RX400h

Actually, according to Car & Driver, the 2006 long-term RX400h that they have IS faster than a Porsche Cayenne S. The RX accelerated to 60 in 6.7 seconds.

It sounds like she'd be better off with an all-electric car. Not driving a long enough distance is certainly not good for the oil and battery. How about the Camry Hybrid? - quiet, comfortable, and 36 MPG.

I think moving on to an Audi 8 is probably the LAST thing you should do (well, expept for moving to almost ANY Mercedes). Lexus is and will continue to be the most reliable brand you will ever find. Many of my coworkers have had it with Mercedes and Audi reliability issues and have moved on to Lexus vehicles. Read any Mercedes or Audi forum posts and you will run away from both brands. ...my 2 cents....

I certainly don't blame your better half for wanting a hybrid. Many RX400h owners are getting at least 50% higher gas mileage than does the typical SUV owner. We are saving $20 per week, which means in the 10 years we normally keep our vehicles, we will save $10,000+. That easily pays for the hybrid's extra cost over a non-hybrid, such as the Rx350, Acura MX, or BMW X5. Dave

C'mon, the price increase isn't THAT much, is it?

Great review - thanks! We were one of the first owners in San Diego, way back in April of 2005. After 2+ years, we are averaging close to 25 MPG with a light foot during the week (wife) and heavy foot (at times) during the weekend (me). I really enjoy driving right by the gas station instead of having to stop every week to fill up the tank.

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?ti...inSpeedRating=S And I restate - BEST bang-for-the-buck when it comes to high-end tires in the OEM size.

Bang-for-the-buck, it is tough to beat the Bridgestone Alenzas. I paid $600 for all four and with 7000 miles on them, they still look brand-new. Whether they wear as well as your Michelins remains to be seen, but for now, I highly recommend the Bridgestones.

Just two months after we bought our 2006 RX400h (June of 2005), some guy in a pickup backed into the front corner of our vehicle at a gas station. It took one month before the body shop was able to receive the front bumper from Japan. Rule of thumb: Don't get into an accident with a vehicle that is of a new body design. I'm fairly certain that should the damage have occured to our side door, an RX330 replacement would have been delivered, quickly. Unfortunately, the front bumper is an RX400h only part and we were somewhat upset as well. Hopefully, you will be up and running, soon. Dave

Well, as I mentioned before, a Prius driver tried to race (and beat) me, a couple of weeks ago. I agree that not all Prius drivers are out to achieve 60 MPG. Dave

Tom, Seeing that you live in Arizona, I'd say you are doing the right thing. The ambient temperature makes a big difference when it comes to the likelyhood of predetonation. Dave

Ron, It is actually a bit ambiguous. The manual does not state that "pump" ratings are to be used, although this can easily be inferred by the nomenclature. The manual states "Octane rating of 87", but never mentions "MON" as an averaging factor. 87 pump octane does seem to work adequately during cooler ambient temperatures, but I would shy away from using it during the Summer months. Dave Dave, The 91 RON in parrenthis implicitly indicates that the 87 is pump octane. IE pump octane 87=91 RON - approximatley. There is no ambiguity to me. I know what knocking is and in 60,000 miles, maybe 10,000 towing a boat t u[ tp 80 mph I have never heard a knock or had a loss of power. All my testing on premium has indicated no better and possible worse gas mileage contary to Lexus claims. Ron Ron, I'm fairly certain that the Lexus ECU acts similarly to that in my Corvette: When intake air temps exceed a certain threshold or pinging is heard by knock sensors, the ECU retards timing to prevent (further) predetonation. With over 200 HP, you may not feel a 10 HP loss under most driving conditions, but I guarantee you that if you were to instrument your car to measure acceleration times, you'd see an increase in time to accelerate to 60 MPH or more if using regular fuel vs midgrade or premium. Granted, this difference may not be worth the cost increase to most of us, but that doesn't mean that there is no difference at all. Dave

Surprisingly, many of the reviewers at C&D are well-educated. I believe Pat Bedard has a bachelors degree in mechanical engineering and others are quite perceptive at figuring out the whys and why nots of performance. I've also read elsewhere that performance will suffer as the battery reaches its low-point (about 60% charge?). For C&D, with their very accurate instrumentation, proving the concept is not very difficult.

Yes, according to C&D, the previous best 0-60 MPH time for the RX400h was 6.9 seconds. After fully charging its battery, they achieved a 6.7 second 0-60, which is better than that of a Porsche Cayenne-S.

Ha, that image is not very clear! I just went a trip to Beverly Hills, yesterday and the HOV lanes were humming along at 80 MPH. It is true that many Prius owners are timid drivers, but I ran up against one last week who figured he'd easily blast ahead of the RX400h to get into my lane. Little did he realize that the RX400h can do 0-60 in 6.7 seconds with a fully-charged battery! Needless-to-say, he saw nothing but my tail lights! :chairshot:

I don't take my RX in for "scheduled maintenance "services", since many of the items on the list are "check this" or "check that" type of things. Instead, I scrutinize what fluids or filters that need to be changed and consider how difficult it would be for me to do the task. I change the oil and filter, so most of the time, I have the dealership rotate the tires (until I get a nice compressor that accomodates air tools) for $22, including a wash. Thus far, at 24,000 miles, the only things that needed to be changed (besides the oil and filter) were the air filter and cabin filter. (every 15,000 miles, I believe).

I agree, but it sure does feel good when I occasionally rocket past a BMW X5 whose owner intended to pass me before cutting into my lane (instead of falling in behind me). The "ultimate driving machine" just can't get by the "ultimate technological wonder machine"! :whistles:

Ron, It is actually a bit ambiguous. The manual does not state that "pump" ratings are to be used, although this can easily be inferred by the nomenclature. The manual states "Octane rating of 87", but never mentions "MON" as an averaging factor. 87 pump octane does seem to work adequately during cooler ambient temperatures, but I would shy away from using it during the Summer months. Dave

There are three choices of fuel grades. Mid-grade and premium are recommended in the manual. You will achieve lightly better performance when using premium, but honestly, few of us will be able to tell unless we are running our cars at the dragstrip. Also, these are hybrid cars. If we didn't care about saving money (in the long run), we'd have bought X5s or RX350s!

How often do you use that window? I ask because this is a not-too-uncommon malady with some Corvette owners, primarily because they don't use their passenger-side window, much.

Believe it or not, there are Corvette owners who use mid-grade or regular fuel! However, should there be consequential damage and the dealership takes the initiative to analyze the octane in the fuel you use, the result may be a denial of warranty coverage. I admit that I have used regular gas during the cooler months, but I play it safe during Summer and use mid-grade. In the event that I do need to travel to areas that experience ambient temps over 100F, I will use premium.

Here's something you might want to read: http://us.lexusownersclub.com/forums/index...c=38975&hl= Dave

http://us.lexusownersclub.com/forums/index...showtopic=36993

I agree!

Thanks for the direct comparison. A while back, another member asked that we include AWD or FWD in our avatar/info area on the left side of our post window. If you look at mine, you'll see the "AWD" letters. Dave