Just got an email from my Lexus source in the UK

He has just been driving the RX for the past 3 days in Austria along with competitors. These competitors are the NEW XC90, BMW X5, RR Sport and Mercedes ML (or whatever its called now). The competitors all had diesel engines. The X5 was a 30d, the RR Sport also had a 3.0l diesel and the ML had a 3.5l diesel. XC90 had its latest diesel engine too.

He works for Lexus in financing and is not a salesmen, therefore no salesman tactics here. He also owns a BMW M3

First of all he said the driving dynamics are very good - get this - dynamically it is better than ALL of them. Quite impressive if that's true although I cant see the biased UK reviewers saying that anytime soon. The RX was tested on a track and there was a slalom test too. He said the RX felt more controllable and agile compared to the BMW and Merc, and left the RR Sport and Volvo XC90 in the dust.

It is much quieter than the current model too down to insane amounts of sound deadening gone into the vehicle. The steering has been vastly improved also.

He mentioned in the email that the ride and handling has been improved, so best of both worlds but he was most impressed with how quiet the car was compared to a current RX and may actually be pipping the current LS.

He drove both the 450h and 200t. Both provided enough power but the 450h was a clear winner, being better suited to the vehicle as the 200t has to work fairly hard. 350 is only going to Russia and the Balkans in Europe so he didn't bother with that one. The hybrid system has not been updated but its been paired with the new 3.5l from the RX350 albeit its running atkinson cycle. The best bit in his view - the transmission has been changed. Its running a new CVT which feels like a conventional automatic, making the driving experience much better than before.

Quality of the finish was impeccable too and on par with the Volvo. He mentioned that the ML system is a massive improvement over the current gen. He tried counting up the speakers, said there seems to be about 18 but he might have missed some but the sound coming from it is very good and worth more than the asking price which should be around (£/$1k). The ML system gets new speaker technology this year with a new amp as well. Lexus appears to be on to a winner with this one, cant wait to drive it myself!

I will keep updating as I get more information over email.

 

RX200t? Is that a thing?

 

Only in Europe and some other countries. The torque will shift the car ok, especially due to the RX being on a diet. It'll be about 8.5s to 60mph so not bad at all. 450h should be around 6.5-7s

 

RX 200t is a real thing. I just stumbled on this,

http://www.topspeed.com/cars/lexus/2...-ar168929.html

Apparently, only for China and emerging markets whoever that might be.

 

China and all European countries apart from Russia and Balkans get the 200t. Its because we are taxed based on emissions of the vehicle, therefore an RX200T would fit into a lower tax band due to lower emissions, the hybrid is the winner though, it gets into a tax band similiar to 1.6l Diesel hatches

 

Almost everyone will get 2.0t, except for USA.

I am not sure why you keep mentioning Balkans rayaans, 2.0t is coming here are well, not 3.5l, due to CO2 taxes. Russia, Ukraine and Kazakhstan usually get V6.

 

Very interesting about driving dynamics…

Considering the system power for the 450h would only go from 295 to 317PS and torque would get about the same level of increase (don't remember the numbers, but not much really - don't believe it was in 2 digits percentile increase), I wonder how they managed to achieve such a pronounced result…
How is that even possible, considering I guess the weight didn't go down much (if at all?… though I have no first-hand knowledge about that)

But if true, that would be beyond fantastic. I definitely love how my 450h drives, but sometimes I wish there was just a bit more punch to it.

 

The 4RX is suppose to be on a diet so no doubt weight plays a role in driving dynamics.

 

The CVT has been changed and now responds like a conventional automatic. The RX will also get the kickdown switch which was first seen on the NX300h too. The weight will go down slightly due to use of aluminium, Lexus have worked hard to get the weight down in both the interior materials and the chassis.

Of course extra stiffening of the chassis along with the AVS and the new active stabilizer will help too.

 

Checked today, and the new 4RX 450h FWD specs (for Japan) list weight of 2030kg (vs 2040kg for 3RX 450h FWD). A tiny loss of 10kg (in brochure, they mention that switch to aluminum parts allowed them to lose 15kg… so they gained 5kg somewhere else or what?…).

So I guess it's mostly the changes to these other components/system you have mentioned… Hopefully it's true. Still kinda hard to, but I want to believe

 

good news, this is first time we have it confirmed it uses aluminum... otherwise, 4RX is much nicer vehicle, more equipment and tech compared to old one, it is good that they managed to keep weight in check.

 

But you have to understand that the RX has become longer - so uses more metal in its construction and panels. Therefore, they haven't just lost 10kg, they've saved about 100-200kg in total compared to what the 4RX would weight if it was completely made of steel.

 

With all due respect and maximum wishful thinking, it's hard to believe that "[...]the driving dynamics are very good - get this - dynamically it is better than ALL of them."

It doesn't make sense. Lexus is best known for the comfortable ride, and that sits at the opposite end of the scale from driving dynamic, where ride is firmer, bumpier, etc. You cannot have both unless you have air suspension and even then it's hard to nail both.

 

Well the IS350 is steel sprung and best in its class, so is the GS?

 

Both IS and GS have better dynamics than, let's say BMW, but they've never been known for soaking up bumps and float over road imperfections, like the RX does. You just can't do both. Find me a car that does it and I'll buy you a beer