Lexus RX 350 F Sport 2016 Review

Lexus RX 350 F Sport
Road Test

The Lexus RX family is a cornerstone of the Japanese luxury brand’s gradually improving sales in this country. The third-generation has just launched, with a 3.5-litre V6 petrol engine at the heart of the range. That sounds a bit old school, but how does the rest of the package stack up?

No doubt somebody got excited when the new generation Lexus RX was launched in Australia late last year. That outrageous nose suggests something passionate, divisive and maybe even quirky.

But being a Lexus, many others would have suspected what more likely lurks under that brazenly aggressive exterior is a conservative, and computerised execution of what Toyota’s luxury brand believes is a large SUV appropriate for the upwardly mobile. They’d be right too.

Based on a new structure, a larger body, imbued with the latest technology and promising to be quieter than ever, the RX hits the same digitised notes it always has. Just more refined; yet again.

Our road test covered two weeks; first up we had the base model RX 350 Luxury and then the mid-specification RX 350 F Sport. Both share the same upgraded direct and port injection 3.5-litre V6 naturally-aspirated engine, new eight-speed auto (replacing a six-speed) and on-demand ‘Dynamic Torque Control’ all-wheel drive system.

The Luxury is $12,000 cheaper to buy at $80,000 (plus ORCs), but sloppier to drive. So much so the experience in the F Sport, with its new ‘AVS’ adaptive suspension system, is so much nicer and more confident and controlled to drive the higher price tag seemed justifiable.

Mind you, the new F Sport is a hefty $10,890 more than the car it replaces, reflecting a general push upmarket in RX pricing to make space for the smaller NX.

In addition to a car with vastly better road manners, the F Sport also delivers a whole lot more luxury gear than the, um, Luxury including 15-speaker Mark Levinson audio, dynamic headlight levelling, smart key card, a view back monitor, sliding moonroof, head-up display, adaptive high beam system and LED head and tail-lights and sequential front indicators.

The F Sport also has Vehicle Dynamic integrated Management (VDiM) that co-ordinates the behaviour of software aids such as traction and stability control and the electric-assist steering.

That comes in addition to equipment it shares with the Luxury: 10-way power front seats, leather-accented seats, heated and ventilated front seats, wireless charger, 20-inch alloy wheels, tyre pressure monitoring, rear privacy glass, blind-spot monitor with rear cross-traffic alert, clearance and back parking sonar and smart entry and start.

The RX line-up also features the Lexus Safety System which packages up a pre-collision safety system, lane-keeping assist, all-speed active cruise control and automatic high-beam.

The RX also comes with 10 airbags and a five-star ANCAP rating.

So there’s lots there to get yourself familiar with; and it’s not necessarily the easiest task in the world. For a start the instrument panel whizzes through a dizzying range of information screens, format changes and colours. The RX is also a button and dial fest; on the steering wheel, on the stalks behind the steering wheel and on the centre stack below the massive 12.3 non-touch colour media screen.

Not a button but adding to the sense of frustration piloting yourself around the cockpit controls of the RX can deliver is the remote touch controller that works like a computer mouse on a stalk. It is used to point and click your way around the screen’s various functions.

It’s not a particularly intuitive device. You can find yourself dashing all over the screen, over-shooting your mark and clicking on items you don’t actually want. It works better as you acclimatise but it never feels natural.

That’s the bigger issue with driving the F Sport too. While it eschews the roly-poly nature of the Luxury, it still doesn’t have much sense of connection, especially through the steering and even more so when the five-mode ‘Drive Mode Select’ is toggled to Sport or Sport +, which adds weight but no more feel.

Where the RX really shines, is in its refinement level. This is a vehicle with a sense of quiet orderliness, especially if you don’t push along too hard.

Even then the big V6 is only a distant companion despite its ‘sound intake generator’, revving briskly from low to high revs beyond 7000rpm without complaint or hitch and mating sweetly with its new transmission, which has flappy paddles for manual control but won’t hold the gear even in S+. The engine now makes 221kW at a high 6300rpm and 370Nm at 4700rpm, up 14kW and 14Nm on its predecessor.

You’ll only really find the engine intrusive at the bowser where the unimpressive claimed combined fuel consumption average of 9.6L/100km will likely prove unobtainable. We were averaging 12s. There’s no diesel in this line-up of course, but there is the 450h petrol-electric hybrid, retailing for as low as $88,000 (plus ORCs) with a claimed consumption rate of 5.7L/100km.

But as my colleague Mike Sinclair has observed previously, the best choice in the RX range may well be the base model front-wheel drive 200t powered by a new 2.0-litre turbo-petrol four-cylinder engine.

But whichever RX you choose you do get a spacious and inviting interior that features terrific, deep seats, plenty of space in the second row for adults and a plethora of storage options. The quality of the interior materials and construction is of a typically high Lexus quality, including the new laser-cut aluminium and wood-look interior ornamentation.

The power tailgate swings open to reveal a 514-litre space. The 40:20:40 second-row bench split folds down to grow that space to mountain bike-swallowing depths.

But one thing the Lexus doesn’t come with is a third-row seating, something most of its nominal rivals such as the Audi Q7, BMW X5 and Volvo XC90 offer. Having recently stepped out of a Q7 I can assure you what the Audi gives up to the Lexus in sheer luxury and price – a bit - and equipment – quite a bit – it more than compensates for if you enjoy driving. At all.

So calm down, the new RX is here and in 350 F Sport guise it’s not something to get excited about. Nor is it something to get upset about either – apart from that proboscis of course.

2016 Lexus RX 350 F Sport pricing and specifications:
Price: $92,000 (plus on-road costs)
Engines: 3.5-litre six-cylinder petrol
Outputs: 221kW/370Nm
Transmission: Eight-speed automatic
Fuel: 9.6L/100km (ADR combined)
CO2: 223g/km (ADR combined)
Safety Rating: Five-star (ANCAP)

Also consider:
Audi Q7 (from $96,300)
BMW X5 (from $86,200)
Mercedes-Benz GLE (from $86,900)