Lexus LX vs Lexus RX450H

What's the difference?

The Lexus LX500d is a luxury seven-seat 4WD wagon with a big price-tag to match its full-to-bursting standard features list.

The interior is now more cool than cheesy and as a daily driver and long-distance tourer the LX500d offers very impressive levels of comfort and refinement – and it’s no posh pretender off-road either.

Sure, it’s much more of a city conveyance than a country wagon, but the LX500d is spot-on for those who have a premium SUV on their mind.

The RX is a little frustrating - it's going after Mercedes and BMW and Audi in a hotly-contested space and falls over in a couple of key areas. The media/sat nav system is hopelessly outdated and the drivetrain fails to deliver a significant performance or fuel benefit (although, given its 2.2 tonnes, perhaps it delivers a miracle).

It does come with a rock-solid, scandal-free reputation, a reputation for spectacular customer service, it has a lovely cabin and it's certainly an individual looker. For plenty of people, that's quite enough.

The LX500d, in keeping with its positioning in the luxury slice of the market, is an imposing, premium-looking vehicle. 

Lexus puts the LX500d’s dimensions at 5100mm long (with a 2850mm wheelbase), 1990mm wide, and 1885mm high (1895mm in the Enhancement Pack-equipped LX500d). This is a big, classy SUV, inside and out, and it’s more than just a 300 Series LandCruiser in a shiny suit.

The optional 22-inch alloy wheels (part of the $5500 Enhancement Pack) add to the overall polished look. 

The interior is a classy mix of woodgrain trim, Hazel leather accents, soft-touch surfaces, Shimamoku ornamentation, plush but supportive seating, and even comfortable arm-rests.

There's a lot of RX and there's a lot going on in that creased, folded and teased sheetmetal. It's a unique design, with a huge 'spindle grille', big lights and the fast glass both front and rear.

It positively screeches Lexus DNA and was a polarising force on our driveway for the week. Most weren't sure, but knew for certain it was a Lexus.

Aggressively flared wheelarches like this aren't common on SUVs (although the squared-off ones are). It's right up on stilts, but the 20s you find it rolling on help to reduce its visual bulk.

That wacky rear quarter glass reminds me of the BMW i3's but it's a Lexus SUV signature. It's quite striking. Do I like it? Not really, but that's completely subjective. You can tell, though, it's built tight as a drum.

Inside is a bit calmer, beautifully laid-out and built to last. The materials are almost all top notch, with lovely switchgear and the real leather is really nice.

There is absolutely nothing avant-garde in there (apart from maybe the pinstripe effect on the centre console), it's all terribly comfortable and easy on the eye. But not exciting, though not all Lexuses are.

This particular car is very US-centric and, if I may, a particularly sunny and humid part, so it can't be too wacky.

The cabin is a cavernous, plush space and driver and passengers are all generally well served in terms of practicality and comfort.

The tech is simple enough to locate and operate – it was easy enough to get Apple CarPlay working – and the screens are big: the horizontal 12.3-inch multimedia unit upfront, an 8.0-inch screen (to monitor air-con, adaptive air-suspension height, the 4WD system, and other vehicle information), a head-up display, plus a 7.0-inch touchscreen for rear passengers.

Heating and cooling are managed via the climate concierge and everyone can keep themselves as comfortably hot or cold as they like with separate controls.

Storage is only reasonable for such a voluminous interior with a variety of door pockets, cupholders (eight in total), glove box, a deep centre console (with multiple ways to open the lids) as well as map pockets for the second row, cup-holders in the centre fold-down armrest and cupholders for the third row.

The Lexus has a Qi wireless charger and front and rear USB-C charging ports – one up front, two in the second row, and two in the third row. 

There’s a 12V DC socket (front and rear) and a 220V socket in the rear cargo area.

Power-adjustable seats up front mean the driver and front passenger can dial-in their favourite seating position and these seats are very comfortable. Even the second row is plush, but the third row is not quite at that comfort level.

Second-row passengers have air con and entertainment controls, and an HDMI port.

The sunroof – an Enhancement Pack inclusion – is power-adjustable and allows plenty of natural light in through the top.

The Lexus LX500d has a claimed 174L (VDA) of cargo space when seven seats are in use; 982L when five seats are being used (that’s with each half of the power-folding third row stowed flat at the push of a button); and 1871L when all seats are stowed away (the 60:40 folding second-row seats tumble-fold forward), except for the driver and front passenger, of course. 

The tailgate has a foot-swipe-to-open sensor (part of the $5500 Enhancement Pack).

There is plenty of room inside this big unit, which is very welcome. Front seat passengers have lots of storage, such as a deep central bin under the armrest, dual cupholders and big door pockets with bottle holders.

Step into the rear and there is a ton of leg and headroom although the transmission tunnel intrudes slightly for the middle passenger. Chuck them out, drop the armrest and you have two more cupholders and each door has pockets and bottle holders.

The boot is pretty big considering the angle of the rear glass. You start with 453 litres (but an expanse of flat floor), which rises to 924 litres with the split-fold seats down. That seems conservative given just how much space you appear to have.

The RX450h F Sport lightens your bank account of $102,460 before on-road costs, the only hybrid SUV within cooee of this price.

That nets you 20-inch alloys, a 15-speaker stereo, dual-zone climate control, heated and cooled electric front seats, reversing camera, that ever rare CD player, keyless entry and start, a solid safety package, reversing sensors, active cruise control, sat nav, a massive sunroof, auto LED headlights, head-up display, partial leather interior, power tailgate, auto wipers and a space-saver spare.

The Lexus media system is run from the gigantic dash-mounted screen that is shamed only by those massive Tesla units.

Sadly, the joystick-style control remains as does the very confusing software system that is less than delightful to use. It's such a shame that a tech-laden machine is let down by the world's most baffling entertainment system.

Once you get it working and understand it, it's okay, I guess, but several years into this job I still can't easily fathom how it works. And that naff analogue clock...

F Sport cars also pick up adaptive suspension and a several driving modes to liven things up.

The Lexus LX500d has a 3.3-litre V6 twin turbo-diesel engine, producing 227kW at 4000rpm and 700Nm between 1600-2600rpm.

It has a 10-speed automatic transmission with manual shift mode, a permanent all-wheel-drive system, low-range transfer case and a lockable centre diff. 

It also has six on-road drive modes – including Eco, Comfort, Normal, Sport S, Sport S+ and Custom – and off-road drive modes.

The V6 is an impressive fit in this behemoth, but even though this is a smooth-shifting SUV, there’s a leisurely, rather than lively, overall feel to how the engine and auto work together.

Because it is so hefty – with a listed 2690kg kerb weight – the Lexus does need a bit of heavy right boot to get going off the mark and during overtaking moves.

You can choose three different powertrains in the RX - a 3.5-litre V6, a 2.0-litre turbo four-cylinder, or this one, the 3.5-litre V6 with hybrid.

As a series hybrid it can run for short distances on electric only before firing up the V6 to supply charging and motivation.

The 3.5 produces 193kW/335Nm along with the electric motor. That torque figure seems low and it probably is, but that's a function of the weird way of measuring torque from a hybrid unit. The combined power figure, however, is 230kW.

The hybrid system is hooked up to Lexus' CVT auto and sends power to all four wheels. Lexus says the 450h will complete the sprint from 0-100km/h in 7.7 seconds, which isn't bad for a 2210kg SUV.

The Lexus LX500d seven-seater has a listed fuel consumption of 8.9L/100km on a combined cycle.

Our actual fuel consumption on this test, from pump to pump, was 12.2L/100km. Note: our test included a lot of low-range 4WDing. 

The LX500d has an 80-litre fuel tank – so, going by that on-test fuel consumption figure, you should be able to get a driving range of almost 656km from a full tank.

The official combined cycle figure is listed as 5.7L/100km. And, uh, yeah, we didn't get that. I did manage 8.9L/100km over the week, which included a long motorway run from Sydney up to the Blue Mountains (a roughly 160km round trip).

This Lexus feels tighter and better controlled than previous iterations on sealed surfaces, but it’s still a big rig so it’s no surprise when body roll continually creeps in, with this hefty SUV revealing wallowing tendencies even at optimal ride height. 

The suspension set-up – adjustable dampers, double wishbones at the front, a four-linkage rigid axle at the rear, stabiliser bars front and rear – irons out any major issues, but, even with consistent support from the adaptive variable suspension, it’s not perfect.

Steering is light and precise and adds to this posh 2690kg beast’s overall feeling of low-key composure.

This is a very nice cabin in which to spend time as NVH (noise, vibration and harshness) levels are kept to a minimum.

As mentioned earlier, the drive modes include normal, eco, sport and each adjusts throttle response, engine outputs, and gearshifts to suit the driver and the driving conditions.

Now for a few on-road niggles…

The brake pedals feel too spongy in their action – from stomp to stop – but the ventilated disc brakes front and rear do manage to wrench the Lexus to a controlled halt when needed.

The V6 and auto work well together, and though that transmission remains a smooth shifter, 10 gear ratios still seem like too many to me but, alas, that’s the way of the world.

To the off-road portion of this test…

The LX500d is a great open-road tourer but it does reveal some flaws when it comes to 4WDing – but more about those later.

As well as its robust mechanicals, the Lexus has off-road-capable Cruiser underpinnings with dirt-biased tech thrown into the mix as well. 

There’s plenty of glass around so driver-to-track visibility is fine, steering feels light but takes on a clinical precision during low-speed, low-range 4WDing.

And ‘clinical’ is exactly how the Lexus continues to feel off-road – with multi-terrain select driving modes offering auto, dirt, sand, mud, deep snow, and rock options; with a multi-terrain monitor and panoramic view helping you ‘see’ everywhere on the track; with active height control helping you to lift the vehicle’s body in order to improve off-road angles at the push of a button; and don’t forget about downhill assist control, hill-start assist, crawl control, and off-road traction control.

The danger is that – with so much tech working away at making everything so easy and safe – the driver feels completely removed from the off-road experience. The LX500d isn’t the only culprit, not by a long shot; most of the current crop of off-road vehicles are increasingly offering a sanitised, hyper-controlled version of 4WDing rather than the visceral experience many of us know and love. I’m old and grumpy, sue me.

Our test vehicle has all-season Dunlop Grandtrek 265/50R22 112V tyres, which are fine for sealed surfaces, but they’re not at all suited to the demands of low-range 4WDing in tough conditions, even more so on these 22-inch rims.

Unbraked towing capacity is 750kg, braked towing capacity is 3500kg. The LX500d has a gross vehicle mass (GVM) of 3280kg and a gross combination mass (GCM) of 6780kg.

It has a full-size spare tyre and that’s mounted under the rear cargo area.

Right. So this is a salutary lesson about tyre pressures. The first few days the tyres were only pumped up to 200kpa (29psi). That's an easy 100kpa (14psi) short of the required 300 (43psi).

Every time I, or my wife, went around a corner, the big Dunlop Sport Maxx SPs would squeal and squirm and it was most unsatisfactory.

So check your tyres, because the extra 100kpa makes all the difference. Also, the number of service stations it took to find a working pump was unacceptable. Pull your socks up, Sydney.

Anyway.

Correct tyre pressures enacted, the big Lexus turned into a comfortable, competent cruiser. Its motorway performance is super-impressive, purring along the M4 and it's ridiculously poor surface like it was born to it. Which it sort of was.

The hybrid drivetrain allied to the CVT is mostly whisper quiet. It's not the most responsive combination, the initial step-off of the electric motor's torque soon giving way to the rubber band effect of the transmission.

It doesn't feel as swift as the claimed 7.7 seconds and it would be nice if the drive select dial made a genuine difference to the throttle and transmission's response.

In the city, it's a proper wafter, moving about the broken down city streets of Sydney without fuss and a plush ride that's a bit of a surprise given the huge wheels and substantial weight of RX.

It's all very easy and pleasant but the wild looks do not match the experience. Which is not a criticism, just an observation.

The RX ships with eight airbags (including knee airbags for both front seats), ABS, stability and traction controls, blind spot sensor, reversing camera, forward collision warning, forward AEB and reverse cross traffic alert.

There are three top tether restraints and two ISOFIX points. 

The RX scored a maximum five ANCAP stars in January 2016.

The Lexus LX500d has a five-year/unlimited-kilometre warranty.

Capped-price servicing applies for three years or 60,000km, whichever occurs the soonest. 

Service intervals are scheduled for every six months or 10,000km intervals with each appointment costing $495 a pop over that period.

Lexus Encore benefits – including a loan vehicle during services, service pick-up and return, as well as valet parking offers and fuel discounts – are standard for new Lexus owners.

Lexus offers a fence-sitting four year/100,000km warranty with roadside assist thrown into the bargain for the same period. 

Service intervals arrive at 12 month/15,000km and there is, sadly, no capped-price servicing.

Lexus will, however, promise you a car for the day or come and get your car from you and drop it back when the service is done. And it will be washed and vacuumed. The website makes a big deal about that.