New Rx400 owner
#1
08-22-2005, 03:53 AM
New Rx400 owner
Hi all,
I took delivery of my RX400h on Saturday, and drove it from Atlanta to Richmond. I absolutely love it. I was careful to follow the "directions" during the break-in period (no hard breaking, no full throttle for first 500 miles). I know I'm not going to be sipping gas like 95% of the folks here, but 25mpg (on the first tank) is a big improvement over the 16-18 I was getting with my last suv.
Thanks to everyone's great advice so far (I've been lurking for a month or so) - I'm already realizing better fuel efficiency.
I took delivery of my RX400h on Saturday, and drove it from Atlanta to Richmond. I absolutely love it. I was careful to follow the "directions" during the break-in period (no hard breaking, no full throttle for first 500 miles). I know I'm not going to be sipping gas like 95% of the folks here, but 25mpg (on the first tank) is a big improvement over the 16-18 I was getting with my last suv.
Thanks to everyone's great advice so far (I've been lurking for a month or so) - I'm already realizing better fuel efficiency.
#2
08-22-2005, 05:26 AM
Re: New Rx400 owner
Keith,
Welcome to GreenHybrid.com!
I am sure you will do well with your new hybrid from the start since you've been lurking for a while. I didn't have that luxury and found this great community almose a year after purchasing my hyrid.
Look at my HCH chart and you can almost see the tick up in my mpg.
I encourage you to keep a log of your gas consumption and share it with us on the database. It will help us and future hybrid owners to look at real use data rather than the EPA, er, um, estimates.
Welcome to GreenHybrid.com!
I am sure you will do well with your new hybrid from the start since you've been lurking for a while. I didn't have that luxury and found this great community almose a year after purchasing my hyrid.
Look at my HCH chart and you can almost see the tick up in my mpg.
I encourage you to keep a log of your gas consumption and share it with us on the database. It will help us and future hybrid owners to look at real use data rather than the EPA, er, um, estimates.
#4
08-22-2005, 11:45 AM
Re: New Rx400 owner
Hi Keithdoc:
___Welcome to GH and I look forward to your ever increasing FE stats as you become more familiar with your brand new RXh.
___And to that end, a few tips that might help although I am speaking as a non HSD owner myself …
___Where possible, coast or what the Prius community calls “Glide” in to all stops and obstacles. Although a bit advanced vs. how you have probably driven previously, all you want to attempt to achieve is little to no regen unless you really do have to hit the mechanical binders (brakes) with the ICE (Internal Combustion Engine) off. Above 41 mph you will always get some regen but that is OK. Below 41 mph, you want to try and maintain all dark arrows inside the energy consumption display (no regen, no ICE on, no current flows in any direction), just dark arrows around the screen while slowing to a stop. In a nutshell, for stopping, just learn the RXh’s braking feel without touching the brakes and adjust the amount of braking with your accelerator pedal, not the brake pedal wherever practical. If ever there was a paradigm shift, this is it for the HSD equipped automobile. Simply use the accelerator for braking, not the brake when it is safe to do so. The ICE when running will usually take care of the battery packs SoC (State of Charge) all on its own.
___When taking off from a stop with heavy traffic, I used a slower start - EV (Electric Vehicle) mode up to ~ 10 - 12 mph and then got into the ICE without the pack (Pulse technique) to a much higher steady state speed. Do not worry about a P&G (you will find out about this later and may not want to include it in your own bag of tricks anyway). All you are trying to do is not use the battery pack for heavy accelerations once the ICE is running if at all possible as it is going to cost you dearly in the FE department. That 3.3 has enough Go in her to make a high acceleration Pack + ICE propulsion completely unnecessary and basically only good for showing off to your friends and burning gas as fast as the non-hybrid RX330
In other words, enough accelerator pedal for the ICE to be running, the ICE powering the front wheels, and a small amount of current flow from the ICE to the MGSet to the pack is pretty close to the max efficiency you can receive. Do not worry about the acceleration rate inside of this Pulse technique (no pack use) as HSD is very forgiving no matter the rate as long as you stay off the pack during any acceleration once the ICE is running. You can see all of this activity in your Energy display with all the various arrows running from the ICE, MGSets, Wheels, and Pack.
___When at a steady cruise on the highway, DWL (Driving with Load) is an excellent tool. It does involve active throttle management on your part which you may or may not want to include in your bag of tricks. All it means is to drive your RXh to a given load, not a given speed as cruise control (CC) does. While in a steady state cruise using CC and climbing an overpass, you are going to see your RXh’s instantaneous fall from let us say 30 - 35 mpg to 10 or 15 mpg during the climb. On the back side you will see it peg and fall back again as it (CC) attempts to maintain your RXh close to that preset constant speed. When using the DWL technique, you start by canceling cruise. What you will attempt to maintain is that 30 - 35 mpg on the instantaneous while climbing by slowly bleeding off speed to hold the instantaneous as close to 30 - 35 mpg as possible right up to the crest or peak of the hill. From there, you begin reapplying accelerator very gently to maintain the Instantaneous at that same 30 - 35 mpg down the back side of the slope. By the time you get to the bottom of the hill or overpass, you should be right back at your initial target speed and no one was the wiser other then your RXh saved a bit of fuel for each ascent and descent you traverse. Think of it like a roller coaster climbing and descending an overpass size hill. The coaster is costing up hill all the while bleeding off speed. At the crest, it achieves an almost steady state but slower speed. As it begins to head back down the other side, it reaccelerates and once to the bottom, the coaster is at the ~ same speed it was originally at before climbing the hill in the first place. It is not perfect description given all the drag and friction effects but it is close enough of a description to get you started. You can attempt to use your RXh’s CC Accel and Decel buttons to mimic the technique while climbing and descending but they (Accel and Decel) are far to coarse to really do the DWL technique justice. Either way, the Fuel savings are worth it given it only costs you 10 - 15 seconds per overpass or small hill as an example.
___Finally, why not try some of these techniques out on an open stretch of country road with little to no traffic to become familiar with them. Having your wife along as a safety might make even more sense unless she becomes a distraction herself? Believe me; it (wife becoming a distraction or husband for the female hybrid drivers amongst us
) happens to us all. The open country road suggestion is just a tip so that you have very little possibility of causing harm to yourself, someone else, or your brand new RXh due to the energy and consumption screens distracting you when you really should be actively participating in the driving experience. After an hour or two, these simple techniques will become so natural that you will not have to look at the screen let alone study the darn thing as most do when they first get behind the wheel of a hybrid … Don’t worry, every last one of us has been though this same education and with a little practice, the multiple screens will become simple affirmation displays instead of a mandatory attention getting distractions.
___Be safe, and I hope you push to hypermiler status. The few tips and tricks above should get you started with a bag full of others yet to be discussed. The real reason I wanted to pass these on to you is that
1. You must be interested in your Hybrid’s FE or possibly its relatively low emissions or you wouldn’t have purchased it. I like both reasons!
2. You have enough interest in regards to your Hybrid to have posted here in the first place. I am glad you could join us
And the real reason …
3. I haven’t seen a hypermile qualified RXh yet and you could be the first
___Good Luck
___Wayne R. Gerdes
___Waynegerdes@earthlink.net
___Welcome to GH and I look forward to your ever increasing FE stats as you become more familiar with your brand new RXh.
___And to that end, a few tips that might help although I am speaking as a non HSD owner myself …
___Where possible, coast or what the Prius community calls “Glide” in to all stops and obstacles. Although a bit advanced vs. how you have probably driven previously, all you want to attempt to achieve is little to no regen unless you really do have to hit the mechanical binders (brakes) with the ICE (Internal Combustion Engine) off. Above 41 mph you will always get some regen but that is OK. Below 41 mph, you want to try and maintain all dark arrows inside the energy consumption display (no regen, no ICE on, no current flows in any direction), just dark arrows around the screen while slowing to a stop. In a nutshell, for stopping, just learn the RXh’s braking feel without touching the brakes and adjust the amount of braking with your accelerator pedal, not the brake pedal wherever practical. If ever there was a paradigm shift, this is it for the HSD equipped automobile. Simply use the accelerator for braking, not the brake when it is safe to do so. The ICE when running will usually take care of the battery packs SoC (State of Charge) all on its own.
___When taking off from a stop with heavy traffic, I used a slower start - EV (Electric Vehicle) mode up to ~ 10 - 12 mph and then got into the ICE without the pack (Pulse technique) to a much higher steady state speed. Do not worry about a P&G (you will find out about this later and may not want to include it in your own bag of tricks anyway). All you are trying to do is not use the battery pack for heavy accelerations once the ICE is running if at all possible as it is going to cost you dearly in the FE department. That 3.3 has enough Go in her to make a high acceleration Pack + ICE propulsion completely unnecessary and basically only good for showing off to your friends and burning gas as fast as the non-hybrid RX330
In other words, enough accelerator pedal for the ICE to be running, the ICE powering the front wheels, and a small amount of current flow from the ICE to the MGSet to the pack is pretty close to the max efficiency you can receive. Do not worry about the acceleration rate inside of this Pulse technique (no pack use) as HSD is very forgiving no matter the rate as long as you stay off the pack during any acceleration once the ICE is running. You can see all of this activity in your Energy display with all the various arrows running from the ICE, MGSets, Wheels, and Pack.___When at a steady cruise on the highway, DWL (Driving with Load) is an excellent tool. It does involve active throttle management on your part which you may or may not want to include in your bag of tricks. All it means is to drive your RXh to a given load, not a given speed as cruise control (CC) does. While in a steady state cruise using CC and climbing an overpass, you are going to see your RXh’s instantaneous fall from let us say 30 - 35 mpg to 10 or 15 mpg during the climb. On the back side you will see it peg and fall back again as it (CC) attempts to maintain your RXh close to that preset constant speed. When using the DWL technique, you start by canceling cruise. What you will attempt to maintain is that 30 - 35 mpg on the instantaneous while climbing by slowly bleeding off speed to hold the instantaneous as close to 30 - 35 mpg as possible right up to the crest or peak of the hill. From there, you begin reapplying accelerator very gently to maintain the Instantaneous at that same 30 - 35 mpg down the back side of the slope. By the time you get to the bottom of the hill or overpass, you should be right back at your initial target speed and no one was the wiser other then your RXh saved a bit of fuel for each ascent and descent you traverse. Think of it like a roller coaster climbing and descending an overpass size hill. The coaster is costing up hill all the while bleeding off speed. At the crest, it achieves an almost steady state but slower speed. As it begins to head back down the other side, it reaccelerates and once to the bottom, the coaster is at the ~ same speed it was originally at before climbing the hill in the first place. It is not perfect description given all the drag and friction effects but it is close enough of a description to get you started. You can attempt to use your RXh’s CC Accel and Decel buttons to mimic the technique while climbing and descending but they (Accel and Decel) are far to coarse to really do the DWL technique justice. Either way, the Fuel savings are worth it given it only costs you 10 - 15 seconds per overpass or small hill as an example.
___Finally, why not try some of these techniques out on an open stretch of country road with little to no traffic to become familiar with them. Having your wife along as a safety might make even more sense unless she becomes a distraction herself? Believe me; it (wife becoming a distraction or husband for the female hybrid drivers amongst us
) happens to us all. The open country road suggestion is just a tip so that you have very little possibility of causing harm to yourself, someone else, or your brand new RXh due to the energy and consumption screens distracting you when you really should be actively participating in the driving experience. After an hour or two, these simple techniques will become so natural that you will not have to look at the screen let alone study the darn thing as most do when they first get behind the wheel of a hybrid … Don’t worry, every last one of us has been though this same education and with a little practice, the multiple screens will become simple affirmation displays instead of a mandatory attention getting distractions.___Be safe, and I hope you push to hypermiler status. The few tips and tricks above should get you started with a bag full of others yet to be discussed. The real reason I wanted to pass these on to you is that
1. You must be interested in your Hybrid’s FE or possibly its relatively low emissions or you wouldn’t have purchased it. I like both reasons!
2. You have enough interest in regards to your Hybrid to have posted here in the first place. I am glad you could join us
And the real reason …
3. I haven’t seen a hypermile qualified RXh yet and you could be the first
___Good Luck
___Wayne R. Gerdes
___Waynegerdes@earthlink.net
Last edited by xcel; 08-22-2005 at 11:50 AM.
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