DRIVING RANGE
Deserving of Attention Despite some idiosyncrasies, the RX450h from Lexus has enough quality and technical surprise to win you over, writes Ben Oliver
I
’d sharpened my pencil for the Lexus RX450h hybrid SUV, ready to pop the eco-bubble of a car that makes the extraordinary twin claims of having as much power as a sports car but lower emissions than a supermini. But then Lexus gave me a Pope-white one, with some mellow Coldplay loaded onto the 40-gigabyte hard drive of the 15-speaker Mark Levinson stereo, and sent me off for a drive. And as the virginal white Lexus whistled and sighed through fields of tall grass, brushed like green suede by a soft warm wind under deep blue skies, I started to lose all journalistic cynicism. I started to think I was in some sort of car ad: I could picture butterflies fluttering from my tailpipe, tiny hedgerow creatures rushing to the roadside to catch a glimpse of my friendly, silent car, and children, eyes closed, breathing deeply and smiling as I passed… Stop, stop, stop. The RX450h is not the Messiah; but it’s still quite a naughty boy. It uses two electric motors to help the main petrol engine, drawing energy from the brakes which would otherwise be lost, and able to power the car silently and emission-free with the petrol engine stopped for short distances and at low speeds. The driver need do absolutely nothing; the car switches automatically and seamlessly between power sources for the greatest efficiency. But this remains, I had to remind myself, a 2.2-tonne SUV. Those of you with cynicism intact will point out that no matter how clean and economical it is – Lexus claims an astonishing 6.3 litres per 100km and 148g/km – it would be a lot greener if it wasn’t so heavy and tall. Some will argue that hybrids are a technological dead-end and that the claimed economy figures are impossible to replicate in real use. Others will argue that the only reason this car exists is for the hybrid badge on the side; that it allows the middle classes to buy their way out of a conscience crisis without giving up the SUVs they’ve become addicted to. 24
HK Golfer・MAY 2011
There’s some merit in all those arguments, but there’s no arguing with the fact that Lexus has improved economy and emissions by around a quarter even over the outgoing RX400h hybrid; a quantum leap given that we’ve been fiddling with petrol engines for well over a century now. And it has put its new drivetrain into one of the oddest, most idiosyncratic cars on the road; a weird mix of the brilliant and the utterly terrible that drives unlike almost anything else. Cynic or not, it deserves your attention. I don’t think anyone will try to argue that it’s a good-looking car. Lexus has abandoned the faux-SUV styling of the old RX and fully embraced the ‘crossover’ look, which involves doing everything possible to make the car look smaller and less offensive than it actually is. But
SCORECARD (Based on RX450h Ultimate) How much? Engine: Transmission: Performance: How heavy?
HK$774,100 3456cc V6, 295 horsepower ECVT-i with sequential shift 7.8sec 0-100kph, 180kmh 2110kg
HKGOLFER.COM
at least with a Range Rover you know where your money’s gone; the RX just looks like a bloated Japanese hatchback, and I had a tough time trying to match the way it looks with the premium price. But maybe that’s the point. Maybe Lexus knows that buyers don’t want a car that makes them look as if they’re spending or polluting excessively, but still delivers the SUV security and isolation and elevated view they’re hooked on once they’re inside. And there’s no compromise in the cabin. It’s the usual Lexus magnificence in here, though the appeal isn’t in the looks. As usual, it seems to have been designed by four people who haven’t met. There are eight different styles of information display; everything from a fighter-jet head-up display on the windscreen to some Casio watch-style LCD numbers in the main binnacle. But it’s all so utterly perfectly assembled and silken in refinement and operation that you don’t want to get out. There is masses of space and storage and that seemingly random spray of switches is surprisingly ergonomic. And the build quality is peerless. Did you know that Lexus uses waterfalls in its Kyushu factory to catch dust particles 20 microns across, because they can cause ‘scratches’ in the body panels before they’re painted? Or that it is trying to cut noise in the factory so the technicians can concentrate harder on your car? So whatever you think of the driveline powering all this, it’s unlikely to ever let you down. The 3456cc, 24-valve V6 petrol engine makes 246bhp on its own. It powers the front axle only, helped by a 165bhp electric motor. Another 67bhp electric motor powers the rear axle, making the RX450h effectively front-wheel drive until full acceleration is needed or the stability control senses slippage. The lack of real four-wheel drive is unlikely to bother RX buyers; it was never really intended for off-roading.
HKGOLFER.COM
Shutting the engine off when stationary in traffic is a hybrid’s simplest trick but genuinely good for the atmosphere, the wallet and the soul. Whether you can drive silently with the petrol engine stopped and using only the electric motors depends on how much energy the regenerative brakes have recovered for the batteries. Lexus claims you can do up to three kilometres at up to 40kph, and the reaction of pedestrians as you sigh by in near-silence in your weird-looking white car is worth the price on its own. At 7.8sec to 100kph with all three motors working together, acceleration is just about su f f icient a nd produced wit hout much excitement. Nor does the chassis give you much reason to drive enthusiastically. The fully electric power steering lacks feel; the handling is secure but anaesthetized and the ride can be stiff over poor city streets. So what do you make of this oddball car, with its borderline-unbelievable figures? You may well be cynical, but if you try one don’t be surprised if the comfort, the ease, the quality and the mild smugness and sense of tech-savvy superiority subtly start to win you over.
SUV surprise: Lexus has fully embraced the 'crossover' look for the RX 450h, which isn't to everyone's taste, but you can't fault the gizmopacked magnificence of the interior
HK Golfer・MAY 2011
25