Lexus RX 500h F Sport Performance 2023 Review

The 2023 Lexus RX 500h F Sport Performance is the flagship of the newly-minted fifth-generation large SUV range.

F Sport Performance is a new Lexus badge that sits above F Sport and below the full-house F performance models. It denotes this is the most powerful (273kW/550Nm) and most expensive ($126,000 plus on-road costs) RX sold in Australia since it first lobbed here 20 years ago.

While the new RX retains its five-door wagon fundamentals, most of the range is all-wheel drive and petrol-electric hybrid, while only turbo-petrol four-cylinder engines are offered, abandoning the old nat-atmo V6 engines.

Prices rise substantially across the line-up, as we have already reported.

Still, that pricing is within cooee of mid-size luxury SUVs like the BMW X3, while the RX’s size is closer to the larger BMW X5 and its ilk.

That combo delivers a broad swathe of potential competitors that include BMW’s popular crossovers, their Mercedes-Benz and Audi equivalents and other interlopers such as Jeep with the Grand Cherokee and Land Rover Range Rover with the Discovery Sport on upwards.

Watch the review video of the Lexus RX 500h

Gear exclusive to the 2023 Lexus RX 500h F Sport Performance includes a package of go-fast mechanicals we’ll get to later on.

Externally, it is distinguished from lesser RXs by 21-inch matte -black alloy wheels paired with Michelin rubber and styling touches such as F Sport front and rear bumpers with piano-black side mouldings.

Exterior bits it shares with lesser RX models includes a subtler chrome-less take on the controversial and sometimes alarming Spindle grille called the ‘Spindle body’, black roof rails, a panoramic sunroof, rear privacy glass, a rear spoiler, LED light bar and a power tailgate

The interior upgrades are only slight compared to lesser models, adding F Sport scuff plates and floor mats with the F Sport logo.

Interior equipment shared with other RX grades includes tri-zone climate control, heated and ventilated eight-way power-adjustable leather-accented front sports seats, multi-coloured ambient lighting, aluminium pedals and a power-adjustable F Sport steering wheel. A space saver-spare tyre can be found in the boot.

The 500h misses out on some features reserved for the next model down in the range, the RX 350 Sports Luxury. Those include 10-way adjustable front seats with memory, four-way power lumbar adjust and power-folding rear seats with heating and ventilation outboard.

All RX models come with a five years/unlimited-kilometre warranty. Lexus RX ownership also includes three years of complimentary membership to the Lexus Encore benefits program and roadside assistance.

Service intervals are set at 12 months/15,000km. The cost of each scheduled service for the first five years is $695.

The 2023 Lexus RX does not yet have an ANCAP rating, but it has netted the maximum five stars from EuroNCAP based on 2022 testing.

So there’s a pretty strong chance the RX will pick up five stars here as well.

The autonomous emergency braking system detects vehicles, pedestrians and cyclists day or night but only identifies motorcycles during the day.

The RX range also offers intersection turn assist, emergency steering assist, acceleration suppression at low speeds, lane keeping and lane departure warning, a blind spot monitor, rear cross traffic alert and driver monitoring.

Adaptive cruise control includes new features that will reduce seed in curves and prevent overtaking.

A reversing camera with guidelines, front and rear, parking sensors with brake assist, a rear seat reminder, a safe exit system, tyre pressure monitoring and trailer sway control are also included.

All RX models come with eight airbags.

Further up the range a head-up display is fitted, along with bi-LED headlights with adaptive high-beam assistance and cornering lamps. Intelligent parking assist, a panoramic view monitor and a digital rear-view mirror also become standard.

There’s no shortage of technology in the 2023 Lexus RX range.

The line-up includes a 14-inch digital touch-screen and 7.0-inch digital instrument cluster.

Wireless Apple CarPlay and wired Android Auto is standard. There is also wireless smartphone charging.

There are five USB-C ports in the RX’s cabin, two 12V outlets and one USB-A outlet.

Embedded satellite-navigation is standard, as is AM/FM and DAB+ radio and ‘Hey Lexus’ voice recognition that can set the climate-control, open the sunroof and so on. A 21-speaker Mark Levinson audio system is standard in higher RX grades including the 500h.

The 500h F Sport Performance sits at the top of the heap as the only model with Active Sound Control.

ASC delivers a synthetic engine note that becomes more obvious when the most aggressive Sport drive mode is selected.

Lexus Connected Services are standard for all RX models. Features include SOS emergency call, stolen vehicle tracking, over the air updates and programming personal driver preferences.

The 2023 RX 500h features a powertrain combining a new 16-valve DOHC 2.4-litre turbo-petrol four-cylinder engine with a synchronous permanent magnet e-motor on each axle.

In a Lexus first, they are arranged as a parallel hybrid rather than the usual Lexus series-parallel. The practical impact on you as the driver is minimal. The RX 500h can still run on electricity, petrol or a combination of both.

The combustion motor contributes 202kW and 460Nm to the process, the front motor generator provides 64kW and 292Nm and the rear motor generator 75.9kW and 168.5Nm.

Bring it all together and the total is 273kW and 550Nm, making this the most powerful Lexus hybrid SUV yet to be seen.

Considering that, the 0-100km/h acceleration claim is pretty underwhelming at 6.2 seconds, while the top speed is 210km/h.

Combined or separate petrol or electric power is delivered to all four wheels via a shift-by-wire six-speed automatic transmission and an AWD system Lexus calls Direct4. It can split torque 70:30 front and 20:80 rear.

Using the somewhat generous NEDC testing system, the RX 500h’s claimed fuel consumption rate is 6.5L/100km. Stop-start helps save petrol. The RX 500h prefers 95 RON fuel as a minimum.

The 2023 Lexus RX 500h has an old-school Nickel-Metal Hydride battery of undisclosed size to feed the e-motors charge. The RX can run on electricity alone for a brief period at low speeds. As there is no plug the battery is recharged regeneratively,

At its core the 2023 Lexus RX 500h F Sport performance rides on the same TNGA-K architecture as the other models in the range. Toyota says it is aids dynamics with a lower centre of gravity and by being stiffer than previously.

The RX500h also includes a raft of mechanical additions designed to ensure it lives up to the F Sport Performance badge.

They include four-wheel steering that points the rear wheels in the opposite direction to the fronts at low speed and in the same direction at higher speeds. The steering system is electrically assisted.

This makes the car steer bit more manoeuvrable in town and more stable at speed on the open road.

The aforementioned Direct4 system uses information from steering, G-force and wheels sensors to ensure torquer distribution keeps vehicle posture as level as possible during strong acceleration, braking and cornering.

Driver adaptable dampers are fitted to the Macpherson strut front-and multi-link rear suspension. The front brakes discs are boosted from 340mm the other models get to 400mm and come with six-piston callipers.

Overseeing all this is the sadly acronymed VDIM (Vehicle Dynamics Integrated Management) that uses brakes and powertrain output to prevent front and rear wheel slides.

The driver can manipulate the behaviour of vehicle powertrain and adaptive damper settings by selecting Eco, Normal or Sport drive modes. Parameters can be customised.

The RX 500h measures up identically to its predecessor at 4890mm long. But it has a 60mm longer 2850mm wheelbase, it is slightly lower and slightly wider in both body and tracks.

While Lexus says the use of aluminium for the body and some panels helps the new-generation lose about 80kg on average, the RX 500h F Sport Performance is still a substantial sucker at 2160kg. The RX range can tow 1500kg braked.

So after all that what’s the RX 500h like to drive? Quietly impressive.

The two e-motors help fill in the traditional torque holes that four-cylinder turbo-petrol engines display. Acceleration is smooth from standstill and when you’re rolling always seems to be ‘on’ whenever the throttle is pressed. It feels faster than its acceleration numbers suggest.

That especially applies in Sport mode. Response is still going well in Normal and really only becomes morose in Eco.

There is just the occasional sense of the many and various parts of the powertrain having a momentary digital think about things, but seamless progress is the usual state.

The piped-in engine sound seems an incongruous boy racer afterthought. Lexus has a reputation for quiet and calm and that’s preferable to this artificial stuff. The real engine only made itself heard when really being revved hard.

The gear lever looks orthodox, but has a fiddly way of selecting gears and doesn’t include a manual function.

That meant relying on uninspiring plasticky manual gearchange flippers behind the steering wheel. They weren’t really needed that often anyway thanks to the generous torque delivery and the auto’s proactive response in Sport mode

With all that technology thrown at its dynamic package, there was every chance the RX 500h could have felt pretty digital and remote. But it has been sympathetically tuned to make it a comfortable cross-country drive. It’s not a flier, but its more cohesive than any RX that’s come before it.

Dialling through the modes again delivered noticeable changes. Normal is where you’re going to live most of the time because of its comfortable setting, Sport winds up the firmness, but not too an unliveable level. The steering gets heavier too, but not in the overkill way of some of the Germans.

In theory the 2023 Lexus RX 500h can go off-road. There is also an off-road trail mode, downhill assist and hill start assist.

We didn’t test that stuff out. The approach angle is only 15 degrees so we wouldn’t have been getting too adventurous if we had.

As we have previously reported, the 2023 Lexus RX is strictly a five-seater.

There will be no long-wheelbase RX L, which means Lexus Australia is casting about for seven-seat options including the next-gen Toyota Prado-based Lexus GX.

With its longer wheelbase and width increase there’s no shortage of space for adults in the front and rear of the new RX. Storage is also generous in both the front and rear seat. A nice touch is the way the lidded bin between the front passengers is hinged on both sides.

The space story continues in the boot where you will find 612 litres of storage with all seats up and a massive 1678 litres with the second row folded.

RX occupants find themselves sitting in a cabin that oozes the usual Lexus opulence. Our test car was trimmed in a bold combination of burgundy and black leather. Maybe not for everyone.

The technology is the big thing that will take some time to learn. The infuriating old wobbly stalk and touch pad have thankfully gone and most functions are controlled directly through the touchscreen.

The air-con uses digital buttons separate to the screen. They disappear if you choose to go full screen. The only obvious hard button is for audio volume/on-off. The hollow rings for temperature adjustment are a cool (hot?) artistic touch.

The technology is the big thing that will take some time to learn. The infuriating old wobbly stalk and touch pad have thankfully gone and most functions are controlled directly through the touchscreen.

From the homescreen, there is a lot of info to drill down into under multiple headings. For instance under Car, there are energy flow, charging and torque distribution graphics. There is a shortcut button that brings up frequently used functions like drive modes.

Both the touch-screen and the instrument cluster have multiple views available. For instance, depending on the mode, the cluster displays a charge meter for the powertrain or a tachometer for the petrol engine speed. It always shows a digital speedo.

The colour head-up display can also be personalised. There are multiple page views including performance features such as G-metre and turbo pressure. Adaptive cruise control settings are adjusted in the HUD via touch-sensitive buttons on the steering wheel spokes.

There is also a gerous amount of adjustment to help the driver get comfortable via the seat, while the steering wheel could offer more reach adjustment. Lexus says the RX showcases a cockpit philosophy called Tazuna that focuses controls on the driver to ensure minimal time with eyes off the road.

One thing that proved off-putting was the digital rear-view mirror. It’s designed to provide a clear view via a camera even when the back window is obscured. But it required double and triple takes to focus on the screen image.

Exterior door-handles that don’t move and interior door-opening buttons rather than lever pulls also took a little while to get used to.

If you’re in the market for a crossover SUV in this part of the market then you should at least consider the 2023 Lexus 500h F Sport Performance.

Look, it’s not quite the sports star Lexus would have us believe, but it is a commendably enjoyable drive that puts previous RX generations well and truly in the shade.

And I know styling is very much a personal thing, but gee I reckon this new RX looks good. Much sleeker than some of the bulbous efforts with their protruding proboscises that have gone before.

Not sure why it misses out on some comfort equipment a lesser RX gets. It’s also got a fiendishly complex powertrain that could be a concern if it’s not bulletproof.

There’s also a 12 month wait for the 500h already and the plug-in hybrid RX 450h+ with true zero emissions capability is on the way.

But yep, to inspect and drive the RX 500h is to appreciate just how new and overhauled the latest RX is.

2023 Lexus RX 500h F Sport Performance at a glance:
Price: $126,000 (plus on-road costs)
Available: Now
Powertrain: 2.4-litre four-cylinder turbo-petrol/electric
Output: 202kW/460Nm (electric motors: 64kW/292Nm and 75.9kW/168.5Nm)
Combined output: 273kW/550Nm
Transmission: Six-speed automatic
Fuel: 6.5L/100km (NEDC)
CO2: 148g/km (NEDC)
Safety rating: Five-star (Euro NCAP – 2022)