The State of Understating
We tested the RX Turbo earlier in the year, and found it a mixed bag of happy-when cruising, with excellent passenger comfort and silky smooth ride. And when given the beans, it was a little rolly around the bends. The 2.0 which can be found in the NX and GS turbo seemed to struggle with the additional weight of the bigger RX body. Build quality on the other hand was excellent, as is all other cars from Lexus. The RX350 brings Lexus a new set of legs. We got our hands on one, and here’s what we found.
If you do have car-like handling expectations, you’d be a little disappointed. The Lexus is tall, at 1,690mm, giving it a high centre of gravity. The suspension is set for comfort, and cornering would reveal a little bit of roll, but it is manageable. There is more drive in the front wheels than the rear under heavy acceleration, giving the large SUV more understeer-to-neutral kind of handling.
Power comes from a transversely mounted 3.5 litre V6, mated to an excellent 8-ratio automatic. Compared to the turbocharged 2.0 version, delivery is more linear, with no sign of turbo lag. Maximum power is 296bhp, delivered at 6,300rpm, while the 370Nm of torque peaks at 4,600rpm. While you may need to work the engine a little to give the car some serious torque, the V6 engine note above 3,000rpm is rather addictive.
Three drive modes, “Economy”, “Normal” and “Sports” allows you to toggle between a more economical drive on one end, and a more sporty drive, with higher shift points to the transmission on the other. But I would dare say, between drive modes, the differences are quite mild.
Parking is also made easy. Like many Conti cars, the RX comes equipped with a 360 Panoramic View Monitor, to give you a clearer picture (literally) of your surroundings, so that you will be able to park your vehicle in confidence.
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