AU: Lexus RX challenges Audi Q5, BMW X3, X5 and Mercedes GLC

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Nice article (the Australian) from down under...this one on the RX 200t


Lexus RX challenges Audi Q5, BMW X3, X5 and Mercedes GLC
  • BILL MCKINNON
  • THE AUSTRALIAN
  • FEBRUARY 6, 2016 12:00AM
The 2016 Lexus RX
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Lexus SUV sales soared 97.3 per cent last year, the highest growth of any brand in the sector.



This was entirely due to the arrival of the NX, which prospered against Audi’s Q3, BMW’s X1 and Mercedes’s GLA, gave Lexus its best overall sales year in Australia since 2007 and ignited a 70.6 per cent boom at the premium end of the small SUV class.

Moving up a size, the fourth-generation Lexus RX is now on sale and not a moment too soon, with the sheen long since gone from the previous model and sales in double-digit decline for the past two years.

The Europeans, meanwhile, have had a field day. BMW’s all-conquering X5 still leads the pack, which saw hectic new-model action throughout 2015, including Mercedes’s attempted resuscitation of its M Class as the GLE, plus new Audi Q7 and Volvo XC90 seven-seaters. Porsche Cayenne, VW Touareg and Range Rover Sport also do respectable numbers in this extremely competitive class.

Longer, wider and lower overall than its predecessor, the 2016 RX is still a much smaller wagon than its ostensible (according to industry statistician VFACTS) Q7/X5/GLE rivals. Its wheelbase is shorter than the Audi Q5, BMW X3 and Mercedes GLC mid-sizers, all of which are five seaters, like the Lexus, with comparably-sized cargo bays.

So if you’re shopping SUVs these are the RX’s closest competitors, along with the Land Rover Discovery Sport.

Lexus’s greatest strength — and, some would argue, its greatest weakness — is the fact that it’s the sole non-European brand in the luxury SUV contest. OK, there’s Infiniti, but for now it hardly troubles the scorers.

One look at the 2016 RX tells you it’s not European. Euro SUV sheet metal is bland and predictable. The RX is a refreshing, out-there blend of 21st-century Tokyo techno and west coast US custom cool, with a dash of Hot Wheels whizzed in for effect.

Lexus’s in-your-face trapezoidal spindle grille, a scarified, coupe-style profile accentuated by 20-inch alloys and a streamlined rear section create a forceful impression of speed, dynamism and power.

None of which the RX possesses in abundance, but hey, it sure looks like it means business.

Today we’re in the base model RX200t, priced at $73,000. It runs the same 2.0-litre turbo-petrol engine as NX, a much more credible powerplant than the 2.7-litre naturally-aspirated dunger it replaces. Base 2.0-litre turbo-petrol fours are also offered in Q5, X3 and GLC.

In the RX it’s matched with a six-speed automatic and front-wheel drive. Euro rivals are rear or all-wheel drive and have seven or eight-speed autos.

The RX350, with a carry-over 221kW 3.5-litre V6 petrol/eight-speed auto and all-wheel drive, costs $80,000 in Luxury specification, $92,000 for F Sport and $98,000 for Sports Luxury.

The RX450h petrol/electric hybrid, with a combined 230kW system output from its 3.5-litre V6/twin electric motor/Ni-MH battery/CVT all-wheel drive-train, costs an extra $8000 over its RX350 counterparts in the same three model grades.

Lexus does beige better than any other brand. Our test car, swathed in various tones and textures of this remarkably soothing hue, with lashings of chocolate brown for relief, makes me feel about 20 years older and a lot richer than I am when I climb in. Perhaps it’s the serenity, which Lexus also does exceptionally well.

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The cabin is relaxing and meditative, especially during long runs.

A quick run down the Hume Highway from Sydney to Melbourne and back reinforces these impressions. If I have to be bored out of my brain for 10 hours straight, I can’t think of a more relaxing, meditative place to suffer than within the stately pleasure dome that is the RX.

There’s no disputing Lexus’s quality. It’s evident in every aspect of its cars and SUVs, from the deep, lustrous paint that puts BMW’s orange-peel rubbish to shame, to the total absence of sizzles, squeaks, chirps and rattles in the cabin — in contrast to some infuriatingly loose and noisy Mercedes interiors — and a reliability level Audi can only dream of.

An inevitable front runner in industry benchmark owner surveys, such as JD Powers in the US, which measure initial quality, long-term reliability and owner satisfaction, Lexus is also ranked the most reliable automotive brand in the US by Consumer Reports.

Even at base model level, the RX is loaded. It includes 10-way power-adjustable, big-bloke-sized armchairs up front, heated, cooled and with supple leather facings.

Rear-seat passengers sit quite low and the 60/40 split seat can be adjusted for legroom, of which there’s plenty.

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The tapered roof reduces cargo volume.

The tapered roof kills cargo bay volume and you can carry more in most rivals. The power tailgate can require a few jabs at the remote before you get action, and you can check your emails while waiting for it to open or close.

You’re protected by a full-house safety hand, with 10 airbags, a rear camera and audible proximity warning, automatic emergency braking, radar cruise, blind spot and rear cross-traffic alerts, lane keeping and vehicle sway warning.

Standard equipment also runs to digital radio, navigation, a wireless phone charger in the centre console box, power tailgate, LED headlights and an eight-inch infotainment screen. The latter is a huge problem — not the screen itself, which is big and bright, but the complex, clumsy and potentially dangerous interface Lexus employs to move the cursor around and select functions.

A mouse-style pad on the centre console requires the dexterity of a neurosurgeon to operate. It’s so fiddly you have to look closely at the screen for extended periods just to place the cursor in the correct position. Which never happens the first time, because the mousepad is so sensitive. So you try again.

While doing this, of course, you’re not actually in control of the car. Instead, you’re creating havoc and potential carnage among your fellow motorists.

The 2.0-litre gets interested when you put the boot in, but this is a heavy (1890kg) front-wheel-drive wagon and there’s a touch of turbo lag, so it takes a while to get going and acceleration isn’t particularly brisk.

Engine vibration under power, especially in the initial stages of acceleration in the lower gears, is excessive. The force-fed 2.0-litre isn’t frugal, either. On the Hume our test car averaged 8-9 litres per 100km; this improved to around 7.0 litres per 100km in Eco mode, which dulls performance even further. Around town, automatic stop-start contributes to an acceptable 12-14 litres per 100km return.

A softly-sprung, heavy front-wheel-drive wagon is never going to handle like a champion. The RX is safe and predictable but ponderous in tighter corners, with lots of body roll and twitchiness on rough roads at speed. Electric steering is lifeless and imprecise, while the brakes are powerful, if rather touchy.

Ride comfort, fine in town, deteriorates as speeds rise and the bitumen crumbles.

Thankfully I don’t have to drive the Hume very often, so I’m not sold on the Lexus RX200t. It would certainly be an easy, set and forget, grief-free SUV to own.

Compared with its Audi, BMW and Mercedes rivals, though, it’s expensive, much less enjoyable and capable as a drive and, well, just way too beige, despite strong assertions to the contrary on the box.

LEXUS RX200t: Mid-size luxury SUV | Engine: 2.0-litre turbopetrol four-cylinder | Outputs: 175kW of power from 4800-5600rpm and 350Nm of torque from 1650-4000rpm | Transmission: Six-speed automatic and front-wheel drive | Average fuel economy: 8.1l itres per 100km combined | Price: $73,000 | Rating: 3 out fo 5 | Verdict: Looks mean, drives timid