2017 Lexus RX450h Review
Car Tested: 2017 Lexus RX450h; Test Location: Ooty
Price OTR Mumbai: Rs. 1.30 crores
The Leuxs RX450h is a fun to drive SUV that is also spacious and comfortable
The second offering from Lexus for India is the bold RX450h which looks stunning and is positioned as a sporty SUV. It is also offered with a hybrid powertrain and comes in different variants. The RX is slotted between the ES300h and LX450d and here in Ooty, we got the drive the F-Sport version of the 2017 Lexus RX450h.
The RX450h is the most aggressive looking car in the Lexus India lineup
The Lexus RX450h looks really cool. It has a sporty appeal attached to it and that is depicted by the stance of the car, the sharp lines and the body line. It isn’t that big in size and follows Lexus’ styling philosophy which consists of the spindle-shaped grille and the L-shaped elements including the LEDs in the headlamps, fog lamp housing, etc. The F-Sport version comes with its own badging on the front fenders and gets a black honeycomb grille while the Luxury version gets a chrome slatted grille.
The interiors of the RX are quite off-beat as well
The design of the dashboard is driver-focused. The dashboard itself is very large and comes with good sculpting. The centre console houses a large screen which can be controlled by a nice, smooth joystick on the console. The F-Sport gets a different instrument cluster compared to the Luxury trim. The seats look sporty and again feel very large and well-cushioned. There is electric adjustment for the rear seats as well and they can be reclined too. Space inside the cabin is splendid. The boot is nicely-shaped too while storage spaces in the cabin are good. However, there are certain areas where the quality of materials feel a bit far off from similarly-priced German rivals. You get a brilliant 15-speaker + subwoofer Mark Levinson audio system which sounds exceptional. Another feature I loved is the ventilated seats (cooling as well as heating) which is super useful in India.
The RX450h offers smooth performance with its hybrid powertrain
The NVH levels on Lexus cars are simply incredible with great insulation
The Lexus RX450h combines a 3.5-litre petrol engine with an electric motor. The engine produces 259 HP at 6000 RPM and 335 Nm at 4600 RPM while the total power output with the electric motor is 308 HP. This powertrain too gets a 7-step e-CVT transmission. Talking about power delivery, it feels very linear right from the lower end of the RPM spectrum to the 6000 RPM redline. The powertrain gets noisy only at high RPMs. The CVT does a good job but I preferred using the manual mode with paddle-shifters and even the gear knob.
The RX comes with super low NVH and strong performance
The RX450h does 0-100 km/hr in a claimed 7.7 seconds but when you floor the throttle you don’t really get the push back feeling and you feel as if the car is gathering pace slowly. However, it masks speeds very well and the fact that the NVH levels are so bloody brilliant, you just don’t hear any of the outside noise. This car too gets Eco, Normal and Sport modes along with a pure EV mode. The Sport mode made the car really fun to drive with improved acceleration while the Eco and Normal modes are good for city driving. The claimed fuel efficiency is 18.8 km/l but you can expect 12-13 km/l in day to day driving situations.
The RX has a good balance of ride and handling
The steering of the RX450h is on the lighter side, having less feedback but it is very precise and makes the car fun to manoeuvre around the curves and twisty roads. It weighs up nicely in Sport mode and that coupled to the stiff suspension makes the car feel agile and composed. The suspension is well set-up and the ride quality is very good on most types of road surfaces, be it in Normal mode or Sport mode. The RX450h gets 235/65/18 and I found the grip levels to be excellent. Stopping power is taken care of by ventilated disc brakes but again I would have preferred some more feedback from the pedal.
You get a ton of safety features on offer
You get safety features like 10 airbags along with ABS, VSC, Hill Start Assist, Vehicle Dynamic Management, TPMS and ISOFIX mounts. The Lexus RX450h is priced at Rs. 1.30 crore and it is a dynamic SUV that comes with a sporty appeal. It looks young, feels eager to drive, is comfortable and is loaded to the gills with technology. It will compete with the likes of the Jaguar F-Pace and BMW X6 and we feel it could be a really good buy for someone who wants something that is a bit exclusive and doesn’t mind a hybrid powertrain.
The RX looks youthful and provides sporty dynamics