Linas.P

very old... like 2020 CT? Although admittedly 2020 UX brakes felt very natural and I could not distinguish where it is in regen or proper braking - in short brakes were very progressive. The last NX I drove was 2017, so not sure maybe newer ones are better, but it was similar to any 300h (like IS) where you have initial very mild slow down and you can feel a little step when actual brake pads engage. Admittedly, by far the worst car I have driven in this regard was CT - I assume small disks, hence when it starts braking it has to do it with quite a lot of initial force. For 300h I probably overstate the problem, brakes are decent enough, however trying to use only the regen would still be finicky. Just putting myself in OP shoes - I am not sure I would like to be looking at instruments when negotiating down a steep and slippery mountain road. Certainly, not great in comparison with other SUVs which have downhill "descent control" (DAC). It seems like new RAV4 hybrid has lost DAC as well, but I am sure it was a feature on 2018 model. I am not trying to talk OP out of getting NX as I am sure it is great, well built, comfortable and luxurious car... for a city SUV. If I would be going to ski once a month I would not worry too much, it is good enough for occasional mountain road... (heck I enjoyed my IS250 RWD a lot in alps, although french police didn't take same view and send me back few times). However, if I would have to live there all the time NX probably would not be my first choice. Chris - how about trying the car yourself? If Lexus dealership is not too far maybe you can test drive it? Or even get 24h test drive? Here we could only speculate, because it is highly dependant on exact road, your skills etc. You know I tend to think of myself as good driver 😁, but perhaps somebody who drives in the mountain everyday (I certainly cannot claim that) you would feel no discomfort conquering the peaks in NX.

Hi Ahmed, It would be sad if BCS really gone out of business, they did rather great job on my calipers. At least for me their site still works https://www.bcs-automotive.co.uk Generally, you can enquire in any places which works on alloys as the process of painting is rather similar. However, if you need to get your calipers rebuilt then you need to look for specialist company like BCS. Wheel painters usually can do it provided you give them relatively clean and functional calipers. P.S. no sure all CAPS are necessary 🙂

Yes you can select virtual gear, but not to the level where you can engage engine braking. As well yes - you can try "light braking", I guess what you mean is pushing the pedal ~1/5th of the way before actual brakes engage and only regen works. However, this extremely finicky on hybrids and you need practice to know exactly when the actual brakes will engage. This to be honest reminds me other important point - brakes on Lexus hybrids are little bit unpredictable for exactly the same reason - regen. I got used to it fairly quickly, but on the first day it was little bit stressful - at first you press the brake and car doesn't really brake almost at all (regen isn't strong on 300h), then you panic press it further and suddenly it just brakes at full power. Embarrassed myself in traffic few time. You can get used to them, but in short at first only regen will work not the actual brakes, only after pushing maybe 2/5th of the way the actual brakes will engage. And you really need to get used to that to feel approximately when brakes will engage. This is not really an issue on the dry roads, but my be extra level of complication on slippery mountain descent. In short, what I am trying to say brakes on NX will not be very progressive. You can learn to take advantage of only regen braking by braking very lightly if you know where exactly the point is. I would not want to depend on that when trying to negotiate slippery downhill road to be honest.

@Zotto - that is actually good video to show overall that it is not completely impotent, but at the same time not exactly capable off-roader. Actually, it represent the car quite well. You can see the guy get's stuck in few places, but then with little bit of run-up can still do the incline in second attempt. Other good representation is on how AWD works. As I said NX is "full-time" FWD car and AWD only engages temporarily, which is quite clear in the video. I assume they have switched the traction control off here and that is exactly would I would expect NX to do - if TRC is ON it would inch little bit and stop, when you switch it OFF - it will continuously spin front wheels only and you would get only occasional input from rear (which is enough to get you moving). TRC works fine actually for like winter motorway driving and makes it really hard to loose control even if you try. But if you stuck or you really trying to climb in NX you kind of need to keep TRC-OFF as on really really slippery road it just wont move at all. This is probably main difference between "all time" AWD and system in NX. On full AWD if you turn the traction off car will continuously spin all wheels, on NX it will only spin front wheels.

Not really, snow mode doesn't do much on Lexus, just makes accelerator less sensitive and may shift earlier, keep higher gear to reduce the slip (e.g. it starts in second on automatic, so may pick lower rate on CVT). Neither, NX not RX has any sort of hill descent mode, which would be very useful in your case - CVT as well means you can't really do proper engine braking (or at least to the amount where you can slow-yourself going downhill), so going downhill and braking might get a little bit sketchy to be honest. Going uphill probably not as much of an issue - especially if you can do a little bit of run-up then AWD system can keep you more or less straight. Overall, it sounds to me like road you planning to drive on aren't too bad, but at the same time NX will be nothing like X-trail. You will need to babysit it more, think about road ahead, probably do "run-ups" sometimes and the inclines which you can doing in first attempt with X-trail may take few tries. But it should not be as bad as you simply could not reach certain part, it is still SUV, still has some AWD and with decent tyres it could do it. It just may not be on first attempt.

Well the NX is fundamentally a FWD car, which isn't really an issue just a thing to consider. First of all, it would be good to clarify what you mean by "mountain roads" e.g. it is like French Alps where you basically have good asphalt and it just get covered with slush snow and may freeze over overnight (although they usually clean them rather well) or is it proper wild mountain road. If it is first, then I am sure NX is fine. The questions is only the tyres then, preferably you have winter tyres or at least all-season and snow-chains depending on what is required in your country. If it is second, then - no. Sorry NX is not off-roader and AWD system is not for off-road, it is only good for slippery but "good road". If you loose grip on one of wheel going on the asphalt covered with slush it could more than handle it. But if you planning for extended climb on dirty track then it is not car for you. And finally, yes as somebody mentioned it is not like your battery is going to go flat and car turns FWD. However, it is not "full-time" AWD system which you can climb mountain with like on say Subaru, it only engages at the time when slip is detected to correct the course a little bit.

Do you mean "knocking noise" or "clicking noise". See below - if it is like in the video then the answer is dead battery. Not totally dead, where you would not be able to unlock the doors etc. but dead enough not to be able to turn over the starter. This results clicking like below:

I am jealous... because my car has all options available on UK model, but it obviously does not have BSM, nor ACC. Yes I tend to believe BSM and ACC comes together, because UK spec. Premier has BSM. Lane Assist probably only available with LSS+ so Lexus kind of left themselves some space to offer some additional features with face-lift. I still find it strange that Lexus allowed to choose ACC as an option in Premier, but not on F-Sport. This only becomes stranger considering you could have it as an option in continental Europe. Like why would they limit their own sales? Is surprisingly difficult to find past brochures, especially for each individual market. As far as I can tell AUS brochure mentions ACC as an option available, but there are no feature list to confirm on brochure whenever it is exclusive to nay trim like in UK (p16 2016). Perhaps it is not exclusive, considering Australia had RC350 RWD and AWD and RC300 RWD and AWD. Then they had like 6 different wheel options (p8 2015), whereas in UK we only had 1 option for each trim Luxury, F-Sport and Premier. https://www.uniquecarsandparts.com.au/brochures_2015_lexus_rc https://www.uniquecarsandparts.com.au/brochures_2016_lexus_rc Basically, it seems in UK we were simply not allowed to customise the cars at all - take it or leave it. The only thing we had better is that our brochures were very clear in terms of options one could not have: https://media.toyota.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/Lexus-Full-Price-List-October.pdf (as you can see on p13 - ACC/PCS marked as "not available").

Very simply. 2016 RC F-Sport - never had ACC. It was not an option you could choose on the car. You have only 2 options - find 2018+ F-sport with ACC, which is standard with LSS+, or get 2016 Premier (but then you lose F-Sport dials). Or third option - RC-F. Either way, before 2018 when LSS+ became standard, ACC was extremely rare feature. It was not available at all (meaning you could not order RC with one even if you wanted), which is quite bizarre frankly. As well 2016 RC does not have for whatever reason BSM, but has lane-warning, but without lane-keeping assist. Not sure if it is similar in other markets, but in UK the spec. was this strange mix of features and limitations.

I guess that is besides the point, I am just saying waze is not some professional speed measuring tool, but I do agree that at very least up-to ~90MPH is is far more accurate that car speedometer itself. At higher speeds I found any mobile phone GPS app accuracy hit and miss... and if you go like 200MPH+ (not KPH) it refuses to work at all. I tend to believe this is linked to mobile data or tower triangulation being used for more accurate results - at high speed phone cannot keep-up the connection meaning that GPS data becomes incorrect. Obviously, we going into proper off-topic now, but I take your point - it may have been actual 200KPH, it may have been just indicated. I guess we never know unless OP confirms this.

Quite interesting... although in my old IS250 Waze has failed me - as it would not show more than 120MPH in one occasion. I could clearly feel car is still accelerating, but waze won't move any further. So I would be careful with "WAZE calibrated accurate" speed, but at the same time at least from my experience it could show less, but perhaps not more.

Not sure what makes comparison wrong or right? The comparison I suggested was between 3 real life cars all of which I have driven at 200KPH (or been "driven in", in case of Q5), so I know what is the fuel consumption without any theories involved and I am not trying to justify it by anything. I don't remember exact MPGs, but starting from most fuel efficient to least would be Q5 3.0TDI, Lexus IS250 and Lexus IS300h. Obviously, IS300h will be more fuel efficient than NX300h, so I just assume NX will have even worse MPG. The best two cars for fuel consumption at 200KPH, were BMW 530d and new MB E300, to be honest I was closer to 250KPH in E-Class and it was still about the same as 530d, but that is apples to oranges as 530d was 2007 and E300 was 2019, so I assume new BMW 5-series would be like for like comparable with MB E-Class as well. Regarding the weight at constant speed - partially true, partially false. Yes weight of the car will impact fuel consumption more when accelerating than when cruising at constant speed, but even when cruising more weight = high consumption. So additional weight from batteries is not completely irrelevant.

Yeah... almost made same comment before watching it. The description kind of suites the lifters issues as they usually are loud to start with and then becomes quiet once oil starts flowing well. Hence my question about mileage and last service. But no this case sounds like balls in the bearing just running loose round the races.

Not much more to add, I noticed myself that German own cars seems to be better adapted for exactly that. Especially, more exec cars like A6 or BMW5 - seems to be able to cruise at 200kph all day everyday and still return very reasonable MPG. Probably Germans specifically tune them for that sort of driving. That is not to say NX300h is bad car, just not for top-speed runs... Again seems to be specifically tuned for city driving, where it is actually great car all around.

Well, I only had posted speed limit in mind, not necessary the actual road conditions. But that said last time I was in Italy like 5 years ago I had a blast between Rome and Naples on E45. If anything at least the stretch I was driving on was as good if not better than autobahn and average speed of cars passing by was comparable to that of Germany. + police didn't pay attention into Lamborghinis and Ferraris just flaying past. Autobahn nowadays is really rough, it only has iconic status because of those unlimited speed zones, but as the motorway itself it is quite unimpressive to be honest. I think we just going deeper into the woods with this... specific energy and Atkinson-cycle has nothing to do with the question. I just know from practice that as soon as you cruising at constant speed hybrid ~= simple petrol, the real advantage of hybrid system is start-stop traffic. Hybrids can recover otherwise wasted energy when braking or simply slowing down and reuse it when accelerating. If you just driving for long period of time at constant speed there isn't much benefit + you carry extra weight. When you cruising at specifically high-speed, then hybrid becomes really detrimental. Where at normal motorway speed they can still be used to modulate inclines and declines at constant high-speed, they literally becomes just a ballast. I am not saying they completely useless - they will help you to get to that top speed quicker, but once there they will do nothing and they certainly won't help you save any fuel. Do you agree that that in practice at constant 200kph 3L TD will be more efficient than 2.5L Hybrid? Or for that matter even 2.5L v6 petrol will be more efficient than 2.5L hybrid?

It is not near flat out, it is outright impossible. Max speed for the car is 112MPH/180KPH... 200KPH is simply indicated speed on the speedometer which we all know is about 8-10% more than real speed. Like the other you again ignore the premise of the question. On paper NX300h is more fuel efficient for extra-urban driving than A4 1.8T, so I guess the owner is surprised why this does not translate into real life fuel consumption figures. And the answer is partially because it is hybrids and partially because it is SUV. Where better fuel consumption my still be true at 60MPH, it is no longer true at 112MPH.

Exactly my point... this is not about you Luigi. Generally when responding to the question one should consider the circumstances of the person asking and not about his own. I am not even sure what is your argument anymore. Are you not just basically saying "this is fine, because it is fine for me". The question was not what is speed limit in Italy and not whenever GS/RX450h can reach 200kph... the question was - is the fuel consumption right for given situation? NX300h @200kph. The answer is - yes it is correct, and fuel consumption is so bad because it is hybrid and it is not good for 200kph autobahn. Would the car be diesel and even non-hybrid petrol it would not be as bad, the fuel consumption would be less. Again going back to your previous statement about Q5 3.0 TDi and NX 300h, your statement that fuel consumption depends on how you driving is not wrong. However, we don't need to guess the conditions - conditions are provided in the questions and that is 200kph driving. Are you saying just cruising at 200kph diesel would not be more efficient? Likewise at 200kph RX350 and GS350, sharing fundamentally the same engine with RX450h or GS450h, will be more fuel efficient then hybrid counterparts. Why? Because hybrid system is just additional weight past ~60-70MPH. It just seems you trying to blindly defend the hybrid technology without considering the actual question. Hybrid systems are very good in many ways, but high-speed motorway driving just isn't one.

If I would guess I look into Idler or Tensioner Pulleys first: Both have large bearings which would be in line with the sound. Water pump is a scheduled maintenance item, not sure if it was 60/80 or 100k. If you have any history on the car then it would be worth checking if that was done on time, but I would say less likely. It would start leaking well before making such noise. Further, if I am not mistaken it doesn't even have bearing, but is rather lubricated by the coolant (I might be wrong thought). Last item on the list is alternator, but that would be quite unusual.

It is very hard to say without hearing it. What is the mileage of the car? When was the last service done? --- Ok I see there is other thread with video. Indeed sounds like bearing, but to say which one exactly is difficult. This may help you to identify which is the most likely offender based on where the sounds is coming from:

Let's say your example is worst case scenario (and yes I agree driving past major cities during peak time will be like you described), my example is best case scenario - reality is somewhere in between. What I meant was "drivers behaviour" in free flowing traffic conditions, but you right - more and more unrestricted areas are being restricted, roadworks are common and obviously limited to 80KPH and so on. So true unrestricted autobahn moments are getting less and less common. To be fair I always used to time my driving through the Germany to be at night/early morning so that I pretty much cross it at full speed, with only ever slowing down for refuel and I often average ~120MPH across entire Germany East to West. Not top speed, but average including fuel stops. As such my experience probably isn't "normal conditions". However, OP clearly stated he is driving it in Germany and his speed supposedly was 200KPH, I assume he found place and time to do it - so why not, see nothing wrong with this. He was disappointed with fuel consumption in comparison to previous Audi A4 and I see how one could have expected better MPG considering claimed figures. It seems many people are arguing how one suppose or not suppose to use the car based on their subjective needs, beliefs, laws in their country etc. Like "you should not be driving SUV at 200KPH, because in my country that is criminal offence". Well yes, but in Germany it is allowed so why exactly one should not be doing it. If road conditions allows for it and you want, then you could drive it like that. Finally, I am not hating on NX300h - it is fine car to drive around the city, practical... shop runs, school runs, family needs, dogs, occasional motorway trip... all that is good. But if you commuting 100 miles a day on motorway, especially in Germany and especially if you planing to take advantages of unrestricted zones and do like 200KPH... then no it is quite terrible car for that. At very least you can expect fuel consumption to be bad.

Luigi - you just proving my point further. What is "the speed suitable for being arrested" on unlimited autobahn? - quick answer, there is no such speed. Just my observation - people on autobahn are travelling at approximately 180-200KPH (112-120MPH). This is "the middle lane speed", obviously there are slow traffic in the first lane, but even then everyone doing at least 130KPH (90MPH) with exception of trucks. Outside lane speed is anything above 200KPH (120MPH) and if you pulling into outside lane at 200KPH you need to check your mirrors well - it is not unusual (maybe every 3rd car) to do 260KPH (160MPH) and often more. So when you saying "that hybrids are NOT a wrong choice for motorway", you simply ignore the environment we talking about. If somebody says they are living in Germany and do long-ish journeys, it is safe to assume they mean they will be travelling at 200KPH for extended period of time. Yes hybrids are "ok" on UK motorways, they perhaps are "ok" on Italian motorways... maybe... but they are "not ok" for German motorways. Although, I would argue that even on European motorways they are not great - I consider hybrid to be beneficial up to 60MPH, 60-80MPH they are still viable. Most European countries have 130KPH limit (90MPH) meaning that if you driving on mostly on motorway simple petrol is better choice. Ideally diesel.

It may be just me, but I like snow... that is perfect setting for Christmas and New Years. And it would rather be very cold and dry (like -10C at least), then you get nice snow powder - sure nobody like the slush as that is no way better than cold rain. Now I don't have where to bleeping stick my fireworks as if you stick them in the mud they will get stuck in the ground. And decorating Christmas tree when it is raining outside equally feels weird, so I just don't do it in UK. Maybe because snow is customary for Christmas in the place I came from. As for driving, I enjoy driving on snow and ice - provided I am on proper winter tyres (like SottoZero) and still have marginal control of the car. In London I would rather avoid driving when it snows than fit winter tyres for those 2 days when they actually beneficial.

Actually, I think the post is pretty reasonable if one assumes "not to know how hybrid system works". I guess the surprise from the owner is that 2.5l hybrid claims higher MPG, but in actuality consumes more than 1.8l turbo petrol. Yes there is sprinkle of ignorance -but it is not unreasonable, because on pure petrol the consumption scales e.g. if you have 2 petrol cars and one does 50MPG extra-urban, whilst other does 32MPG - then even at 120MPH this ratio going to be more or less true (obviously I am oversimplifying and there are more variables), but say maybe 24MPG vs. 18MPG. What I am trying to say - if one ignores difference between hybrid and petrol and assumes that consumption scales like on petrol. Then it is possible to assume "if 38MPG translates into 26MPG, then 50MPG should translate into ~34MPG". What owner is asking - why it is not 34MPG and not even close? And the answer - because it is hybrid and hybrids doesn't scale like petrol and overall hybrids are not-beneficial on motorway, especially when we talking high speed (like 90MPH+). Oh... and as well it is SUV, not a car, and probably has larger, wider wheels... and few other things which makes it terrible choice for autobahn, at least where fuel consumption is concerned. All in all, if you doing long journeys and especially on autobahn where 180kmh (112MPH) is about base speed for cars, then hybrid is terrible solution for you. This is really the place where you actually want to own like 3L diesel. I am quite certain that Audi Q5 3.0TDi would still do solid 30MPG+ despite being SUV as well.

That is what I would normally call good weather during Christmas/New Years - snow adds that festive spirit! 😁

Yeah same as Martin said - this is great solution, but implies you should have private garage or at least very cozy driveway... not something wast majority of population has.