I'm in the market for a 350 non-hybrid. There is much conversation on this forum of the hybrid version but little on the other. Anyone who has the non-hybrid can you speak about the performance of your car and do you think it is adequate? Specifically, does it have good power when you need to merge into traffic, and what about passing power? Is there a bit of hesitation when going highway speed and quickly accelerating to pass another car? I have heard on one video of some hesitation and then when really under strain that it can be quite noisy.

 

Plenty of power, no issues there. Definitely some noise under acceleration. To me, it sounds artificial like it’s piped in through the sound system, but I do not know that for a fact. Mine does sometimes have a slight lag, but it seems related to turbo lag and maybe how hard you are accelerating and what gear the transmission is in vs. what it needs to get to so it matches what you’re wanting it to do. If smooth and fast is really important to you then hybrid may be more to your liking. Consider fuel economy as well. I get about 24 MPG in mixed driving and it requires premium. I can’t speak to hybrid mileage vs. fuel cost, but you may want to explore that as well.

 

Midcow, I seem to remember reading that you also have the 350t. What is your views of the car, especially motor sounds and quick acceleration when needed?

 

I haven't got my car yet; I am getting the 350h ( I would have ponied up the extra bucks for the NX 450+ if Lexus hadn't cut out Mark Levinson audio and other luxury features; specifically the ML because I like pure great audio and didn't want to have to add modified audio like I did with Lexus CT200h and Golf R. However, I have two other turbo-performance cars. Golf R (2.0L) and Focus RS (2.3L). Both have pipe-in artificial engine sounds. Some people have disconnected the sound in the Focus RS and the Golf R if not in sport mode doesn't add the sound. Turbo sounds on a 4 cylinder car are relatively quiet. 4 -cylinder cars turbo or normally aspirated have come a long way and are relatively smooth and relatively quiet, The main reason is nowadays turbo boost comes on at a relatively low RPM around 2,000 and sustains until somewhere around 5,500 RPM. The turbo effect is relatively linear among the entire RPM range

Yes, you will probably experience some engine and turbo noise on the NX350t under hard acceleration but I think overall it will fit into the Lexus luxury quiet paradigm IMHO.

On acceleration, I think the NX 350t will perform well because as I said before turbos now come on a low RPM and have a very linear range, usually 2,000 - 5,500 RPM. It will not be barn burner performance ( LOL like my two performance cars, especially the Focus RS, 0 to 60, 4.5 seconds) but I think it will satisfy most Lexus owners.

YMMV,
MidCow3

YMMV,
MidCow3