400h 4x4?

[240dae]

Hello everyone. I'm looking to replace my 2004 RX300 which although I'm very happy with, I find just too slow for keeping up and overtaking in modern traffic. I've been tempted by the RX350 bigger and more fuel efficient engine, and further tempted by the 400h with even better performance and economy. However while the RX350 has the same 4x4 drivetrain as my RX300, in not so sure with the 400h. I've called several Lexus main dealers and get a different explanation from each one! Although my RX300 is not as capable as my previous Range Rover, it has still got me home in moderate snow conditions, and this is the most important factor for me. Therefore can anyone answer these questions. Is the 400h permanent 4x4? Is there any connection between the front and rear axles? Will it get me through a snow covered uphill section of road? How can you asses the health of the Battery pack? Will there be any damage or ill effects from repeated short journeys?

Many thanks

[loofon]

I will follow this post :) as i would like to know also :)

[rayaans]

Hi, Ill address the RX300 first. You say its having trouble keeping up with traffic. Are you sure there isn't something wrong with the car itself? I had an RX300 before my current RX and it never had issues overtaking, in fact it was quite peppy. It does 0-60mph in 9s which is actually faster than the NX300h and barely any slower than my wife's IS300h so it just seems very odd that you find it troublesome in traffic.

Anyway - to the matter at hand. The RX400h is not permanent 4 wheel drive. Its permanently front wheel drive until it detects slip, at which point the rear motors will start working to ensure it can get out of slippy situations. The front and rear axles are completely disconnected from each other and the rear wheels only start working when there is slip or you're demanding full power from the system.

It will get you up a moderate hill with snow on it. My RX450h has the same setup i.e. front and rear are disconnected to each other and Ive had no trouble getting up hills with snow on them. Of course, if you want extra peace of mind, just fit all season tyres such as Michelin Latitude Tour HP or dedicated winter tyres when the time comes.

The hybrid Battery can be checked by Lexus. They do a hybrid health check to see if its functioning properly. You have to get this done if you have a Lexus warranty.

There won't be any issues with short journeys unlike diesel cars.

Hope that helped. Anymore questions, feel free to ask.

[ChrisKaye]

+1 for what Rayaans said. The importance of tyres cannot be stressed enough. I too am wondering why you may be having difficulty keeping up with traffic, as whilst the RX is no sports car, it isn't a slouch.

Do you ever pop the gear stick over to 'S' mode to hold the gears longer when joining from a slip road or planning an overtake? That may give you the added 'pep' you need?

[Gliderpilot]

The 400h also has the eCVT gearbox at the front, quite a cleaver bit of kit, I was concerned when I heard CVT cos I thought of belts and expanding pullies etc but having watched various vieos and read up on them I find the system very robust. No belts no pulleys it's all controlled by the two front motor generators and the planetary gear systems that are always in mesh. Yes it's not a true 4x4 but it is when you need it via the rear electric motor/generator. I have no trouble towing a 1.7 tonne caravan around farmers fields used for holiday meets and club weekends. Can't say what it's like in snow as we've not had any significant snowfall. As to accellerating past slower vehiclesthe 400h is very quick, the response is almost immediate unlike my previous discos, ML and Jeep!

[rayaans]

19 hours ago, ChrisKaye said:

+1 for what Rayaans said. The importance of tyres cannot be stressed enough. I too am wondering why you may be having difficulty keeping up with traffic, as whilst the RX is no sports car, it isn't a slouch.

Do you ever pop the gear stick over to 'S' mode to hold the gears longer when joining from a slip road or planning an overtake? That may give you the added 'pep' you need?

I never popped my RX300 into S mode and even then I never felt it was slow - not like the NX300h anyway!

[240dae]

Hello all, thanks for your reply. My RX300 still does roughly it's published 0-60 time, however when Range Rovers and other similar vehicles are over a second quicker, it feels slow. I've recently driven a 400h and like the pace but still have concerns about traction and stability in snow. For example if there is no connection between the front and rear axels, how will it cope going down a snow covered hill, changing direction and controlling the speed? Will the back end loose traction and slip round?

thanks again, I appreciate all your advice and experience.

 

Damon Earlam 

[rayaans]

1 hour ago, 240dae said:

Hello all, thanks for your reply. My RX300 still does roughly it's published 0-60 time, however when Range Rovers and other similar vehicles are over a second quicker, it feels slow. I've recently driven a 400h and like the pace but still have concerns about traction and stability in snow. For example if there is no connection between the front and rear axels, how will it cope going down a snow covered hill, changing direction and controlling the speed? Will the back end loose traction and slip round?

thanks again, I appreciate all your advice and experience.

 

Damon Earlam 

No because downhill traction is to do with the tyres and brakes predominantly. If you have summer tyres on then no 4x4 is going to go down a snowy hill without losing traction.

Essentially, it'll do pretty much everything the RX300 can do.

[DanD]

RX300 and RX400h have different AWD systems, but the results are essentially the same.

Don't think you can really compare a RX300 to Range Rovers: these either have petrol engines that are far more powerful than the RX300, or turbo diesel engine with a lot more torque. Besides, I am not sure that in real life an extra second in a 0-60 would be really noticeable. 30-50 mph or 50-80 mph performance are more realistic figures.

[Gliderpilot]

The ML270 CDI I had was no slouch but the 400h I now drive realy picks its heels up if you boot it!

[ColinBarber]

On 4 February 2016 at 7:57 PM, 240dae said:

Hello all, thanks for your reply. My RX300 still does roughly it's published 0-60 time, however when Range Rovers and other similar vehicles are over a second quicker, it feels slow. I've recently driven a 400h and like the pace but still have concerns about traction and stability in snow. For example if there is no connection between the front and rear axels, how will it cope going down a snow covered hill, changing direction and controlling the speed? Will the back end loose traction and slip round?

thanks again, I appreciate all your advice and experience.

 

Damon Earlam 

The back end is purely driven by an electric motor, if you aren't heavily accelerating or have slip on the front wheels then there will be no power applied to the rear wheels. If you are lightly braking then the electric motor is providing that braking force which is less likely to lock the wheels than the mechanical brakes and the ABS and VSC systems would stop any wheel spin from occurring within a very short space of time.

I never really drove my 400h in that much snow, the one time I did it when up a hill without any issue, a hill that a lot of other cars were struggling with.

The RX300 isn't exactly an off-road vehicle, I'd say the 400h is just as good.

[JBPRX400h]

Hi Damon

See my posts from a few years ago regarding RX400h and snow.

We now have an RX450h and will shortly be driving down through France for a skiing holiday. Will be interesting to see how it performs in snow!

Hope that's of interest.

JBP