Something new caught my eye yesterday. The forward part of the left front wheel well is vented to the lower left engine bay. Anybody have a thought on this? It's not brakes or the right side would have the same vents. My curiosity gets me sometimes.

Does anyone know if the 350 is also vented?

 

If you have the transmission cooler, it vents from the front of the vehicle through those vents in the wheelwell. Look through the corresponding vent in the front bumper - if you see a small radiator, that's the tranny cooler.

I don't know if they all come with the wheel well vents, tranny cooler or not, or if you only get the vented wheel well if you actually have a tranny cooler.

I know the on the 400h they all came with the tranny cooler. Don't know if this is the case with the 450.

 

Similar to what Jim and rcy said above. My 350 does have these. The left engine bay has the vents in the front (below the left bumper and fog light) and in the back (the left front wheel).

 

I'm guessing it's because the tranny contains the gennerator for the hybrid drive

 

You probably hit the nail on the head. Good call.

 

Don't forget my 350 has these too.

 

Since the 350 has it, I'm guessing any RX with a transmission cooler will have the flow through vents. However, you're probably right in the sense that all the hybrids will have the tranny cooler because the tranny fluid also cools MG1 and MG2 and may need more cooling because of that.