2016 Lexus RX450h F Sport AWD
WITH INTEREST IN ULTIMATE EFFICIENCY ON THE WANE, THE ORIGINAL LUXURY HYBRID SUV MAKES SOME ADJUSTMENTS.
Instrumented Test
The Lexus RX, the brand’s most popular offering, was redesigned for the 2016 model year. Despite falling gas prices—and the resulting falling demand for hybrids—Lexus was not about to give up on the RX hybrid (which dates to 2005, long before every maker offered a luxury hybrid SUV). Lexus instead has attempted to bolster its appeal beyond the mileage-obsessed, chiefly by offering the hybrid with F Sport trim for the first time.
What the F Sport?!
The F Sport package ($3410) is offered only on all-wheel-drive models, and it includes flashier visuals such as a black mesh grille, black side-mirror caps, a restyled lower front fascia and rear bumper, and 20-inch wheels. It also brings an adaptive variable suspension and a Sport+ setting for the drive modes. Those drive settings change the throttle response and (in Eco) the climate-control function, with Sport+ additionally altering the power-steering assist and the damper tuning; however, we found the differences among them notable only in the throttle mapping. How far do you want to prod the pedal before you get any action? If a lot, choose Eco mode; for a moderate amount pick Normal; for somewhat less, go with Sport or Sport+. After playing around with it for a while, we just left it in Normal mode most of the time, which the system defaults to every time the engine is started.
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Although the Sport+ mode’s supposedly tauter steering wasn’t significantly different, the RX450h F Sport’s handling was sportier than one might expect. Whether a credit to the adaptive variable damping system or to the F Sport’s firmer suspension tune, body roll was well controlled during spirited back-road driving. Nevertheless, the RX450h’s 0.77 g of cornering grip, which is at the low end of its segment, won’t have you heading to your local autocross. At our first-drive opportunity of the new RX—which took place in Portland, Oregon—we found the ride to be pretty smooth, but on the more beat-up pavement back home, the RX450h exhibited some impact harshness. (In our test of a non–F Sport RX350 on the smaller, 18-inch wheels, we noted a plusher, Lexus-typical ride.)
Your Mileage May Vary
While the availability of F Sport trim is interesting, the hybrid exists to deliver fuel efficiency. The EPA rates the RX450h at 31 mpg in the city and 30 mpg on the highway in front-drive form, a big jump from the standard RX350’s 20/28 mpg. Comparing all-wheel-drive models (like our test example), the hybrid still posts impressive 30/28 mpg ratings, versus 19/26 for the RX350. In our experience, though, the hybrid’s advantage over the regular V-6 wasn’t nearly as great: We saw 22 mpg overall for the RX450h versus 19 for the all-wheel-drive RX350. Granted, our 881 test miles in Michigan didn’t include much city driving, where the hybrid has its greatest advantage, but that’s still meager improvement over the standard model. (Note that when we drove the hybrid around New York City, we averaged 27 mpg, and also that the RX350 is happy to drink regular fuel while the hybrid wants premium.)
At the track, the two models’ test numbers were close. The hybrid’s powertrain musters a total of 308 horsepower, against 295 for the RX350, but those extra ponies appear to be negated by the all-wheel-drive RX450h’s additional 340 pounds. The RX450h gets to 60 mph in 7.1 seconds, 0.2 second behind the RX350, and the hybrid is fractionally (0.1 second and 2 mph) behind it in the quarter-mile, as well. Braking from 70 mph takes 178 feet, four feet longer than the RX350.
There’s more divergence between the two RX models in the at-the-wheel experience than those minor differences in test results suggest, however. While the RX hybrid is theoretically able to cruise in blissful silence on battery power alone, it rarely does so for more than a few moments at a time. Calls for acceleration are usually met with a reaction from both the engine and the electric motors. Once you’re up to speed, the engine can shut down only to come back on again at the next slight upgrade or prod of the accelerator pedal. All of this is quite seamless—there’s no shuddering on engine startup or shutdown, for example—but throttle response does change as the various elements come into and drop out of play, which means the hybrid doesn’t offer the measured, progressive response one gets with a naturally aspirated engine—such as the 3.5-liter V-6 in the RX350—or even a good turbo mill. And the soundtrack rises and falls and rises again; even the regenerative brakes make a strange whirring sound. All of which is to say, it’s not the precise, harmonious driving experience one would expect from a luxury vehicle.
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Rich Life
Which is a shame, because the RX is a convincing luxury vehicle in many other ways—particularly the interior. Grained plastic is virtually absent from the cabin, which instead features soft-touch upholstered surfaces, with diamond-pattern stitching on the seats and door panels. The F Sport brings especially comfortable front seats that embrace occupants with a deep-pocketed design for additional lateral support. The RX still offers only two rows of seats (although a three-row version may be on the way), and this latest generation’s longer wheelbase and slightly lower rear floor has made things even more comfortable for rear-seat riders, who will find generous accommodations. An optional panoramic sunroof over both the front and rear seats (the front portion tilts or slides open) helps light up the cabin.
Functionally, the RX cabin employs a large, 12.3-inch center display (although base models make do with a smaller, 8.0-inch version) with a customizable home screen showing one, two, or three elements—map, audio, and phone, for example. On models with navigation, the driver operates functions on the screen using Lexus’s mouselike Remote Touch Interface (RTI), which remains odd and somewhat distracting to use. (Cars without navigation have a more conventional knob controller instead.) The good news regarding RTI is that you can usually avoid it, since there are lots of physical buttons, including for choosing the map, going back one step, selecting the audio source, and operating most climate-control functions. There also are much-welcomed knobs to control audio volume and tuning.
The dashtop is lower than in the previous RX, which combined with thinner A-pillars improves the driver’s view. Naturally, the RX also offers a full spate of driver aids, including blind-spot warning (orange lights that illuminate in the side-mirror glass); lane-departure warning (choose between a beep or a steering-wheel vibration, with or without an automated nudge of the steering wheel); and forward-collision warning with pedestrian detection and automatic emergency braking. There’s also a backup camera (standard) with an available 360-degree camera view, as well as rear cross-traffic alert and adaptive cruise control that includes a measure of automated steering assist.
More than any of those, the one technology that seems of dubious value is the hybrid system itself. The RX450h starts at $53,185, which is $10,335 more than the RX350. That same price difference holds for all-wheel-drive versions. In our experience, that extra expenditure didn’t bring much greater fuel economy—although drivers who spend a lot of time in stop-and-go traffic no doubt would see a bigger hybrid advantage. In these times of cheap gasoline, however, it’s hard to make the case to pass up the less expensive RX350 in favor of the RX450h, and the F Sport package is available on either one.
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