2011RX350

221 mpg doesn't mean anything to me when it does not use gasoline. It is a meaningless number any way I look at it. Plug-in cars burn mostly coal, natural gas and nuclear. I would have to see the payback on the additional investment for tha plug-in when he could have bought a Corolla for about $15k. In my mind he paid a premium near $16k plus taxes and interest. If he lives where he can buy electricity cheap it might not take as many generations to get a payback. The only way plug-ins are going to be attractive is if the utitlity industry builds additional power plants that produce low cost power, and that is not happening today.

GrandSedanFan

iTrader: (1)

Positive Crankcase Ventilation by way of piston. See also, half of Kasey Kahne's motors this season.

2011RX350

Tweaked for premioum fuel with 92 octane and a 10.8:1 compression ratio and equipped with a modern engine management system that incudes knock sensors, higher than 87 octane will buy you some extra power in these cars. You shouldn't need an automotive engineering degree to appreciate that.

But don't expect the difference to be like day and night. Most drivers can't notice a 10 or 15 HP difference with a 275HP engine in a 4200lb car. On a track on a very hot day, it would make a difference but for the way most people drive, it does not make for a noticeable difference.

Marqevans

Pretty good, I got five pages of posts and I was only asking about 5 horsepower!

svofan1

marqevans, you sure got your 5 pound of flesh here...and I can picture you sitting back and thinking.."whoa!!! ......if I only was politician...can you imagine?...".....lol....lol....

LexBob2

OK, I can answer your initial question on this thread, and the answer is a resounding, maybe.

Seriously, I thought it was interesting while looking on the Hyundai Genesis web site, that for the 4.6L V8 they show the horsepower and torque ratings for that engine using both regular and premium unleaded. The hp difference in that case was 7 hp (385/378).

That helps to take some of mystery out of things.

Marqevans

Now that is a good answer backed by a manufacturer!

UCSB

In CA you can get a special electric meter if you have an electric vehicle. If you charge at night before going to work, it is 3 cents a KwH. Basically, next to nothing. But, here in the San Francisco bay area there are charging stations at work and shopping locations which are free to use. There are smartphone apps that show the charge locations and if they are available. Many charge stations allow you to check your cars charging progress on your smartphone and will alert you when it is charged. So most people are not paying for all of their charging. It is very economical. My brother also got a $1,500 rebate from the state of CA for the car purchase.

But, to answer your question. In the first week it took 50 KwH (this is what he told me...but, seems low) to charge is car for the 390 mile range he drove (plus 2 gallons of gas). If we round this to 400 and he drives 1,600 a month (19,200 per year), he would need about 200 KwH of charge. His employer and many of the stores he shops at are picking up some of his charging. So lets assume he pays for 125 KwH at 3 cents. That would be $3.75. I need to check with him and look at the stats in his car to confirm my understanding of the amount of electricity needed to charge the car because this just seems very low. This has been a leaning experience for me (a good one) and so don't quote me on the charge amount until I can confirm the correct number. But, as you can see it is economical. In discussing it with him earlier today, he indicated that he was not concerned about it at all.

Also, for a while plug-in owners can use the commuter lane with only a single driver (if you have a DMV tag). For some, this is a very valuable perk.

m1964

the comparison cannot be judged accurate since the original poster did not provide colors of either RX, and what he and brother-in-law use to wash their RXs becaue one of them can have less drag then the other...Perrier wins over evian me thinks...

DINH300

Ok we were at the dyno last night and Here are the numbers that you guys have been waiting for I have the print out from the dyne but I will have to get another since it was raining last night and the copies were wet. My car was first on the dyno so we had to 3 pulls each and these were best result from both pulls. you guys be the judge and I will go back to the dyno and see if I can get print outs of what happen last night or I might post up what I have thats wet.

Temp 94
Humidity 92%


My car 2012 RX350 93 only
231.98 HP
236.94 TQ

My brother in law 2012 87 only
216.18 HP
198.87 TQ

you guys be the judge

GoHuskers

Wow, somebody must do the task and put this subject to rest. That is a big different.

How could the TQ is higher than the HP since they are originally opposite? Dinh, is that a typo?

DINH300

No this is not a typo I was wondering the same thing on the dyno last night but, My Car was very consistant on the dyno with TQ always being higher then HP. The first pull was the highest and the last pull being the lowest 226HP/228TQ if I can recall. the other RX was barely pulling 200HP/200TQ at the last pull. But you also have to remember when you do your first pull the engine is cooler and the room is much cooler so after every pull the room get hotter and hotter and the hotter the air the more power the car loses. but after we did my car we had ran 2 36inch fans in the shop to cool the shop back down for about 20 minutes to the same temp before we put the second car on.

Marqevans

Wow talk about going above and beyond the call of duty! But why is the HP so much lower than the 265 HP shown by Lexus?

LexBob2

I was wondering about the difference too.

On their website Lexus shows the 2011 on premium at 275 hp/257 ft lb, and for the 2012 on regular 270 hp/248 ft lb.

UCSB

Amazing investigation. Over a 9% difference in HP and almost a 9% difference in torque. The price difference between the two grades of gas is less than 5% here in CA. So I wonder if it is more economical (because of increased mileage) to use premium? Seems like a reasonable conclusion.