RX450hL - long term testdrive review

[tomRCFcarbon]

My RCF Carbon is in at Lexus Hatfield having the £45 winter health check and preparation and so I organised with the dealership to borrow the new long wheel base RX450h for the weekend. 

We have 4 children between 10 and 13, so we need a 7 seater and I have managed to get this Lexus on my other half’s list of cars we are considering. 

The model we borrowed is in Luxury spec and apart from that I didn’t spot any obvious non-standard options. 

So my impressions are:

- it is deceptively quick, clearly not a patch on the normal monster I drive, but in town from any speed the hybrid motor provides that instantaneous torque which makes the car feel a lot more nippy than it should. It also means the car is a lot quieter as the gearbox doesn’t kick down as far as it needs. Which means it picks up speed without making the normal fuss - which means when you look down, you don’t realise how much speed you’ve taken on

- speaking of quietness, it is almost Bentley quiet in the cabin, bit of tyre noise, but apart from that it is a very pleasant calm place to be

- stereo is awesome. It’s not the Levinson in this one, but still sounds great. Music was okay but with spoken word (DAB radio but also audiobooks and podcasts) the hifi was particularly well resolved

- the ride is good if a little wallowy, granted this is particularly noticeable from me as I’m going from the ridiculous into the sublime, but nevertheless it is good and very well  at everyday speeds on almost any road surface

- I haven’t extensively tested it off road, but the few bits I have driven down (access roads to dog walking car parks in the South Downs and a farm entrance to visit friends) the car didn’t deal with them very well at all. Over sprung and under damped on rebound I would say - meant it sounded and felt very crashy. Not a patch even on my old Mitsubishi PHEV thing. 

- size and practicality. It’s MASSIVE...much bigger than an Outlander. But the legroom is pretty bad in the back. The middle row of seats slide forward and back which is cool. And with 5 people it’s v big. But the draw of this car must be the 7 seats and unless you are transporting 5 year olds, someone is going to be complaining 

Overall? I really liked it, but feel it is flawed. And vs the pretty flawless Xc90, i feel it’s going to struggle. 

[Odysseus]

Thanks for taking the time to share your thoughts Tom. Views from real people are often far more insightful than what’s written in the press.

Out of interest, what vehicle are you currently using to transport your large family?


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[rayaans]

7 hours ago, tomRCFcarbon said:

My RCF Carbon is in at Lexus Hatfield having the £45 winter health check and preparation and so I organised with the dealership to borrow the new long wheel base RX450h for the weekend. 

We have 4 children between 10 and 13, so we need a 7 seater and I have managed to get this Lexus on my other half’s list of cars we are considering. 

The model we borrowed is in Luxury spec and apart from that I didn’t spot any obvious non-standard options. 

So my impressions are:

- it is deceptively quick, clearly not a patch on the normal monster I drive, but in town from any speed the hybrid motor provides that instantaneous torque which makes the car feel a lot more nippy than it should. It also means the car is a lot quieter as the gearbox doesn’t kick down as far as it needs. Which means it picks up speed without making the normal fuss - which means when you look down, you don’t realise how much speed you’ve taken on

- speaking of quietness, it is almost Bentley quiet in the cabin, bit of tyre noise, but apart from that it is a very pleasant calm place to be

- stereo is awesome. It’s not the Levinson in this one, but still sounds great. Music was okay but with spoken word (DAB radio but also audiobooks and podcasts) the hifi was particularly well resolved

- the ride is good if a little wallowy, granted this is particularly noticeable from me as I’m going from the ridiculous into the sublime, but nevertheless it is good and very well  at everyday speeds on almost any road surface

- I haven’t extensively tested it off road, but the few bits I have driven down (access roads to dog walking car parks in the South Downs and a farm entrance to visit friends) the car didn’t deal with them very well at all. Over sprung and under damped on rebound I would say - meant it sounded and felt very crashy. Not a patch even on my old Mitsubishi PHEV thing. 

- size and practicality. It’s MASSIVE...much bigger than an Outlander. But the legroom is pretty bad in the back. The middle row of seats slide forward and back which is cool. And with 5 people it’s v big. But the draw of this car must be the 7 seats and unless you are transporting 5 year olds, someone is going to be complaining 

Overall? I really liked it, but feel it is flawed. And vs the pretty flawless Xc90, i feel it’s going to struggle. 

Its built for the american market just because they wanted a 7 seater.

The best 7 seater on sale for space right now is something like the GLS.

The RX 5 seater is the best version of the RX i feel and has more legroom than the 7

 

[tomRCFcarbon]

7 hours ago, Odysseus said:

Thanks for taking the time to share your thoughts Tom. Views from real people are often far more insightful than what’s written in the press.

Out of interest, what vehicle are you currently using to transport your large family?


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

That’s exactly the problem. My RCF and a temporary Ford Focus (so two cars everywhere)...currently whittling a long list down. The RXL is now off. 

[Spacewagon52]

6 hours ago, rayaans said:

 

The best 7 seater on sale for space right now is something like the GLS.

 

 

GLS ? Sorry what car exactly is that?

[Spacewagon52]

Sorry Mercedes! The last GLS I had was a Mitsubishi!

[welland]

56 minutes ago, Spacewagon52 said:

Sorry Mercedes! The last GLS I had was a Mitsubishi!

Think that I had a Mitsubishi gls too.  My dad had a Hillman Hunter gls in the 80s That felt quick as a child! 😉

[rich1068]

16 hours ago, tomRCFcarbon said:

That’s exactly the problem. My RCF and a temporary Ford Focus (so two cars everywhere)...currently whittling a long list down. The RXL is now off. 

Guessing your budget based on your posts, I've heard the new Discovery is one of the best/most spacious 7 seaters around. But if you want to take practicality over prestige then it's the Galaxy.

 

On 11/25/2018 at 8:55 AM, tomRCFcarbon said:

meant it sounded and felt very crashy. Not a patch even on my old Mitsubishi PHEV thing. 

I wonder how much of that is down to wheels and low profile tyres? Lexus do seem to like their mahoosive wheels at the moment.

[tomRCFcarbon]

2 hours ago, rich1068 said:

Guessing your budget based on your posts, I've heard the new Discovery is one of the best/most spacious 7 seaters around. But if you want to take practicality over prestige then it's the Galaxy.

We hired a Galaxy over the summer holidays and it was fantastic. Better in every practical way than the RXL...I fit weren’t for looks, build quality and refinement (and kerb appeal) - it would be a winner. I think the conclusion is going to be all these cars a bit big for the other half - so we’ll end up looking at 2series grand tourer thing, s-max, Tiguan all-space and Touran. 

[tomRCFcarbon]

2 hours ago, rich1068 said:

wonder how much of that is down to wheels and low profile tyres? Lexus do seem to like their mahoosive wheels at the moment.

No I think it’s just down to springs and dampers. Admittedly the wheels are big on the RXL, but it’s not a lack of tyre sidewall that makes the suspension top out with a crash when going over bumps and bumps - it even did it on sleeping policemen. 

I think it’s easy to forget how much practice Mitsubishi have off-road. After countless generations of Shoguns, Paris Dakar success for decades and all of the other soft roaders they’ve built, they know a thing or two about how to dial in a good suspension setup. 

The RX-L on the other hand is an off-roader in looks only...so I don’t blame the engineers for not making a use case for the suspension to do very much except for climbing curbs in posh suburbs. 

[rich1068]

27 minutes ago, tomRCFcarbon said:

We hired a Galaxy over the summer holidays and it was fantastic. Better in every practical way than the RXL...I fit weren’t for looks, build quality and refinement (and kerb appeal) - it would be a winner. I think the conclusion is going to be all these cars a bit big for the other half - so we’ll end up looking at 2series grand tourer thing, s-max, Tiguan all-space and Touran. 

We picked up this a couple of months ago.

With the 240PS Auto petrol it's rather nice, if not a little thirsty. But a price worth paying to avoid diesel imo. We have a 10yo, 7yo and 5yo plus all the usual football, Scouts, camps etc with friends and it's a decent fit though you do need to slide that middle row if you want to put the bigger ones in the back. I found the 2 Series, Tiguan and Touran all to be noticeably smaller.

[Mr Vlad]

As above. S Max all the way either the 240 horse petrol or 240 horse diesel which is unbelievable. Looks are superb too in sport trim.

[tomRCFcarbon]

I think this will be the decision we go for. 

On 11/26/2018 at 6:53 PM, Mr Vlad said:

As above. S Max all the way either the 240 horse petrol or 240 horse diesel which is unbelievable. Looks are superb too in sport trim.

Although for the school run and back I’ll probably plump for one that sips fuel, but specify big wheels and tick the ST-Line box. Saying that a friend has the Vignale version and the seats are ridiculously comfortable!