HarrierAWD

I asked my Lexus sales guy on this one a while back. He said that real metal (aluminum) would make it way too HOT to touch in the summer. Sounded reasonable to me. Lexus/Toyota really thought this one out.

I'd expect the FX to use wood (or carbon for that sporty feel) since the cheaper Nissan Murano has tons of aluminum in the interior (or is that just plastic?)

FWIW, the Nissan Murano (FX35's cousin) is measured at 75 db at full-throttle according to C&D. That's about 40% louder than the 71 db for RX330.

parula

Wow, is this simulated Al the two nearly verticle pieces rising up the center console area in the dash? If faux Al, the pieces sure look good especially with the light burl wood they complement beautifully, but I really wouldn't want some type of plastic that might warp or degrade over the 10-15 years I often keep my cars. Are they really.... plastic? They SURE look real!

Heat is heat, relatively- a piece of plastic at 140F will normally feel like a piece of Al at 140F notwithstanding latent heat retention capacity of the mass of the piece and the material and length of contact with skin. That explanation seems a stretch to me, but jmopinion.

Gimme the real thing - I don't touch the dash often and in summer even my wheel is too hot to touch even with a sunshield.

HarrierAWD

Metal transfers heat faster than plastic, that's just the property of metal. Therefore given the same temperature, metal feels hotter than plastic by human hand. In the RX330, most controls are on the "faux aluminum" panels, so the driver will have to touch something. Obviously Lexus does not want a "McDonald's hot coffee" lawsuit.

RXKen

What silly things will people make up next? Never scalded ourselves on the real aluminum. Hell if that was true my hand would have been blistered in my Porsche long ago since it has an aluminum and leather shift ****!

BTW, here is the new Motor Trend report placing the FX35 ahead of the RX330 and the ML 350

http://www.motortrend.com/roadtests/...uv/index7.html

I don't agree with Motor Trend's analysis of each car 100%, but am offering the link for your reading enjoyment, don't shoot the messenger.

parula

Harrier, agree on the transfer rate perhaps, but the mass is so little that as I said, there isn't much latent heat to transfer. For example I touch a piece of Al foil just out of a hot oven; and have no problem doing that many times because there just isn't enough mass to retain sufficient heat, imo and experience. (Do not try this without checking the temperature, and do so at your own risk)
Gimme a nice thin sheet of real Al on my dash over artificial sibstitutes if they exist. Hoping it's the real thing!

HarrierAWD

Believe it or not, I burnt my fingers a few times touching Al foil out of oven. :-)

The Al on the FX looks quite substantial. It looks about as thick as a frying pan. The good thing is that FX puts the Al down between seats and there's no button or dial on it like the RX. So there's no reason to touch it. Might be a good place to keep coffee warm.

RXKen

It isn't as thick as a frying pan, I thought you said you had test driven the FX? If so, I would have expected your observations to have been better. It's very easy to see how thick the aluminum is by flipping down the ash tray door, or flipping up the cup holder door. Oh and in case you didn't know, the windows on the FX are coated with a heat reduction film to help keep the car cooler in the summer, it also makes the glass stronger and better able to withstand impacts.

I suppose there are advantages to wood, such as fading over time, oozing out sap, or getting termites, that is of course assuming it is real wood and not some faux wood material.

I suppose if you don't like either you can buy one of those carbon-fiber-like stick on kits available on Ebay.

scooby doo

John(RX):

If you are very dissatified with the RX, then simply trade it for the FX. I don't know how you do it or live with yourself. I mean, to drive a luxury vehicle that you despise. Its only money. Conside the trade, then you will make two parties very happy, the new owner of the RX and yourself.

With all respect, do something about rather then wine.

Scoob

FX2RX400h?

Sept. '03 to Jan. '04 yielded great pros and cons over the past 6 pages. However, since we're going into April '05 the present day Real comparisions are between the FX35 and the RX400h HP, Torque, Luxury/Sport, & Performance have evened up quite a bit.. MPG's may prove to be a deciding factor in the current day equation ($$ per gal) Thoughts are welcomed ........ vs.

spwolf

RX400h is cheaper, faster and gets 15mpg more...eh. It wont help those failing FX sales...

toy4two

I can speak from experience, when I put a aluminum and leather momo shift **** on my MR2 and would park it in the hot California sun, I would have to wrap a towel around it for the first 5 minutes just to drive. That things was scolding hot.

I don't care for the fake plastic metal, Lexus should have stuck with wood or carbon fiber.