Lexus RX 350L Sports Luxury 2021 Review

Pricing for the 2021 Lexus RX kicks off at $73,013 plus on-road costs for the basic four-cylinder front-wheel drive Lexus RX 300 Luxury with five seats.

At the pinnacle of the range is the hybrid RX 450hL Sports Luxury with seven seats and all-wheel drive for $112,460 plus ORCs.

The vehicle on test is one of the better-equipped variants – the 2021 Lexus RX 350L Sports Luxury – priced at $103,713 plus ORCs.

Just two options are fitted – Deep Blue metallic paint for $1750 and the lovely Ochre leather, a no-charge option.

As with all other variants in the RX range, the latest model year update has seen the heated steering wheel become a standard feature.

Other kit fitted as standard in the test vehicle includes 20-inch alloy wheels, three-zone climate control (the third zone for passengers in the third-row seating at the very rear of the vehicle), a sunroof, side rear window blinds, keyless entry/start, electrically-adjustable front seats with position memory, seat heating for first and second rows and a heated multifunction steering wheel.

There’s also a head-up display, leather upholstery, woodgrain trim, wireless smartphone charging, heated and fold-in power door mirrors, rain-sensing wipers, auto-on/off LED headlights and a trip computer.

The infotainment system comprises a 15-speaker Mark Levinson unit, digital radio, digital sound processing, a CD/DVD player, Apple CarPlay/Android Auto smartphone mirroring, a 12.3-inch touch-screen and satellite navigation.

To operate these sub-systems, the Lexus offers a touch pad, voice control, the touch-screen and separate audio switchgear on the steering wheel.

Lexus covers the RX 350L with a four-year/100,000km warranty and the intervals between scheduled services are 12 months or 15,000km.

ANCAP last rated the Lexus RX back in 2015, pre-dating the arrival of the seven-seat RX 350L models.

According to the crash safety authority, the RX has earned itself a five-star rating in Euro NCAP testing, but based on that older 2015 protocol. Nevertheless, the RX achieved 83 per cent for adult safety, 82 per cent for child safety, 79 per cent for vulnerable road user safety and 74 per cent for safety assist technology.

A raft of secondary safety equipment includes side curtain airbags for all three rows, side-impact airbags for the first and second row, frontal airbags and a knee airbag for the driver.

Other safety and driver assist features fitted as standard on the 2021 Lexus RX 350L Sports Luxury include blind spot monitoring, 360-degree camera monitoring, front/rear autonomous emergency braking (AEB), front/rear parking sensors, rear cross traffic alert, LED headlights with auto high beam assist/active shadowing, lane departure warning/lane keep assist, traffic sign recognition and tyre pressure monitoring.

The Blade Scan active shadowing headlights worked very well at night, but the blue ‘high-beam’ warning light in the dash didn’t blink out when the lights were partially dipped. That at times could be misleading, but the lights did dip at the right time for the passage of an oncoming car, so it didn’t present a problem as such.

The traffic sign recognition system now acknowledges different limits at different times of the day, allowing for varying speeds permissible in school zones. That’s a small but significant gain on the RX 350L tested previously.

The V6 powering the 2021 Lexus RX 350L is an excellent engine in this application, delivering precisely the refinement and performance Lexus buyers will demand.

Once the RX is on the move, it gets along pretty well, and there’s plenty of torque available at any time, so it has little trouble maintaining speed on steeper hills.

But there’s also some hesitancy as the Lexus pushes off from a standing start, which suggests either the powerful engine struggles with the SUV’s 2.15-tonne kerb weight, or the powertrain is calibrated in Normal mode for softer power delivery, so as not to disturb passengers.

That’s understandable, because the RX is a fairly common choice for hire-car drivers, we’ve noticed.

While it has a six-cylinder timbre to it, it’s hard to pick the engine as a V6, specifically. The powerplant might just as easily be an inline six, such is its smoothness.

At 1500rpm (equating to 100km/h in eighth gear), there’s just a slight rumble present. Even when pushed for performance, the V6 never feels coarse.

Kick it down in Drive, with the powertrain set to Normal mode, and the V6 will rev to around 6300rpm, but can be stoked beyond 6500 in Sport or Sport+ modes.

The engine and the automatic transmission make a very effective combination, with the transmission never putting a foot wrong.

Being such a large-displacement engine, without an idle-stop system to save fuel, the V6 consumed 12.9L/100km over a test drive, which is very similar to the figure of 12.7L/100km posted a little over a year ago in a lower-spec RX 350L Luxury model.

At higher speeds, the 2021 Lexus RX 350L Sports Luxury is dynamically safe but feels heavy and a little reluctant to change direction.

It is a little faster through turns than the RX 350L Luxury tested last year. The wheels and tyres are essentially the same for both cars – Dunlop 235/55R20 tyres on 20-inch alloys – but the higher-grade model has a slight edge in handling and roadholding.

At lower speeds, the suspension feels under-damped, which ties in with the RX 350L’s ride comfort. The Lexus rides very well and is quite settled at speeds above 80km/h on typically mediocre country roads, but it does wallow at low speeds.

For passengers, entry to the cabin is made easier by the sensible hip point, which is excellent for adults of a shorter stature and slightly taller kids.

There is little in the dash and centre fascia that will puzzle users. The controls are all within easy reach and simple to use. And the instrumentation is quite conventional after some of the snazzy digital dashes from German rivals.

Lexus has been committed in recent years to a haptic touch pad in lieu of a single-point controller such as BMW’s iDrive system or Mazda’s conceptually similar set-up. But it’s not as simple to use, the logical flaw being that it’s positioned to the driver’s left, requiring use of the non-dominant hand in my case.

Most users will probably get used to it in due course, but for such tasks as entering a destination in the satellite navigation system, the voice control function is much faster and easier to use.

To change volume settings, tracks or stations for the audio system, the switches on the steering wheel are much more convenient too. The touch-screen is also easier to use than the haptic pad, although still a little hit-and-miss at times, when the vehicle is on the move.

On the subject of the satellite navigation system, it works well and the driver doesn’t … have … to … enunciate … every … word … like … a … robot. But one shortcoming is the system doesn’t display an ETA on screen.

While the seats are fairly well shaped for support and hold occupants well in corners, the backrest doesn’t quite suit me after about an hour’s drive. The electric lumbar adjust does help, however.

This vehicle was trimmed in attractive camel-coloured ‘Ochre’ upholstery, with co-ordinating soft grey plastics and a soft beige flock material for the headlining and roof pillar trim.

Support for portable devices is a high point of the RX 350L, with inductive charging in the centre stack, plus charging USB-A ports and a 12V power outlet adjacent. There’s an additional 12V power outlet and two USB-C ports plus an auxiliary (3.5mm) port in the centre storage bin under the folding centre arm rest.

The RX 350L is also well stocked for storage solutions and other amenities, including a pull-out door bin for a bottle holder, two cup holders in the centre console, a deep storage bin under the centre arm rest, and a large bottle holder – for bottles up to about one-litre – in the rear doors.

In the second row, passengers there keep cool by raising manual window shades and adjusting the vents in the rear of the centre console. There are no separate climate control switches, but the kids in the third row do get their own separate climate control zone.

As well as the media device ports, the folding centre arm rest in the second row includes outboard seat heating switches and flip-out cup holders.

While the second-row seat provides generous headroom and legroom, the cant rail is close to the head when exiting the vehicle. Both seats in the second row adjust for slide fore and aft, and recline.

The single seat section in the second row is located on the left side (the near side), which is correct now, unlike the RX 350L Luxury tested last year. But the second-row seats are tipped and slid forward manually for access in this flagship model, whereas the entry-level model tested in 2020 featured powered seats for this purpose.

The third row is extremely tight for adults and the seat on the far side is located well forward of the seat on the near side which further compromises legroom for children on the right side of the vehicle, let alone adults.

This seat placement is possibly due to the location of the exhaust system under the right side of the vehicle. Each seat has its own cup holder in the third row and the seat belt can be neatly tucked away when not in use.

With the third-row seating lowered, the boot volume is huge. That’s due in part to the space-saver spare tyre under the floor.

The RX 350L features a power tailgate to make loading and unloading easier too.

The Lexus RX remains one of the Japanese luxury brand’s top-selling models in Australia, and a certain band of buyers will choose the 2021 Lexus RX 350L for its refinement and easily exploitable performance from the V6.

It also offers reliability, excellent build quality, a warranty that’s better than the norm in the prestige market and good resale value.

But the RX feels like an old design, which it is now. Never mind the updates, or that the seven-seat models only arrived here three years ago; the five-seaters have been in the market since 2015.

The space-saver spare doesn’t make it a good choice to take off-road – and previous attempts at heading bush in the Lexus RX have ended badly, in my experience.

Nor does it make a strong tow vehicle – not with a braked towing capacity of 1500kg, which is no better than quite a few cheaper medium SUVs can manage.

For not much more than the vehicle on test, there’s a turbocharged six-cylinder Land Rover Discovery that will also seat seven – and will actually tow caravans and go bush-bashing.

The thought of buying a Land Rover might be terrifying if you’re in the habit of buying a Lexus, however.

And viewed through that prism the Lexus RX does provide a sensible option for people who buy SUVs to fill the role of luxurious people-movers.

How much does the 2021 Lexus RX 350L Sports Luxury cost?
Price: $103,713 (plus on-road costs)
Available: Now
Engine: 3.5-litre V6 petrol
Output: 221kW/370Nm
Transmission: Eight-speed automatic
Fuel: 10.2L/100km (ADR Combined)
CO2: 234g/km (ADR Combined)
Safety rating: Five-star (ANCAP 2015)