xsfo

Mileage in the 30s (miles per gallon) is NOT unreasonable for a hybrid RX400H (or whatever it's gonna be called).

An example of a larger hybrid vehicle is the the Toyota Estima hybrid minivan in Japan. The following article is from 2001 (two years ago!) and the Estima's mileage was around 40 miles per gallon. The Estima is about the size of the old Toyota Previa minivan so don't think it was some microbox van. Figure in a heavier weight RX and tuned for performance and that 40 mpg figure would drop a bit. But 30 is not unreasonable. Don't forget that batteries have become better (or lighter) and the electrical power system is a new higher voltage system. The voltage is higher than any other previous Toyota hybrid system.

http://www.usatoday.com/money/autos/...ta-minivan.htm

That said, I think the mileage will probably be in the upper 20s if they're serious about emphasizing the POWER. Still it is certainly better than the current 18/24 or so for the current AWD.

RX300-BV

Upper 20's wouldn't be worth the cost. The Toyota COO thinks they can hit 32/38. I don't see why not, at least under ideal condictions. Low 30's is probably what the average driver would see.

time4lexus

Hybrids get better milage city driving than freeway.

xsfo

The hybrid RX isn't really about economy. It's about having a luxury SUV that's "good for the environment" People who buy into this don't care so much about the fuel savings per se, just the fact they have a "green" car like the Prius but is a luxury SUV. You know who I'm talking about. If money wasn't a concern, would you rather have a Prius or hybrid RX. Uh-huh, thought so.

Then of course there's also the crowd that wouldn't mind getting a hotrod RX. But we'll have to wait and see how fast it'll be.

Lil4X

Can't imagine fuel savings ever making the hybrid cost effective. It's a techno-thing. Hope the performance will make it worth the investment!

bige320

I wonder if all of the technology that is in the Prius will make it into the RX400H. The Prius has an optional Smart Entry & Start system similar to the Keyless Go system in Mercedes, where you carry a transponder and when you're near the car it'll automatically unlock the doors upon pulling on the door handle and start the engine by pressing a button when you're inside the car. I saw on the news the other day that the Prius has an auto/self parallel parking system, where the car can parallel park itself automatically without driver intervention. Toyota's website makes no mention of such system. I'll try to find a web article.

elowe

Ohmigosh. I'm drooling already...

I was thinking about saving up our money to buy another house, but I don't think I'll be able to keep myself from upgrading our 2000 RX to a hybrid when it comes out...

I really hope that the hybrid will be available with the performance package, since the hybrid will be tuned more for performance than for economy!!!!

VVT-i

From what I've heard from people at Lexus, the Hybrid will get around 30+mpg and 0-60 will be 5.5 second. Now, this's suck for me as an GS430 owner to see the RX dust me off the line and some kids in the back seat of the RX waive at me..lol .In the near future Lexus will have all their line up with Hybrid option, can't wait.

JRB

I would be willing to bet that the new hybrid will NOT be able to achieve a 0-60 time of 5.5 secs. That would require something like 400 total HP & ft lbs. This would be within shouting distance of the Porsche Cayenne Turbo, which has 450 HP & 457 ft-lbs and does it in 5.0 secs. Of course at $90,000+, the Porcshe better go fast, and handle like a sports car. Fortunately for Porcshe, it does both! But for the RX to get in the same league as this would require some serious upgrading of the car's handling capability, IMO. Would love to see about 300 HP and something in the mid-to-high 6 second range though...

VVT-i

JRB, it's not the horsepower that make the car move, torque is . The electric motor can generate a lot of torque at short time too. The Toyota Prius with electric motor that has only 44 hp @ 1000-5600 rpm can produce 256 lb-ft of torque @ 0-400 rpm. You can look at the spec on all the big SUV, the torque spec is much more larger than the HP so the big trunk or SUV can pull more loads.
Plus the RX Hybrid will have one electric motor on each wheel just like the Radio Control. If you play with the RC, you will know that the little electric motor in the RC can get those RC car move really fast. The RX Hybrid got the same priciple at some point. You will be surprise when Lexus give out all on the spec. before the launch of the RX hybrid.

JRB

If it's anything close to 5.5 secs I will be VERY surprised, indeed.

lexusofun

Why would'nt you want to wait for the hybrid rx?
If it looks like an rx and has better gas mileage and power?
Am I missing anything?

cmstahl

Although I'm admittedly not familiar with the particulars of either the Mercedes Keyless Go system or the Toyota Smart Entry & Start system, from what I'm understanding from the above description, I don't quite understand the benefit of this option, since you have to physically be at the car to pull the door handle to unlock, and be in the car to press the button to start it.

It seems to me it wouldmake more sense to spend the money on an aftermarket remote start system, which will start the car from a distance. We have this on two of our vehicles that are not garaged and use it in both winter and summer. Turn the heat or A/C on max before you leave the vehicle, click the transponder 5 minutes before you're ready to leave, and the vehicle is nice and warm/cool by the time you leave.

If you have to be at the car, what's the benefit, other than not having to put your key in the ignition?

Rx900

how much would you think it would cost?

cmstahl

RX900--

Not sure if your question is directed at me, concerning remote start. If so, I'm not sure how much the unit plus installation would be, as when my husband's work van was done, the guy who did it also did some additional electronics work, but I'm sure that you could get some rough estimates by calling automotive electronics places near you. If you do look into it, however, I would suggest you check a couple of things with regards to the unit you choose. First, ensure that the range of the transponder is considerable. This is handy if you are anywhere other than home (at a restaurant or shopping, perhaps), and want to start the vehicle ahead of time, since the vehicle might be parked a bit farther away than when you're at home. Second, make sure that it shuts the vehicle off automaticaly after a certain period of time. Ours, I think, is 20 minutes.

Thinking about it, since the Lexus's ventilation controls are electronic, you might want to test the ventilation system to make sure that you can set the heat/AC the way you want it, and when you re-start the car it comes on the way you left it, rather than some "default" setting (the vehicles in which we have the remote start systems don't have electronic climate controls). It might be worth a call to Lexus to make sure that you can set the ventilation and the settings will be kept (perhaps this is configurable via C-Best?).

Hope this is helpful.