Smooth operator
If I could have my dream garage, it would obviously consist of some of the fastest, gnarliest and most amazing cars to drive from Porsche, Audi, Bentley, Bugatti, BMW, Ferrari, Lamborghini, Aston Martin, McLaren and every other brand you can imagine. BUT. There will always be a slot for a Lexus.
Because no other car drives quite like it. Smooth, superb, sophisticated yet ultimately, very, very sensible. Arriving after a very hectic week from abroad a while back, I needed a car that would help ease me back into the Metro Manila grind, being carless and commuting abroad for work. And no other car does this best than a Lexus.
The RX350h is powered by 2.5-liter transversely mounted 4-cylinder direct-injected gasoline engine. Mated to it is an electric motor, making the RX a full parallel hybrid system driving all four wheels either by the electric motor, the internal combustion engine or both to deliver maximum thrust of 247hp and 350 Newton-Meters of torque. If you find that it pales in comparison from German crossover hybrid rivals, there’s the RX500h F-Sport with its more powerful 366 horsepower.
Inside, the RX’s interior is well laid out, with a big 14-inch infotainment screen and a customizable 12.3-inch digital instrument cluster. The Japanese call the interior design theme as Tazuna, meaning the reins by which one takes control of a horse, and even if the RX350h isn’t as sporty off the bat as its rivals, it feels responsive and obedient enough to your inputs. There are also heated and ventilated seats, Apple CarPlay and Android Auto are standard, but no mention of a premium sound system partner or supplier. Ultimately, it falls a tad short of its European rivals which have a more polished, more high-tech interior with more features and options. It feels a generation old. Hopefully, the next crop of Lexus models will have a more sophisticated interior.
Trunk space is good, with a handy 612 liters of trunk space, expanding to 1,678 liters with the rear split-folding bench pressed down.
As with any Lexus, there is a full ADAS safety suite with features like lane tracing / lane keeping assist, adaptive cruise control and other passive features like ABS-EBD brakes with emergency brake assist, vehicle dynamics control, hill-start assist and of course, seven airbags in total. Though it hasn’t been tested yet, Lexus expects the RX to achieve a 5-Star NCAP rating.
So, the main question is: how is its driving performance?
It’s surprisingly delightful to drive. It’s the kind of delight that builds up slowly. Like a true Lexus, it doesn’t overpower nor overwhelm. Its charms build up naturally, slowly but surely. It grows on you, you seek its no-frills simplicity, which is true elegance. Despite lacking many other features and options you may find elsewhere, the RX350h has everything you actually do need.
The steering is light but offers good feel. You flow intuitively through slower moving traffic and sail through winding roads effortlessly. The brakes are firm, offer good feel and feedback and are very progressive. The Macpherson-strut front and multi-link rear suspension are steady, stable and composed, rather than lively and aggressive as its rivals. It does seem to have limited travel, though, and hits its bump-stops too soon. Perhaps, I just took one too many bumpy roads at far higher speeds than prudent. Such is the Lexus’ calm and composed demeanor even at high speeds, you tackle bumpy roads at higher than expected speeds.
And that, ladies and gentlemen, is the Lexus magic. It always remains calm and composed even when the world is completely in chaos. It’s built like a rock, as steady as a rock, always keeping you on the straight, true and steady. And it’s also very miserly: my weekend drive saw a total of ~12km/liter and I never left the city. I feel 18-20km / liter is quite realistic.
