Scan the model lineups of every premium automotive brand available today and it would be hard to fathom that as recently as 1997, the luxury crossover utility vehicle didn’t exist. That was the year that Toyota’s premium Lexus brand launched the original RX300 into what marketers like to call a white-space segment and spawned a revolution. The RX is now into the waning years of its third-generation but it remains a segment leader and I recently spent a week driving one.
One look at RX sales figures explains why every manufacturer has jumped so aggressively on the crossover bandwagon. Even as it enters what is likely the final year of its current lifecycle, the RX remains Lexus’ top-selling selling nameplate, accounting for about one-third the brand’s volume in 2014. Until relatively recently when it was surpassed by the CT200h and ES350h, it was also the top-selling Lexus hybrid by a wide margin.
To date, every RX offered has been powered by a transverse mounted V6 engine and in 2005, it became the first Lexus available with Toyota’s power-split hybrid powertrain. Like the gas-only RX350, the hybridized RX450h is available in either front or all-wheel-drive (AWD) variants. Like the Prius and other Toyota/Lexus hybrids, the transmission includes a pair of motor/generators to provide electric drive, regenerative braking and electronic continuously variable transmission capability.
However, the AWD RX450h dispenses with the usual driveshaft sending torque to the rear wheels, instead relying on a third electric motor/generator to provide on-demand all-wheel traction and collect kinetic energy during braking. The result is seamless traction to the wheels with the most grip under all conditions and significantly less drivetrain drag than traditional AWD systems.
As with all Toyota/Lexus hybrids, the 3.5-liter V6 has modified valve timing so that it runs on an Atkinson combustion cycle. The Atkinson cycle boosts efficiency at the expense of the low-end torque that helps get a vehicle off the line. Thankfully, the electric motors generate lots of instant torque from zero rpm, filling in the gap. The result is that the RX450h isn’t much of a drag racer, but it accelerates smartly in all normal driving, even when the ECO button on the center console is pressed.
Like the Prius, the RX also has an EV-mode button that at least nominally enables the crossover to run on battery-power alone. However, the reality is that the 4,652-pound RX really can’t function in this manner to any useful degree. Anything but the slightest acceleration will start the engine and as soon as the speed gets above about 25 mph, EV-mode is disabled.
The instrument cluster glows blue to indicate when you are driving efficiently
Even without a practical electric-only mode, the RX is a surprisingly efficient vehicle given its size and heft. During my week of mixed urban and highway driving, the RX averaged 24 mpg. That’s well shy of the 29 mpg combined rating on the EPA label, but that’s to be expected at the near-freezing temperatures when I drove the RX. It’s also significantly better than the smaller Lincoln MKC, I drove recently which barely managed about 18.5 mpg.
Visually, the RX hasn’t changed much since the current-generation debuted in 2008 aside from the front fascia which adopted the now-standard Lexus spindle grille two years ago. The RX was designed at a time when style wasn’t really top of mind for Lexus designers and thus isn’t the most visually striking luxury crossover on the road, but neither is it particularly offensive. Given the directly of other recent Lexus launches, we can probably expect the next RX to be a big step forward design wise.
Bamboo trim gives the Lexus RX a warm feeling
Inside, the RX is well appointed with plenty of leather, wood and the expected Lexus high-quality fit and finish. The tester I drove featured lovely matte-finish bamboo on the armrests, center console and steering wheel. The RX still features the first-generation of Lexus Remote Touch Interface (RTI) multi-function control device.
The RTI is an odd sort of hybrid, mouse/joystick device for navigating around the interface on the central screen. When powered off, the stick just sort of flops around. However, as soon as you delve into any of the screens, as you move the joystick, it snaps to clickable buttons on the display so you don’t have to pay so much attention to it while driving. It’s a little odd at first, but you adapt quickly and it gives the interface designers more layout flexibility than some of the control knob-based systems.
Lexus Enform is easy to use but more limited in capability than Ford SYNC AppLink
The RX uses the Lexus Enform-branded version of Toyota’s Entune smartphone control system. Rather than allowing drivers to use any compatible app the way Ford SYNC AppLink does, Enform uses a custom Lexus app that must be added to your phone. The app integrates other apps such as Pandora, Bing search, Open Table, Yelp and MovieTickets.com.
The voice control is not as reliable as Google voice search, but searching for a point of interest in Bing is much more robust than the embedded navigation system. When you find a location in Bing, it can then be sent directly to the navigation. On the other hand, for some reason Pandora voice control is limited to creating new stations. To play an existing station you have to pick it from the list using the RTI joystick.
The tester I drove was fully equipped with driver assist features like lane departure warning and radar-based adaptive cruise control with collision alert. All of that boosted the bottom line up to $60,689 from a base of $48,845 for the RX450h. If you’re looking for a fuel efficient, luxury crossover, its definitely worthy of consideration even late in its lifecycle. However, compared to a decade ago when the hybrid RX debuted, there are now plenty of other worthy competitors to consider as well including both diesel and hybrid powertrains in models like the Audi Q5 and Q7, BMW X3 and X5, Mercedes GLK, Infiniti QX60, Range Rover Evoque and more. Lexus will certainly have its work cut out for it when it launches the fourth-generation RX.
Click here for the full specs of the 2015 Lexus RX
