New Experiences

It just dawned on me, I'm missing a sound. Normally when you start an engine, you hear the starter engage, turn, then start the engine. Even when backing this new (h) out of the garage, the engine will at some point seem to just start running. I never hear it start. Is it the silent electric motors in the transmission?

When the radio is off and the car is quite, as you come to a stop, you can just barley hear the wine of the motor/generator when you touch the brakes. You can tell it's doing some of the front wheel braking and it's not objectionable at all, just slightly different.

When accelerating with gusto, you can hear the engine in a different way, again not objectionable, but different somehow. Maybe it's the reverse exhaust heat going back to warm the engine, I dunno. But it's OK, just different.

I love the way it connects to my phone automatically.

Still learning new experiences, love them all so far. I still wish the H/lights could be triggered to come on if the Auto wipers start up. Many states have a law that the head lights must be on if raining.

At the 1000 mile service, I WILL stop the door locks from locking when putting it in drive. I hate that, I'd rather lock them manually if driving in an unsafe area but the paranoia of being in an accident and unconscious with the doors locked bothers me. When the door is tightly shut, locking it doesn't make it tighter, just prevents outside entry. But that's fixable according to personal preference.

 

door lock thing seems adjustible by yourself via Navi.


Quietness is one of the characters Hybrid car will have...

 

LOL im the opposite. the first thing i did when i bought my RX(330) was make it so that it will lock when i change gears, and it will unlock when i place it back in Park.

as for the lack of sound, thats a good thing. And you are probably just not used to the engine sound because the hybrid emphasizes quiet motoring, so even when it's on, lexus put a lot of insulation between the driver cage and the engine compartment to reduce NVM (noise, vibration, harshness)

Do you have any opinion on the whine when you are braking to a stop? a lot of automotive journalist say this is a "compromise" to driving a hybrid but i think it would be fun to listen to

Enjoy it!

 

My wife loves it. You have to have the radio off to hear it, it's not loud at all. Sounds like the gears in my Segway but not as loud. So I'm not sure if it's actually the motor or the gearing from the motor to the tranny. Probably the gearing itself if I had to guess.

The doors do un-lock when placing in park, but locked doesn't make it safer or tighter. It just prevents entry. And like I said, If I was hurt and battery fumes or fire was in the picture, I'd like someone to be able to get in easy. But everyone can look at it differently, it just personal preference.

Drove a lot today doing errands over hwy and rural with extreme stop and go traffic, temps as high as 99 and two people in the car. My 'since filling up mileage' had gone down to 23.5 because a lot of time was spent in my driveway with it on. By the time we got back after driving about a hundred miles, the average had gone up to 28.5. So I have to guess it was probably in excess of 30 for the day. I can certainly live with that. If I knew how to read the silly blue graph then I could be more precise.

 

Jim--you can have a new income stream--be a consultant on the rx450h

 

hey jim, about your fears of getting into an accident with the car doors locked, im not sure if you know but the front doors can be opened in the locked position. the rear passengers, well thats a different story