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| Lexus RX450h |
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June 7, 2009
The Greening of the Hybrid Crossover
By LAWRENCE ULRICH
I HAVE been hard on Lexus hybrids. Unlike the honestly frugal Toyota Prius, the gas-electric Lexus often struck me as costly impostors, green on the surface but rarely delivering on their performance of high performance and exceptional economy.
Each Lexus hybrid I've driven, from the RX 400h crossover to the LS 600h L sedan, struggled to go 25 miles on a gallon of gas. Such middling economy hardly justified prices $5,000 to $20,000 above the conventional versions.
Hybrid fans can breathe easier around the new RX 450h, and for more than its lowest-in-class emissions, including 20 percent less carbon dioxide output than a 4-cylinder Honda Accord. This is the first Lexus hybrid that lives up to the hype and puts up big numbers: an impressive 35 miles a gallon in town and 31 on the highway, for a combined average of 32 m.p.g. over a week of driving a pre-production model. That makes the RX 450h the highest-mileage midsize crossover I've driven by far. |
Those numbers took no unusual effort and no nerdy hypermiling. I did avoid full-throttle acceleration, coasted when possible and tried to keep the Eco light glowing on the dash.
Where many hybrids have fallen short of their government mileage ratings, the Lexus exceeded them: I crushed the estimates of 30/28 m.p.g. in city/highway driving for the all-wheel-drive model I tested. (The front-drive model has a 2 m.p.g. edge in town, at 32/28 mpg).
So why did the new RX which is bigger, heavier and more powerful do so well? Paul Williamsen, a Toyota technology spokesman, cites several developments. The previous hybrid's 3.3-liter, 208-horsepower engine was the last survivor of an engine family that dates to 1998. The modernized 3.5-liter V-6 is more powerful at 245 horsepower, yet much more efficient. (The combined horsepower from gas and electricity jumps to 295 from 245.)
Like the Prius's engine, the RX hybrid's runs on the Atkinson cycle, notable for a low compression ratio, yet a relatively high expansion ratio inside the cylinders. In simple terms, it wastes less energy to squeeze fuel and air together, and makes relatively more when that mixture explodes.
The engine itself runs on an extremely free-flowing oil, 0W-20. In modern engines, lighter oils are an important economy factor, with less energy lost to friction. For the Lexus, less friction allows an oil pump that operates on less power.
The RX introduces the sixth generation of Toyota Hybrid Synergy Drive, the best yet at squeezing maximum current through the electric motor-generators whether they're powering the car or capturing energy from braking without the heat getting out of control.
Toyota says its high-current transistors are the world's first auto application with liquid cooling on both sides the transistors are sandwiched between cooling layers of heat exchangers. In sports terms, it means more playing time for the electric motors, with the engine allowed to rest on the bench.
Starting at $42,955, the front-wheel-drive hybrid features dual electric motors up front; the $44,355 all-wheel-drive model adds a third electric motor that runs the rear wheels when the front tires slip or the driver floors the throttle. Both models still cost about $5,000 more than their gas-only counterparts.
The electric assist helps the hybrid run from 0 to 60 m.p.h. in about 7.5 seconds, a close match for the gas version.
As hybrids go, the Lexus is now among those that feel most like a conventional car. The gas engine stops and starts almost imperceptibly. The regenerative brakes still feel slightly unnatural, but they've shed the squishy, tentative feel of the past. There's less whirring and clicking from the electric motors inside the quiet cabin.
If the spoiled beauties in the sci-fi film "Logan's Run" had a car, this would be it. Like its conventional RX 350 sibling, the RX 450 is ideal transportation in a tranquilized paradise. Everything, from low-effort steering to the creamiest leather this side of a Bentley, is designed not to trouble its occupants.
The Lexus isn't remotely sporty, but I'm convinced that most people driving luxury crossovers don't lose sleep over lap times.
One more point, and this comes from a big fan of modern diesel engines: in any mileage skirmish with the RX, diesel rivals end up bagged and tagged. Even on the highway, the RX 450h beat three German diesels the Audi Q7 TDI, BMW X5 xDrive 35d and Mercedes ML320 Bluetec posting 31 m.p.g. versus a best-case 27 m.p.g. for the diesels. Over all, the Lexus beat the Teutonic trio by 10 m.p.g., at about 32 vs. 22. Most notably, the Lexus roughly doubled their economy in city and suburban runs, where the diesels managed only 16-19 m.p.g., versus 32-35 for the Lexus.
Bottom line, if you manage 30 m.p.g. in the RX hybrid trust me, it's easy and the typical 20 m.p.g. in the standard RX 350, the hybrid will save you $700 a year in premium fuel (at a current national average of $2.77 a gallon), balancing out its added cost in roughly seven years of ownership. You'd also cut your gas consumption by a substantial 1,750 gallons over those years, and make far fewer stops to refuel.
Compared with the fuzzy math of previous Lexus hybrids, the numbers can actually add up. |
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| Lexus RX350 |
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June 7, 2209
Behind the Wheel | 2010 Lexus RX 350
Quiet Zone With Bells and Whistles
By: JOHN R. QUAIN
WITH a suspension that can churn a washboard road into butter and enough soundproofing to stifle a passing garbage truck, the Lexus RX has become a popular cocoon for the cosseted class. This plush isolation chamber has been thoroughly refitted for 2010, and it buzzes with electronic enhancements that may convert even the most ardent technophobe.
More than a decade ago, Lexus all but invented the luxury crossover with its first RX. The line has been wildly successful, becoming the best-selling Lexus models. So this year's redesign had to be done carefully.
Outside, the body has been bulked up with a more masculine look. The nose has been rounded and the shoulders creased to make the five-passenger crossover look slightly (only slightly) more buff. Similarly, the 3.5-liter V-6 engine was tweaked, bringing its horsepower rating up to 275. That is just 5 more than last year, and with another 420 pounds to haul around, you won't feel the difference. |
The new 6-speed transmission is silky on the highway, aided and abetted by a cruise control that seamlessly resumes set speeds after braking or accelerating. Yet when I stomped on the accelerator at slow speeds, the transmission seemed to take a deep breath before shifting to second gear.
Standard 18-inch wheels replace last year's 17s. My test model had 19-inch rims, part of a sport package that included a tauter suspension. More notable, however, is the new double-wishbone rear suspension, which keeps the back end from hopping around on bumps. But while the handling is tighter, the RX still doesn't have the reflexes or road feel of, say, a BMW X3.
The new suspension also eliminates protrusions in the cargo hold. I tucked luggage, pet carriers and a weekend's worth of groceries in the rear without folding down the back seat. Lowering that seat essentially doubles the cargo area to more than 80 cubic feet.
The all-wheel-drive model I tested has a slightly better mileage rating than last year's version, up 1 m.p.g. in town and 2 m.p.g. on the highway for an overall federal rating of 18/24. Front-drive versions are rated 18/25. I'm not exactly a hypermiler, as the eco-driving indicator on the instrument panel kept reminding me every time I stepped on the gas, but I managed 19.6 m.p.g. in mixed driving.
Indeed, I often pushed the RX hard, including some sharp, reverse-camber corners, looking for the telltale body roll that cars with cushy rides usually reveal under more aggressive driving. But the RX stayed relatively level, conveying a confidence that allayed my fears on sinuous Vermont back roads. I even pushed it up some rutted tracks-a result of what New Englanders affectionately call mud season-to invoke the electronic stability control. The VSC light came on, alerting me that the system was transferring up to 50 percent of its power to the rear, but the RX never gave me any reason to think I wouldn't make it up the hill. It's no 4-wheel-drive off-roader, but it isn't bad.
Lexus says the all-wheel-drive version will run from a stop to 60 miles an hour in 7.5 seconds; with front drive, the RX is a tenth of a second quicker.
In the dark, the RX 350 displays some of its best attributes. The adaptive front lights swivel in the direction of a turn, a boon on mountain roads. Better still are the intelligent high beams: these use a camera ahead of the rear-view mirror to gauge the brightness of streetlights or the presence of a car that's approaching, passing or just ahead.
Whenever the camera determines that the high beams could be a hazard to others, it switches to low beams. Try as I did, I was unable to fool the system.
Inside the RX the soft, pliant controls are, for the most part, just where they should be. A bright display in the middle of the main instrument cluster uses a cutting-edge OLED (organic light-emitting diode) screen. The driver is presented three potential ways to control functions like ventilation, entertainment and navigation. There's a set of dedicated buttons and knobs, and a new voice-recognition system that doesn't have a conniption if you toss out casual commands like "Play the CD, please" or "Switch to FM."
If you order the navigation package you'll get not only one of the sharpest rear-camera images I've seen (thanks partly to the sizable eight-inch LCD screen), but also a mouselike joystick controller called Remote Touch.
Resting perfectly under your palm when your arm is on the center armrest, the Remote Touch controller does away with the distraction of having to lean forward to manipulate a touch screen (and permits the screen to reside higher on the dash). Furthermore, it uses haptic technology, which provides tactile feedback when the cursor settles over a menu selection. I found this less distracting than the rocking and rolling knobs of rival systems, though some people may balk at using any sort of mouselike control in a car.
The navigation system itself is also reason to applaud. It includes up-to-date features like lane assist, which shows you specifically where you should be as you approach a multilane junction. And where some nav systems remain silent, the version in the RX reassures you at potentially confusing junctures with mellifluously spoken prompts to stay on the main road or keep to the right. Another nice feature: a split screen tells you what exits ahead have gas stations and rest stops.
Alas, no navigation system is perfect. This one is expensive; ostensibly a $4,950 stand-alone option, it usually comes bundled with other luxury features for a total package price of $7,500 or more. Also, while the high position of the screen makes it easy to see at a glance, the LCD cast an annoying nighttime reflection, about an inch high, on the windshield near the rear-view mirror. Its easy to ignore, but I noticed it every time I glanced at the mirror.
The system also stubbornly refused to accept some addresses using voice commands. Finally, the live traffic information from the XM satellite service (free for three months) is, well, not quite live. Several warnings of impending bottlenecks proved spurious, yet the service failed to warn me about tie-ups dead ahead. So don't expect to magically float over traffic jams: not even Lexus can do that.
While the RX 350's interior comes close to perfection, it doesn't quite attain it. The parking brake is too close to the left footrest, which could cause problems for anyone in heels. The cruise-control stalk is too far under the steering column, rather than being at finger's length. But what my family found really annoying was the placement of the 12-volt outlets and iPod connection (U.S.B. and line input). They're hidden deep inside the center armrest underneath removable storage trays.
Still, there are many features that Lexus has perfected. Its built-in Bluetooth paired quickly with cellphones. The push-button start and keyless-entry system also proved faultless, as did the bio-electric front door handles that lock and unlock the car with the touch of a finger. Even the velvety 12-speaker premium sound system, whose midrange bias means it's more Moody Blues than Led Zeppelin, automatically adjusts tone and volume based on cabin noise without sounding artificial.
So what's the price for such pampering? Stickers start at $37, 675 for the front-drive model and $39,075 for the all-wheel drive version. My all-wheel-drive test car, which had the nav system, smart headlights and leather trim, was $48,061. Add a few more niceties like adaptive cruise control, parking assist side cameras and a rear-seat entertainment package, and you're well past $50,000. While many car shoppers will think that's a lot these days, it is competitive with the likes of, say, a similarly equipped Infiniti FX35.
Even with all this technology-the owners-manual is more than 600 pages and the navigation guide is 400-plus-the RX shouldn't intimidate parents more concerned about their tee times and junior's tennis matches than about haptic sensors and OLED screens. The controls are logical, with a minimal profusion of buttons-unlike an Acura MDX, whose console only a 747 pilot would love.
There is one danger: once you relax in the perfectly contoured seats, the RX 350 may prove so quiet- too quiet- that you find yourself cruising well above the speed limit. |
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