patt

It is under Your MPG. You have to register if you want to put estimates in. To see the estimates others have put in, click on Real World MPG Estimates from Drivers Like You at the bottom of the left-hand column. You don't have to register to see this. I like to refer people to upper level web pages rather than more specific pages down the tree because they can move when sites are restructured. I hate getting dead links.

Since they already have a sensor for the front passenger seat so that the airbag can be activated when a passenger is present, it would have been nice if they allowed address entry when that seat is occupied. I guess if they did that some people might strap a weight in to override the Nav lockout. If you had the addresses in advance, you could put them on the destination "radio buttons" which stay active when the car is in motion. I still need to get into the Nav manual. I want to check to see whether there is a way to set a button up for things like nearest gas station which would be the sort of thing I'd like when in motion.

Some additional reading. http://www.fueleconomy.gov/!Removed!/ratings_description.shtml This is the US site on fuel economy ratings. It has explanations of what they test and how that deviates from real world fuel usage. They also have a part of the site where people can report their actual mileage and you can view those reports. I looked at a few and the real world was always below the EPA estimate. Remember one difference between the test conditions and real world is that they don't run any of the accessories like air conditioning and audio system during the test. As a car becomes more efficient at moving itself, the accessory draw will become a bigger percentage of its power usage and will therefore cause a larger variation in the mpg number between the test and real world. I think this is part of the reason that numbers for the Prius have a bigger difference than numbers for a Camry or a Highlander. (No RX numbers were posted.)

Headless, One site to look at for information on fuel economy testing and why it may differ from real world experience is: http://www.fueleconomy.gov/!Removed!/ratings_description.shtml Look particularly on this page: http://www.fueleconomy.gov/!Removed!/why_differ_detailed.shtml For all cars, short trips are one of the things that reduce mileage from the test conditions.

Jonathan, Yes, I'm sure that is what B is for. Using the generators to slow you down by running the generator and storing the energy in the battery is what happens in the hybrid everytime you step on the brake or even when you just coast. You don't need to go into a special transmission position for this. When you need to slow down more quickly than the load of the generator can accomplish, you have two choices, step harder on the brake and the brake pads will be used or use B. For normal driving, you will just step harder on the brake. When you do this, as much as possible is used to run the generators and the brake pads will take up the slack. If you need to brake heavily continuously - going down a long downgrade too steep for the regeneration alone to do it - you can use the B position. Just like in a non-hybrid, this will add engine braking into the mix to reduce your need for brake pads. In this situation, there will probably be enough regeneration going on to keep the battery topped up. You need the engine braking plus the generator load. The manual explicitly says that using B to slow you down instead of the brake can reduce your mileage. I was talking to a friend who did some electric car conversions. To allow for the situation of going down hill where the battery got fully charged, they had to put in a big power resistor to dump power from the generator so that the brake pads didn't have to take the full load. In the hybrid perhaps they don't need to do this because they have the engine braking but perhaps they still do. The manual mentions that the engine braking in the hybrid is not as strong as in a standard car. I assume this is because of the CVT transmission which doesn't simulate the lowest gearing of an n-speed transmission.

According to what the manual says, B does engine breaking. That doesn't mean that it disables the regenerative breaking. If you look at the energy display, when you coast (meaning your foot is off the brake and off the accelerator) in Drive, there is regeneration going on. Presumably when you coast in B, that same regeneration goes on plus engine braking.

Headless, you must have looked quite a while ago at the tax break - it was initially suppose to go to $1000 in 2006. Looking recently at the IRS.gov site, the 2005 deduction is now $2000 - they extended the higher level. However, the last time I looked they hadn't announced whether the RX would be included. By the way, we are happy with our RX400H. In regard to what wwest posted, according to the manual, the RX does run on only gas some of the time. The front motor/generator isn't always in use. That is what the display in mine shows too. I see all the combinations during a drive: engine only, motor only, motor and engine, engine and regeneration, regeneration only.

The B position uses engine braking. In other words, the transmission connects the gas engine to the wheels without the engine being powered by gas so the turning the engine takes energy from the wheels. This energy is wasted (turned into heat). It is better to use regenerative braking which turns the motor as a generator so that the energy can be saved and used again. As long as you are braking gently, the brake pads aren't being used so you aren't saving the brake pads by not using the brake pedal. The time to use the B position would be going down a steep slope where you need both that and the regenerative braking to slow you down.

Any time I'm careless about putting something like a jacket or briefcase into my RX so it rattles, I really notice the noise. That's the problem with such a quiet car - anything that deviates stands out.

The option thing on the RX400H is a little confusing. The brochures list three options: Heated seats, Mark Levinson stereo, Rear entertainment But they are bundled into two option packages. One with all three and one with the heated seats and ML audio. All the RX400H's have one of the two option packages so the heated seats and ML audio are options in name only. The only true factory option is the rear entertainment. Actually, from the Lexus site and what I've seen at dealers the RX 330 seems to also always have at least the lowest option package. That subset of options is always there so I guess these non-optional options are part of the way Lexus does things.

RX400H, I agree about the pad. As long as the pad is good enough there shouldn't be any problem with manually opening the RX door up to the pad. It is the garage door getting opened or closed with the RX hatch open that I would worry about. I'm pretty short and my husband is average height so we would have been fine with the RX hatch not opening so high, but I expect the reason it was done that way was to keep from damaging tall people. As a vertically challanged person, it is a good thing power close is available. If it wasn't, I'd probably want to attach a grab loop of some kind to the door because when open I can just reach the close button on the open door. Grabbing the door to pull it closed would be a challange.

What I'm concerned about in splitting is the effect on discussions about things that are common across the RX series. For instance, the problem of the rear hatch being too high in some garages. Once the split is done, does one post it in both forums to get the benefit of the expertise in both groups? Even if one posts in both groups, the discussion potentially becomes fragmented with some people not seeing the useful comments of others in the other forum.

What I would think carefully about before using this kind of solution is what happens when the garage door is activated with the Rx door open. If you are the only person who has an opener for the door, this might not be a problem. But if someone else (e.g. husband, kids) might come home when the RX door is open and open or close the garage door what would happen? Especially if the garage door is a roll-up type, would the RX door edge be above the garage door edge so that the garage door would run into it? Would the garage door scrape against the RX door perhaps past the edge of the pad? Have you tried backing in? After a couple of times, I'm finding it really comfortable to back in. The tilting mirrors are great. For me, I think it is actually easier than going in forward. In our particular situation (a fairly steep driveway up to the garage with our Camry parked on the right), it actually seems easier than going in forward. When I go in forward, there is a part of the driveway where my nose is tilted up enough that I can't see the Camry on my right. When I back in, the two critical points (edge of the garage opening and the Camry) are clearly visable in the mirrors all the way in and leaving the Camry is on the driver's side so I can see it.

For those who already have a roll-up door, the garage fix may cost far less than $5K. I know in a past house we were able to change from a flat door to a roll-up for less than that. It may be that a different track for the roll up or an adjustment to the way the existing track is hung would do it. My husband and I even discussed the possibility of limiting travel on our garage door opener so that our solid door would open to a slightly slanted position. I think that could be done enough to get the extra inch or two and still leave the bottom of the door high enough for the RX to drive in. But it seems like a kludge and I worry that the garage door and opener mechanism would have more stress on it in a slanted position than it has when it can open to the flat position which was designed to be a stable position for the door and springs. BTW, I'm pretty sure the power door opener is working all the way up and not just to start the movement. The first time I pulled into our garage, I activated the rear door opener without thinking. The RX rear door opened and then closed itself - which I assume was due to detecting contact with the garage door. There wasn't any damage and I wasn't interested in repeating the experiment. I had already seen RX400H's mention of the problem but I was in a hurry and forgot that it might be a problem.

A mechanical limiting device such as the suggested wire may not work with the power door lifter. I believe that, when the door attempts to open and hits mechanical resistance, it responds to the resistance by reversing and closes. So LexKid - it sounds like you could host the Lexus Owners Club RX400H retreat. :D

LexKid, It seems probable that the batteries are big enough to do what they need to do and making them bigger wouldn't improve mileage. All the power is made by the engine. The most efficient use of the power is when the engine can run in its most efficient band and deliver the power directly to the wheels. You always lose energy when you move power around - that is why you can't have a perpetual motion machine. In the case of the hybrid system, you lose energy due to resistance of wires and any inefficiency in the motor generator for instance. Then why do the batteries help mileage? Here are some ways: They provide a place to store regenerated energy from the braking - in a non-hybrid, the energy of your motion all is turned into heat from the friction of the brakes and is lost to you. In the hybrid, much of it gets turned into electric energy and stored in the batteries. They allow the engine to operate in its efficient range - The gas engine never has to operate at slow RPM to start the car moving or to coast the car or at very high RPM for passing and other high speed acceleration. Depending on battery charge level, it is either off or it is on at a higher speed with the extra energy being used to charge the battery. Since the operating range of the engine is narrower, the designers can even make changes to optimize performance in this range over the performance of the standard engine that has to support a wider operating range efficiently. Once the batteries have enough capacity to store the energy generated by braking under normal operation, to provide for acceleration and to allow the engine on/off cycles to be long enough for efficiency, there shouldn't be any gain in making them bigger. There would be a loss of effeciency due to needing to carry the extra weight.

motion, Have you reset the average mileage during that time or is it still running on the accumulation from mile 0? When we got our car, there was a pretty low average mileage (13 or 14 I think) from whatever the mechanic had done during prep and check-out of the car. If that is still in there, it will drag down the average. Things looked better once I reset that.

I would try that. The letter makes Lexus's position on the wheels pretty clear.

And acrylic is a type of plastic. Once the wood is encased in that, it isn't so natural anymore.

The "wood" they put in the other models seems pretty well encased in plastic itself. That shiny slick surface isn't wood.

It is subjective. I don't care about whether there is leather vs. plastic on the door. A good quality plastic on the surfaces I don't sit on means lower maintenance material. I care about having leather for things I sit on or touch all the time. The brushed alumininum with the black interior looks pretty sharp to me. With the ivory interior I've found it takes a bit of adjustment - I wish they had put a little bronze tone in it to make it harmonize with ivory better but black won't do for my climate and wasn't available with my preferred exterior color anyway. I had occasion to drive an ES yesterday. After driving the Rx for a week, I decided the brushed aluminum is growing on me even with the ivor interior. The wood in the ES looked out of place and too orange toned - especially on the steering wheel. Going around corners, I found I prefer the feel of the all leather steering wheel to the leather wood combination in the ES. I really missed the telescoping on the steering wheel too. That has really spoiled me. I'm short enough that the ability to move the steering wheel forward to match my seat position is a real luxury. I love a nice quality wood surface and have a lot around my house, but for wood in a car they seem to have to put a very high gloss surface on it that makes it look and feel more like plastic fake wood anyway. It practically is plastic as in many cases it is a very thin veneer under that gloss. I like a more warm no gloss or semi-gloss surface on my wood items. I like the driving and handling of my Rx compared to the ES too. The acceleration is so smooth. With the ES I had to get use to pushing the gas pedal in harder. They did make some decisions on the Rx400H that I question like the lack of tire pressure monitorig. And I kind of wish they had included the laser cruise control - but that is probably a silly desire for a fancy toy since much of my driving conditions aren't great for cruise control and it isn't like you can leave the driving to the laser when you do use the cruise control.

I assume the "you" in "what you are missing" doesn't mean me who you quoted since I also pointed out the effect of extra torque. Absolutely agree on the safety issue. There is a lot that went into the design of this car. For instance they had to be careful about what tires they chose to handle the torque. I wouldn't want to fool around with its dynamics. It's a safety issue. For Lexus/Toyota and hybrids, a failure here could also be a big PR issue.

Our garage may have a little extra height on the door - partly because it was built for a tilt up door. I'm pretty sure that a roll-up installed in it would clear. In your garage, it may be possible to get a new roll-up or a different track installation that would allow the door to clear. Years ago in a former house we were able to get a roll-up installed that allowed our full-sized van to park in the garage. Let us know if you find a way to limit the door travel. We aren't tall enough to need the existing opening and having the option would be nice. With the door open, I can just reach the close button and I'm not sure if I could grab the door for manual closing without jumping a little. I hope a bit of experience gets your wife more comfortable. I had the Rx400H out in the rain (the chance to test it out made me glad for our late rains this year). Since it had been dry for a while, there was the chance of extra slick oil and water conditions on the streets. The performance was wonderful. I didn't feel any tendency to slip - it felt the same as driving on dry streets. The auto-sensing windshield wipers did a good job as well.

scoobie - To each his own, I guess. I like the Rx400H OEM wheels and find the chrome too gaudy. I guess I also never saw the point on spending money on a fashion statement that close to road hazards. I keep my cars long enough that sooner or later the wheels pick up some imperfections. Rx400H - I expect there is some safety factor, but people don't always obey the gross load limits. Also, remember that the force isn't always evenly distributed between the wheels and there are conditions where additional g-forces (e.g. deceleration, bumps) cause more force than the mass of the car. These wheels also have to transmit all the extra torque this car can deliver which leads to loading very different from the Rx330 As an engineer I do put extra margin on my designs but that is partly because things happen beyond what we plan. One doesn't want to be responsible for another Tacoma Narrows bridge. I'm sure Lexus is very aware of the recent problems other companies have had with SUV tires. In addition, the Rx400H wheels are part of a very complex control system with all the stability control and such. I'd be hesitant to fool with its parameters. Since there have been reports of some dealers attempting to foist wheel "upgrades" onto customers to get extra mark-up on the car, I hope this letter at least gives people additional ammunition to refuse the "upgrade" and get the orignal wheels put back on.

We have the same garage problem. The Rx400H door barely touches our garage door when both are open. I can get in when the garage door is closed, but I don't like to think about what would happen if someone else opened the garage door from the outside while the Rx door was open. :cries: We have a few options: install a roll-up door, but I think that wouldn't look as good on our house as our existing wood door. clear away some stuff stored in the garage which would leave room to pull forward far enough that Rx door would be clear of the garage door. limit travel on the garage door - I wonder if there is a way to do that - if it opened to a slight angle, I think the RX would still easily clear it driving in and it would gain the couple of inches we need for clearance - I don't know if that is possible with our garage door opener. back-in - for us this may be the best option. I tried backing into the garage last night. With the good side mirrors and the backup camera it was reasonably easy to get positioned well. Actually, in some ways it may be easier than pulling in forward - because of the slant of our driveway, I loose sight of our other car that is now relegated to a parking spot on the drive during forward pull-in. That wouldn't happen on back in. Getting nice clearance for back access and room to walk between the front of the car and the garage door would still require a little garage cleaning but not quite as much.