Welcome to the core of the Lexus brand. Accounting for almost four of every 10 Lexus sales, the RX crossover is the epitome of Lexus-ness, leaving the 11 other Lexus models to fight over the remaining 60 percent. Toyota’s luxury division practically invented the car-based crossover with the introduction of the original RX300 in 1998.
Lexus figured out that what most SUV buyers wanted was a wagon/hatchbacklike conveyance (that wasn’t called a station wagon or hatchback) with a slightly elevated seating position and enough metal to impart a feeling of invincibility. But really, these same buyers were yearning for the comfort and convenience of a car. In the interim, just about every other car brand (Pontiac and its disturbing Aztek excepted) successfully followed suit, offering soft-roaders of their own.
Double Dose of Snobbishness
With the Lexus RX450h, buyers get to merge their desire for generously proportioned crossovers with their avidity for the social acceptance that hybrids offer. It’s a double dose of snobbery, with equal measures of Lexus luxury lineaments and Toyota hybrid carbon conservation. One could, of course, get a smaller car to carry around reusable shopping bags and a purse dog. The 3274-pound Prius V, for example, offers almost 85 percent of the cargo space of the bigger, 4737-pound AWD RX we tested for little more than half the cost, and the V’s 44 city/40 highway EPA estimates smoke the RX’s 30/28 numbers.
But the Prius V’s lazy 10.3-second 0-to-60 time requires a level of patience that drivers of the 6.8-second RX450h needn’t possess. At least in terms of acceleration, the all-wheel-drive RX450h doesn’t demand such a sacrifice—with its 245-hp V-6 and two electric drive motors (one at each axle), it’s even 0.2 second quicker than the nonhybrid 2013 RX350 Sport AWD to the 60 mark. Plus, just look at the Prius V.
Oh, No, You Didn’t
So the RX450h is no slouch on the straightaway, and its 178-foot 70-to-0 stopping distance and 0.79-g of lateral grip are within a few percentage points of those achieved by the nonhybrid RX350. Where the RX450h takes a turn for the worse is in brake and transmission feel. Despite algorithms that attempt to translate brake pedal movement and force into predictable deceleration, no two pedal stabs feel the same—one moment, you’re not slowing fast enough, the next instant, too much—and modulation is very tricky. The RX450h’s continuously variable transmission, while blending gas-engine and electric-motor functions seamlessly, completely disconnects right-foot inputs from forward motion. It’s the automotive equivalent of a bagpipe serenade, the wailings of the otherwise-pleasing Atkinson-cycle 3.5-liter V-6 having no relation to vehicle speed. For 2013, Lexus added a Sport mode (in addition to the existing Normal, Eco, and Snow modes), which Toyota claims firms up steering effort, hastens “shifts,” and quickens the throttle progression a small amount, but these changes are barely noticeable.
Luckily, that auditory dissonance can be masked by the impressive output of one of the RX450h’s fine stereo systems, all the way up to an optional 15-speaker Mark Levinson setup. In terms of amenities, there’s a lot to like inside the hushed, well-appointed cabin. As has been the case since the first days of the brand, materials and assembly quality are first-rate. Our $51,183 test RX arrived with the $2260 Premium package (leather seats, power sunroof, power-folding and heated mirrors, roof rails, driver’s-seat and steering-wheel memory), a $59 cargo net, and $259 roof crossbars.
But we were surprised at what the $48,605 base price didn’t include in this luxury crossover.
