For a quarter of a century, the Lexus RX hasn’t just been a luxury crossover, it’s been the luxury crossover. The original RX 300 busted the segment wide open, snatched the crown, and its successors have been running with it ever since. Now in its fifth generation, the Lexus RX 350 remains as popular as ever, a cornerstone of Lexus’ lineup.
However, let me float a key figure by you — my loaded RX 350 F Sport tester stickers for $77,555 Canadian including freight, or $64,925 in greenbacks for the closest-equipped U.S.-spec model. That’s serious money, especially when it has a deadly rival at Toyota, the new Crown Signia, not to mention an fierce field of luxury competitors. So, let’s take a serious look at what the RX 350 actually gets you over its competition, or even a regular crossover.
[Full disclosure: Lexus Canada let me borrow this RX 350 F Sport for a week so long as I kept the shiny side up, returned it with a full tank of premium fuel and reviewed it.]
Wow, What Great Paint
Immediately upon receiving the keys to this RX, I was awestruck by the paint. Officially called Grecian Water, this has to be among the best shades of blue offered as standard on any luxury crossover right now. The application of that Grecian Water paint isn’t bad either, as I’ve seen far more orange peel on far more expensive vehicles.
As for the styling, Lexus has toned it down over the previous-generation RX, and you know what? It works fairly well. Sure, this crossover looks a little bulbous from a rear three-quarter view, but the less in-your-face grille feels like the right step back, the wheels fit the mood of the vehicle, and all the F Sport embellishments really add to the character of this family hauler.
The Inside Story
In a vacuum, the cabin of the Lexus RX 350 is great. Soft leathers on the seats, a giant panoramic moonroof, and an equipment list that doesn’t shortchange you on gadgets. For instance, my test car came with power reclining second-row seats. Ain’t that sumptuous? However, having experienced a boatload of regular crossovers before and after climbing into the RX, the cabin of the Lexus looks good in photos but doesn’t feel entirely becoming of a luxury product. Let me explain.
See, for a luxury crossover, this cabin gives off an impression that it’s attached to a mainstream vehicle. There’s suede-like material on the doors and the extremities of the dashboard and stitched vinyl on the console and armrests, but not only is that sort of treatment becoming popular in mainstream crossovers, the top of the dashboard is covered in what feels like yoga mats, and the bulk of the dashboard facing is cheap, shiny black plastic. It’s so overpowering and such a magnet for fingerprints, it’s easy to forget that there are some lovely details in this cockpit. We’re talking memory recollection on-par with any night in your early 20s involving the words ‘open bar.’ Part of it’s due to a relative lack of sculpture and restraint with this scratch-prone material, which is a shame because the old RX pulled off the balance between design and technology better.
Yes, Lexus seems to be taking the Tesla approach of using technology to define the cabin of the new RX. In some ways, that’s homage, as a digital information display dominated the dashboard of the original RX 300, but in other ways, it reminds us of how we need to fire automotive UX designers’ desks down the interstate at 70 mph while they swat a furious wasp with a half-empty latte cup. Using capacitive-touch facings on steering wheel controls to do damn near everything from dialling up a drive mode to finding Jimmy Hoffa through a HUD looks clean and sounds good, until you realize that almost everyone drives in polarized sunglasses, washing out the HUD and making the menu structure just as effective in Esperanto as it is in English.
As for the infotainment, I actually don’t mind Lexus’ latest multimedia system, although it does have a few thorny bits worth noting. Despite sporting a whopping 14 inches of screen size, the perpetually docked virtual climate controls do cut into that space, and not having physical buttons for heated and ventilated seats is annoying when you’re sweating like a lapsed Catholic at a midnight mass or wearing Antarctic-grade winter gloves. Oh, and then there’s the fact that you don’t actually get to keep the navigation system that’s included with the car. After a trial period of three years, you’ll have to pay a subscription to use Lexus’ own navigation system, and that just doesn’t measure up to what competitors offer.
Speaking of not quite measuring up, let’s talk driving position. I’m five-foot-ten, wear 30-30 jeans, and have an average wingspan, so I should fit in a midsize crossover just fine, right? Not in this one. Over a week of driving, I found that, partly due to pedal positioning and partly due to insufficient steering column reach adjustment, either my arms could be happy, or my legs, not both. Of course, if you have the wingspan of a Cessna or prefer a rather tall seating position, the RX might fit you just fine, but definitely take one for a good, long test drive before you sign on the dotted line. On the plus side, I did have abundant headroom, and my rear seat passengers loved the sheer amount of room and comfort back there. Even if you have a very large child, they won’t complain about a lack of space on road trips, so that’s a job well done there.
Oh, and it’s definitely hard to complain about the powerful 21-speaker Mark Levinson audio system. Although a bit meek at lower listening volumes, crank it up and you’ll find a full and balanced soundstage that just about everything sounds great through. If you’re dead-set on an RX, don’t buy one without this sound system.
Rubber, Meet Road
Downsizing has finally come for Lexus, so the current RX 350 has a T24A-FTS 2.4-liter turbocharged four-cylinder engine sitting under its hood. Unlike in the previous-generation V6-powered RX 350, premium gasoline is now mandatory, but the result is 275 horsepower at 6,000 rpm and 317 lb.-ft. of torque from 1,700 rpm to 3,600 rpm, fed through an eight-speed automatic transmission. The result? This car goes somewhere, eventually. Lexus claims a zero-to-60 mph acceleration time of 7.2 seconds for this all-wheel-drive model, and that seems about accurate. Don’t get me wrong, the RX 350 will get out of its own way, but it’ll also have to look at the taillights of a litany of vehicles, such as the Honda Odyssey minivan, Hyundai Santa Fe 2.5T crossover, and any Ecoboost F-150. At the same time, the engine sounds like it’s on a diet of Bensons and gravel, and fuel economy isn’t great for the performance and refinement you’re getting. The EPA rates this thing at 21 mpg city, 28 mpg highway, and 24 mpg combined, and that’s accurate in the real world.
Alright, so if this sort of money doesn’t buy acceleration, maybe the luxury in the driving experience lies in comfort? Yes and no. On the plus side, road and wind noise are basically nonexistent. So long as you aren’t accelerating, this thing’s a sensory deprivation chamber with license plates. On the minus side, the RX 350 doesn’t iron out the bumps quite as nicely as a Genesis GV80, Volvo XC90, or Lincoln Aviator does. It’s good over the little stuff like cracks in the pavement and errantly spilled looseleaf, but larger imperfections can lead to substantial secondary body motions, suggesting this crossover’s somewhat underdamped. However, it still has far better roadholding than the bounce house known as the Mercedes-Benz GLE, so there’s that.
Oh, handling? Yeah, it’s perfectly good. Zero complaints. The adaptive dampers on my F Sport RX 350 press car aren’t some silver bullet, but they don’t need to be. For its class, the RX seems just fine and dandy in the bends, thank you very much, largely due to well-controlled body roll and well-weighted steering. Sure, the steering pours gallons of white-out on anything resembling feedback, the chassis doesn’t exactly corner flatly, and safe and predictable understeer comes on early, but come on, we’re talking about two-row luxury crossovers here. Don’t like it? Then you won’t like most things the RX directly competes with. Also, how did you end up here instead of trawling online classifieds for CTS-V wagons?
Actually, while you’re here, you might want to know a thing or two about the brakes on my test car, which featured six-piston calipers up front. With front discs the size of dinner plates and massive fixed monoblock calipers, you’d expect stomping on the brakes would feel like dropping an anchor into the Earth’s mantle, right? Well, not quite. While big brakes are good for thermal capacity, bite and friction are largely determined by brake pad compound, and Lexus has used a very mild low-noise, low-dust brake pad formula. The result? A typical Lexus slightly spongy brake pedal. Still, with a better pad compound, these are going to be killer upgrades for enthusiasts with other TNGA-K-platform cars, right?
What’s In A Name?
There’s lots to like about the the 2024 Lexus RX 350 F Sport, but when you put it under a microscope, some flaws appear. It’s not a bad car by any means, but it does make you wonder if it’s worth its price tag. I’m all for luxury products that exist on fundamental merit, but if this Lexus isn’t substantially quicker, plusher, more user-friendly, or even more refined than many mainstream crossovers, what are shoppers paying a premium for? Well, a few things. For the status-chasers, owning a Lexus is a bigger flex than owning a Toyota, Hyundai, Honda, or Mazda. For those worried about reliability, Lexus has a solid historical track record, although the T24A-FTS turbocharged four-cylinder engine has yet to prove itself and I did have to reboot my press car once because the automatic emergency braking decided it didn’t want to exist anymore. Finally, the Lexus dealer network is historically renowned for its standard of customer service.
For loyalists, status and peace of mind and customer service are enough to justify the Lexus’ price tag. For others, less expensive options exist that feel just as nice, and there are luxury competitors out there that feel nicer. While I’d rather buy a Toyota Crown Signia and save thousands over this RX 350 F Sport, or buy a Genesis GV80 and get a substantially more sumptuous vehicle for the same money as a well-specced RX 350 F Sport, to some people, the RX is still the answer.
Still, if you own the old one, I’d recommend not upgrading to the new non-hybridized RX 350. Just hold onto what you have, because it’s already excellent and it’ll last forever. If you’re shopping for a new one, I’ll reiterate, take a serious look at the Toyota Crown Signia. Not only does it feel nicer in many regards, it’ll save you a bundle. The 2024 Lexus RX 350 F Sport is still a Lexus, but thanks to the somewhat coarse engine, disappointing interior design, mediocre acceleration, and some fiddly tech, it no longer feels like the benchmark.
(Photo credits: Thomas Hundal)
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Origami design language doesn’t work for me. Still, beats the jelly beans some premium builders are offering.
Not a single reason to get this over a ’24 X3 30i based on this review. Wife immediately discounted the Lexus because of the styling so we never test drove one.
Weird hearing about an unrefined powerplant from Lexus.
That color is ace though for sure.
I wonder if Grecian Water is a play on the fact that ancient Greeks (as opposed to contemporary Greeks or their culture, which are usually just called “Greek”) didn’t have a word for blue. The sea was dark, often called “wine dark”; the sky is clear or cloudy or visited by rosy-fingered Dawn but never described as blue.
I had an RX450h as a loaner a little while ago, and at 6’1″ I had no problem finding a comfortable seating position. I didn’t love the touchscreen layout, as I couldn’t figure out why they didn’t just make physical buttons for some of the permanent items they put on the bottom of the screen. The silence inside the car was impressive, as was the (non-F Sport) ride. Personally, while the RX is not my cup-o-tea, I can absolutely see why people buy them, even at the higher prices than some competitors – they’re comfy, reliable, and supremely innocuous.
A 450h would be the previous gen, so either it was a 350h or an older car.
There is the 450h+ plug-in hybrid, but those are so rare no one is gonna waste it as a loaner.
It must have been a 450h+ then, as it was the current generation.
I don’t know, that name seems very 70s-ish. As I recall, the RX for too much. F sport was a hefty dose of tetracycline.
Damn. Over-reliance on the screen and that kind of fuel economy with premium are dealbreakers as far as I’m concerned. Not that I’m looking for a new luxury crossover anytime soon, but…yeah.
Quite a shame, because I do think it looks nice on the whole.
Woof. Those are mediocre fuel economy numbers for that slow of a 0-60. On premium, nonetheless.
Does the F-Sport have the stupid exterior door handles that look like normal handles but really just house the button to release the door? Not the worst possible thing, but I didn’t like them on the RX I test drove.
> the less in-your-face grille
Christ, we’re really grading these guys on a curve after the last few years, aren’t we?
I mean to be fair it’s no longer really a grille, it’s now a proboscis, so that’s…progress?
I did not expect such a scathing review of a Toyota product here, but it sounds like it’s all warranted. As far as not liking its competitors, insinuating they are also boring, the Macan can be had for roughly the same coin (although not as well equipped), and cars like the X3/5, Mazda stuff, and hell, even the SQ5 would all range from a bit to much spicier without sacrificing much, if anything, in the way of livability and manners. Say what you will about each of those products, but the key takeaway is that there are sportier crossovers out there competing with this. Lexus is slowly turning into the default luxury choice only for those who already have one, don’t cross shop and have their favorite salesman on speed dial.
It seems to me like the Toyota/Lexus stuff is a bunch of phoned-in platform sharing nonsense. Pretty much everything they make is a juiced up Camry or Corolla. Very dull and uninspiring IMO.
Everyone else is doing it too but they’re definitely taking it to the extreme.
My perception is that they are keeping costs WAYYYYY lower than other manufacturers by just settling for less and selling for more.
Seems to go back to this trend of rabidly increasing shareholder value.
You’ve got to REALLY want a Lexus for that kind of money – when you can get a 2025 Mazda CX-70 in 3.3 Turbo S Premium Plus trim – with more power and better mileage – for $10,000 less.
Or get the CX-70 in PHEV Premium Plus form – still with more power and better mileage than the RX – plus 26 mile EV range – for $7000 less than the RX.
And no excuses necessary for weird Lexus styling.
Not to mention that those are RWD-based CUVs riding on a bespoke new platform instead of this tall-ass Camry wagon.