Jetblaid

Dear Club Lexus community,

I have some questions and I'd like to get the answers if it possible since I couldn't get any info via google.

First of all, my car is 2010 european rx450h, awd version, executive.

Now I'd like to tune the car a bit and make it look unusual(the good way)

So here are the questions.


1. Is there any way to add more power to this hybrid, I mean 183kW is fine, i do 0-100km/h in around 7.1 but I'd like to have more( I know I know, this car is not for racing and stuff, but If I like it, and I'd like to have it more speedy, why not? If there's a way, ofc, haha..)
2. Since I have the casual sound system, I'd like to have an upgrade, are there any special woofers that would be exactly for the car so i don't need to replace or remove something(not mark levinson), if yes, leave a link if possible, thanks.
3. I'm thinking about adding quad exhausts, and I have the MAJOR question. Is it possible to remove resonator in the car to make it sound loud? I mean I love the sound when I floor the pedal, but I'd like to hear it louder, so putting quad exhausts would be logical for loud car.
4. How much km I can still drive when my car shows "cruising range 0 km" ? Atleast about? 20-40kms? more?


I know my questions might sound idiotic, or like "who the **** wants to tune this car, it is made for quiet driving and stuff) But I'd love to do it, and I still have a hope there is a chance to do it. Thanks for understanding.

Have a nice day,
Sorry for my English,

Paul

F250

Welcome to CL!

Although I cannot answer your questions, I can say that there is nothing wrong with your English.

vlad_a

Hi Paul,

Welcome to CL!
Your request is unusual, indeed. RX is not a vehicle that a typical customer will mod.
1) Adding power to a Toyota is a loosing (no pun intended) proposition. Adding power to a Toyota Hybrid is an impossible one.
2) A woofer and an amp is the easiest way to proceed. You can tap into the stock woofer wiring to get the signal for the amp. You will need an LLC (Low Level Converted) to get the RCA output. I assume yours has a premium system with the sub box on the left side of the boot. Power wiring is easy - hybrids have the battery in the rear.
I have never seen an aftermarket box made specifically for the RX. You could have a shop custom-make one for you. Or use a generic one to your liking.
3) See the mod comment above. An exhaust shop could fabricate a unit for you. No idea why you would want to do this for this car.
4) The hybrid system will shut itself down before you completely run out of gas, as it will damage the unit if this happens. It is a software shutdown, but I doubt anyone really pushed it to find out when it is triggered. You may be able to travel 1 KM on electric alone, depending on how much juice is left in the traction battery. I ran out of gas in a Prius once and it was a heavy car to push to the gas station. You might also need pour 10L to trigger the gas level reset to get it up and running.

P.S.
You may want to change LTU location to Lithuania, as most members here will not be aware of what it stands for. I had to look it up.

Droid13

1) Very difficult. Anything you do would be highly intrusive. You could start ripping out the interior to make it much lighter, remove sound insulation, replace metal body panels with plastic or carbon fiber. Spend a fortune to drop in an additional high capacity LiOn battery to fool the electronics into thinking the NiMH battery always has max charge and to release it's energy more willingly. But all that would be a very excessive for just a modest performance boost. Engine mods might be more obvious but not sure how much options there are for the Atkinson variant engine given it's very unique valve timing. By far, the easiest way to get a custom fast ride in an RX, is lose the "h", swap for an RX350 and then go for engine mods, much more opportunities for much larger performance gains that would easily pass what you could do for the "h".
3) Making engine loud on a hybrid would definitely be a very weird experience, given the engine will not be on all the time. When the water pump started to go on mine it started to make a fair bit of noise, it was really annoying for the engine noise to go from nothing to loud to nothing to loud to nothing to loud all the time. I know it's not the kind of noise you're looking for, but I found the experience to be very annoying. Also, given that hybrid engine RPMs don't always match day to day driving, that would also be extra weird. You can be accelerating but engine RPMs dropping, or you could have engine RPMs suddenly go up or down when cruising at one speed. I know you say you want the sports car sound while accelerating hard, but when just regular driving the car would sound like a circus vehicle. If you want a custom exhaust with hearty sound, again, switching to an RX350 makes more sense.
4) At cruising range 0km, there is usually approximately 10L fuel left, enough for about 100-120km for me if I pushed it to the limit, or yes, about 20-40km for your driving style

Jetblaid

First of all, thank you very much for warm welcome and answers!

I'm glad to see that people of this community is soo friendly and I get instant responses.

Now I see everything in a clear way, I know that if I want power, I swap RX350, thanks for the explanation!
As I understood having better sound system is one of the easy things to do, I'll head more deeply into that later.
Guys, I feel so braindead when I read your answers haha, where did my logic went when I wanted to remove the resonator for extra sound... yes, it would feel soo stupid driving quietly and suddenly the sound appears, dissapears, appears...
As I know now having the exhausts would make it look more better, but they would be not working and it would look stupid for people who understands about cars..
Hahahaha @Droid13, i don't know how you can drive 10l for 100-120km I mean, i tried driving super eco, like all the time eco on tacho and speed 90-100 for best, but i nearly fell asleep and the cars behind me got super mad so i had to floor it, haha
But thanks for answer!
@Vlad_a yeah.. about the country I didn't notice, thanks for saying it tho!
@F250 Thanks, but I'm still a student and learning english, my sentences sometimes goes from logical to "wtf" ...


Again, I appreciate that fast support from you guys, now I know what I can do, and what I cannot, hope you all have a good day! Thanks for taking time to respond

Have a nice day,

Paul

tus

For 1, the only practical option for a Hybrid I can think of is coming up with a custom program for the computer. Essentially you would be creating your own Sport Mode. This will not be a trivial task though. Coming up with a custom tune for a non-Hybrid generally involves multiple dyno runs as you tweak and tune different settings. Personally, I wouldn't even know where to start on a hybrid setup besides maybe running the motor as you would in a non-Hybrid, tuning it accordingly, and using the electric motors just to boost power at WOT (and basically giving up on respectable mileage.)

Car audio is way too subjective so I am not going to touch 2

As has been pointed out, as a hybrid, engine speed does not always depend on vehicle speed and motion, so I really don't have anything to add for 3.

I can't help on 4 either. I almost never let any of my vehicles get under half a tank, going with the old, and admittedly very unproven theory, that it is better to have the fuel pump covered in gas to help keep it cool and lubricated to last longer.

Honestly, for your list of changes I would suggest finding a pre-96 SUV. Manufacturers spend a lot of time and money tuning their luxury cars. While they can be "improved" on, you will be spending even more time and money to get what in the end will be modest results.

vlad_a

Being in EU, there are so many cool diesels to choose from, if you were to abandon the "h". A manual Audi Avant would be one of my top choices.
I spent a week driving a manual diesel Nissan Qashqai (Rogue for US folks) in EU and even that was a blast.