Lexus creates vehicles with the driver as the central focus, they call it the Tazuna Concept named after the Japanese word for ‘rein’. Lexus draws inspiration from the harmonious connection between a horse and rider, where a single touch of the reins communicates the horse’s next action, and allows the driver to connect more intuitively with the vehicle.
It’s clearly evident in this all-new RX 350h, the entry point of the fifth-generation family-sized Lexus SUV. From the iconic Lexus spindle grille, the design lines flow outward to jewel-like headlights integrated. At the rear, the Lexus badging and LED blade taillamp complete the commanding and contemporary presence of the RX.
This is the RX 350h Sports Luxury AWD + Enhancement Pack 2 finished in Graphite Black and it’s powered by an intelligent 2.5-litre naturally aspirated hybrid engine that makes 184kW of power. The engine is the result of the cumulative refinement and innovation of the Lexus hybrid systems and delivers a very pleasant driving experience. The official combined fuel consumption is 5.4L/100km and for my week I used 6.8L/100km spending my time in the Normal drive mode.
The other three drive modes available are Sport, Eco, and Custom, which allows the driver to select their preferred settings for the powertrain, chassis and air-conditioning. Although the 14-inch touchscreen multimedia display is mounted high and within easy reach of the driver, I found it annoying that the only way I could change the drive mode was from the screen and I would prefer a quick access button somewhere on the centre console instead.
Available on RX 350 AWD Sports Luxury, RX 350 AWD F Sport, RX 350h Sports Luxury and RX 500h F Sport Performance is the Adaptive Variable Suspension, which provides excellent ride comfort and smoothness while maintaining responsive and direct handling. But going directly from the NX 350h to the RX equivalent I felt a little more harshness in the ride, which was most likely due to the larger 21” wheels on the RX compared to the 20” wheels on the NX.
The Sports Luxury includes all the Luxury grade features plus a selection of intelligent technologies and unique ornamentation that you will want to have. Keyless entry is available in all four doors and thanks to keyless start the key fob can remain in your handbag at all times. One thing I did note about the doors was they are quite heavy and really need soft close as I found I had to repeatedly open and close them to ensure they shut. My family are also not fans of the push button door handles fitted to the current generation of Lexus vehicles.
This particular two-tone interior option is called Dark Sepia/Sumi Black with the Semi-Aniline leather accented seat trim and woodgrain look ornamentation. There are also 14 pre-set tones for ambient lighting that have been carefully chosen to evoke a range of emotional atmospheres depending on the preferences of the occupants. For the interior the Enhancement Pack 2 adds the panoramic roof with slide, which really opens up the cabin feel.
Both front seats have power adjustment for recline, forward/back, seat height/tilt front and rear, front leg extension and four-way lumbar support. Plus, three memory positions with the buttons for these are located conveniently on the door arm rest for easy access. The driver can also adjust the passenger seat for recline move it forward and back from a button on the right-hand side of the passenger seat, which I find handy when my elderly mother is in the car.
The front seats are also heated and cooled; the heating works very well and the cooling is adequate, and on the plus side quiet while operating. The driver also has a heated steering wheel with powered steering column adjustment and this is saved in the seat memory along with the side mirror positions.
You can tell that Lexus have put a lot of thought into the design of the cabin as well, with features like the arm rest that flips up from either side and is sized to fit a small handbag in it. The two cup holders have grippy sides and removable base for easy cleaning and you can also push one of them down to fit taller drinks. I also really like the centre console finish as there is no gloss black plastic in sight, unfortunately there’s still some gloss black around the infotainment screen and the driver’s dash that quickly attracts dust. I would also prefer to have a physical button for the air speed controls in addition to the physical buttons for dual-zone air temperature controls.
Under the sliding cubby door at the front of the centre console there’s a wireless phone charger with one USB-C port and one USB-A port located here. Above this is another cubby that also fits your phone with two USB-C ports located here. The Sports Luxury option adds the excellent 21-Speaker Mark Levinson Audio System with your media sources including AM/FM radio, DAB, Bluetooth, Android, USB, and Miracast.
My phone easily connected wirelessly via Android Auto and had no drop outs with the connection for the week. My only issue with the infotainment system was that it is slow to start up and if you start the vehicle up without your phone in it, for example to warm it up the cabin in the morning, when you do get in with your phone in your handbag it causes an Android error. To avoid this your phone must be in the vehicle when you start it and then the Android connects.
For me there was plenty of leg room in the rear seats me and good under thigh support, but the headroom was only adequate and taller individuals would find it tight. The rear seats have powered recline adjustment and can be completely folded down and raised from a button on the infotainment screen as well. The outboard seats are heated and cooled and rear passengers get digital temperature control that can also be adjusted from the front of the vehicle, with two central air vents with individual direction control and one central on/off roller switch. Adjacent to the climate controls are two USB-C ports.
For younger passengers there are two ISOFix/three rear tether child seat restraint points and if not in use the centre seat folds down as an arm rest with two cup holders and a storage cubby in it. There are good sized drink bottle storage cubbies in the rear doors and manual blinds on the rear windows. I like that the RX has a single carpet mat across the rear floor that would make cleaning easier and reduces wear on the carpet.
The Sports Luxury RX350h variant comes with a power tailgate with a kick sensor for hands-free opening of the boot or it can be opened/closed from tailgate, key fob or button in the cabin. The boot space is a perfect size for a four-person family and would fit the pram and a weekly shop. There are four substantial tie down points, two hooks, two lights and one 12V socket in the boot and a temporary use spare tyre located under the boot floor. The centre seat can be folded down separately for longer items or the rear seats have a 40:60 split fold and can raised and lowered from buttons in the boot, however the operation of this is slow and the seats do not lay completely flat.
The current Lexus RX range has a 5-star (2022) ANCAP safety rating with an Adult Occupant Protection score of 90% and a Child Occupant Protection score of 89%. Dual frontal, side chest-protecting and side head-protecting (curtain) airbags, as well as a driver knee airbag, are standard. A centre airbag which provides added protection to front seat occupants in side impact crashes is also standard.
The Lexus RX is fitted with an autonomous emergency braking (AEB) system capable of functioning at highway speeds, a lane support system (LSS) with lane keep assist and emergency lane keeping functionality, and blind spot monitoring. ANCAP tests of the AEB (Car-to-Car) system showed GOOD performance with collisions avoided or mitigated in all test scenarios, including AEB Junction Assist where the test vehicle can autonomously brake to avoid crashes when turning across the path of an oncoming vehicle. ANCAP tests of LSS functionality showed GOOD performance, including in several of the more critical emergency lane keeping test scenarios with the overall safety Assist score being 93%.
The Sports Luxury grade adds the panoramic view reversing camera with cleaning, cornering headlamps, adaptive high beam and the driver’s head up display. With the Enhancement Pack 2 adding a digital rear view mirror and intelligent parking assist to the list of safety inclusions. Other convenient features include auto lights and auto wipers and front and rear parking sensors. Annoyingly my RX did have a faulty or overly sensitive tyre pressure monitoring system that told me all week that the tyre pressures were low despite being at the recommended kPa.
All new Lexus vehicles now come with a 5 Year/Unlimited Kilometre warranty and you also have access to the Lexus Encore program for three years when you purchase a RX Lexus. The service interval for the RX 350h is every 12 months or 15,000km, whichever occurs first, and under Lexus Capped Price Servicing the first five services will cost $695 each.
With the driver intuitively connected with the vehicle they have the freedom to make things happen without restriction making the driving experience a more relaxing one in the Lexus RX 350h. On top of that there’s ample room for four adults with plenty of tech and comfort on offer for all. The Lexus RX 350h Sports Luxury AWD is priced from $113,600 plus on-road costs and as tested with the optional Enhancement Pack 2 ($3,900) the vehicle I tested was $117,500 plus on-roads. You can Build and Price your Lexus RX online or visit your preferred Lexus dealer for more information.
| Pros | Cons |
| The pleasant powertrain | Slow start up of infotainment system |
| Sports Luxury grade adds all the extras you will want to have | Drive mode selection made via the touchscreen |
| The thoughtful cabin design | Faulty tyre pressure monitor |
Photographs by Driven Women Magazine.