NillaIce

I'm a new member to this forum, but not to Lexus. IS300, RX300 AWD, and now an RX450H AWD that I absolutely, almost positively love 100%. I was hoping anyone knew of an actual programmer that could tap into the true potential of this great vehicle.

I drove my IS for 200K miles until the wife wanted a newer model RX350(2013) and then I drove the RX(2003) up to 200K miles until I hit a cow doing 70 on Highway 90 in southwest Texas. I purchased a 2010 RX450h used as a replacement and it has been awesome to own, but it still feels like Lexus left some mileage on the table or even performance.

Thanks in advance.

salimshah

Welcome aboard.

I term the non-hybrid as 2 dimensional problem ... Performance vs Consumption,

The hybrid has anther dimension Charging the High voltage battery pack.


Over the years there have been mention of override chips but I have not seen one ever gain popularity in the RX side. We can attribute it to innovators nor trying hard enough or Lexus has done a good job.

Since you desire both economy and performance [which are diametrically opposites and can not coexist] Lexus has given you modes ... ECO or Normal.

Let us know if you find out or better yet install 'chip' to your RX. Personally, I would not put one in my RX. I get my thrills from driving GSs and only clear the throat of the RX once in a while.

Salim

NillaIce

Sure was, but definitely a dead one now.

NillaIce

I've only seen one that doesn't really look like it would actually work knowing my past experiences with "tuning" other vehicles I have owned and it seems like you've confirmed it.

vlad_a

Toyota ECUs are well-protected against hackers, I mean tuners. Even your IS300 was not easily-tunable, that thing having a Supra engine inside and all.
I had myself 2x IS300 back in the day, 14 years of total ownership.

Hybrid would be the worst platform for tuning, because if anything goes wrong, nobody will be able to fix it.
Just enjoy the ride and call it a day.

NillaIce

Correct, I would have needed to splice in a unit for tuning on the IS. I saw many people not understand the Lexus inline 6 was cast internals and not forged like the Supra. They'd get greedy and overboost and blow that motor lickety split. I still think mileage or acceleration can be improved on the RX450h unless the stock programming is designed to be very adaptive. What I'm really in search of is the eco(green band) acceleration being more robust without the need for some much babying of the throttle. Houston area drivers are very impatient.

MellonC00

.......ahem... there is also the POWER mode along with just flooring the gas pedal. You can chirp the wheels every time.

vlad_a

Typical issue with a boosted engine is an improper tune. Run too lean and it's a toast. Had that happen on my buddy's Evo X. Not a pretty sight.
We never ran our RX450h in the Eco mode. Sport is just nauseous, as the gas pedal gets oversensitive. So it's stayed in Normal for the entire duration of ownership.
Whenever we took it down south, I'd just floor it from every light and call it a day. Good tires helped a bit. Loved Michelin Premier LTX, which was specifically made for 4RX.
One thing I did dislike about the RX450h is the torque steer. When you floor it, it would throw itself left and right like nobody's business.
It was a great cruiser but would fall flat on its face if you really started to push it.

NillaIce

I don't have a sport mode on my '10. Purchased used in 2016. I fiddled with eco mode on and off and then did a few WOTs, but the difference was negligible to me. Did notice in ECO mode that there felt like a slight damping of acceleration after about 5 seconds, very slight.

vlad_a

'13-'15 have the Sport mode hidden in the menu accessible through the steering wheel buttons, second option after park sensors enable/disable. Not sure if it was present on the '10-'12.

Droid13

The two green "eco" bands define two ranges of operation. The first range defines max power before forcing an engine start in normal driving conditions (assuming its not running already for other environmental reasons). The second range defines max power before forcing an engine start in "EV" mode. These ranges are not fixed either, but I believe are calculated based on existing conditions. On a mild pleasant day you'll find accelerating/maintaining speed in the green zone quite doable. On a brutal cold winter day it's almost impossible to accelerate staying in the green, even trying to get a couple mph will take significant movement of the power needle.

No, it's not.

Certainly ECO mode changes the responsiveness of the gas pedal. It does make it easier to ride the edge of the green zones if you're hyper-miling, but otherwise just makes things more sluggish in general. The big advantage of ECO in my opinion, is that it reduces energy use by the climate system. Fan speeds are reduced, in cooler weather the cabin heater draws less heat from the engine, allowing more engine shutdowns.

ukrkoz

You have a drive by wire car. Whatever you do to the gas or brake pedal is first considered by ECU, in manner it was programmed to. Then, ECU decides, how to operate the car, not you.
If you bust anything on hybrid, you are looking at mucho mucho dinero in repairs. It's not your stock Civic made in Japan that can tolerate lots of beating. Hybrids are Fort Knox of safeguarded computers and electronics.
So if you want robust acceleration in ECO, simply don't use ECO as ECO literally does little to nothing. Or, step on it in ECO mode as then it goes into normal driving modus operandi. Either way, you'll kill mpg by pursuing performance. You want performance, buy something else. You want mpg, learn how to hypermile.
You can, at your own risk, connect Torque Pro to the machine, via BT dongle. Then you have option of messing with PIDs. As far as you feel brave. Or lucky.

vlad_a

Technically, you could get MPG and Performance, all in one package.
In our case 126MPGe and 0-60MPH in 4.5 sec for the RX's replacement.

NillaIce

Good thing because I'd never pay 25K for a 6 year old Civic with 62K miles, but a Lexus RX450H will have my attention.

I've already 'hypermiled' and I've driven in normal mode seeing as how I've put 30K miles on her in 2 years, but I want more and yes I drive A LOT. Apparently, the 2013+ models offered what I am asking about. Lexus heard feedback from owners like me.

It's always the conundrum. That's why I asked the question on a board of owners.

NillaIce

Which vehicle would that be?