New look transforms Lexus RX
With its newest incarnation, the Lexus RX has made the transformation from oddly-proportioned luxury SUV to a sporty, sleek and sexy-looking large crossover. And does it work well, says Damien O’carroll.
The new, angular Lexus family look is a massive improvement over the old droopy model, and it now looks sharp, angular and brilliantly aggressive. It is also an extremely cohesive design, and easily the best expression so far of Lexus’s latest design language. In fact, the only real criticism we would have of the exterior design of the RX 350 we drove would be that it looks a little too similar to the smaller NX. Which is a great looking car as well. Inside things are also quite similar to the NX, with a high quality and beautifully made interior with an instantly familiar layout and fantastic seats with super-excellent cooling function. Unfortunately, like the NX, the RX 350 also wears an extremely conservative interior design, completely at odds with the bold exterior treatment, and lagging behind the likes of the IS’S fantastic interior treatment. It is easily the least exciting and adventurous Lexus interior of the modern line up, and the silly little joystick controller is still annoying and unintuitive. Still, at least it is beautifully made and extremely comfortable. Just boring. Under the bonnet lies a silky smooth 221kw 3.5-litre V6 engine that is beautifully matched to the slick eightspeed automatic transmission. As well as being powerful and responsive, it is also remarkably refined and surprisingly frugal for a big six. It does, however, have absolutely no character to it whatsoever. Heavy acceleration produces a dull, distant roar that elicits literally nothing in the way of a pleasure response in the driver. Out on the open road, the RX 350 is superbly comfortable and refined, with a ride that perfectly compliments that smooth and refined engine. The body is well-controlled and the slick chassis set up has it floating effortlessly through corners at sensible speeds. Push things a bit further, though, and you will discover that the RX is not at all a corner carver, but then it’s really not that kind of vehicle. It’s overly-light and distant steering should have been your first clue to that, however. Superbly built and remarkably comfortable, the RX 350 does luxury very well indeed. While it lacks the ultimate punch of others in the segment, it doesn’t really need it, as it does the whole “relaxed cruising” thing so well. The interior, while beautifully well made, is disappointing though, as it utterly lacks anything like the bare aggression of the exterior. Still, the fantastic air of luxury and comfort it projects is so damn cosseting that silly things like a boring-looking interior and dull steering simply melt off into the distance, just like all your other worries, when you cruise for a while in the RX 350 with the ventilated seats cooling your backside and the thunderous stereo assaulting your ears.