LEXUS RX 450h Review

Along with just a few models autoevolution has tested so far, the Lexus RX 450h is one of the most comfortable means of personal transportation currently in existence. The plush seats engulfed in soft aniline leather can make you feel like you're sitting on masochistic teddy bears, while the attention given to anything that can make you feel just a tiny bit uncomfortable is a bit freaky.

For example, we found out that one of the reasons for the extra high doors was so that the door sills would be shielded from the exterior atmosphere, thus protecting the passengers from getting their feet dirty when climbing in or out of the car. This is another way of saying that they're ugly but practical.

Because our test car was only fitted with the mid-range "Luxury" trim level, we didn't get to test the pneumatic suspension. Even so, the wafting sensation over speed bumps and rougher roads is sublime, making you feel like you're hovering above most potholes.

If it wasn't for the weight being pushed at the car's extremities (ICE in the front and batteries plus an electric motor in the rear) and the rather short wheelbase compared with its height, the up-and-down movements when braking or accelerating hard would have probably been more subdued, but we suspect the pneumatic suspension would prove to be more adequate for this job.

As we mentioned in the "Open Road" chapter of our RX 450h test drive, the sound proofing is exquisite. At least at low speeds in the city, while using just electric power for driving, there is absolutely no distinguishable sound in the cabin. It's almost like the car is rolling down a hill with its engine stopped and in neutral. When the ICE (Internal Combustion Engine) kicks in there is no major difference felt in the interior acoustic comfort, since the 3.5-liter V6 is completely encapsulated and the interior is completely sound deadened.

We can only guess that the engineering expertise required to make the Hybrid Synergy Drive system work under the RX 450h's body must be huge. Don't believe what most car magazines which have tested the car are telling you. Just like the Toyota Prius, the Lexus RX 450h doesn't have a CVT gearbox. It doesn't have any [normal one, at least] gearbox at all actually.

The Hybrid Synergy Drive system in the RX works something like this. There is a 250 horsepower 3.5-liter V6 ICE (Internal Combustion Engine) converted to the Atkinson cycle for better fuel economy. There is also a 167 horsepower dual electric motor to power the front wheels and/or to recharge the three NiMh batteries with the excess energy coming from the ICE and/or the kinetic energy that is captured from braking. Finally, another smaller electric motor powers the rear wheels during hard acceleration and sometimes recharges the batteries using kinetic braking energy which would otherwise go to waste.

Instead of a normal gearbox, the dual electric motor in the front is connected to a planetary gearset, therefore acting like a Continuous Variable Transmission. Since everything is electronically controlled, the "transmission's" official name from Toyota is E-CVT, hence the confusion about its type in most car mags.

On top of this whole arrangement, the RX 450h also benefits from an exhaust-heat recovery system to reduce engine warm-up periods, a cooled exhaust gas-recirculation system to reduce fuel pumping loss and liquid cooling on both electric motors. Since everything is electronically controlled, the pedals, engine(s), the "transmission" and even the steering have no direct mechanical connection that takes the driver input to the wheels, making the whole driving experience a bit spooky for a neophyte in hybrid tech.

Although at first glance the interior of our Lexus RX 450h seemed a bit austere in terms of helpful gadgets, we soon found out that nothing could be further from the truth. It had a dual-zone climate control system, a state-of-the-art Mark Levinson Surround Sound audio system with no less than 15-speakers and a 330 Watt output, electrically-adjustable and three-stage heated front seats, four automatic electrically operated windows and an electrically-operated rear hatch.

Naturally, apart from the aforementioned features, an [rather small] electric glass sunroof and an electrically-adjustable steering wheel, our test car was also fitted with a very helpful navigation system and an intelligent bi-xenon headlight system.

The list of helpful, or not so helpful, gadgets continued with a fighter-plane inspired head-up display and Lexus' own version of an iDrive/MMI/Comand system. Called the "Lexus Remote Touch", this system works by integrating most of the major car systems to be controlled by a contraption similar to a fixed mouse.

Like a rollerball system, the center console "joystick" uses haptic feedback. The controller provides reaction force and force feedback, so that the on-screen cursor can move to nearby virtual buttons automatically. Although some of its functions can be configured by the driver using the on-screen interface, we found it to be a bit less intuitive than its German counterparts, especially since the driver is required to look where the cursor is moving on the center console display. But hey, at least it's original.

Even though it hasn't been tested yet by EuroNCAP, the Lexus RX suffered a bunch of very successful crash tests in the US, by both the IIHS and the NHTSA independent organization. Since it passed both tests with flying colors, one can only think that a five-star EuroNCAP result with full marks is to be expected as well.

The RX 450h we drove comes in standard with eight airbags - two dual-zone ones in the front, two side airbags for the front passengers, two full-length head airbags for all passengers and two knee airbags for the front passengers. As far as the active safety goes, there the regular anti-lock braking system with emergency brake assist, an electronic stability control and a traction control system in standard.

In other words, there are plenty of both active and passive safety features to keep its passengers relatively safe in the unfortunate event of an accident. On top of that, the seating position is very high and this is a really heavy car, which translates into better points when colliding with a lower and lighter vehicle.

The main upside with the Lexus RX 450h is not its impressive array of gizmos or the powertrain technology under the hood, although at first we were inclined to mark these as its most important aspects. The compact car like fuel economy isn't a too big of an advantage either. No, it's the fact that although it's a pretty imposing crossover/SUV, nobody is going to put the Greenpeace police on your a** for driving one. By also using a relatively economical gasoline engine, the RX 450h has also escaped the "dirty SUV" image some European cars are having nowadays, and that really says something.

The worst part about it is without a doubt the fact that it completely isolates its driver from the act of driving a car. Because this is no longer a soccer mom SUV/planet killer. No, this is the epitome of the future on wheels. And you can drive one today. Sorry, we meant ride in one today, because the RX 450h feels more like an automatic and very safe pod-like means of transportation than a real car. Some people hate that, while others couldn't wait more for something like it to arrive.

The ugly bit about the Lexus RX 450h by some accounts is its "imperial stormtrooper from Star Wars meets animatronic pig on wheels" look. By others is the fact that, although this is classified as a premium crossover/SUV, you can't help but notice the amount of cheap plastics and the synthetic wood inserts all over the interior. If you can get over those, there's no other more economical or comfortable crossover/SUV that runs on gasoline out there.