee things on broom handles that are made for removing snow. I took it to the back lot and tried the same circles that I had just made tracks with the AWD. I found that I actually had much more control in the turns than the AWD! It would automatically slow me down so I coudn't over accelerate. I tried a few straight up the hill runs. It proceeded slowly up the hill with no wheelspin. I had it floored but it wouldn't listen to my bad advice. Then I took it out on the street. It stayed under control when I pulled out and I forgot for a second that I was in the RWD. I accelerated up the Rockville Pike and the only thing I noticed was the VDIM amber light blinking. I felt the slightest waiver but that was it. I was cruising on the crust with abandon. VDIM is the bomb! I could get used to this and I'm glad my GS owners will not get into trouble with the steering in the snow. The car was unshakable and if I took a turn a little too fast it just started chiming and corrected itself. The arc was smaller and straighter. The only thing it couldn't do as well as the AWD was going straight up hill. The AWD had faster acceleration for this reason. Now if I only had a set of studded tires I think I could take the AWD on. I am definitely a believer now... In VDIM we trust."
  8. There is meant to be a ring of light around the car to the sides and up, it is considered to be a safety feature to give the car behind it depth perception and is even listed as a "specialty" in BMW and Volvo brochures. Is this what your talking about?
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