FIRST REPORT
LEXUS RX
How will PHEV tech affect this brew of comfort, luxury and practicality?
WHY WE’RE RUNNING IT To find out if the original hybrid luxury SUV is still the best
T
his car has a bit of an identity crisis.
Ever since Toyota’s luxury brand launched its Radiant Crossover (yes, really) in 1998, the Lexus RX range has stood for one thing above all else: luxury. Yes, they went uncommonly well, and yes, they could probably get you home if the Glyndebourne car park got particularly muddy, but the main draw of these limousines on stilts was always comfort and opulence, rather than driver appeal or off-road ability.
That was only enhanced from 2005, when the RX became the first hybrid large SUV, offering the silence of electric motivation running hand in hand with its free-spinning petrol V6.
When specified, as here, with the new F Sport Design trim, however, this new fifth-generation RX has real attitude, its aggressive addenda and 21in rims suggesting something a bit racier than the Lexus norm.
Drive it only a little way, though, and it’s reassuring to learn that the key strengths of the old RX are alive and well. Unlike the 500h version that we put through the road test treatment in 2023, which features a six-speed automatic gearbox and torque-vectoring gubbins to try to give the RX a sportier drive, this 450h+ sticks with the e-CVT of old. Now, I’m no fan of CVTs in general, but here it works very well, largely thanks to the large battery pack and powerful electric motor, which masks any torque gaps.