Road Test: 2010 Lexus RX350 car review: Lexus' Camry

2010 Lexus RX350

True fact: The Lexus RX series—the RX350 and RX450h hybrid SUVs—is the top selling model in Toyota’s premium division’s line. Al Smith, Lexus VP of customer services says the RX is Lexus’ Camry.

That’s not the insult it might at first seem At 80,000 units last year, the RX means as much to Lexus as the Camry does to Toyota. Each is its division’s top seller. But it also put Lexus chief engineer Takayuki Katsuda in the classic dilemma of following a success: there’s always room for improvement but there’s even more to fail.

Not to worry. Katsuda-san came through with flying colors. This article will address the Lexus RX350. We’ll follow up with the Lexus RX450h in a later review.

Katsuda’s efforts to reinvent—his description—the RX series had a particularly difficult challenge with the exterior, making it new yet not turning off the loyal customers. We think the 2010 RX350 straddles that divide. It’s immediately identifiable as a Lexus RX but a longer look will ascertain not only changes but significant differences between the second generation and the third.

Design The 2010 RX has a crisper, more angular form than its predecessor which looks “soft” in comparison. The new model’s shoulders are broader and the whole vehicle has a more masculine mien, with fender creases flowing back into the doors. Details include the headlamp cluster covers and taillamps lenses shaped to control laminar flow along the bodysides for reduced drag and wind noise.

The spoiler at the top of the liftgate is functional and standard equipment (and it also hides the rear wiper). Lexus chased aerodynamic drag even under the RX with airflow smoothing underbody panels. It sounds excessive, perhaps, for an SUV but it rewarded Lexus with a coefficient of drag of 0.33, remarkable for the traditionally blocky shape of an SUV.

Power to the Lexus The engine for the Lexus RX350 is a revision of the dohc 3.5-liter V6. New intake and exhaust manifolds helped nudge maximum power from 270 to 275 horsepower with no change in torque that, appropriate for an SUV has a broad range, at least 90 percent of its maximum, from 2300 to 6100 rpm.

The advanced engine has dual variable valve timing, able to change valve timing on intake and exhaust independently, which along with variable intake runner length helps provide that wide torque spread.

If the tech details are mumbo-jumbo to you, the foregoing means that the engine will not only has more than adequate acceleration but will feel strong in day-to-day driving as well. Not overpowering, however, because Lexus uses electronic throttle control to soften initial acceleration “for smoother takeoff and help reduce wheel spin.” That’s known officially as the PPP, or Party Pooper Program.

The RX350 has an all-new six-speed automatic transmission, replacing the former five-speed. The new gearbox is designed for quicker shifts and has advanced torque converter lock-up for improved fuel economy. Not only does the trans have more gears—allowing a wider ratio spread for easier take-off and quieter, more efficient highway cruising—it’s also smarter, with the ability to skip shifts during kick-down for acceleration.

The transmission can also be tip-shifted manually and for the first time in the RX, the transmission has “intelligence,” knowing not to shift up when the vehicle is driving downhill, for example.

The Lexus RX350 is nominally front-wheel drive but all-wheel drive is available. New for the 2010 is an all-new electronically controlled “Active Torque Control AWD” system. The new all-wheel drive system eliminates the 50:50 torque distribution of the previous generation’s viscous coupling center differential. The new system has an electronic coupling ahead of the rear differential that’s computer controlled to vary torque split from 100:0 to 50:50, depending on conditions.

The benefit of the new system is that it stays in front-wheel drive mode except when all wheel drive is needed for added traction or vehicle stability. The bonus is reduced mechanical drag when the RX350 is in front wheel drive, yielding better fuel economy. Another plus is that the new all-wheel drive system is 35 pounds lighter.

Stability Now optional on the Lexus RX350 is “Vehicle Dynamics Integrated Management” technology. VDIM, which remains standard on the hybrid RX, anticipates loss of vehicle control and calls on ABS, brake assist, vehicle stability and traction control to “collectively and seamlessly” keep the vehicle on the road. The stability control system also helps on split traction surfaces by adding steering assist torque—adding twisting force—to act as a limited slip differential.

Standard on the RX models is hill-start assist, which prevents a vehicle from rolling back when starting uphill. Adaptive headlights have been upgraded for the 2010 models, and an option is an automatic high beam system that can detect oncoming headlights, the taillights of vehicles ahead or just ambient lighting and then dim the RX’s high beams when necessary.

Also optional is a pre-collision system that works with the dynamic cruise control to anticipate collisions, pretensioning seatbelts and prepping the brake assist system for quicker response.

Longer, wider, taller The new RX is slightly longer that its predecessor, with a slightly longer wheelbase and it’s slightly taller as well. The track, however, is a significant 1.6-inch wider than previously, a boon to vehicle stability.

The new model also replaces the strut rear suspension with double A-arms. Not only does Lexus credit this with improved handling, it also adds cargo room by eliminating the need for shock towers protruding into the cargo area.

For more pictures of the 2010 Lexus RX350 view the examiner.com slide show below.

Isn't "remote touch" an oxymoron? The interior is sumptuous and well-designed, but the part that will be the biggest topic of discussion is at the driver’s right hand. Although a multi-information switch on the steering wheel allows accessing a number of functions without taking hands from the wheel, the new “Remote Touch” replaces touch-screen technology for the navigation system with a palm joystick that moves a cursor around the screen. On-screen “buttons” are pushed by clicking a thumb button the side of the console, very much like a PC’s mouse.

There’s a button on both sides so the joystick can be easily operated by driver or passenger. Making positioning of the mouse easier is a “haptic”-feedback system: when the cursor approaches a button, servo motors in the joystick pull it towards the center of the button for easier positioning, providing tactile as well as visual clues to the cursor’s location.

**RX350 Prices**
Front-wheel drive	$36,800
All-wheel drive	$38,200
Destination	$825

The navigation system can be upgraded with XM NavTraffic which can warn drivers of traffic delays ahead and route around them when possible, and also NavWeather.

Another option is a smog sensor which can detect CO, HC and NOx and other harmful gasses from other autos’ exhausts or other sources and switch cabin ventilation from exterior air to recirculation.

Driving it It doesn’t take a very long drive to understand the popularity of the Lexus RX350. The third generation that we test drove in the Georgia costal area was pleasant in everyday traffic and even did a good job of silencing—or at least reducing the volume of—coarse pavement. We didn’t have the opportunity to test the RX350’s cornering though our all-wheel drive tester was able to leap out into traffic from a lose surface along the side of the road without too much drama, not always the case with split traction situations with a tall vehicle.

Of course, the height versus width relationship is improved with the new Lexus RX models, which we consider more crossover in behavior than most SUVs. The ride is as car-like—to use an overused descriptor—as most cars, and wind noise, despite heavy crosswinds that usually play havoc with a vehicle’s aerodynamics, was all but absent.

The six-speed automatic was subtle in operation though we really didn’t have an opportunity to test the gearbox’s intelligence on a drive which had bridge approaches as its steepest slopes.

The seats were skooshy but well supportive and the leather wrapped steering wheel soft. The lesser controls well organized and the various functions could be found without too much trouble, although admittedly we didn’t have time enough to investigate all the wonderful things the RX350 will do.

Release the seats! 2010 Lexus RX350

A living-with-it feature we could appreciate were remote releases on either side of the cargo area that dropped the rear seatbacks without (a) having to climb into the cargo area or (b) reach in through one back door to release that seatback and then walk around to the other side to release the other. Not that either (a) or (b) is a great hardship, but if you’re paying for a luxury automobile, the remote levers are a nice touch.

On the other hand, when the seatback tips forward, it doesn’t create a completely flat load floor, which would make it difficult to slide large items very far forward. And with the rather steeply raked rear window, large items need to be moved forward in the cargo area. While the RX350’s first priority may not be moving large objects, we can foresee more than one I-was-sure-that-would-fit episode.

But taking the Lexus RX350 for what it is, a five-place passenger vehicle with an expandable cargo area and a ready for any road capability, with all of it cosseted in a stylish and luxurious package, Katsuda-san achieved his goal. Al Smith expects a slight increase in sales, perhaps 85,000 even in a down market, as current owners of the RX350 replace it with a newer model to get the new and increased number of functions and features. A repeat of Lexus’s Camry status? No doubt.

Next: The RX450h, Lexus’ Camry Hybrid

Illustrations: 2010 Lexus RX350; all photos by John Matras.

**2010 Lexus RX350 seleced specifications**
Engine
Type	3.5-liter 275-hp dohc V-6
Compression ratio	10.8:1
Horsepower @ rpm	275 @ 6200
Torque, lb-ft @ rpm	257 @ 4700
Maximum engine speed, rpm	6400
Fuel requirement	Premium unleaded
Layout	Front engine, FWD or AWD
Brakes
Front, type/diameter	Ventilated disc/12.9 in.
Rear, type/diameter	Disc, 12.2 in.
Wheel size, std / opt	18 x 7.5 / 19.75
Tire size, std / opt	235/60R18 / 235/55VR19
Performance
0 - 60 mph, AWD / FWD, sec.	7.5 / 7.4
0 - 1/4 mile, sec.	15.7
Top speed, mph	112 - electronically limited
Fuel mileage, EPA city/hwy, mpg FWD	18/21
Fuel mileage, EPA city/hwy, mpg AWD	18/20

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Comments

yourcomputerdude 2 years ago

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Lexus seems to have slipped a tad in the latest reliability rankings:

Product Review Ratings Car Reliability Ratings
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Bernie 2 years ago

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I have one. Nice car all around but nav/phone/info centre is not particularly useful.Not as well thought out as the car in my opinion.It needs a "firmware update".
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Gennadiy Krichmar. 4 months ago

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I wont to win.
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