Husker4the

From what I've understood ... the RX 350 drives in front wheel drive until slip is detected as well. I am not completely sure though ...

Nextourer

Toyota has a recycling plant. It had to shut down part of it since it hasn't been doing much recycling yet. Most of the salvaged hybrids have usable batteries that can be reused should a high-mileaged hybrid battery fail.

Yep. It benefits the most in the city. It's like getting highway mileage all the time. If you do 90+% highway, yours gains are much lower but you're still producing fewer emissions

I don't know if Edmunds.com is a good source lol. They have been fairly anti-hybrid. Except for the Accord Hybrid, hybrid resale seems to be fairly good, at least on par with their non-hybrid counterpart

That can be said the same for regular cars. An IS300 is "obsolete" compared to the new 2.5 litre dual VVT-i V6 that produces almost the same hp, yet is cleaner and more efficient.

A 2000 Corolla with a 125hp 1.8 litre VVT-i engine is more powerful, cleaner and more fuel efficient than the 1995 Corolla LE with the 105hp 1.8 litre engine.

Our 02 Camry's 4-spd automatic is ancient compared to the new 5 and 6 speeds

and so on and so forth

That's true. That's the equivalent of saying the transmission will eventually have to be replcaed at some point in the car's life. Toyota/Lexus covers it for 8/100,000 (up to 10/150,000 in some states)

Toyota/Ford ones are complex, true. (Honda's one is much simpler and cheaper but emissions and fuel savings aren't as great). But it doesn't mean there's more things to break down. There's no alternator, no P/S fluid, no complex 4WD system w/ locking differentials etc.

Don't know the answer to those. Prius and Camry cannot tow.

Hope that helps.

jim256

'06 400h manual:

 The total trailer weight (trailer weight plus its cargo
load) must not exceed the following. Exceeding this
weight is dangerous.
Without towing package 907 kg (2000 lb.)
With towing package 1588 kg (3500 lb.)

Bongos

Toyota Highlander hybrid and RX400h are based on the Nickel Metal Hydrid Technology which has a low cycling (charge/discharge about 500-700 cycles) rate and a self discharge rate (loses 20% of capacity per month). Since the cycling rate increase with less use, this is an advantage for the the hybrids (exp: say you only use 50% of the battery consistently before it's charged again, now your 500 cycle is increase to 1000 cycles, this is linear so if you use 10% you get 5000 cycles, Toyota has it's computer monitoring this to make the most of the battery). In regards to the self discharge, Toyota created a seperator cycling battery modules to lower self discharge to about 10%. Right now they are looking into Lithium technology, before Lithium is a No No due to it's violent chemical unstability....this is mostly Lithium cobalt based, now lithium technology has come out with a safer battery and you will be seeing this in the new few years.... so yes, the NiMH can be obsolete technology in hybrid as early as 2008.... that Toyota plant will probably start operations in the next few years

Kan-O-Z

Thanks for posting this. I wasn't sure about the towing and you've confirmed it.

Now as far as AWD, I am pretty sure that the RX350 is full time 4wd and the RX400h is FWD until slip is detected. The RX350 has the advantage here with better snow capability and zero torque steer. The RX400h does exhibit torque steer even with AWD.

Kan-O-Z

Husker4the

Not trying to be a jerk, but I am pretty sure the RX 350 is FWD until slip is detected as well.

spamcop

Our 400h was bought for $1500 under MSRP. That was about a $4500 profit over invoice. At that premium, it was just at our threshold for "worth it," based on the bogus EPA estimates on the sticker (another story altogether). That said, once we figured out how to drive it, the mileage got a lot better.

Now, hind sight being what it is, is the 400h better than the 330/350? In my opinion, probably not. It depends on your goal. From a purely financial perspective, absolutely not! Not at the prices the dealerships are charging. And until uninformed people (like I was) stop paying those amounts, there is little incentive for the dealerships to change their pricing. We love our 400h, plain and simple; but we paid too much for it.

Husker4the

I stand corrected ...

FROM THE LEXUS RX brochure:

RX 350

"Full time all-wheel Drive (AWD) with viscous limited-slip center differential and standard Vehicle Stability Control (VSC)"

RX 400h

"Part-time all-whell drive (AWD) with standard Vehicle Dynamics Integrated Management (VDMI)"

-----------------------------------------------

Can anyone tell me EXACTLY what this means? If this is a different system from the RX 330 (to the now RX 350) it's impressive that they well to a full-time AWD and gained (minor gain) fuel economy (city from 18, up to 19 ... highway is the same).

How much of a difference does this make when comparing the two AWD systems? Not THAT big of a deal, but still.

It's also a little interesting how they reduced the size of the gas tank (17.2 vs 19.2 gallons in the RX 350) for the 400h ... probably for space ... weight-wise it doesn't hurt either.

Nextourer

Thanks for posting it!

Thanks for the info. Yeah, I heard that NiMH is getting expensive and is also another reason to switch (I'm guessing it's the nickel part lol). Since CalCars and other companies have seem to successfully mate Li-Ion batteries to their plug-in hybrid versions, hopefully that means if and when I'll have to replace mine, I can upgrade. Not sure if the HV ECU needs a flash too to update its perimeters and other programming instructions.

Nextourer

Don't forget, the RX400h has a rear electric motor to provide 4WD-e. The RX needs the mechanical components to send power to the rear. Here's my post in Car Chat describing the difference between 4WD/AWD systems.

https://www.clublexus.com/forums/sho...34&postcount=9

Bongos

The Main problem with Li-Ion is that it's cobalt based, which means if there was any impact that causes damage to the batteries will cause a violent explosive chemical fire, also Li-ion only has a 1% varience for charging, discharging and temperature so it is constantly monitored by a PC...just for the battery. If an upgrade will be available, I am sure new programing will have to be administered.

Kan-O-Z

I guess we're even. You corrected me and I corrected you From what I understand, the full time AWD is going to give you better driving dynamics in slippery conditions as compared to the part time AWD. The best way I can describe this is that wheels that are driven have more traction than wheels that are are not. On the RX350, all 4 wheels are driven all the time hence there is more traction all the time which may lead to less overall slippage. In the RX400h, slippage is required until you get the 4wd. I too think that the RX350 has very good fuel economy for a full time system. It's a nice SUV Also, the biggest thing that the average user will notice is that in the RX350, you can pull out into traffic really hard (heavy on the gas pedal) and the steering wheel is rock steady. Try the same thing in the 400h and you'll be fighting with the steering wheel torque steer trying to make it go where you want it to go.

Kan-O-Z

MadloR

FWIW, NiMH batteries can withstand cold weather conditions much better than LiOn type cells. A major point for those in the Cooler / Cold Climates.

Cheers.

MadloR

vinster29

Cons RX400h:

-Cannot be towed
-cannot be left idle more than one week (dead Battery will occur if left idle longer)
-Only has part-time all-wheel drive vs. full time all-wheel drive on the RX350

Is this correct so far? I also read that the 07 RX400h comes with fabric seats standard and navigation is now an option. I think the 06 RX400h had leather and navigation standard. Can anyone confirm this? Thanks.

oldcajun

Not correct on the first two items. There are proceedures for towing that are no problem for any professional operator. There is a time limit on how long the car should remain idle, but it is nowhere near one week. Mine sat for 16 days while I was gone to Europe with now problem. If you are going to store it for several months, there are issues that need to be dealt with.

As for the full time vs part time (on demand) AWD, there are some reasons many of us prefer the on-demand system. The most important is that full time AWD consumes more fuel in normal driving for little or no tangible benefit. The 400h AWD fills in instantly when traction is needed and when more power is needed since it is a source of additional electric power. That is why the AWD 400h is faster than the FWD. It is also, according to Lexus specs, a half second faster from 0-60 than the AWD RX350.

The marketing for the 400h has changed from the original plan. Originally it was only available fully loaded with leather, nav, 18" wheels and its base price was set accordingly. Sometime late in the 2006 model year Lexus changed the base to cloth seats, 17" wheels, and no nav and reduced the base price accordingly. I have never seen a 400h equipped any other way than loaded just as I have never seen a RX350 with cloth seats and 17" wheels. The base model may be available somewhere, but not in Arizona.
Steve