2018 Lexus RX vs 2019

What's the difference?

For those of us unlucky enough to remember the first Lexus RX to launch in Australia, the memories aren’t the fondest.

If you can’t remember it, just picture the stodgiest-looking SUV you can - make it so bland a mere picture of one could cure insomnia - dragging a glass-walled cube behind the rear wheels. 

All of which makes the current-generation RX so incredible. I mean, just look at it; those big rims, the 3D-effect grille, the outrageous lines and creases. It’s about as far removed from its snooze-worthy predecessors as it is possible to get.

Little wonder, then, it has emerged as the second-strongest performer in the Lexus line-up. And with the RX recently refreshed (and with a seven-seat RX L model added for the first time) its high time we took a closer look at the Japanese premium brand’s large SUV. 

This is a review with a difference. For three days, I had a Lexus RX450h and thought it was pretty terrible to drive. Every time I turned the steering wheel, the tyres would squeal as though they weren't inflated with air but instead with tiny, fluffy kittens.

I was bitterly disappointed. How could a car get out the door of the Lexus engineering division with such an aversion to corners. I mean, I know it's not meant to be a corner-carving monster, but normal cornering should have been okay.

After those three days, I'd had enough. The low tyre pressure warning light came on and the penny dropped. I hadn't even thought to check the pressures. They were very, very low. Like only at two-thirds of recommended. So after visiting three separate establishments to find a working pump, I had a whole different car.