Yahoo Autos 2016 Lexus RX hits the reset button
For the past 18 years, the Lexus RX has set the tone for the luxury, midsized crossover category it pioneered. The RX has always delivered an appealing blend of refinement and practicality. It stands out as a benchmark thanks to its supremely quiet, plush cabin with oodles of convenience features, along with a settled, comfortable ride, smooth power delivery, and just the right amount of space for five people and their luggage.
One of the few knocks on the outgoing RX bore on its bland, even yawn-inducing, exterior styling. The 2016 makeover may draw gasps instead. All angularity and sharp points, it could masquerade as an armored spacecraft, with a shockingly large and ferocious-looking black grille. A blacked-out section of the rear roof pillars creates the similar “floating roof” illusion as the 2015 Nissan Murano, one of those coincidences that makes you wonder if half the world’s car designers live in the same condo.
On the whole, the new RX makes a fine pleasure craft. We’ve been spending a few days behind the wheel of an early-production 2016 RX, borrowed, for a fee, from Toyota.
Rather than a regular RX 350, our sampler is a high-end F Sport, which has larger (20-inch) wheels and different suspension tuning than the standard crossover will, so it probably rides a bit more stiffly, but is similar in other respects.
Power delivery from Toyota’s nearly ubiquitous 3.5-liter V6, married here to a new eight-speed automatic transmission, comes on with creamy smoothness. Reportedly, horsepower has been nudged from last year’s 270 to something closer to 300, and the resultant thrust is effortless.
As so often with a Lexus, the cabin remains almost unnaturally quiet when you’re under way. The switchgear gives good tactile feedback, and matte-finish plastic trim has a quality feel.
Wide door openings and high seats allow for easy access front and rear. Multi-adjustable power seats and a power tilt-and-telescope steering wheel make it simple to find a good driving position. We found the F Sport’s perforated red-leather seats well-shaped and comfortable, at least on short acquaintance. Because they are more deeply sculpted and bolstered than the standard trim’s will be, we can’t say how the standard-issue perches will stack up. When you shut off the engine, the driver’s seat thoughtfully glides back and the steering wheel recedes, easing your exit.
