There's a conventional handbrake, and the only abnormalities are the lack of sound and a power meter in place of a rev-counter.You just press the accelerator and go, taking off with considerable thrust if you wish. The CVT transmission works well, too, the strong low-speed pull of the electric motor meaning that the engine doesn't have to rev hard. That in turn means you're spared the noise of a frantically-revving engine whenever you brush the accelerator, a common complaint with CVT boxes.But there's one way in which the RX400h is surprisingly different from a regular RX300. Why is this? Because the three power units' peak outputs happen at different speeds, and 272bhp is the maximum combined output.
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At low speeds, up to 31mph, there's enough power to move the Lexus by electricity alone, which means gentle urban driving is both silent and completely emission free.The petrol engine joins in when more power or speed is needed, or when the battery is running low. It starts up almost imperceptibly, using the front electric motor as a starter and altering the inlet-cam timing to reduce the engine's compression and firing pulses until it's up to speed.The engine stops when the car stops, but the power steering and air conditioning are electrically powered. Its maximum power is 272bhp, and it squirts in one lunge to 60mph in 7.4 seconds. One lunge? That's because it has a continuously-variable, gearless auto transmission.Don't take the fuel figure too literally, though, even though the Inland Revenue does. Drive it hard and the fuel economy dives down to more normal levels for a fairly heavy 4x4.
It's just that the test cycle happens to flatter hybrids.Now, some technological depth The V6 engine on its own manages 211bhp. The front motor can make up to 167bhp, the rear one 68bhp, both powered by a 650V battery pack that is recharged by the V6 engine (using the front motor as a generator) and by energy reclaimed when braking.Add up all that bhp and you reach considerably more than 272. Toyota (which makes Lexi) calculates a benefit-in-kind tax saving of £200 a month compared with a BMW X5 3.0 diesel.That's a huge amount, and all of it because of the way company-car taxation is now emissions-based. We can expect various arms of officialdom to feel quite annoyed about this.
