- The Lexus RX is known and loved as a comfortable
smooth riding roomy luxury SUV.
And for 2023, it's redesigned
from the ground up new platform, new styling
new power trains, pretty much everything is new.
And along with it is coming language
of athleticism and sporty driving.
And there's a new performance model
and there's even footage of an RX on a race track.
So going into this first drive
I was just really curious to know
did we lose another comfort option in the class?
The previous RX wasn't short
on space when it had two rows and five seats
there was the available RXL that had a third row
and room for seven, but that stretched the car too thin.
So it's actually not available anymore.
When the RX launches
it's only in five occupant configuration
and they have added more leg room
by extending the wheel base.
So the wheels get closer to the front and rear
of the vehicle, which means there's more room in here
and back seat is comfy.
As far as leg room
the front seat is really nice too, the new design though.
Looking at it, it looks lower.
It looks longer, and it is lower.
Overall height is down by about a half an inch.
So I was a little concerned
about backseat headroom and that played
out when the car was equipped with the panoramic moon roof.
There just wasn't enough headroom
in the back for me, I'm six feet tall.
I have kind of a short torso, a longer legs
and I needed to actually recline the back seat to
get the headroom that I needed when it was fully upright.
My head hit the top of the ceiling for adults in the back.
If you need maximum headroom
you can't get the panoramic moon roof.
You can get a more traditional size moon roof though.
And that would be my pick.
If I had to ride in the back
the previous touch screen was actually
in a really good place.
I liked it while using apple CarPlay
because CarPlay could stretch the full width of the screen.
And in 2020, they made it a touchscreen
replacing a non-touch screen that was controlled
by a goofy touchpad controller, for 2023
the touchpad controller is gone, woohoo and replaced
by either a 9.8 inch standard touch screen
or a 14 inch optional touch screen.
And that 9.8 inch screen is nice
but it definitely looks like the budget option compared
to the behemoth that is this screen.
And there are some cool features tied to the system
including the under car camera.
So I'm gonna take this
from my four year old daughter who identified this
in the LX 600.
It looks like the car is camouflage
and it's actually really useful, especially when
when you're parking and you can see the lines
and you can see where to stop.
I think this under car camera
while it might be designed
as like an off road feature, it's an awesome
just urban parking feature too.
I love it.
Also there's wireless apple car play
and wireless Android auto.
Those were two features that you didn't get
in the previous RX.
We can't talk about a new luxury car
without talking about it's interior quality
and the RX is improved over the previous version.
The previous version had some highlights
but it was inconsistent.
It had some really nice areas like the stitch edge pad
then it had some not so nice areas
like the center dashboard, the 2023 is much more consistent.
The highlights include on some trim levels.
There's this really intricate kind of padding
on the door panel.
And I appreciate its placement
on the door panel because you're almost always looking
at it either out of your periphery
or when you're getting in and out of the car.
It's the first and last thing you see
and it does make it feel more luxurious.
I really like the V6 in the old RX.
It was smooth.
It was quiet.
It was refined.
It had linear power delivery and the new engine is
a turbocharged 2.4 liter that makes around 275 horsepower.
And to be honest, I missed the old V6.
Lexus actually brought a previous version
for us to drive.
And I do miss that V6.
And it's not just in the RX, it's kind of across the board.
The turbocharged engine is torquey
and it has more grunt down low, but it's noisy.
It has a course sounding soundtrack and the
the power it builds up soon
but then it dissipates and overall, you know, yes
it's more efficient and there's more torque.
But the biggest thing to know is
that Lexus recommends premium octane gasoline
in the new turbo four cylinder.
And in the old RX, the V6 got its maximum power
on regular octane, the fuel economy savings.
Aren't significant only two mile per gallon
better in combine ratings.
And that map is not favorable
to the new four cylinder being cheaper to own.
It'll actually cost more based on current fuel prices.
So the base four cylinder engine
can't say I'm totally sold on it, but if you're coming
from another luxury brand, you're not gonna bat an eye
because this is just a norm throughout the whole class.
But if you are a previous RX owner
you're gonna miss your V6, the base four cylinder though.
Isn't the only new engine for 2023.
The sport performance hybrid has 366 horsepower
which is up about 90 horsepower compared
with the regular gas engine.
And it is a performance hybrid.
So this is specifically geared toward performance.
Look at this more
as the six cylinder counterpart that doesn't exist.
This is the up level engine option
except it's done with the base four cylinder
but with an 80 kilowatt rear motor
which is interestingly also the power spec
on the Toyota BZ four X electric cars motor.
All right, it's got more power.
Is it a throw you back in your seat?
Holy smokes kind of ride?
No, not really.
What was interesting though, is the stability
and traction control light was flashing at me.
So somewhere from some end, either the front or the back
there was a wheel slippage, which I thought was interesting.
Zero to 60 is much faster claimed than the base model.
I'd say that it's not really a thrill ride
at least a zero to 40 or zero to 50.
But where I think the just right option is
the 350 H hybrid.
Now the nomenclature is new, but this is the hybrid RX.
It was previously the 40 H, the 450 H
will now be a plugin, but we don't have any details on it.
It's not going on sale along with the other cars.
So not a lot to say about that car yet.
The hybrid though, really impressive.
I think this is the one to go after
because it has 12 more combined miles
per gallon than the base engine.
The hybrid power fills
in the gaps that the turbo engine has.
And overall, it's a really good experience.
The acceleration is responsive.
Lexus says it's only two tenths of a second
slower than an all-wheel drive four cylinder.
So you're not losing performance.
You're getting a whole lot more miles per gallon.
It has an ECVT transmission, they've really tuned up well
Toyota and Lexus.
They know hybrids and that's
what's done especially well in the new RX.
That's the one to get the biggest question
of the day to answer though, is
has the ride quality gone to hell?
No, it hasn't.
This is still a comfortable riding RX.
Those great qualities of soft suspension tuning are here
but they're paired with a tightness
and composure that the old SUV didn't have,
Lexus like I said, with the engine
they brought out the old generation, we got to drive it.
And it was really enlightening as far
as how far they've come with this new chassis.
It has the soft suspension tuning
but not the sloppiness of the old car.
Yes, the old car was soft
but there was a lot of movement in the wheels.
It felt like there was a lot of suspension deflection.
It just felt a little sloppy.
That's not the case at all.
If the old RX drove like a minivan, which it kind
of did this new one drives like a luxury sedan.
And I am a big fan of how it drives.
There's less road noise.
There's less wind noise overall.
It's really well done.
Value has always been the RXs strong point
but it's honestly something we can pinpoint right now
without pricing.
What is here though?
Won't completely abandon RX loyalists
and there's something for new buyers too.
Lexus is aiming more upscale vehicles.
So think BMW X5 or Volvo XC 90.
And I don't think that's a stretch here
but you might see increased pricing
because $47,000 starting price
of the 2022 might be tough to hit
with the new componentry under the hood.
And some of the trick stuff does, but we'll see.
They could surprise me.
Some of the things that a new buyer may find interesting
about the RX is it's styling.
You know, we don't talk a lot
about styling because you can look at a picture
and determine for yourself if you like it or not.
But this really is a striking looking vehicle.
And the new color palette is just fun and vibrant
especially this copper color.
I really think the sweet spot in how the RX drives is
with that 350H model the hybrid
with all wheel drive, not the performance one, and
while it would be great to do a cost analysis
on fuel savings and extra cost.
We just don't have that information right now
but we will have pricing closer
to when the RX goes on sale later in 2022.
So stay tuned to cars.com for more information.