Numb steering or lack of steering feedback seems to be a common comment from professional vehicle reviews on 3GEN RX. May be I don't fully understand the definition of numb steering but I thought my 2011 RX350 steering is precise and responsive and it tends to want to stay in the middle so I personally don't sense any steering weakness. I can also feel the steering becomes heavier as the vehicle speed increases which feels right to me. So what exactly are the professional reviewers complaining about?

 

They always complain about steering, especially electric one, particularly if there's nothing else to complain about. Nothing to worry about in a vehicle such as an RX. Almost anything with FWD will not have a very "informative" steering.
Steering feel is something that can't really be measured and is very subjective. Even the best of the best sports cars get criticized for it.

 

I haven't seen the article you're speaking of but probably from some magazine that doesn't get much advertising from Lexus so every article they write on our Marque is jaded in some way or other. Was it Auto Week perhaps? Always bad press for us there. If you follow their adds, they give great write ups to folks that spend the advertising bucks with them.

 

Well, the consensus in any auto magazine is Toyota = Boring & Reliable. Let's face it, we're not driving Lexus vehicles because they're fun and engaging*. That's German territory. Bad press is inevitable from auto enthusiasts.

*Except 1IS.

 

I think they're right. I find my Rx's steering numb but it's especially really bad on the LS460.
If you have a chance, try driving a M3 or a 911 for comparison. You'll understand what they're talking about.

 

The F-Sport has a tighter steering feel so obviously they weren't driving one of those. It doesn't matter though. It's all about what I like. Like vlad said, the critics try to find something wrong but obviously the numbers don't lie.

 

It is all relative - remember, these guys/gals drive different cars all the time. I find the RX steering pretty bad personally (wife's car) but perfectly acceptable for what it is. Handling is, ah, carefully. In fact, I find the Fsport version the odd bird since trying make the RX what it clearly is not. Ride was "stiffer" with no increased capabilities at all (save for the better tranny) to an RX with the same size tires/19" wheels.

To compare "apples", jump in a BMW X3 (or 5) or Infinit FX to see the difference. Not that the X5 is a superior car (it is not), but the steering "feel" certainly is.

 

People on Audiforum qouted CAD magazine in one article prizing the electric steering in 2013Audi Q5, and six months later criticizing it...
I find the steering feel is fine in my '12 RX -RX 350 is not meant to be driven like 911 or M3.

 

This thread reminded me a little of an episode of Top Gear I just happened to watch, they were comparing a Maserati and a Mercedes and the guy was blasting the Mercedes for handling like crap, losing traction, constantly smoking off the tires and couldn't keep up with the Maserati. At the end they handed both cars over to their professional driver and he had the best lap time on the Mercedes. What did all that prove... that it's fun to spend a couple of hours ripping around with someone else's cars, and one person's crap is another person's top performer.

 

Give electric steering another generation to catch up. My job is to design flight control systems and with everything going fly-by-wire these days, its very important to maintain the right feel characteristics to the operator.

Most of today's flight controls at the pilots hands aren't even physically moved by his inputs. Rather, sensors are use to measure force and torque and then a motor actually moves the stick to produce some desired force-feel characteristic. This is not entirely the same for cars - a steering angle sensor along with a torque sensor in the steering shaft is used to send a signal to an electronic motor which provides the force assist instead of the mechanical advantage delivered by hydraulic valves.

Going back to aircraft FBW - take that same technology and dumb it down enough to make it affordable and of course its going to suck in its early years (thus the hybrid architecture with the electronic motor). Our RX feels like its a torsional spring with a very light damper - just awful. But even after having some of the new BMW's as loaners, their electronic steering isn't anything great. Its certainly a bit tighter, but the comparison between the two is like keystone to miller lite with mechanical steering being a tasty craft beer.

We'll see whats out there in 3 years... I think automakers will have caught on by then.

 

That is an interesting take - thanks for your opinion/expertise.