that<\/em>?\u201d<\/p>\nJust as tellingly, graying owners of old RXs seemed oblivious to the radical new ute. They would drive by my Lexus in a beige haze. Lexus expects a younger, hipper generation to be attracted to the sci-fi shape \u2014 but will it turn off older, more conservative loyalists?<\/p>\n
I\u2019ve modeled the new look for you before. Unlike, say, BMW or Audi, which generally use their flagships to launch new designs that then trickle down to smaller vehicles \u2014 Lexus launched its so-called \u201cL-face design\u201d with the little IS sedan, NX crossover and RC sports car. The Extreme Makeover has been a sales hit on the NX with sales running so hot (4,500 a month) that production can\u2019t keep up. Yet the spindle-grille plastic surgery looks so out of place on the sleek RC that it should get an episode on E! network\u2019s \u201cBotched.\u201d<\/p>\n
But on the RX, the design has found its vessel.<\/p>\n
The huge grille \u2014 together with Murano-like creases and floating roof \u2014 don\u2019t overwhelm the larger canvas. The look still gets polarized reaction. My posts on social media elicited responses from \u201cthat\u2019s plug ugly\u201d to \u201cthat front end … I dunno.\u201d But in-the-flesh comments are more flattering. Most important for Lexus, it gives the beige brand emotional appeal.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s a style that runs counter to the anthropomorphic face of most vehicles. The Infiniti Q70 is chubby-cheeked. The Mazda CX-6 a grinning warrior. The RX looks like … Darth Vader\u2019s mask.<\/p>\n
The menacing visage is transforming. No longer was I piloting an invisible appliance; now I was driving something that looked like it had just flown out of a Death Star. Along Portland\u2019s Route 30, my black-Vader-grilled, RC350 F-Sport filled a Nissan Z\u2019s mirrors. I pulled alongside. Our eyes met. The Z sucked my doors off.<\/p>\n
The RX\u2019s X Games exterior may cause the heart to race, but not the drivetrain. A Toyota Camry-derived, 3.5-liter V-6 pumping out 295 horsepower is the only engine option (with smooth eight-speed tranny) on the 4,387-pound ute. Opt for the RX450h hybrid and the V-6 and electric motor make a torquey team. The 567-horsepower BMW X5 M need not worry. But, if green is your thing, the racy-lookin\u2019 hybrid will\u00a0thump\u00a0<\/em>a more-expensive Mercedes GLE diesel in every metric from acceleration to fuel economy.<\/p>\nI would opt for the F-Sport model \u2014 now available in V-6 or hybrid trims \u2014 as its more-weighted steering is a significant improvement over the base model\u2019s frigate-like numbness. Toggle full-time all-wheel drive, spin the Mode wheel to F-Sport-Plus, check the G-meter, and you\u2019ll not only arrive at young Johnny\u2019s soccer game first, you\u2019ll also stand out from all the Ford Explorers and Acura MDXs in the parking lot.<\/p>\n
Whoa, dude. When did your Mom get the Galactic Empire star ship?<\/em><\/p>\nBut when Johnny brings his friends over for a ride home, Mom will have to decline. Sorry kids, no third-row seat. Um, can we talk about this oversight?<\/p>\n
Despite its upgrades inside and out, the RX still refuses a third row-seat. It\u2019s not alone. In a luxury segment that parallels a mainstream class where competitors are shunned if they don\u2019t do a threesome, the choices are embarrassingly slim. The Acura MDX and pricey Volvo XC90 are rare exceptions.<\/p>\n
A third-row option would nicely fit the RX\u2019s tradition of interior comfort (acres of stitched vinyl and leather abound in a variety of colors including Rioja Red) which gets even bigger thanks to a 2-inch wheelbase extension.<\/p>\n
Lexus marketing guru Brian Bolain is candid about the third-row omission. \u201cWe know there is a need,\u201d he says. \u201cOur dealers have made it very clear that if there is one wish they could have it would be a third row.\u201d<\/p>\n
Love those Lexus dealers. They are the secret sauce to Lexus\u2019 customer loyalty. A friend tells the story of the dealer rep who sold them a car, then came home with them and spent another two hours at the house helping their new RX move in. Programming the garage door opener. Going over maintenance details. I think he even cooked them dinner.<\/p>\n
The dealer love helps mask the brand\u2019s (few) deficiencies.<\/p>\n
The \u201916 RX, for example, retains its claim as midsize luxe\u2019s most affordable ute, but stylish, 10-grand-cheaper, mainstream makes like the Nissan Murano and Ford Edge are more tech savvy.<\/p>\n
The RX gets optional adaptive cruise control, blind-spot assist, and 360-degree camera, sure, but so do mainstream utes. Shouldn\u2019t a $42K luxury yacht come standard with these features? Want Apple Car Play like a Chevy? Sorry. Self-park assist like the Edge? Nope.<\/p>\n
Solid in so many ways, Lexus can be annoyingly cute in others. Instead of replicating Ford\/Audi\u2019s brilliant, foot-actuated auto-rear tailgate, Lexus gives you a hand-actuated feature (hold your paw in front of the rear logo). Huh? Does Lexus think we carry groceries on our heads? At least Lexus has ditched the all-but-unworkable, touch pad-driven infotainment control from the NX.<\/p>\n
Lexus has been slow to the turbo revolution, yet the NX\u2019s turbo-4 will be shared soon, giving mpg-hungry customers a cheaper option than hybrid. Lexus will announce pricing for the RX closer to its November arrival in showrooms, but expect a $1,000 jump.<\/p>\n
Sci-fi looks come with a price.\u00a0Dude, Darth Vader is waiting to pick you up from soccer practice.<\/em><\/p>\n2016 Lexus RX350 and RX450h<\/p>\n
Vehicle type:\u00a0Front-engine, front and all-wheel-drive, five-passenger sport ute<\/p>\n
Price:\u00a0TBA (Likely $1,000 increase over 2015 model\u2019s $41,910 base price )<\/p>\n
Power plant:\u00a03.5-liter, dual overhead cam V-6 (RX350); 3.5-liter V-6 with Nickel Metal Hydride battery-driven electric motor<\/p>\n
Power:\u00a0295 horsepower, 267 pound-feet of torque (RX350); Hybrid gas-electric combined 308 horsepower (RX450h)<\/p>\n
Transmission:\u00a0Eight-speed automatic transmission (RX350): Continuously Variable Transmission (RX450h)<\/p>\n
Performance:\u00a00-60 mph, 6 seconds (RX350); 0-60 mph, 7 seconds (RX450h \u2014 both Motor Trend estimates)<\/p>\n
Weight:\u00a04,387 pounds. (AWD RX350); 4,740 pounds. (AWD RX450h)<\/p>\n
Fuel economy:\u00a0EPA 19 mpg city\/26 mpg highway\/22 mpg combined (RX350); EPA 30 mpg city\/28 mpg highway\/30 mpg combined (RX450h)<\/p>\n
Report card<\/p>\n
Highs:\u00a0Darth Vader grille; roomier than ever<\/p>\n
Lows:\u00a0Darth Vader grille; third-row seat, please<\/p>\n
Overall:\u2605\u2605\u2605<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Japanese design is widely admired. Elegant gardens. The most Pritzker Architecture Prize winners (six) outside the United States. Even my cartoon colleagues have been influenced by Japanese\u00a0anime \u2014\u00a0popular animators like \u201cBoondocks\u201d artist Aaron McGruder and \u201cSamurai Jack\u201d\u00a0creator Genndy Tartakovsky. Missing in action has been Japanese auto design \u2014 credited with inspiring more naps than imitators. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7,87],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17169"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17169"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17169\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17170,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17169\/revisions\/17170"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17169"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17169"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17169"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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