TripleL

Oh my, see what you all have done. I can no longer wait until next month to drive my friend's RXh and I now I need to go and drive an RXh tomorrow Thanks!

kitlz

The learning curve is a little high. Just look at the owner's manuals. Some of the threads here confirm it. Maybe you sunk those in the cavernous middle console. There were lots of little adjustments to make and figure out how to do. Remote touch took a few days. No more touch screen. I had to retrain my mind, no more keys. How many times did you reach to the right of the steering wheel to turn off the car? That was more fun/funny though. Driving wasn't the issue.

Mdkellys

We had a 2004 MDX that we bought when I traded in a Durango. We didn't have any problems with the MDX in the snow. We did have a lot of little electrical problems that were all fixed under warranty. The heated seats were horrible. They never seemed to heat up and then one heated up and we thought it was finally working and it ended up it was burning out. The Q7 was a good vehicle if you need three seats. The interior looked like new still when I traded it in. We didn't have any real issues with it but it was expensive to maintain(ex $2000 for the first break job at 30,000 miles). The Lexus is much more quiet and you don't feel every jolt in the road like we did in Audi.

Mdkellys

P.S. The Q7 was horrible in the snow with the all wheel drive tires that come on it. The vehicle is too heavy and was prone to sliding through intersections in snow even when you were careful and going snow. My people in New England put snow tires on their Q7s because of this.

Mdkellys

X Men --I actually had an accident in the Q7 in snow. I started down a small incline and it went sideways on me and I hit the end of the guard rail right between the front passenger and rear passenger doors. It cost $10,000 to repair. Meanwhile two wheel drive cars passed by me with ease. Weight is a huge issue with the Q7. I believe the RX is nearly 1000 pounds lighter. I looked at the Q5 too but at the time we got the RX my 85 pound golden retriever was still alive and she couldn't fit in the back with my two boys.

JiniJazz

Thank God, it's good to know I was not the only one!
It has been even harder for me, because my daily driver has the ignition key hole on the LEFT! In RX, I have to think!

TripleL

Add me to the list of those who had to retrain with Smart Key.

I love smart key but when I got my car back in 2005 I definitely had a learning curve. It wasn't bad it was just, as kitlz put it, 'fun/funny'. All I can say is thank goodness if you get out of the car and close the door while it's running the car 'BEEEEEPS'

kitlz

Some of us weren't as fortunate as IS owners, smart key and USB port

EMSLEXUSRX

I think I adapted super quick to the smart key system. I really enjoy it! No fumbling for my keys in my purse anymore!! Yay!!

EMSLEXUSRX

I'll bump on that! The RX blends it all together very well!

Mkml63

It's because of the higher center of gravity, your A6 is lower and will feel more planted.
All wheel drive is great but the limiting factor is the tires you run with. Snow tires will make a huge difference, night and day. I had snows on my M3 when it was my daily driver and it was almost invincible in the snow.

TripleL

Proper tires can and do make a huge difference in the snow regardless of drive-train set up.

There are pluses and minuses to every set up. I've had 4WD and AWD cars/trucks with all season tires since 1990 and am happy enough with that set up that so long as I live in the northeast plan on continuing that trend.

JiniJazz

+1 for snow tire. I am in CA, so never see snow, but when I go Tahoe in winter, get the snow tire. Period. Even my Boxster can deal with snow with snow tire on. Once I thought I would be just fine with AWD, and learned a valuable lesson.

TripleL

Went to the dealership yesterday and drove an RXh The demo wasn’t AWD but that’s fine as I was more interested in the drivability of the hybrid than anything else plus it was a beautiful spring like day.

First up, this one had Remote Touch so I had to chance to experience that. I was able to move around it pretty well considering I hadn’t read the manual and found it very easy to use with a clear and legible screen. Later while underway and trying to change a radio station I did find it took a bunch of clicks on different screen to get there but I got it done After I thought about it I determined if it were actually my car I would have had all these stations in presets so I guess it’s a mote point. I really liked the ‘mouse’ position on the center console as it feel directly into my hand and screen position is excellent especially when underway. I do have to mention that two times during my test drive at 2:30pm the sun hit the screen in such a way that it became unreadable due to the glare. I’m sure it was a ‘perfect storm’ scenario because of time of day and driving direction but it did occur.

Overall I liked the remote touch and think I’d be very happy with it. In my short time with it I felt comfortable and think it’s much much better when compared to those ‘dial type’ systems but not sure I like it better than a good touch screen with shortcut buttons around the edge.

Out on the road the RXh, like the RX, was an absolute joy to drive around whether on side roads or the highway. Pick up was good and braking was excellent too. Even engine braking with the generators felt very natural when driving around I’m so glad many of you suggested I drive the RXh as it drives just fine with the 6cyl engine and CVT.

I definitely liked the handling in the RXh a lot. The ride was smooth with the 19” wheels but if I go the RXh route I would definitely consider the possibility swapping 18s for the 19s for better road noise and bump isolation but I’m not sure.

The only real criticism I have about driving the hybrid is when accelerating from a stop. Whether from a traffic light, stop sign or just moving forward I felt I was always, for lack of a better word, waiting. It felt like the electric motors would get me moving immediately but until the gas engine started and engaged the car was going no where fast even in normal traffic. Maybe it’s my driving style or maybe it was just because of the way the last drivers had been driving the demo (this car had over 800 miles on it) but it definitely gave me pause. Having said that I liked it very much and I’ll definitely take it out again when I get more serious about a purchase plus I still plan on driving my friends AWD RXh in April.

Thanks again for showing me the RXh light as it is a very nice vehicle

TripleL

Me too! Thank you, and others, who suggested it and to also check out the remote touch.

I almost didn't post it because I agree due to the screen's placement it really it very slim chance that glare would happen. That's why I used the perfect storm analogy I too believe I just caught it at certain time of day etc. This didn't phase me in the least since it's happened on the NAV screen of our Pilot a few times too over the years.

I'm with you on the finger prints. Don't like them anywhere especially the nav screen or my Droid. I really did like the position of the screen when driving. I barely had to look down while driving to catch a glimpse of it which is a much safer feeling to me for sure.

Overall the engine stopping and starting was seamless at all points except from a standstill. Even from a standstill it was fine, but it did draw my attention as you saw in my write up.

As for speed if my butt-dyno is working correctly and I think it is I actually think the RXh is a little faster overall. I'd say that any amount that the RXh would loose off the line would be more than made up down the road. If the engine ran from idle, which no one including me would want as it would defeat the purpose of a hybrid, I actually think the h would be faster for sure.