Driving the All-New 2016 Lexus RX

[rayaans]

Thanks for your comprehensive review, you are going far deeper these 5 minutes test drive usually found on many web sites…

One question still puzzles me about this new 450h. I own a Gen 3 RX 450h for a few months now and if I am perfectly happy with the high level of comfort and luxury equipment, I am still a bit frustrating by the driving experience. Before this car, I used to drive 6 cylinders, 3 liters turbo diesel engine (BMW 530d and lastly Audi A4 Allroad 3.0 TDI). Those engines are full of torque at very low engine speed, on the Audi, the STronic was shifting to the upper gear as low as 1500rpm, and the acceleration/thrust was already impressive, with nearly no pressure on the accelerator. These cars can be driven on the torque of the engine, and I really like this behavior, giving the impression that the car is reacting with no effort.
On the 3RX, if you step gently on the accelerator, you get a gentle acceleration… As you increase the pressure on the accelerator, the engine rpm is almost directly linked to the accelerator course, with an immediate rise. And the acceleration is also linked to the rpm. So the only way to get a decent acceleration is to strongly push the accelerator, resulting in high engine speed. And even if the sound of the 6 cylinders is very nice, I still have the impression at this time that the engine strains. Of course, if you go full throttle, the thrust is almost immediate and the acceleration is really amazing for a 2.2 ton vehicle, but this is not my daily driving style… I feel this behavior appropriate in a sport car, but not in line with the spirit of the RX.
If you look at the overall power available in the electric motors, I would have think that the immediate torque provided by these motors should have been more noticeable, even for low accelerator solicitation. I already test drive pure electric cars and the immediate thrust is impressive, even with much less powerful engine than the RX. I drove recently CT200h and NX300h and I found them more demonstrative than my 3RX when driven quietly.

Has these aspect been improved on the RX4 450h, do you feel more torque at low rpm ? I read somewhere that Lexus said they increased the electric motors response, but I haven’t found a single word on it in any test drive report.

Sorry for my English, this is not my native language, I am writing from the other side of the Atlantic Ocean…

That my friend is what happens when you try and compare turbo diesels to naturally aspirated petrol engines. Turbo diesels have tonnes of low down torque and run out of puff towards the top end. The naturally aspirated petrol engines build power the higher you go in the Rev range and therefore, you have to give it some more revs.

 

[Peleakan]

Thanks for your comprehensive review, you are going far deeper these 5 minutes test drive usually found on many web sites…

One question still puzzles me about this new 450h. I own a Gen 3 RX 450h for a few months now and if I am perfectly happy with the high level of comfort and luxury equipment, I am still a bit frustrating by the driving experience. Before this car, I used to drive 6 cylinders, 3 liters turbo diesel engine (BMW 530d and lastly Audi A4 Allroad 3.0 TDI). Those engines are full of torque at very low engine speed, on the Audi, the STronic was shifting to the upper gear as low as 1500rpm, and the acceleration/thrust was already impressive, with nearly no pressure on the accelerator. These cars can be driven on the torque of the engine, and I really like this behavior, giving the impression that the car is reacting with no effort.
On the 3RX, if you step gently on the accelerator, you get a gentle acceleration… As you increase the pressure on the accelerator, the engine rpm is almost directly linked to the accelerator course, with an immediate rise. And the acceleration is also linked to the rpm. So the only way to get a decent acceleration is to strongly push the accelerator, resulting in high engine speed. And even if the sound of the 6 cylinders is very nice, I still have the impression at this time that the engine strains. Of course, if you go full throttle, the thrust is almost immediate and the acceleration is really amazing for a 2.2 ton vehicle, but this is not my daily driving style… I feel this behavior appropriate in a sport car, but not in line with the spirit of the RX.
If you look at the overall power available in the electric motors, I would have think that the immediate torque provided by these motors should have been more noticeable, even for low accelerator solicitation. I already test drive pure electric cars and the immediate thrust is impressive, even with much less powerful engine than the RX. I drove recently CT200h and NX300h and I found them more demonstrative than my 3RX when driven quietly.

Has these aspect been improved on the RX4 450h, do you feel more torque at low rpm ? I read somewhere that Lexus said they increased the electric motors response, but I haven’t found a single word on it in any test drive report.

Sorry for my English, this is not my native language, I am writing from the other side of the Atlantic Ocean…

That my friend is what happens when you try and compare turbo diesels to naturally aspirated petrol engines. Turbo diesels have tonnes of low down torque and run out of puff towards the top end. The naturally aspirated petrol engines build power the higher you go in the Rev range and therefore, you have to give it some more revs.

I am aware of this natural difference between turbo and naturally aspired engine. That's why for the last 25 years I drove only turbocharged cars (petrol and diesel). My point is that on an hybrid vehicule, electrical motor can support the lack of torque of the engine for low rev.
My impression is that for 3RX (and before?), the main point was to minimize fuel consumption and therefore also reduce the battery effort. The overall improvements on the hybrid system on the 2016 RX might have given some room to allow higher electrical assistance at low speed.
Is it the case, is the accelerator response different ?

 

[Enthusiast88]

Obviously they haven't improved the navigation system. Had to whip out the trusty ol' Garmin eh Kevin

 

[rayaans]

Obviously they haven't improved the navigation system. Had to whip out the trusty ol' Garmin eh Kevin

These cars didn't have navigation fitted for some reason

 

[rayaans]

Thanks for your comprehensive review, you are going far deeper these 5 minutes test drive usually found on many web sites…

One question still puzzles me about this new 450h. I own a Gen 3 RX 450h for a few months now and if I am perfectly happy with the high level of comfort and luxury equipment, I am still a bit frustrating by the driving experience. Before this car, I used to drive 6 cylinders, 3 liters turbo diesel engine (BMW 530d and lastly Audi A4 Allroad 3.0 TDI). Those engines are full of torque at very low engine speed, on the Audi, the STronic was shifting to the upper gear as low as 1500rpm, and the acceleration/thrust was already impressive, with nearly no pressure on the accelerator. These cars can be driven on the torque of the engine, and I really like this behavior, giving the impression that the car is reacting with no effort.
On the 3RX, if you step gently on the accelerator, you get a gentle acceleration… As you increase the pressure on the accelerator, the engine rpm is almost directly linked to the accelerator course, with an immediate rise. And the acceleration is also linked to the rpm. So the only way to get a decent acceleration is to strongly push the accelerator, resulting in high engine speed. And even if the sound of the 6 cylinders is very nice, I still have the impression at this time that the engine strains. Of course, if you go full throttle, the thrust is almost immediate and the acceleration is really amazing for a 2.2 ton vehicle, but this is not my daily driving style… I feel this behavior appropriate in a sport car, but not in line with the spirit of the RX.
If you look at the overall power available in the electric motors, I would have think that the immediate torque provided by these motors should have been more noticeable, even for low accelerator solicitation. I already test drive pure electric cars and the immediate thrust is impressive, even with much less powerful engine than the RX. I drove recently CT200h and NX300h and I found them more demonstrative than my 3RX when driven quietly.

Has these aspect been improved on the RX4 450h, do you feel more torque at low rpm ? I read somewhere that Lexus said they increased the electric motors response, but I haven’t found a single word on it in any test drive report.

Sorry for my English, this is not my native language, I am writing from the other side of the Atlantic Ocean…

That my friend is what happens when you try and compare turbo diesels to naturally aspirated petrol engines. Turbo diesels have tonnes of low down torque and run out of puff towards the top end. The naturally aspirated petrol engines build power the higher you go in the Rev range and therefore, you have to give it some more revs.

I am aware of this natural difference between turbo and naturally aspired engine. That's why for the last 25 years I drove only turbocharged cars (petrol and diesel). My point is that on an hybrid vehicule, electrical motor can support the lack of torque of the engine for low rev.
My impression is that for 3RX (and before?), the main point was to minimize fuel consumption and therefore also reduce the battery effort. The overall improvements on the hybrid system on the 2016 RX might have given some room to allow higher electrical assistance at low speed.
Is it the case, is the accelerator response different ?

It's nothing to do with electric assistance. The 450h doesn't have a conventional gearbox like those on normal cars. It uses an E-CVT so essentially it's like a scooter (just more complex) where the lower you put your foot down, the faster you go. It does not detect inclines or anything like that. Therefore, they have to design it so it doesn't go very quick in the first 2cm of travel as there's only 1 gear unlike other cars which have multiple gears and those choose the best one for the situation.

 

[Peleakan]

Thanks for your comprehensive review, you are going far deeper these 5 minutes test drive usually found on many web sites…

One question still puzzles me about this new 450h. I own a Gen 3 RX 450h for a few months now and if I am perfectly happy with the high level of comfort and luxury equipment, I am still a bit frustrating by the driving experience. Before this car, I used to drive 6 cylinders, 3 liters turbo diesel engine (BMW 530d and lastly Audi A4 Allroad 3.0 TDI). Those engines are full of torque at very low engine speed, on the Audi, the STronic was shifting to the upper gear as low as 1500rpm, and the acceleration/thrust was already impressive, with nearly no pressure on the accelerator. These cars can be driven on the torque of the engine, and I really like this behavior, giving the impression that the car is reacting with no effort.
On the 3RX, if you step gently on the accelerator, you get a gentle acceleration… As you increase the pressure on the accelerator, the engine rpm is almost directly linked to the accelerator course, with an immediate rise. And the acceleration is also linked to the rpm. So the only way to get a decent acceleration is to strongly push the accelerator, resulting in high engine speed. And even if the sound of the 6 cylinders is very nice, I still have the impression at this time that the engine strains. Of course, if you go full throttle, the thrust is almost immediate and the acceleration is really amazing for a 2.2 ton vehicle, but this is not my daily driving style… I feel this behavior appropriate in a sport car, but not in line with the spirit of the RX.
If you look at the overall power available in the electric motors, I would have think that the immediate torque provided by these motors should have been more noticeable, even for low accelerator solicitation. I already test drive pure electric cars and the immediate thrust is impressive, even with much less powerful engine than the RX. I drove recently CT200h and NX300h and I found them more demonstrative than my 3RX when driven quietly.

Has these aspect been improved on the RX4 450h, do you feel more torque at low rpm ? I read somewhere that Lexus said they increased the electric motors response, but I haven’t found a single word on it in any test drive report.

Sorry for my English, this is not my native language, I am writing from the other side of the Atlantic Ocean…

That my friend is what happens when you try and compare turbo diesels to naturally aspirated petrol engines. Turbo diesels have tonnes of low down torque and run out of puff towards the top end. The naturally aspirated petrol engines build power the higher you go in the Rev range and therefore, you have to give it some more revs.

I am aware of this natural difference between turbo and naturally aspired engine. That's why for the last 25 years I drove only turbocharged cars (petrol and diesel). My point is that on an hybrid vehicule, electrical motor can support the lack of torque of the engine for low rev.
My impression is that for 3RX (and before?), the main point was to minimize fuel consumption and therefore also reduce the battery effort. The overall improvements on the hybrid system on the 2016 RX might have given some room to allow higher electrical assistance at low speed.
Is it the case, is the accelerator response different ?

It's nothing to do with electric assistance. The 450h doesn't have a conventional gearbox like those on normal cars. It uses an E-CVT so essentially it's like a scooter (just more complex) where the lower you put your foot down, the faster you go. It does not detect inclines or anything like that. Therefore, they have to design it so it doesn't go very quick in the first 2cm of travel as there's only 1 gear unlike other cars which have multiple gears and those choose the best one for the situation.

RPM is one thing, torque is another. The E-CVT (badly named as it is not a CVT gearbox (like the Audi Multitronic for example) but an epicyclic gear train) is capable of providing an infinite number of reduction ratios between the engine and the wheels. It therefore optimizes the use of petrol engine as it allow to use it at the optimum RPM independently of the vehicle speed. That's why the engine is reaching almost immediately 2500/3000 RPM (where its torque is maximum) when you push frankly the accelerator, and this whatever the speed of the car. This is achieved by changing in real time the reduction ratio of the E-CVT.

Independently of the gearbox reduction, the torque of the motor will directly impact the acceleration of the car. On a Tesla Model S for example, which has no gearbox at all, you can select several motor response profiles which provides better acceleration but of course impacts more or less dramatically the autonomy of the battery. Basically, you provide more intensity to the motor, increasing the torque, but draining faster your battery, that's pretty obvious. You have on the 3RX 450h a feature close to this when you select ECO or Normal. But this seems to change only the response on the accelerator (you have to push less to get the same acceleration), it does not really modify the management of the different engine/motors.

Has the electric motor management strategy been modified on the new RX ? We can argue forever in front of our keyboard, the only one who has the answer on my question on this forum is Krew as he test drove the new RX.

 

[krew]

Krew, thanks for the post. Did you notice improvements in ride quality and NVH over the past gen?

There's always something I forgot to put in my review -- the RX is whisper-quiet. I don't want to pretend to be an expert on NVH, but it felt quieter than the previous generation. I would attribute that to the solid feel of the vehicle, even with these early pre-production prototypes.

 

[krew]

IMO, it's hard to improve on the NVH level of the last RX350, but the general ride comfort, over bumps, on the last version, was not quite as-smooth as the 60-series all-season tires would suggest.

I would say the standard RX ride comfort has improved, but the changes to the RX F SPORT with its AVS is dramatically better -- even compared to the standard model. AVS is the killer feature with the new RX, easily the best feature addition to me.

 

[krew]

My NX F Sport with AVS is MORE comfortable over rough roads than my past RX F Sport. I can only imagine the new RX F Sport with AVS and a 5 inch longer wheelbase will ride even better than the NX!

I was never a fan of the 3RX F SPORT package, found the suspension setting too harsh. I know I should keep the raving accolades to a minimum, but the new RX F SPORT is wonderful.

 

[krew]

Oregon is great for test driving (other than the freeways with have considerably slower cruising speeds than CA), nice scenic country roads especially in the drier summer months.

The global ES launch was outside of Portland in 2012, and the roads were crazy -- winding corkscrews around mountain sides and the such. The routes with the RX were much less dramatic, but well suited to the vehicle. Did very little highway driving, to be honest.

(I mentioned it in my review, but there are real hippie communes outside of Portland -- communal gardens, rusted out VW buses, gates with metal work peace signs, the whole deal.)

 

[krew]

When inside the previous RX, even the NX, you are immediately cushioned by those amazing seats, so comfortable and the car is soooooooo quiet it's embarrassing!!! I hope the have not changed any of that, AT ALL!!!

You'll love the new RX. Better than the previous generation in all regards.

 

[krew]

Hello, Krew.

I've read couple of rewiews of this test-drive held in Portland from different journalists. One of them says the base RX comes with a halogene headlamps and both lense-xenon and LED are the options according to the specification introduced during this test-drive. Is that true?

In North America (and I imagine everywhere), the RX comes standard with

• Bi LED headlamps
  
• LED DRLs and fog lamps
• LED illuminated door handles
• LED brake lights
• Side mirrors with integrated LED turn signal lamps (three times flash feature adopted, can be turned off)

The Luxury package trim level has the triple L headlights.

 

[krew]

Has these aspect been improved on the RX4 450h, do you feel more torque at low rpm ? I read somewhere that Lexus said they increased the electric motors response, but I haven’t found a single word on it in any test drive report.

That's a tough question. I wouldn't say the standard RX 450h has any faster acceleration than the outgoing model. However, I did think the RX 450h F SPORT had a nicer acceleration curve in SPORT S+ mode.

 

[krew]

Obviously they haven't improved the navigation system. Had to whip out the trusty ol' Garmin eh Kevin

Well, I have to defend Lexus here -- the only reason the Garmin was necessary was to insure we followed the exact routes provided with multiple landmarks included. Would have been difficult to program into the RX.

I do agree though, pretty funny to see.

 

[mmcartalk]

I was never a fan of the 3RX F SPORT package, found the suspension setting too harsh. I know I should keep the raving accolades to a minimum, but the new RX F SPORT is wonderful.

So that means, I take it, that, somehow, compared to the previous F-Sport, with the new suspension, tires, and chassis, they managed to improve both ride comfort and handling at the same time? That, of course, is possible with good engineering (GM's MagnaRide suspension is one example), but is not always simple, and having multi-adjustment settings helps. BMW and Mercedes, in particular, have a long history of knowing how to do chassis/suspension engineering.

 

[krew]

So that means, I take it, that, somehow, compared to the previous F-Sport, with the new suspension, tires, and chassis, they managed to improve both ride comfort and handling at the same time?

It's all my opinion, but I believe so. AVS really shines on the RX.

 

[Peleakan]

Has these aspect been improved on the RX4 450h, do you feel more torque at low rpm ? I read somewhere that Lexus said they increased the electric motors response, but I haven’t found a single word on it in any test drive report.

That's a tough question. I wouldn't say the standard RX 450h has any faster acceleration than the outgoing model. However, I did think the RX 450h F SPORT had a nicer acceleration curve in SPORT S+ mode.

Ok, thanks for the reply. I will look forward to test it now ! Nice job again !

 

[krew]

Need that release date ???

RX will be in North American dealerships in November.

 

[mikeavelli]

In North America (and I imagine everywhere), the RX comes standard with

• Bi LED headlamps
  
• LED DRLs and fog lamps
• LED illuminated door handles
• LED brake lights
• Side mirrors with integrated LED turn signal lamps (three times flash feature adopted, can be turned off)

The Luxury package trim level has the triple L headlights.

Are the triple L a stand alone option for the RX F-Sport?

 

[mmcartalk]

RX will be in North American dealerships in November.

Thanks...that's good to know. I'm planning an RX review myself. Last year, I noticed the NX was also introduced right around the same time...late November (just in time for the holiday season).