Specs say 0-60 in 7.7 sec for the base and 7.9 for the F Sport.
Less than impressive, but in real world driving how does the acceleration feel??
Sluggish or Peppy at lower or higher speeds?
If you have driven both models does the F Sport actually seem a little slower?

 

Actually all of the FWD are 7.7 and the AWD are 7.9.

 

Yeah kinda sluggish. I really don't like that about the 16 RX. None of the RX line was very fast though. My 01 RX is a road slug.

 

adequate is how i characterize. But since this is a NA motor, smooth power delivery, no lag.

 

its definitely quicker than the old model and has a nice muted growl that the old models never had ... this was the RX350 sports Luxury . The F sport adds a nice induction growl as well

 

Never drove a good modern turbo I suppose. The NA engines have a curved delivery, they slowly climb up and only kick in at high rpms for a very short time.
The modern turbos give you max torque across the band and max power 40% of the time. That's SMOOTH power delivery

 

I was surprised that it was better than I expected. If you want slug, try an NX. Wow was I disappointed. Just too much weight for that motor

 

i agree with that one. We almost got the nx and we were so relieved we didn't. The NX is a slug compared to the RX. It's not even in the same league. We waited a full month for the RX and it was well worth it.

 

C&D tested a NX F-Sport at 6.9 seconds 0-60. It looks like they haven't tested a new RX yet but are estimating 6.9 seconds - They did a 2015 F-Sport and it was 7.0 seconds. The small turbo in the NX no doubt feels different than the smooth V6.

 

I guess the N55, the engine of the year is probably a bad example due to its lack of dual turbos (twin scroll turbo instead). Its powerful, but their is a hint of lag that is there compared to the Toyo NA V6.

 

^^ You beat me to it, I just read that review in the Dec C&D this morning..

 

Right, that was a single turbo. But even with that hint of lag, I would take the broad power range and effortless acceleration anytime over the short lived peaky response of a NA.

Once you go turbo it's hard to go back to NA. I just got a GS 350 and although it has decent power, it's SO hard to get it out of it. You gotta smash the pedal, get the engine roaring, all the drama. With a good turbo you don't even downshift, you have full torque at 2k RPM.

 

I have driven my new RX for a couple of days now and I would say the power is more than adequate for most. People looking for a faster vehicle need to look else where. I was concerned about the 8 speed tranny shifting and hunting but Lexus did well in getting it to be have and it works pretty well in my opinion.

Getting out of a full size SUV the 7.7 secs does not feel like a slug to me.

 

If you want to go Turbos, you have to go to Germans, We don't have any of that.

 

If you ask any professional race circuit driver or endurance track driver what they prefer a NA engine or one with turbos and 100% will say NA. Only a drag car racer will pick the Turbo engine. We civilians drive our cars 90% like a road course circuit. But hadly ever drag race our cars so why even bother with Turbos and its headaches when they break.