So today I became one of the lucky few in the Boston area to test drive the first RX500h demo car that arrived last week. After a 30-min or so drive, I now understand the positioning of this product better and appreciate it a bit more.
>> First, Performance because it's FSP. It's unmistakable RX. What I mean is it drives exactly the way you expect a RX would drive: comfort and smoothness first, speed second. It may not be a fair judgement since the demo car was at a low SOC and full 366hp was only available for a few seconds at most during the drive. But the way it accelerates just doesn't say "I'm a performance SUV", but rather "the same RX just a bit faster". And with low SOC I couldn't feel the full benefit of the Direct4 AWD system. The car would still lean backwards heavily under acceleration. But I did feel it straightening the car when doing a 90-degree turn with heavy throttle.
I would say on average the RX450h+ would actually be the better performing one because it will almost always have enough SOC to get full output. The RX500h only has 1.3kWh battery and it really needs 2kWh+ for more consistent performance.
>> Second, NVH. This is a side-grade of RX450h and that's a compliment. The old RX450h was actually one of the smoothest and quietest Lexus made in the past decade. In Japan it's stealing sales from the LS and preferred by many executives. Sound insulation and overall ride quality are top grade. And now I understand why the T24 is tuned as is: it's meant to be paired with a hybrid system that does torque fill and load balancing to smooth out all the vibrations and harshness. This is the best parallel hybrid system I've ever driven. Far far more sophisticated than the glorified start-stop systems found on German cars. Like a classic THS, you barely feel the ICE starting even under heavy acceleration. And with torque fill the powertrain does not feel jerky at all, completely different from the NX/RX350 with the same engine.
>> Exterior. This is definitely a car that looks better in real life. In Caviar the hump doesn't stand out. The front overhang also doesn't bother me as much compared to looking at pictures. The new Copper color is so popular that the entire allocation for the next 6 months on this color (including with other powertrains) is sold out. The salesperson said it's the best color he's ever seen on a Lexus in a long time and the overall design of the RX is centered around this one color.
>> Interior. I originally disliked the RX interior design because it just doesn't look modern. But I think they reached a good balance between design, tech and usability. I've seen so many comments the touch-sensitive HUD buttons being hard to use. I actually got used to it in 10 minutes, and my guests who rode along all commented how "high-tech" the HUD feels. The other thing is the front cross traffic alert thing that bothered people because "it's too sensitive and annoying". No it's not! You are meant to keep a safe distance to the stop sign, not having the nose of the car going over the line. Then pull forward a bit and look at the traffic again before accelerating. If not, wait! The FCTA is designed to work with a good driver who always keeps a safe margin when trying to make a blind 90-degree turn. When it blinks it's not safe, when it's clear it's safe, as simple as that. People who complain about FCTA are the same ones who complain ACC keep too much safe distance: you are supposed to do that! People hate ADAS because they don't want to admit they are misbehaving drivers.
My biggest complaint is how useless the power-folding rear seats are. They took forever to fold up/down. So don't choose it! The trunk also feels way smaller than what I expected from a SUV of this size.
>> Price and positioning. From what I was told, all 2023 RX500h FSP are single spec: fully loaded at $72k MSRP. There is no base model being produced at all and custom orders are no longer available from 2023 onwards. So Lexus really puts this product in a highly competitive territory with very good alternatives from other brands. But they are apparently confident enough and the 500h is sold out in the entire Northeast USA area for at least 4 months.
According to the salesperson, the RX500h FSP is actually not a main upgrade target for existing RX owners. But rather, they are mostly people who wanted an IS500 FSP or RC-F but ultimately want a more practical car because life is complicated. F car buyers are not a very small minority as it's commonly believed and a considerable amount of Lexus buyers absolutely care about performance. The problem is not current F cars don't have the horsepower, but the practicality. People who left Lexus to Benz wasn't bothered by the fact RC-F has 30hp less than the C63, but because Benz has GLC63. In other words, many Lexus buyers really want a F-badged SUV for a long time. The RX500h FSP is exactly that.
>> Final thoughts. Do I like the RX500h FSP? Kind of. I understand why it's designed and engineered the way it is. The data-driven approach by Lexus is likely to succeed and there's no doubt it will outsell the entire F-lineup in the past two decades combined. But for that price it's absolutely not worth it. But I'm sure Lexus will adapt to market conditions and start making more affordably optioned SKUs next year.
>> Other things. I inquired about the GX550 (what I would actually buy if I decided to spend $60-70k on a Lexus SUV) but the dealer has not heard anything about it this year. So likely it will arrive at the end of 2023 but go on sale in 2024. We all know the dealership revolt story that forced Lexus to develop a full-size 3-row, but the lesser known back story is they also fought for the survival of the GX. To many dealers it has become a core part of their lineup that they will lose guaranteed customer base if GX was cancelled. It serves as the "safe option" for a large group of customers who do not research heavily into cars and get overwhelmed by all the features they never need.
And finally, I saw just how excited they are with the TX. The salesperson just couldn't stop talking about how big and luxurious it will be ("bigger than the Sequoia and more luxurious than the LX", that feels like a very strong statement). The story of how hard they fought for that product to be made and how the RX-L was an utter flop. It's almost like he was pushing everyone to put a deposit on a TX ASAP. And no wonder they are so excited because a lot of people must have already done that.
>> First, Performance because it's FSP. It's unmistakable RX. What I mean is it drives exactly the way you expect a RX would drive: comfort and smoothness first, speed second. It may not be a fair judgement since the demo car was at a low SOC and full 366hp was only available for a few seconds at most during the drive. But the way it accelerates just doesn't say "I'm a performance SUV", but rather "the same RX just a bit faster". And with low SOC I couldn't feel the full benefit of the Direct4 AWD system. The car would still lean backwards heavily under acceleration. But I did feel it straightening the car when doing a 90-degree turn with heavy throttle.
I would say on average the RX450h+ would actually be the better performing one because it will almost always have enough SOC to get full output. The RX500h only has 1.3kWh battery and it really needs 2kWh+ for more consistent performance.
>> Second, NVH. This is a side-grade of RX450h and that's a compliment. The old RX450h was actually one of the smoothest and quietest Lexus made in the past decade. In Japan it's stealing sales from the LS and preferred by many executives. Sound insulation and overall ride quality are top grade. And now I understand why the T24 is tuned as is: it's meant to be paired with a hybrid system that does torque fill and load balancing to smooth out all the vibrations and harshness. This is the best parallel hybrid system I've ever driven. Far far more sophisticated than the glorified start-stop systems found on German cars. Like a classic THS, you barely feel the ICE starting even under heavy acceleration. And with torque fill the powertrain does not feel jerky at all, completely different from the NX/RX350 with the same engine.
>> Exterior. This is definitely a car that looks better in real life. In Caviar the hump doesn't stand out. The front overhang also doesn't bother me as much compared to looking at pictures. The new Copper color is so popular that the entire allocation for the next 6 months on this color (including with other powertrains) is sold out. The salesperson said it's the best color he's ever seen on a Lexus in a long time and the overall design of the RX is centered around this one color.
>> Interior. I originally disliked the RX interior design because it just doesn't look modern. But I think they reached a good balance between design, tech and usability. I've seen so many comments the touch-sensitive HUD buttons being hard to use. I actually got used to it in 10 minutes, and my guests who rode along all commented how "high-tech" the HUD feels. The other thing is the front cross traffic alert thing that bothered people because "it's too sensitive and annoying". No it's not! You are meant to keep a safe distance to the stop sign, not having the nose of the car going over the line. Then pull forward a bit and look at the traffic again before accelerating. If not, wait! The FCTA is designed to work with a good driver who always keeps a safe margin when trying to make a blind 90-degree turn. When it blinks it's not safe, when it's clear it's safe, as simple as that. People who complain about FCTA are the same ones who complain ACC keep too much safe distance: you are supposed to do that! People hate ADAS because they don't want to admit they are misbehaving drivers.
My biggest complaint is how useless the power-folding rear seats are. They took forever to fold up/down. So don't choose it! The trunk also feels way smaller than what I expected from a SUV of this size.
>> Price and positioning. From what I was told, all 2023 RX500h FSP are single spec: fully loaded at $72k MSRP. There is no base model being produced at all and custom orders are no longer available from 2023 onwards. So Lexus really puts this product in a highly competitive territory with very good alternatives from other brands. But they are apparently confident enough and the 500h is sold out in the entire Northeast USA area for at least 4 months.
According to the salesperson, the RX500h FSP is actually not a main upgrade target for existing RX owners. But rather, they are mostly people who wanted an IS500 FSP or RC-F but ultimately want a more practical car because life is complicated. F car buyers are not a very small minority as it's commonly believed and a considerable amount of Lexus buyers absolutely care about performance. The problem is not current F cars don't have the horsepower, but the practicality. People who left Lexus to Benz wasn't bothered by the fact RC-F has 30hp less than the C63, but because Benz has GLC63. In other words, many Lexus buyers really want a F-badged SUV for a long time. The RX500h FSP is exactly that.
>> Final thoughts. Do I like the RX500h FSP? Kind of. I understand why it's designed and engineered the way it is. The data-driven approach by Lexus is likely to succeed and there's no doubt it will outsell the entire F-lineup in the past two decades combined. But for that price it's absolutely not worth it. But I'm sure Lexus will adapt to market conditions and start making more affordably optioned SKUs next year.
>> Other things. I inquired about the GX550 (what I would actually buy if I decided to spend $60-70k on a Lexus SUV) but the dealer has not heard anything about it this year. So likely it will arrive at the end of 2023 but go on sale in 2024. We all know the dealership revolt story that forced Lexus to develop a full-size 3-row, but the lesser known back story is they also fought for the survival of the GX. To many dealers it has become a core part of their lineup that they will lose guaranteed customer base if GX was cancelled. It serves as the "safe option" for a large group of customers who do not research heavily into cars and get overwhelmed by all the features they never need.
And finally, I saw just how excited they are with the TX. The salesperson just couldn't stop talking about how big and luxurious it will be ("bigger than the Sequoia and more luxurious than the LX", that feels like a very strong statement). The story of how hard they fought for that product to be made and how the RX-L was an utter flop. It's almost like he was pushing everyone to put a deposit on a TX ASAP. And no wonder they are so excited because a lot of people must have already done that.
