Ahhhh I did mean reasonable... BIG stupid typo sorry to everyone.

 

My dealer informed me that the first 400h's will arrive at the west coast port (Portland, OR) on April 10th. They expect to see them in Michigan no later than April 20th. I saw another post that said they will arrive at the east coast port (NJ) on April 14th and at dealers by the 20th.
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It won't be long now.

 

I hope that the other shipments are already on their way. Otherwise, some of us will be waiting a lot longer than we were promised. How could Lexus make such a major mistake? You'd think, since they've announced the April 15 date for months, that they would have made every effort to get the cars to the ports early so they could be delivered.

 

is lexus redesigning the appearance of the rx400 and rx330's in 2006? I heard the rx350's will be coming out. I assume this means the rx400 will get a new look also?

anyone have any info on this?

 

I don't think there will be a redesign this soon(06), there may possibly be some minor tweaks like bumper, lights etc. that most people will hardly notice . . .

 

Is it really faster? The FX45 was clocked by C&D at 6.3s 0-60, and the RX400h at 6.9s 0-60 (also C&D). The SRX V8 was clocked by MotorTrend at 6.4s 0-60.

The RX400h is a good value, I think, and I would take it above either of the above vehicles.

 

yep, RX400h have been clocked by CD 3.5sec 50-70mph, while SRX did it in 4.5 sec, thats 1 full secon faster in most important measurment you will ever feel. Even 30-50 was a lot faster as well.

That means that when you jump in both cars, "feel" of speed will be significantly bigger in RX than anything else south of X5 4.8is.

 

Well, I'd have to disagree with you there. The top gear 30-50 and 50-70 tests are not realistic, because no one passes at those speeds in top gear. The RX400h has low times in the top gear tests because it uses a continuously variable transmission, while with vehicles such as the SRX the car is artificially kept from downshifting. You can see in the test that the actual 50-70 time for the SRX was 3.5s, just like the RX.

I'm not saying that the RX400h is slow by any means, but I don't think is necessarily faster than V8 SUVs.

Again, I'm not ******* it at all, as it would personally be my #1 pick if I were looking for a $50,000 SUV.

 

huh? thats not true - 50-70 in 4.5 sec for SRX was with kickdown, not in maximum gear..., same as 30-50.

3.5 sec 50-70 is astonishing speed for any suv, and is faster than a lot of sedans. It is certainly faster than both GS and M45 Sport as tested by CD.

Dont be fooled by "top gear", in all AT cars, it is done with kickdown, while in MT cars they might say which gear was it. For instance, there is no way to keep GS430 in 6th gear between 50-70 if you press the pedal, and result would be much worse than 3.9 sec measured. Better example is 30-50mph, which would take around century in 6th speed :-). Not to mention it would be unfair to compare peformance in 6th gear to cars that have only 5 gears (GS/M45), but again, most AT cars - like GS - you simply dont have an option to keep it in top gear.

What they might mean could be driving in max gear when they press the pedal to the metal, since they could be in 3rd gear for example, right on torque curve otherwise. But you simply cant keep most AT cars in top gear when you kick it down.

Unless there is some button we mortals dont know about? :-).

Reason RX400h is so quick in passing times is because of instant power and torque its +220hp electric engines provide, and thats why it is tough to beat.

 

I think you're right. MT cars may be kept in one gear, and auto cars will start in top gear then downshifted.

So, in essence, V8 SUVs have faster times out of the stoplight to 50 or 60, but the 400h has better passing power, which I agree is more useful in real driving situations.

The electrice motor torque certain helps, but I think the CVT has more to do with it. For example, the Accord hybrid, which has a regular 5 speed auto tranny, has much slower top gear passing speeds.

 

I too think it is the CVT transmission responsible for the better torque delivery to the wheels. Anyway, someone really needs to confirm this because the specifications posted on the RX400H says the electic motors work up to 35 MPH then cut out and the gas engine takes over. If this is the case the electric motors are doing nothing for torque since it is not working after 35 MPH. Like I mentioned before, this could be a misprint, but if not the electric motors are not working at those passing speeds.

Now, I am a believer of CVC type transmissions specifically because it can keep you in the optimum power band at all speeds. I hope more CVT transmissions make it into more cars in the future.

 

Here is the thing - Accord hybrid has measly 16hp electric engine, while RX400h has more than 220hp of electric power alone :-), and thats exactly why it is so fast in passing times. CVT is helper as well, but it is also tuned to save gas when possible BUT big difference is that electric power is instantly available, no build up and thats another great reason hybrids will take over the world.

As to the electric engines and 35mph, it means that they can work alone up to 35mph, without help from gas engine, and after that they both work on/off.

On the other hand, Accord Hybrid is an mild-hybrid only, has an small electric engine that can not work alone, and has only 16hp.

 

Why is this thread dead over here??? https://www.clublexus.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=157403 It makes perfect sense! ...wouldn't you agree?

 

not really, RX400h is an performance version of RX330, not an new model. And posts about it have been pretty slow, so there is no need to separate the two just yet.

There is almost same kind of difference between GS300 and GS430, so I dont see much sense in doing that....

 

I agree that RX400h should stay with the RX330. However, I DO see the need to separate RX330/RX400h from RX300, and 02+ ES300/ES330 from the earlier gens. The newer gens are all-new enough (save for the powertrains) to justify separate forums.