2023 Lexus RX Review _ The Class-leader Gets a Revamp!

The Lexus RX invented the luxury crossover segment way back in 1998, and now it's back with an all-new fifth generation for 2023. What's up, folks? I'm Dave Underkoffler, Editor-in-Chief of Autolist.com, a sister company to CarGurus. The RX is the most popular vehicle Lexus makes by a wide margin, and it's the most popular luxury crossover in its segment. It's been completely redesigned for this model year, with new engines available, new features inside, and, as you can see, some new colors. So, is it up to the challenge of staying ahead of the pack, or are the rivals closing in? Let's go find out. But before we go any further, like and subscribe to this channel so you can get alerts on all of our future updates. Now, because the RX is the most popular thing that Lexus sells, they wanted to be careful not to alienate new buyers and existing buyers with this redesign. So, let's go over some of the highlights. The spindle grille carries over, although now they're calling it spindle body. It's a little more integrated into the vehicle itself. This one that we're testing here is the F-Sport, so that means that this lower fascia is going to be a little more aggressive than it will be just on the base model. The hood has been pushed a little bit lower, and then these A-pillars have been pushed further back to give the vehicle a little more of a sporty appearance. Now, in terms of dimensions, this new RX does look a little smaller than the previous generation, but Lexus says it's not. Overall, the wheelbase itself has been stretched 2.4 inches to give it better handling, but the length is exactly the same as the outgoing generation. This new version is also an inch wider and about half an inch shorter. Moving closer to the back, you still have the floating roof design that Lexus had on the previous generation, and these wheels are 21-inch alloy wheels because this is the F-Sport model. Base versions will get a 19-inch wheel. And then at the rear, you're seeing some design elements that Lexus is incorporating across its lineup today. Namely, you have this horizontal light bar. You also have the Lexus badging. This is sort of new badging. And then if you're curious about this color, Lexus is calling it Grecian Water. It's a cool color. Not sure about that name. All right, so let's talk about powertrains. The version we're spending most of our time with today is the base. It's the RX 350. So previously, it used to have a V6. Now that has been thrown out, and you get an all-new 2.4-liter turbocharged 4-cylinder. This one makes 275 horsepower and 317 pound-feet of torque. If you compare that to the previous generation V6, you're down on horsepower a little bit, but you are up on torque. All RX 350s will have an 8-speed automatic transmission, and your choice of either front-wheel drive or optional all-wheel drive. The switch from the old V6 to this new turbocharged 4 means that both the all-wheel drive and the front-wheel drive models get a gain of about 2 miles per gallon in city, highway, and freeway driving. Since this is an all-wheel drive model that we're testing, it gets 21 miles per gallon in the city, 28 in the highway, and 24 combined. Lexus is also launching this new RX with your choice of one of two new hybrid powertrains. The Lexus 350h will have 246 total horsepower, while the performance-oriented 500h will have 366 total horsepower. And both of those hybrid models are all-wheel drive only. And then sometime in 2023, Lexus is going to launch the RX 450h, and that will be a plug-in hybrid version of this crossover. In terms of sales, Lexus says that this gas version, the non-hybrid 350, will make up about 70% of all of its total RX sales. But what do you guys think? To us, that seems a little high. We would expect more people to opt for the hybrids, at least. Let us know your thoughts in the comments below. So the interior of this RX has been completely overhauled, and generally, we really like it. Some of the highlights include this screen. This is a new 14-inch color touchscreen infotainment system. It controls the wireless Apple CarPlay, wireless Android Auto. This is a system that Lexus has been introducing into more of its recent models, and it's really nicely laid out and executed. The screen is really bright and crisp. It's also very responsive to your commands. That's a nice touch. Another thing that I like is that Lexus kept physical buttons for some of the climate control. You can control the temperature here for the passenger and the driver, and you've got some of your defrost buttons down here. You also have a physical volume knob. That's a nice touch. I feel like too many automakers these days are going to all touchscreen, so it's good to see that. It's worth noting that this 14-inch screen is optional in most trims. Base models will get a 9.8-inch screen, but the functionality and the look is largely the same. All models of RX will get a digital 7-inch display in the instrument panel, and this is customizable and can show you a variety of different readouts. Lexus has also built in quite a bit of utility in this cabin. That's really nice. You've got cup holders here. There's a nice little feature. Actually, the base of this cup holder you can push down if for some reason whatever you're putting there is deeper, so that's a nice little feature so your cup doesn't tip over. You've got wireless smartphone charging down here and then extra cubbies, and then you have a smattering of USB-A and USB-C chargers for your smartphones. There's also a number of tech goodies you can get on the RX. The one we're in right now has a color heads-up display. That's a nice feature. Some trims do offer a digital camera-based rearview mirror, and although our tester doesn't have it, it just has a standard moonroof, you can get a panoramic moonroof on some trim levels. So there's really a lot to like in this new cabin of the RX. There are a few things that I don't love. They're little nitpicks, though. For one, there seem to be buttons just sort of spread out throughout the entire cabin, and if you've seen our video on the LX, you'll notice that was also a thing that bothered us in that model. So you've got buttons for the seat controls and odometer settings over here. You've got camera buttons here. Down here, I have a certain mode for an EV driving, which this is the hybrid, so it has that option. But what's frustrating is that while there's an EV button, there aren't physical buttons for the different drive modes. To get to that, you need to go through several different menus on the screen. The caveat there is that Lexus does allow you to program some of the buttons on the steering wheel, so you can do functions with just one touch. This includes adjusting the climate control temperature, adjusting the fan speed, and as I mentioned, you can program this to adjust to a preset drive mode. Finally, you may have noticed this mounted on top of the steering wheel. This is an infrared camera, and it's a driver monitoring system, and it works in two different situations. One is just when you're normally driving down the freeway, if you are distracted, if you look away, it will just ping an alert to say, hey, get your eyes back on the road. It will also work when you're using the RX's Traffic Jam Assist. Now, that's a system that you'll use in traffic to allow you to do hands-free driving at relatively low speeds, but you still need to be paying attention, and that's what this driver monitoring system is looking out for. Now, before I go to the rear seats and show you the space back there, as I go to get out, I want to show you one more feature that this new RX has. Now, this is basically an electronic door. Lexus calls it Digital Latch. We first saw it on the smaller NX by Lexus. Basically, it just means that rather than pulling a handle to get out of the car, I just push this button, and it lets me out. Now, there is a safety feature built in if for some reason the car were to lose power. You can pull the same lever twice, and the door will open. Now, this electronic latch is actually part of a larger safety system in this RX that uses the vehicle's sensors as you've parked it to look for oncoming traffic or maybe pedestrians or cyclists so you don't open your door into them as they're passing by. Now, in terms of rear seat space, you've got a lot to work with. I'm 6'1", I've got the driver's seat adjusted to where I would keep it, so basically I'm sitting behind myself. And as you can see, plenty of leg room, room for my knees, and room for my head. Lexus hasn't released figures for the interior space, but they do say it should be a little bit bigger than the outgoing generation. One thing to note is that this generation of RX currently doesn't offer a third row of seats. The previous generation did. It was the RX-L. It gave you a little more functionality in the back. Not so this time around. You've also got some other nice features back here. The particular trim we're in now offers heated and cooled rear seats. That's a first for the RX. You also have some USB charging ports down here. Nice little cup holders in the center armrest, and a little extra storage space here. Now, in terms of cargo area, Lexus says that there's a little bit more back here than there was in the previous generation of RX. And as you can see, you've got a lot of very useful space, and that's really nice. Although I will point out that the height is eaten into a little bit by the profile of this car. Just something to consider. And if you need more cargo space, the rear seats are split 60-40, so you can fold those down just with the touch of a button. Finally, there are two things about this hatch that I really like. For one, look how high it opens. As I mentioned, I'm 6'1". A lot of SUVs or crossovers like this, I'm always bumping my head. This opens up nice and high. That's a nice touch. Also, and this is a feature I love, this lock and walk button will delay the closing of the door for up to 90 seconds. So what that means is you can hit the button, and then you have 90 seconds to grab everything that you need out of here with your hand, and then walk away. The door will close behind you and lock the whole car. All right, now some driving impressions. As I mentioned, the model that we grabbed has the base engine. So that's the 2.4-liter turbocharged 4-cylinder engine that makes 275 horsepower. It replaces a V6, and you kind of feel the difference while you're driving it. There's a little bit of turbo lag to this engine that you're not going to find on any naturally aspirated V6. So I do miss that. But otherwise, it does feel like it has a healthy amount of power. I also really love this transmission. This is an 8-speed automatic, really fast shifts, really nicely timed. I'm definitely impressed by that, so that's great. So as you saw earlier, this is the F Sport version. So in addition to some exterior upgrades and the different wheels, this also has a suspension that's an adaptive suspension. So when you go into the different drive modes and adjust between Eco or Comfort or Sport, it's also going to tune the suspension accordingly. And no matter what setting you have it in, the suspension is actually really comfortable, it's compliant, and also gives you just a nice edge of sportiness too. Another thing I'm really enjoying about this RX is how well it keeps out the road and the wind noise. And you would expect that, right? This is a luxury crossover, so you would hope that would be the case. But yeah, it absolutely delivers on that front. We're really enjoying cruising down the freeway at 80 mph, and you would never even know it. I'm also really enjoying these seats. There's great bolstering on the side, they're well padded, certainly lots of comfort there. And again, you would expect that in a luxury SUV. In terms of competitive set, Lexus says that this new RX will go up against the Acura MDX, the BMW X5, the Mercedes-Benz GLE, and the Volvo XC90. So how does it compare to those? Well, for one, it's going to feel smaller than pretty much any of those, but particularly the Acura MDX. That's a big crossover. It's got three rows of seats, so if you need space, the RX may not be the way to go. Compared to the BMW or the Mercedes, this RX is going to feel a little less luxurious. It just doesn't have the posh, the build quality, the materials as those German brands, so that's something to consider. But the flip side is, this RX is also cheaper than either of those models. When it comes to the Volvo XC90, that model does have a third row of seating, so if that's important, keep that in mind. Otherwise, I think we would choose the RX over the Volvo. This is just a newer experience. It handles better. It's got a little more modern styling and amenities inside, so the RX gets our nod in that case. In terms of safety features, all new RX models come standard with Lexus Safety System 3.0. That includes features like automatic emergency braking, road sign assist, lane departure alerts with steering assist, lane tracing assist, automatic high beams, and adaptive cruise control with curve management, which will effectively slow the vehicle down as you go around tighter curves. Other safety features include advanced park assist, the digital latch doors that we showed you earlier, and traffic jam assist. In terms of trims, both the RX 350 and the 350h will have the standard base model, then a premium, premium plus, and a luxury version. The RX 350, the non-hybrid version, also gets the F Sport, which we were testing today. Finally, the RX 500h is one package only, the F Sport performance all-wheel drive. In terms of pricing, Lexus hasn't yet announced what the new RX will actually cost, but we expect it to start around $50,000. All right, folks, there you have it, our review of the all-new 2023 Lexus RX. Pros? Well, we really like that there's a variety of powertrains available, either a base turbocharged four, you can get a hybrid, a performance hybrid, and a little bit later there'll be the plug-in hybrid. We also like the redesigned infotainment system. It looks good, it works well, that's been great. And, of course, inside you get the quiet, comfortable ride that you would expect from a Lexus. Cons? Well, it's smaller than many of its rivals, and there's no third row version available, so that's a little bit of a miss, especially for a lot of families that are looking for that optional third row sometimes. We also didn't love that the driver monitoring system was super active, although you can defeat it. And finally, this new turbocharged four in the base model does give up a little bit of horsepower to the V6 that it replaces. So for reviews or listings of this new RX or anything else you're shopping for, be sure to check out CarGurus.com. And if you have a car to sell, check out CarGurus' Instant Max Cash offer, which will give you top dollar for your trade-in, and a truck comes right to you to pick it up. And before you go, like and subscribe to this channel so you can get alerts on all of our future updates. We'll see you out there.