How I ended up buying a Hybrid SUV

Let me first introduce myself, I’m a 25 years old mechanical engineer, born in Monaco but now leaving in Sochaux. It’s kind of the french Detroit, but french, and with cow and fields around. Not the nicest place to live, but at least I’m consulting for PSA groupe and develop the new automatics transmission there which is nice. I’ve owned several Honda, my last daily being a nice 2000 Accord Coupé 3.0i V6. I’ve owned it for three years, and I think, spent more time under the hood than driving it.

To sum up, we are in France, not the richest area, in the country with mountains around, pretty cold in winter, I drive only 5km to go to work, but often on weekends to go skiing or biking, I’m single, and working for Peugeot. In France, most powerful cars are heavily taxed when new, gas is expensive, and when there is smog there are circulation restrictions unless you get an Hybrid or electric car. Do you see where we’re getting? Add to the point that automotive industry doesn’t pay off, and you go look for a unicorn. I started to look for a Legacy outback with the flat 6, always liked that car. Unfortunately, due to the high taxes, it didn’t sell well and it’s is kind of a unicorn. Same for Volvo XC 70 with a nice gasoline engine. You can find a few Audi allroads, but german cars are not for me. You can find a lot of those in diesel, but they will be taxed too in the future, and my drives are too short for that kind of engine.

You may start to think that he is a spoilt kid wanting everything for nothing, maybe. I really wanted something different, that could be pretty fast, confortable, luxurious and affordable to maintain and drive.

I thought of my parents CT200h F-Sport, despite all the Prius hate, it’s quite fun to drive, with pretty strong acceleration, fuel economy is good, it’s allowed to be driven when air is polluted and can be sporty when you want it to. The only drawback being the inner-space being tiny for sports, and a bit small to hook up a car trailer on it.

And suddenly, it was clear to me, the car I needed was the Lexus RX 400h. Yep that’s a 2 tons SUV, yep that’s big, yep that’s certainly not most petrolhead dream. But it was the best compromise for me, I guess. It’s a big middle finger to our government and ecologist, as it’s considered as a clean car, which mean I can drive it everyday whatever the pollution level is. It’s pretty fast for what it is and powerful, with a cumulative 272hp.

Unlike its german rivals, the fuel economy is let’s say ok, 11l/100km, the maintenance is affordable, and so are the tyres and parts prices.

It was decided, I decided to look for one. The search wasn’t that long but pretty difficult, there is a high demand on those cars (which is good in a way for when I’ll sell it) and most of them where family car and looked terrible inside and outside with scratches etc.

Finally, I found one in Paris, that looked like new, in my budget, a 2007 version with only 76 000km. I literally jumped on it not to miss it.

My first impression when driving it? Quite surprised, the driving position is high, ok, but not like a Van. It’s pretty silent, but when the engine cranks, the noise is not bad, like a normal V6, pretty opposite to a Prius where it screams like an old Honda Civic. Drove back home through the highway, with just one stop in Versailles for a picture in front of the castle. You quickly feel like the king in that car, listening to music on the Mark Levinson stereo, while your bum is taken care of by the heating leather seats.

On the highway it’s where it’s the worst for fuel economy, about 11.5l/100 km at 130km/h, and it’s 1l more every 10km/h step. You’ll quickly prefer to cruise at 120. Talking about cruising, you’ve got to be careful with the cruise control downhill, it doesn’t use enough the electric engine brake and you’ll be speeding without noticing, nowadays with speed traps everywhere, it’s not very comfortable.

On a daily urban use, you can drop down to 9l, but my right foot is pretty heavy. In the city, you’ve got to be careful with pedestrian, as they do not hear you when on EV mode.

You’ll also be the king of redlight races, with the EV torque, you’ll jump off first most of the time, with the roaring V6 and the electric engines whistle.

On smaller road, it handles well, despite feeling lot of torque coming back up in the steering, and the rear electric engine is a bit low on power compared to what the front axle should handle. On twisty road, for sure it’s not my Accord Type R, and it understeer pretty quickly, but it’s reactive enough to have a sporty drive and go quicker than most of other drivers.

Back down to my family on the Côte d’Azur, I could resist to take it a bit offroad, and I was suprised. It’s pretty capable, even though I don’t think it will compete with a Land Cruiser, but it can take you to nice places to go hiking in the mountains.

Finally, took it for a drive in Monaco, it’s funny how it really fits the city and european cities. You do not worry anymore about the huge speed bumps they are making everywhere, you can see over the flowers on the roundabouts and people tends less to run over you when they have to give way.

In conclusion, if you look for a powerful, fun to drive, versatile car, in the good grace of green lobbies, despite polluting even more then a normal car, easy to find, easy to sell, that is reliable and will take you almost anywhere, and will also look as Good in Courchevel as in french Motown or on the Côte d’azur, without being too obvious like the Range. If you like technology and take it for the performance and driveability more than as an ecologist gesture, this car is for you.

Thanks for reading me and pardon my French ^^