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Sorry this is not about the RX400H but it won't be out for another 8 months so we have to fill in the dead spots...
Lexus says "early 2005" and you now have it in May?
A new 2001 Porsche 911/996 w/factory delivery or a new LS430. Europe is beautiful in May and 2500 miles on the Autobahn is an experience not easily forgotten.
Seriously thinking about a new X3 new spring.
My company still builds Novas, Eclipses, PDP-11s, and HP-1000s, all OBSOLETE minicomputers from the late 60ties and 70ties.
I guess I really do live in the past.
Oh, the last and final communications from Pioneer 10 were compliments of one of those obsolete minicomputers we donated to NASA when their PDP-11 failed.
Better take a serious test drive on a bumpy road before you commit any money. I have read that the X3 rides exceedingly rough.
** Definite RWD torque bias, no 45 second AWD timeout, and snow chains on the rear first and then the front when necessary.
Besides which, with the 05 AWD RX330 performance package (air suspension) there is no opportunity to take factory delivery anywhere near the Autobahn.
I find looking ahead at traffic to be even handier. One can spot those idiots a mile away...
And who is in that lane you are changing to? Quick maneuvers often lead to accidents. So can quick reactions to quick maneuvers.
Sigh. I suppose I'm getting older, looking for potential driving problems instead of just reacting as I did a few years ago.
http://www.evworld.com/view.cfm?section=communique&newsid=651- 3
Doesn't make any difference what they do next. I provide sufficient reaction room and anticipate the traffic, and above all attempt to be PREDICTABLE in my driving, so others can be crazy if they wish.
Well, I've been driving that way for 13 years here in LA. You don't have to be slow to be predictable, in fact it can't be done - you have to keep up with the traffic.
This morning I followed a new RX400h on hwy 11 headed toward Volcano. When I finally got close enough it had permanent dealer plates. So someone is getting to test drive the new hybrid. It was silver and looked like an RX330 from the rear.
I am not surprise. Prius' 50kw motor can output 295lbs-ft torque. 400h will have 120kw electric motor and imagine what it can do.
"Lexus has been test-driving one particular 400h which now has over 1 million miles without having to change the battery."
Lexus might be planning battery pack warrenty for the life of the vehicle. To put up 1 million miles at 75mph, it will take 1.5 years if they drive it 24/7. It is possible that they had the prototype 400h for more than a year already.
"highway they’re shooting for 36 – 40mpg."
I think Lexus is going to have cylinder deactivation to achieve better fuel economy than the other smaller hybrid SUV.
"something about $40,000 vs. $44,000"
Even at $44,000 it is a steal deal compare to BMW X5. Lexus RX 400h is aiming to match performance of BMW X5 V8 and double fuel economy(mpg) of X5 while achieving SULEV. It is indeed an exciting product.
Dennis
I can almost feel the trembling of the competition. If those 400h stats are true I may consider buying a Toyota/Lexus Hybrid in the future. Hopefully Toyota/Lexus will introduce a high performance hybrid wagon.
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That'd be cool. If not, my relatively good wait-list position could make me a later delivery as I'm bound to be picky.
Well, to reach 1,000,000 miles, they had to drive that one particular 400H at 60mph for 2 years, never stopping to refuel, or change the tires, or change the oil, etc. Does that sound likely?
Dennis
Even if it IS likely, driving non-stop is vastly different than real-world driving with start-stop cycles, driving speeds varying between 0 and 80 mph, weather, battery heating/cooling cycles etc.
Sources: November 2004 MotorTrend.com
Interesting, several sources on this board would have led us to believe that Toyota manufactures the batteries... This is what I have been beat down about for months. They CANNOT make enough batteries to satisfy the need.
Toyota and Matsushita(Panasonic) joint venture the HV battery development. Here is a list of cars that use Panasonic HV battries.
http://www.peve.panasonic.co.jp/e_catalog2.html
Dennis
Dennis
Also read a article about Jim Press and Toyota is BusinessWeek from the September 13,2004 issue yesterday and it said the same thing, 2005 release.
And I quite firmly believe that the Toyota hybrid concept CANNOT be scaled up to this level and still achieve reasonable fuel economy advantages.
Also I just simply don't see the majority of RX buyers as throttle jockeys.
The few times I have needed, wished for, more HP in my 2001 AWD RX300 was during passing at reasonably higher speeds at which times the electric motor as a supercharger offers ABSOLUTELY NO ADVANTAGE.
Take notice that the Honda hybrid has only an 8 HP electric "boost".
That is an interesting take on the project. If they can overcome some of the manufacturing problems they will probably still bring out the RX400h. I talked to our Lexus dealer. I acted like I was interested in the RX400h. He told me that they have 70 people that have laid down $1000 to get on the list. He tried the same tactic the Toyota dealer in Hilo tried. He gave me the line that I would be better off with the RX330 than waiting a year or more to get a RX400h. I wonder how many people fall for their bait and switch sales tactics. I think I like the straight forward way Honda does business. Not that I am a big Honda or Toyota fan.
Well it kind of makes sense from two perspectives.
1. The RX400 battery is twice as large as the Prius. So they can build two Prius cars with the batteries of one RX400h.
2. The Prius goes a lot further in raising Toyota's CAFE standings. I don't think Toyota is worried about making money on the hybrids at this point.
If Lexus postpones the RX400h till 2006 as rumored, I think it will be a black eye on their credibility.
1. It would help Toyota to get "some" RX400h out from marketing point of view than to give all the allocation to Prius.
If it takes twice as many batteries in RX400h, if Prius production were to be upped by 25K, it would still leave room for production of 12.5K RX400h.
Also, does this mean Camry Hybrid isn't going to happen either?
2. Prius would help Toyota's car CAFE ratings (unnecessary since Honda and Toyota more than do well in that regard). RX400h would do the same to Toyota in light truck lineup though (where Toyota may need it more than it does in its car lineup).
Are you sure of that? Honda does fine. Toyota has 2 of the 5 worst polluters on the road. Worse than the H2. I don't think you will see a hybrid Camry for at least a couple years. I don't think Lexus wants to exchange capacity in their RX330 plant to facilitate building the RX400h. They are probably making a killing on the RX330. It will take a bit to get the China factory for the Prius up to speed. I think they are not as organized as Honda. They have not managed to hit their initial delivery dates on any of the hybrids yet. And look how vague they are on the RX400h. Sometime next year is not a precise delivery date. If Honda delivers the HAH on December 3rd as they say it will show they have their act together better than Toyota.
That said, I just learned that MT is reporting the issue to be related to CVT (noise) issue although they mention that Lexus is spinning it as a capacity issue.
I thought they just dumped all the vehicles in one pile and your overall emissions had to be a given average. I don't know a lot about CAFE regulations.
If there is a eCVT issue with the RX400h, WWEST may be right in his analysis of the whole HSD system. It works fine for Prius size vehicles and not much larger. They may have to re-think the hybrid business. Who knows maybe even get Honda to show them a few IMA pointers :-)
So we're more likely to see an I4 hybrid Camry long before an RX400h, if the latter even happens at all.
If RX400h is delayed by as much as MT reports, and RDX comes out as a hybrid, Honda could have (another) upper hand marketing.
Fantastic idea for the Hybrid Highlander. In fact I would be quite interested in such a relatively inexpensive(hopefully inexpensive)vehicle. It would suit the needs of many---cargo volume, passenger space, mileage/emission, awd. The I6 for the RX330h and an I4 for a Highlander makes a lot of sense. People paying premium prices for a Lexus will feel justified knowing their vehicle vrooom faster than a Highlander!
Such a long waiting list(15,000 are on the list for a rx330h) I think several media sources would have picked up on such a significant delay and some of the 15k individual would have been notifiied by now.