RZ test drive.

larryadler · August 14

Last week my RX4 went in for service, and I requested an RZ as a courtesy car for the day, and I have to admit, having never driven an all electric vehicle before, I was, overall quite impressed.
It has good looks, and handling, very quiet and smooth, as you would expect, excellent performance, and when I collected the car it had 96% Battery, giving a range of 232 miles which I considered reasonable, with, I am told a software update to come giving 280 miles, so no too shabby at all.

The actual range in fact was under estimated, as the Battery life left when I handed it back , would probably have exceeded 250!

I would certainly consider the RZ, but only as a second car, if I could afford it.

I do not think for one moment this RZ is of Lexus quality throughout the interior, the materials used I felt were plasticy over and beyond what I should get in a Lexus, and the future deprecation, not of the Lexus, but any EV is too frightening for me, as a private buyer to consider.

Perhaps the RZ is designed for a new generation of drivers, but on handing it back, I entered my RX4, a gentleman’s club, and left the discotheque behind.

Fig · August 14

I too borrowed a RZ while RX450H was being serviced.

You are definitely in a lexus.but the trim and accessory level was below that of theRX. I actually had to ask what trim level it had. they said it was the Takumi. I was left a bit disappointed as stated above the materials just didnt have that same luxury feeling. It was my first drive in an all electric car. the acceleration was quite addictive didnt have it long enough to know about range.

David

Ken R · August 14

I got one as a courtesy car when my previous NX450h was in for some recall work.

I too was impressed by the performance, slightly underwhelmed by the interior trim - particularly the seat upholstery - but what I couldn't get over was the lack of a rear wiper! Tried every switch before actually examining the rear of the car to discover there was no wiper!

Tickedon · August 14

The RZ doesn’t have any real leather on any trim, all vegan fake leather and suede (apparently we all need to be green vegan ecozealots if we want an EV). I think that may largely explain the perceived lower quality and plastic feel?

NemesisUK · August 14

I also had the RZ as a courtesy car while my RX was being serviced. The RZ was a Takumi grade, lots of toys and generally a lovely car. Drove very well, very quiet and responsive. I liked the ultra-suede upholstery. The cabin trims felt quite flimsy, plastic was abundant and very thin with exposed edges. Getting back into the RX really highlighted how solidly built it was, the RZ nowhere near as 'classy'.

I think the RZ has been designed with massive weight saving in mind?

ArneT · September 26

I also had the use of an RZ this week for 24 hours whilst our 2021 UX 300e was being serviced and awaiting some new tyres.

It was generally a very positive experience .. not sure what trim-level I had and didn't have time to check the 600+ page manual.

Positives include:

Excellent drive / cornering ability. Felt composed even under hard acceleration / braking (4 wheel drive certainly helping here!).
Spacious cabin and boot.
Most of the new 'toys' were welcome, drive assistance including gently guiding me around corners.
The (faux?) leather steering wheel felt very good (very soft and not as chunky as my NX / UX).
Large touchscreen which made the majority of commands easy and graphics were very crisp.

Negatives include:

The seating position was rather low (I prefer the NX), although is good if comparing with the UX.
I was unable to get the 'close and lock' button on the rear tailgate to do anything (just a lot of beeping).
The dual pano roof didn't seem to have any covers / dimming?
No rear windscreen wiper - too much water left on the vehicle during/after rain.
Didn't like the way it was over-cautious in slowing me down as the cars in front were beginning to slow.
No HUD for speed and no 360 parking camera etc - I guess I had a lower trim?
Couldn't find the vehicle settings whilst driving to adjust the bass from the sound-system (might be a safety feature to prevent me tinkering with settings whilst driving?)
Driver alert sensor didn't like me wearing my sunglasses .. on a sunny day!

Certainly worth a test drive in my book!

ArneT · September 26

On 8/14/2024 at 5:55 PM, Ken R said:

I got one as a courtesy car when my previous NX450h was in for some recall work.

I too was impressed by the performance, slightly underwhelmed by the interior trim - particularly the seat upholstery - but what I couldn't get over was the lack of a rear wiper! Tried every switch before actually examining the rear of the car to discover there was no wiper!

I did exactly the same today when trying out the RZ!

FredD · September 27

I had one for 12 days and it is a very easy car to live with, I really like it. I would not recommend it though to anyone without a home charger or a facility to charge at home or at work. If not I would have no issue of buying one

wivenhoe · September 27

ArneT - You must have been driving the entry level Premium - the Premium Plus has a hud and 360 camera and the pano roof in a Takumi is dimmable. The close and lock function doesn’t do anything on mine - it may be a dealer option to enable. You can really lessen the effects of the ‘driver assistance’ - perhaps the curtesy car had them set to high. On the Mark Levinson system on the Takumi you can adjust the bass, treble, 3D sound and adjust the bias of the speakers to front, back, left or right or any combination ! I’ve luckily been able to turn off / severely reduce the sensitivity of the driver monitor.
I miss a rear wiper, although the rear camera washer helps in parking in bad weather. I toyed with the idea of buying the new Porsche Macan EV and the salesman said they were ‘strongly advising’ against choosing the £ 250 rear wiper option as it reduced the range by more than 30 miles !

ArneT · October 13

On 9/27/2024 at 9:03 PM, wivenhoe said:

ArneT - You must have been driving the entry level Premium - the Premium Plus has a hud and 360 camera and the pano roof in a Takumi is dimmable. The close and lock function doesn’t do anything on mine - it may be a dealer option to enable. You can really lessen the effects of the ‘driver assistance’ - perhaps the curtesy car had them set to high. On the Mark Levinson system on the Takumi you can adjust the bass, treble, 3D sound and adjust the bias of the speakers to front, back, left or right or any combination ! I’ve luckily been able to turn off / severely reduce the sensitivity of the driver monitor.
I miss a rear wiper, although the rear camera washer helps in parking in bad weather. I toyed with the idea of buying the new Porsche Macan EV and the salesman said they were ‘strongly advising’ against choosing the £ 250 rear wiper option as it reduced the range by more than 30 miles !

Thanks Bob. That was my conclusion too after researching the different trim levels on the Lexus website. For the pano roof .. is there no cheaper option of a sliding cover (such as the one on my 2016 NX300h)? Or is the dimmable glass the only way to reduce sunlight on an RZ?

wivenhoe · October 13

I don’t think there are any sliding covers as there is no depth in the headlining. I seen on the RZ American forum Lexus sell fix in shades - very expensive at $ 350 ! You could try emailing Fish Brothers of Swindon - they are really knowledgable and helpful -enquiry@lexuspartsdirect.co.uk

No idea what these are like - they don’t slide and look a right faff so I think you would fix it at the start of summer and take it down around now - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Sunshade-Electrostatic-Adsorption-Sunroof-Skylight/dp/B0DHJFCTTM/ref=sr_1_5?crid=37NYU8WZE98IU&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.dHThNOAE3sROMYb-HKriIPH9OkrF5Mh7kwmDgG7ZPDlglr7VEMueTcJcwxwGpIee5N6-ltG_90Ejej6jFh99iXCe9uphojLx5usV6GQlyKXJSxgeG3wgQTHVPHY7j6GYN_VDZM18ghPvoYrmNMuQ3udfOi9RqLvRD_ijbUnSEbEmQ2QbVNPyN2wbzigLxOzDJ6l854-P7ELsmOzDjr2Ap2OV_I_9tZD0Rw9NkAJ4-azLzDtZ6Vmi_qLDATarHenLgR0p2LNPYzKwIXmkNUozCb2HWGrZbNQGPv_U2q6gUj8.3hyRouu56uTpbN26CnHlRkIsZtUZJ6CjDuY3E7Swje0&dib_tag=se&keywords=RZ+sunroof+shade&nsdOptOutParam=true&qid=1728849120&sprefix=rz+sunroof+shade%2Caps%2C108&sr=8-5&ufe=app_do%3Aamzn1.fos.d7e5a2de-8759-4da3-993c-d11b6e3d217f

ColinBarber · October 13

https://nl.aliexpress.com/item/1005006216223591.html?gatewayAdapt=glo2nld

Not sure why a uk google search returned the Netherlands store, but you get the idea.

thegadgetman_uk · October 14

15 hours ago, ColinBarber said:

https://nl.aliexpress.com/item/1005006216223591.html?gatewayAdapt=glo2nld

Not sure why a uk google search returned the Netherlands store, but you get the idea.

Thanks, I thought the car came with blinds or roof shades like those you've referenced but that fold in half and are stored in the cubby under the boot?

wivenhoe · October 14

It’s the rear parcel shelf that folds in half for stowage under the floor. The glass roof doesn’t have any shades - the headlining and roof isn’t deep enough to incorporate it and the Lexus thinking seems to be weight saving (on a 2.5t car !) I believe it’s only the Takumi that has the opaque feature.

thegadgetman_uk · October 24

On 10/14/2024 at 10:04 PM, wivenhoe said:

It’s the rear parcel shelf that folds in half for stowage under the floor. The glass roof doesn’t have any shades - the headlining and roof isn’t deep enough to incorporate it and the Lexus thinking seems to be weight saving (on a 2.5t car !) I believe it’s only the Takumi that has the opaque feature.

I was looking in the manual and saw this... Has anyone seen this roof shade? Does it exist?! Seems like it sits on the rear shelf...

wivenhoe · October 24

Gadgetman - is that from the UK manual as my 2023 manual doesn’t have that - page 226 of mine has details of the bottle holders and doesn’t have the shades anywhere in it. The US & Japanese markets have as an accessory but the UK doesn’t seem to.

thegadgetman_uk · October 24

17 minutes ago, wivenhoe said:

Gadgetman - is that from the UK manual as my 2023 manual doesn’t have that - page 226 of mine has details of the bottle holders and doesn’t have the shades anywhere in it. The US & Japanese markets have as an accessory but the UK doesn’t seem to.

Yeah, I downloaded it from the manuals section on lexus.co.uk and chose the 2024 edition.

There are three editions of the owner's manual on the UK site and the original doesn't have the roof shades section but the second and third editions do so I can only assume it was added later maybe to solve reported overheating in sunny weather?

ArneT · October 25

23 hours ago, thegadgetman_uk said:

I was looking in the manual and saw this... Has anyone seen this roof shade? Does it exist?! Seems like it sits on the rear shelf...

11 hours ago, thegadgetman_uk said:

Yeah, I downloaded it from the manuals section on lexus.co.uk and chose the 2024 edition.

There are three editions of the owner's manual on the UK site and the original doesn't have the roof shades section but the second and third editions do so I can only assume it was added later maybe to solve reported overheating in sunny weather?

Thank you, this is very helpful .. I will ask about this when I test drive an RZ 450e soon. It's very strange that the Lexus design team hadn't thought to include integrated physical shades in their original design for the non-Takumi trims (even my 2016 NX has them!). Odd they don't give a delete sunroof option too (like in the old days!).

wivenhoe · October 25

23 hours ago, thegadgetman_uk said:

Yeah, I downloaded it from the manuals section on lexus.co.uk and chose the 2024 edition.

There are three editions of the owner's manual on the UK site and the original doesn't have the roof shades section but the second and third editions do so I can only assume it was added later maybe to solve reported overheating in sunny weather?

That’s interesting - I wonder what else is different as I didn’t think there was any changes in spec in 2024.