Rx450h+ series 5 questions

MrBee · May 11

Hi

I'm thinking about buying a new 450h+ and have a few questions:

1. Any thoughts on whether the upgrade to Tamumi is worth it? There are a few extras I do not really care about, but I would be interested to hear thoughts on:

1.1 the adaptive variable suspension. How does it compare to the standard suspension? What extra settings does it have?

1.2 adaptive high beam - what is this like in practice? Is it similar to the the VW matrix system that effectively maintains high beam around oncoming vehicles?

2. Is it possible to set the regenerative braking to a level to effectively have 1 pedal driving?

3. Has anyone any experience with using brokers to source the car? I have seen amazing discounts with broker4cars and broadspeed, but they almost look to good to be true.

Many thanks 😊

Ken R · May 11

Good evening

Personally I didn't think the Takumi grade was worth it and am delighted with the RX450h+ Premium Plus with Panoramic Roof that I have had since March.

Can't comment on the variable suspension but I am more than satisfied with the suspension on the Premium Plus. I previously drove a NX450h+ and I think that the combination of the bigger tyres and longer wheelbase gives the RX a better overall ride to waft along in true Lexus style!

Headlights are excellent and have never been " flashed at "by any oncoming cars.

Regenerative braking cannot be set to effectively provide one pedal driving as far as I am aware.

Lexus dealers are offering generous discounts on the RX at present along with low rate finance so I reckon bargaining with them should give you a good outcome.

MrBee · May 11

Hi Ken

Thanks for your post. That's very reassuring to hear about the excellent ride. Ride quality is high on my list, especially due to the current state of the roads!

Currently have a Rav4, it's just OK, but very noisy at motorway speeds.

Xez · May 12

Hi MrBee,

I have the Takumi model (since summer last year). We chose this trim level for the following main reasons; Mark Levinson hi-fi, plush light interior with plenty of adjustability and adaptive suspension. We were going to have the panoramic roof anyway. All the other features were nice to have, however we were pleased to be able to get a decent price from the dealer.

There’s no clever adjustment available on the suspension aside from being able to select sport or normal. As a large, comfortable car it doesn’t feature adjustable dampers or wish bones etc.

Like KenR I have used the adaptive beams and had no problems with dazzling oncoming traffic and they do light up the road and signage very well.

I’ve no experience of using the brokers, but by discussing requirements with three Lexus dealers we got a price that was very attractive to us.

MrBee · May 12

Thanks for the replies.

Another quick one:

Can you use Hey Lexus voice command to change the driving mode like "Hey Lexus, change driving mode to sport"?

I usually drive in Eco and change to Sport at the press of a button at busy junctions/roundabouts. But on the RX, this seems to be via the touchscreen which looks a bit of a pain.

Thanks

rayaans · May 12

1 hour ago, MrBee said:

Thanks for the replies.

Another quick one:

Can you use Hey Lexus voice command to change the driving mode like "Hey Lexus, change driving mode to sport"?

I usually drive in Eco and change to Sport at the press of a button at busy junctions/roundabouts. But on the RX, this seems to be via the touchscreen which looks a bit of a pain.

Thanks

Never tried the voice command to change the modes

However, the screen does have a shortcut area where the most used functions will end up - you can change it to SPORT directly from there so exactly 2 touches

Xez · May 12

2 hours ago, MrBee said:

Can you use Hey Lexus voice command to change the driving mode

This isn’t listed in the manual as a voice command but I’ll give it a try on my next journey.

MrBee · May 12

4 minutes ago, Xez said:

This isn’t listed in the manual as a voice command but I’ll give it a try on my next journey.

Thanks, appreciated ☺️

I heard the RX gets OTA updates, so I assume they do update things from time to time?

Xez · May 12

2 hours ago, MrBee said:

heard the RX gets OTA updates, so I assume they do update things from time to time?

Yes, that’s correct. There was one earlier this year.

AWC · May 12

23 hours ago, MrBee said:

Hi

I'm thinking about buying a new 450h+ and have a few questions:

1. Any thoughts on whether the upgrade to Tamumi is worth it? There are a few extras I do not really care about, but I would be interested to hear thoughts on:

1.1 the adaptive variable suspension. How does it compare to the standard suspension? What extra settings does it have?

1.2 adaptive high beam - what is this like in practice? Is it similar to the the VW matrix system that effectively maintains high beam around oncoming vehicles?

2. Is it possible to set the regenerative braking to a level to effectively have 1 pedal driving?

3. Has anyone any experience with using brokers to source the car? I have seen amazing discounts with broker4cars and broadspeed, but they almost look to good to be true.

Many thanks 😊

To answer your questions:

1. I went for the Takumi because I wanted the ML audio system and the adaptive high beam system both of which are excellent.

1.1. The ride is better than my previous RX400h despite the 21" rims.

1.2. It works by chopping out regions where there are cars in front of you and coming the other way on the opposite carriageway, the hard shoulder remains illuminated to high beam levels and if you come to a road sign that section is boosted to give you really good illumination. It's worked flawlessly since I took delivery last July.

2. Regenerative braking is not user adjustable but the car seems to make a good job of controlling it for you.

3. Not personally, but a friend has who says it's very difficult to get any kind of delivery date on popular models.

Alex.

MrBee · May 12

Hi Alex

Thanks for your message.

I saw on some reviews that you can use the paddles to increase regeneration. But I guess you're essentially just going down gears to do this.

Xez · May 13

9 hours ago, MrBee said:

use the paddles to increase regeneration

Another way to increase regeneration is to feather the brake pedal to the extent that the brake lights do not illuminate. The power/economy meter then shows an increase in power being generated. This particularly works on long downhill sections and slowing into roundabouts etc.

MrBee · May 13

8 minutes ago, Xez said:

Another way to increase regeneration is to feather the brake pedal to the extent that the brake lights do not illuminate. The power/economy meter then shows an increase in power being generated. This particularly works on long downhill sections and slowing into roundabouts etc.

Thanks, yes, I do this in my rav4 👍

MrBee · May 13

13 hours ago, MrBee said:

Hi Alex

Thanks for your message.

I saw on some reviews that you can use the paddles to increase regeneration. But I guess you're essentially just going down gears to do this.

I saw this on YouTube regarding adjusting regenerative braking:

https://youtu.be/4bSO-UFd_sA?si=i7VoYQp2RZ8eLl0A

Xez · May 13

1 hour ago, MrBee said:

I saw this on YouTube regarding adjusting regenerative braking:

I see that this is on the RZ, do you know if this has been applied to the RX also?

AWC · May 13

1 hour ago, MrBee said:

I saw this on YouTube regarding adjusting regenerative braking:

https://youtu.be/4bSO-UFd_sA?si=i7VoYQp2RZ8eLl0A

That's really interesting, I will have to try it out. I've checked the manual and it says nothing about doing this on the RX so maybe it's not been implemented.

Alex.

MrBee · May 13

59 minutes ago, Xez said:

I see that this is on the RZ, do you know if this has been applied to the RX also?

Oops, I did not notice that was for the RZ 🤪

AWC · May 13

51 minutes ago, AWC said:

That's really interesting, I will have to try it out. I've checked the manual and it says nothing about doing this on the RX so maybe it's not been implemented.

Alex.

After some thought I realised it's not going to work on the RX, the paddles are used to control the E-CVT ratio. The RZ has a single speed automatic transmission as there's no petrol engine so Lexus added the regeneration control so the paddles could be retained in the RZ.

Alex.

MrBee · May 13

On 5/12/2024 at 12:27 PM, rayaans said:

Never tried the voice command to change the modes

However, the screen does have a shortcut area where the most used functions will end up - you can change it to SPORT directly from there so exactly 2 touches

Hi

I have found that you can customise the steering wheel buttons, so for example, one could be for Sport mode and one for Eco. See this link - about 7.5mins in.

Xez · May 13

14 minutes ago, MrBee said:

customise the steering wheel buttons

This looks like the best solution. I’ve just tried talking to the car and none of “select sports mode”, “select driving mode sports”, “select driving mode” worked might just be my Berkshire twang though 😉.

I also tried using the paddles but as AWC says they only change the virtual gears, and then only when S has been selected on the “gearstick”.