Lexus RX350H vs Mazda CX-90

What's the difference?

It’s hard to look past the value equation of the RX350h Luxury 2WD when comparing it to almost all its competitors. The pricing is on point, but there are some features missing.

However, there are very few (if any) rivals with a true hybrid powertrain (sorry, mild hybrids do not count), so the RX will capture buyers looking for environmental credentials and efficiency without going full EV.

The drive experience is much better than before and it’s all wrapped up in a very stylish package. The Lexus RX should not be ignored.

There are many reasons I quite like this CX-90. It sells the plush luxury promise when it comes to its interior and design, it feels big and purposeful, and has a refreshingly minimalist approach to its cabin tech. As a seven-seat SUV it’s particularly impressive, with plenty of amenity and a third row that can genuinely fit an adult in comfort.

However, there are areas where it could use more polish, from the drivetrain to the ride, and it ultimately strikes an odd point for price and ownership which feels lost between the premium segment and the mainstream rivals.

If you’re a long-term Mazda owner, I still think you’ll love it, and this Touring grade is definitely the best value in the range. It offers the lion’s share of equipment at a price more comparable to Mazda’s traditional mainstream rivals.

Across its five generations, the RX has held significant visual appeal - especially the still-handsome second-gen version that was the first RX sold Down Under. The first-gen model skipped Australia.

The new model that launched in 2023 is a clear evolution of the car that came before, but it’s been softened and sharpened in the right areas, giving it one of the most appealing designs in its segment.

The proportions and design elements like the squat stance, unique C-pillar treatment, slimline headlights and nicely sloping roofline give it a sporty look.

In fact, I reckon it might be the best looking Lexus available today - not including the jaw-droppingly beautiful LC coupe and convertible, of course.

The interior is modern and feels like an evolution of Lexus’ previous cabin design - but elevated. The gloss black section of the dash helps here.

Levels built into the dash break up the bulk, but the interior is very grey. It could do with a dash of colour.

The synthetic leather seat trim doesn’t look premium. If you want a more expensive feeling RX, you need to pay more for a higher grade.

The CX-90 is an impressive car to behold. Moving things onwards and upwards from its CX-9 predecessor, the CX-90 is bigger and even more refined in a lot of ways.

Mazda’s signature design language has evolved into something a bit beefier, trading out the delicate sharp angles and chromes of its front-wheel-drive predecessors for something a bit more upright, with a wide stance and tough proportions.

The long bonnet and expansive body panels stress the long-engined, fluid nature of this car’s design language. It certainly gives it a more premium vibe than the boxy American-influenced style of the Hyundai Palisade, and leans more European than the science-fiction styling of something like the Kia Sorento.

If anything, there’s some clear BMW influence in the shape of the tail and light fittings. Light lashings of chrome keep it in-line with Mazda’s previous design language, and on this base model at least, plastic claddings over the arches toughen it up a bit.

Inside is plush. In fact, it’s treading on Lexus territory when it comes to the design and feel of the seats, dash, doors and there are even padded leather touches down the sides of the centre console for your knees to rest against. Even the standard leather seats are nice (with softer Nappa leather available on higher grades), and I actually find the somewhat monochrome interior treatment on our test car to be the most modest option. It’s off-set by silver trims and a touch of chrome in the steering wheel and doors.

The dash is in a more traditional style (again, it feels influenced by BMW here) with a padded insert across the front, inset vents and a climate control panel leading down to a nice wide console with tasteful patterned trims, and an electronic shifter. The screen in this base car is of modest dimensions compared to most cars today, but those who aren’t sold on giant touchscreens will love it.

Even the digital dash elements are tastefully executed, although they’re not particularly customisable, which is a shame. 

The RX is a five-seat only proposition in this generation - the previous model had a seven-seat option - so if you need a third row you can look at the Lexus LM people mover or massive LX 4x4 SUV, or at any number of other three-row lux SUVs like the Volvo XC90 or new Mazda CX-90.

That doesn’t mean the cabin isn’t practical. 

Up front the seats offer excellent comfort levels and ample upper body support, but not a lot of hip support.

Lexus has changed up the door handles for the new RX and it can be complicated - initially.

The interior handles bamboozled every new person that got in my press car over the three week loan. But once you realise it’s a simple push of the thumb on the handle’s thumbpad and a gentle push, it all makes sense.

Lexus calls the electrically activated door handles an ‘e-latch’. Is it tech for tech’s sake? Probably. 

I recently reviewed the Lexus LM and commented on how much I like Lexus steering wheels and that’s true of the RX, too.

It has clearly identifiable controls and feels nice in your hands. Thankfully, the cruise control buttons are housed on the wheel too, so no annoying stalk on the wheel.

There’s plenty of space across the front row so you should avoid the awkward driver-passenger elbow bump on the centre armrest.

Under the armrest is a huge central bin that opens on the driver and passenger side. There’s also a big covered storage nook forward of the shifter and another ledge above that, as well as a sizeable glove box. 

The doors have ample storage room for bottles, but the space is almost too wide. My bottle slid around when driving so I had to lay it down.

The centre console houses two big cupholders with adjustable depth in one of them. Clever touches like this and the central bin add to the appeal.

As with the Lexus LM, I am a fan of the new Lexus multimedia set-up. It has an easy-to-navigate menu along the side, easy wireless Apple CarPlay connection, and visually appealing graphics.

It’s a world away from Lexus’ previous system. That frustrating touchpad is, thankfully, in the bin.

I quite like the gear shifter with its unusual gate and even the indicator feels and sounds premium.

Small rear windows make for a rear three quarter blind spot, but visibility is otherwise good.

On a side note, the RX has very strong air conditioning - perfect for an Australian summer.

Jumping into the second row, there’s plenty of space all around and no shortage of head, leg, knee and shoulder room. Although foot room under the front seats is tight.

As with the front seats, the rear row offers comfortable seating. Kids should be happy back there.

There’s only a small transmission tunnel so middle-seat legroom is good. And in great news for passengers, the rear backrests recline. 

Lowering the 40/20/40 split-fold rear seats for more cargo space is done via a lever on the side of the outboard seats, or by a button in the boot area. There are ISOFIX clips on the two outboard seats.

Other amenities in the second row include map pockets, two USB-C ports, knee-level air vents, climate control, and a pull-down armrest with pop-open cupholders.

Open the power tailgate and you’ll find cargo space of 612 litres with all seats in place, or 1678L with the second row stowed.

That’s a decent amount of space but not class leading. The Mercedes-Benz GLE has 630L and the VW Touareg can swallow 810L.

There’s no under-floor storage because that’s where some hybrid hardware is housed. You will find audio speakers, nice carpet, a cargo blind, two 4.0kg hooks and three top tethers. No spare, only a tyre repair kit.

The CX-90 is enormous, but despite its long bonnet, it feels on the inside like it makes good use of its dimensions.

Up front, it’s easy to find a seating position thanks to an array of adjustability, from the seats to the telescopic adjust for the wheel, and the cabin is wide and tall enough to accommodate pretty much anyone with ease.

Unlike some Mazdas which have a strange zoom-factor on their rear vision mirrors, the CX-90 doesn't have this problem, and visibility generally out the windows is impressive. I can see the long, tall bonnet and cosy dash design creating visibility issues for shorter drivers, however.

Padded materials are everywhere they should be (and more), and when it comes to storage there’s a large bottle holder in each front door, two more cupholders in the centre console (with a flip-out cover), a split-opening centre console box (which hides USB-C connections, great for cable management) and a wireless charging bay up front below the climate unit.

It’s rare these days to see a full array of physical buttons and toggles for a dual-zone climate set-up, but the Mazda has the whole lot. It’s a breeze to adjust on the fly and integrates into the design in a subtle way.

It’s also worth calling out the multimedia screen isn’t a touch unit. Instead, you need to control it through a handful of buttons and a rotary dial on the centre console. It’s nice to have a physicality to it, and it works well for the relatively simple base operating system, but it’s a clumsy way to interact with phone mirroring.

In my experience Apple CarPlay has simply too many icons and menu features to work around with a dial-operated system, to the point where it’s distracting to use on-the-go (thus, defeating the purpose of having physical controls).

The second row is a real highlight. Set to its default position, I have leagues of legroom behind my own driving position (at 182cm tall). Again, heaps of width and headroom here, and even the huge rear doors open nice and wide, which should make loading luggage and fitting child seats easy.

The seat trim is just as good as it is in the front, with decent side bolstering, and top-notch amenities, with shades built into the windows, decent-sized bottle holders in each door, a further two in the drop-down armrest, soft pockets on the backs of each front seat, and a separate climate zone with independent temperature and fan speed controls.

There are two adjustable air vents with a lock-off, as well as two USB-C ports for power. Top marks.

The third row is usually where things get tricky for SUVs like this, but the CX-90 isn’t out of tricks yet.

Access isn’t the easiest. The second row can fold forward, but the left over aperture for clambering in, even though the doors are quite large, isn’t great, which will make it a no-go for anyone with mobility issues.

However, once you’re back there, I was surprised to find a full-sized adult like me can fit in relative comfort. With the second row set as far back as it can go, my knees are hard up against the back, but when rolled forward for more third-row space, there's still plenty of room in the middle. I was left with ample room for my knees and feet in the back seats. The seat trim also offers decent padding and comfortable trims, which is rare for most three-row SUVs, and while you wouldn’t want to be too much taller than me, the roof was just tall enough to have a little airspace above.

The armrests are hard plastic, unfortunately, but offer two large bottle holders on each side, as well as a USB-C port, and vents with decent air flow, which is again, quite rare for a three-row SUV.

I’d go so far as to say this is one of the best SUV third rows I’ve been in when it comes to space, comfort and amenity.

Now for the luggage space. I was pleased to find, even with the third row up, I could fit the largest (124 litre) CarsGuide luggage case with room to spare on either side. Officially, space here is 257L, but it’s rare to fit a case this size in a three-row SUV.

With the third row folded down, space comes in at 608 litres, which is on-par for this segment, and with the second and third row down, it tops out at 2025L.

With such space on offer it’s probably worth keeping in mind the payload, which is 580kg, and for those who want to add a trailer to the mix, the maximum towing capacity is 2500kg braked or 750kg unbraked for the 50e petrol straight-six versions like the one we’re testing here.

We’ve reported on Mazda’s march upmarket at CarsGuide for quite some time, and while the brand has always led the charge on the pricing front, it’s sometimes surprising how quickly rivals catch up, following Mazda into pricing territory.

Remember when premium mid-size SUVs started at $74,550? It doesn’t feel that long ago, and yet here we are on the eve of 2025 with Mazda asking this price (before on-road costs) for its CX-90, and for a base model Touring G50e no less.

Honestly, this base version is the pick of the range. You still get the big powerful inline six engine, but with a more modest trim on the inside, free of luxuries you might not actually need when you think about it.

And yes, $74,550 before on-roads used to be BMW X5 territory, and it surprised us when the CX-90 launched. But now some of its key rivals are playing in the same space, although their ambition isn’t quite as stratospheric as Mazda in the seven-seat SUV space.

The new-generation Land Rover Discovery-aping Hyundai Santa Fe, for example, has crept up to this price point, although you can have the very plush top-spec Calligraphy for $75,000 and it’s a real hybrid too (as opposed to this Mazda’s sort-of hybrid drivetrain - more on this later), you can also get the Kia Sorento hybrid in top-spec AWD GT-Line form at $73,330, or even a Toyota Kluger hybrid in mid-spec GXL grade at a significantly more affordable $70,990.

Finally of course, and closer on a size and price basis, is Hyundai’s other seven-seat SUV, the more American-styled Palisade, which comes in at $75,900 in petrol six-cylinder 2WD form (also in top-spec guise). In terms of premium rivals, you could also step into a size-down seven-seater like a Mercedes-Benz GLB or a Land Rover Discovery Sport, but they’re nowhere near as big as this giant Mazda family hauler.

At this price you can also shop in the off-road 4x4 segment, which in the mid-to-late $70,000 mark offers anything from GWM’s Tank 500 to Ford’s Everest.

Even though this Touring version of the CX-90 is a base model, it’s packed with standard equipment. Key highlights include the 19-inch wheels, 10.25-inch multimedia screen with wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto connectivity, built-in sat-nav, a 7.0-inch info display in the dash, a wireless phone charger, tri-zone climate control, auto-dimming rear-vision mirror, leather seat trim with power adjust and heating for the front two positions and memory settings for the driver, LED headlights, front and rear parking sensors, and a power tailgate. 

There’s even some rare stuff, like a 150W full-size power outlet, and if you look further up the spec tree the additional equipment you gain is mainly luxuries like larger wheels, larger screens, additional heated seats, premium audio and a sunroof.

I’d even say some things on this grade, like the smaller wheels which improve ride quality, are an improvement over the higher specs.

Is it a lot of money for a seven-seat family SUV? Still yes, but I can understand the allure of the Mazda against its rivals, especially with the way it looks and feels.

Powering the RX350h is a series parallel hybrid system consisting of a naturally aspirated 2.5-litre four-cylinder petrol engine, a front-mounted motor and a nickel-metal hydride battery. 

Lexus doesn’t provide combined torque outputs for the hybrid, but total power for the system is pegged at 184kW.

This drives the front wheels only via a continuously variable transmission (CVT).

The CX-90 gets a bit exciting under the bonnet with its big 3.3-litre in-line six-cylinder turbocharged petrol engine. It produces a whopping 254kW/500Nm, well above par compared to its mainstream rivals.

This engine is mated to an eight-speed automatic transmission. This is no run-of-the-mill transmission though. Instead of the usual smooth hydraulic coupling this style of transmission is known for, the Mazda uses a hybridised single clutch set-up instead.

This is in the name of efficiency. A single-clutch plate has less loss, and is therefore more fuel efficient, with a small electric motor helping to push things along as part of the mix.

The catch is, like the sometimes-derided dual-clutch automatics, it’s not as smooth to operate. More on this in the driving section.

Efficiency – What is its fuel consumption? What is its driving range? 8/10

As a result of this unusual transmission set-up, fuel efficiency isn’t bad for such a big and powerful engine, and for such a large vehicle.

The official combined fuel consumption for the CX-90 G50e is 8.2L/100km, which is already impressive, and in my week with the car over a few hundred (mostly urban) kilometres it landed close, at just 8.9L/100km.

It’s seriously impressive and runs rings around the six-cylinder Hyundai Palisade (10.7L/100km combined) while producing significantly more power than the more efficient Toyota Kluger Hybrid (5.6L/100km). On the flipside, you’ll need to fill its massive 75L fuel tank with mid-shelf 95RON fuel.

The old RX was competent and even nice to drive but not a patch on the likes of the BMW X5. The new-gen RX improves on that in a big way.

It offers solid acceleration from a standing start. Lexus says 8.1sec from 0-100km/h - without giving you chills. The sportiest RX is the 500h Performance hybrid and that covers the same distance in 6.2sec.

The transition from electric power to petrol propulsion is more evident in this model than it was in the LM350h people mover I tested recently - the RX is a little noisier. The CVT doesn’t help this, offering up an uninspiring engine note.

It is, however, a much more fun car to push into tight bends than the previous RX. It remains reasonably flat in corners, and pulls out of tem with ease, but can’t compare to the dynamics of the dearly departed IS sedan.

The 19-inch tyres have large sidewalls and as a result soak up harsh bumps on the road. The non-adaptive suspension is tuned for better dynamism, meaning the ride quality is on the firm side.

The front-wheel drive RX lost traction for a second on a sweeping uphill section of my drive route, but the electronic traction systems otherwise kept the big SUV in check. 

But around town in urban areas, there is very little to complain about behind the wheel of the RX350h.

For all its clever, efficient drivetrain, the CX-90 has a bit of a mixed drive experience. Initially, it comes off as impressive. It’s plush and quiet from behind the wheel, and the primarily rear-drive nature of its drivetrain gives it the big premium steering response missing from its mostly front-drive rivals.

The flaws with its tricky transmission quickly become evident, though. The clutch constantly needing to engage in stop-start scenarios makes for a slightly jerky and uneven experience, similar to the feel of a dual-clutch auto, particularly in traffic, while the at-speed gear shifts, which in a dual-clutch tend to be much smoother are telegraphed more physically by this Mazda system.

As evidenced by the actual fuel consumption, it’s clear this system does what it sets out to, and it even feels like it could be significantly better, but Mazda will need to invest some time in calibration. For what it’s worth, it feels better than its original implementation I drove at the launch of the CX-60, which was the first car to get this system.

A subsequent software update has solved some issues, but it still can’t compare to a regular auto when it comes to smoothness.

However, the engine is immensely satisfying. The big six has a low roar when pushed, and motivates the big CX-90 with ease when you step on it. It pairs nicely with the weighty steering to make for a car which feels purposeful and satisfying to steer when it gets going.

In this sense it nails the brief of elevating Mazda out of the regular crop of front-drive seven-seat SUVs, giving it a distinct and more premium edge.

As also noted with the CX-60 though, the CX-90 has the same issue with its ride quality. It’s a little too hard to give it the kind of refined response to road imperfections we’ve come to expect from brands like Lexus and BMW. The firm response to the road helps this big heavy SUV feel controlled in the corners, but it doesn’t deal with suburban bumps how it should.

Larger hits in particular are often communicated to the cabin. The CX-90 is better than its smaller CX-60 sibling, which went so far as to have its rear dampers recalled, but the brand is even considering similar updates to this large SUV, so keep an eye out.

While this version of the CX-90, the base Touring with its smaller alloys and larger tyres, is more comfortable than any other Mazda on this new platform I’ve driven, it still leaves room for improvement.

It’s a shame, because otherwise the CX-90 is a lovely and luxurious SUV to drive, with a quiet, plush interior and a satisfying engine. It’s so close to greatness that it’s frustrating.

Safety equipment is mostly standard across the CX-90 range. Even this base Touring grade scores auto emergency braking with cross traffic assist, lane keep assist, blind spot monitoring, front and rear cross-traffic alert, front and rear parking sensors, driver attention alert, traffic sign recognition, and a 360-degree parking camera.

The mid-spec GT gains adaptive LED headlights, while the top-spec Azami grade scores a stop-and-go function for the cruise (dubbed cruising and traffic support), and a see-through function for the 360-degree parking cameras. Like the rest of the CX-90 range, these are purely luxury items which I don’t consider to be dealbreakers either way.

Eight airbags feature (dual front, side, and curtain, with a far side and knee airbag for the driver), with the curtain set extending the whole way to the third row.

The CX-90 is yet to be rated by ANCAP, but its smaller CX-60 relation secured a maximum five-star rating in 2022.

The RX350h is covered by a five-year, unlimited-kilometre warranty, and the servicing schedule is every 12 months or 15,000km.

There’s a capped-price servicing plan lasting five years and it will cost $695 per service. That's significantly less than some rivals like the Mercedes GLE.

The RX is covered by the 'Lexus Encore' loyalty program and includes complimentary service loan cars, fuel offers as well as discounts and other offers with Lexus partners.

The usual five-year and unlimited kilometre warranty applies to the CX-90 range, with a matching five years of roadside assistance.

Servicing is required once every 12 months or 15,000km, whichever occurs first, and a schedule of costs on Mazda’s website extends to seven years. Over the first five years, prices fluctuate between $469 and $1304 annually, with an average yearly cost of $693.30. The price puts this big-engined Mazda up the premium end of mainstream automakers when it comes to service costs.