Lexus RX450h - Deserving of Attention

But this remains, I had to remind myself, a 2.2-tonne SUV. Those of you with cynicism intact will point out that no matter how clean and economical it is – Lexus claims an astonishing 6.3 litres per 100km and 148g/km – it would be a lot greener if it wasn’t so heavy and tall. Some will argue that hybrids are a technological dead-end and that the claimed economy figures are impossible to replicate in real use. Others will argue that the only reason this car exists is for the hybrid badge on the side; that it allows the middle classes to buy their way out of a conscience crisis without giving up the SUVs they’ve become addicted to.
There’s some merit in all those arguments, but there’s no arguing with the fact that Lexus has improved economy and emissions by around a quarter even over the outgoing RX400h hybrid; a quantum leap given that we’ve been fiddling with petrol engines for well over a century now. And it has put its new drivetrain into one of the oddest, most idiosyncratic cars on the road; a weird mix of the brilliant and the utterly terrible that drives unlike almost anything else. Cynic or not, it deserves your attention.
I don’t think anyone will try to argue that it’s a good-looking car. Lexus has abandoned the faux-SUV styling of the old RX and fully embraced the ‘crossover’ look, which involves doing everything possible to make the car look smaller and less offensive than it actually is. But at least with a Range Rover you know where your money’s gone; the RX just looks like a bloated Japanese hatchback, and I had a tough time trying to match the way it looks with the premium price. But maybe that’s the point. Maybe Lexus knows that buyers don’t want a car that makes them look as if they’re spending or polluting excessively, but still delivers the SUV security and isolation and elevated view they’re hooked on once they’re inside.
And there’s no compromise in the cabin. It’s the usual Lexus magnificence in here, though the appeal isn’t in the looks. As usual, it seems to have been designed by four people who haven’t met. There are eight different styles of information display; everything from a fighter-jet head-up display on the windscreen to some Casio watch-style LCD numbers in the main binnacle.