Curmudgeon

Broke down and got the luxury package 350L to replace my 2010 350.
In short, the 350L is awesome.
Several annoyance on the 2010 have been fixed, and others are a bit better.

The annoying dash cup holder that wouldn't hold anything but a cup has been replaced with a "change box". You can actually put change in it and it won't fall out the bottom when closed.
The overhead sunglasses holder has been implemented.
The driver's fold out door compartment is slightly better as it is less likely to grab your pants cuff when getting out of the car.
The elapsed time indicator can be accessed from the steering wheel.
The hard cover seat pocked behind the front seats are better, but still are pretty much unusable.
The overhead switches and controls can be handled by touch instead of having to actually look at them. Garage door buttons below rear view mirror for easy touch access.
The funny spare is mounted underneath, but the valve is on the side between the tire and the car.
Individual tire pressure is displayed on the dash, but the spare isn't displayed at all !!!!
Third row seating is quite small, but has awesome automation. Dealer showed me how to put it down, and it will probably never get put up again.

Oddities:
The Heads Up Display doesn't quite line up with your head if the seat is fully back. Thus you see the full display with your right eye, but the left side of the display is not fully visible in your left eye.
The analog clock, center dash, is a bit retro, but has awesome settings from the menu. One method is to just let the GPS run the clock and the hands rotate automatically for DST.

Awesome:
Cameras, panorama cameras, collision avoidance, radar assist cruise control, lane keeper, and other features with acronyms.
Going around a corner at slow speed and hitting a bump is very smooth. Much, much better than previous years, except for perhaps the 99 RX-300.
Phone, voice recognition, text message display, works flawlessly.
GPS and climate control work great.
Luxury package seats have under leg cushion extenders.
Heated 2nd row seats.
Heated steering wheel

Summary: I like it a lot

Nail34

Curmudgeon, Glad you are happy with your RXL, it sounds great!!
If you don't mind my asking, what are your plans for the 3rd row seats?
Is there any drone?
And, of course, are there any signs of hesitation?
How smooth is the 8 speed transmission?
Thx in advance.

ravenuer

Curmudgeon, just curious.....why did you get the 3-row?

mikemu30

I was thinking the same - perhaps for the extra cargo capacity.

autotech13

That would my reason to get the L, more cargo space.

SoCalRX

I like several aspects of the "L" model:

The side profile with the flatter rear roof is nice and gives the RX a stronger look.
The seats fold down flat, although there is a gap between the second and third row seats. Unlike how the second row seats and the rear deck of the standard model where the second row seats are higher than the rear floor.
More space for hauling goods.

ut2sua

I actually miss that cup holder quite a bit.
Agree with you that the 4RX has lots of good features otherwise.

Curmudgeon

Guess I should have mentioned that. The 18 350L is 9 inches longer than my 2010 350.
That means about 5 extra inches of additional cargo depth, and there is a wider flap part of the cargo area.
I often carry tripods with heads that add a bit of length. With the 350L the tripods will fit depth wise
without placing them diagonally.

Curmudgeon

LOL...the cup holder was annoying because you couldn't close it with anything in it. If you even tried change, it would fall out the bottom.
I agree it was a nice place to put a coffee cup when getting into the car. Mine normally held a small monocular when open.

Curmudgeon

More info from a day trip today.....

Storage:
Not too bad with two exceptions. The center console of some earlier models of the RX had storage space below and in front of the console.
The 18 RX is fully enclosed below. I suppose in a pinch, one could get a custom cutout made.

In the trunk space, there is essentially zero storage space under the flooring. I did manage to get a towing strap, jumper cables, small shovel, gloves, and an emergency light fitted in tightly.
The left side of the under floor area has a separate cover with one of those puzzling odd shaped bottoms. There appears to be space below that bottom for some additional room, if someone
took the trouble to modify the bottom. It is nearly unusable as configured. I only have an ice scraper in there.

More on the plus side:
The center console lid fully opens! On the underside of the lid is a poorly functioning pen holder.
There is a removable liner in the console and there was enough room for me to store a small DC to AC converter below the liner.

There are several DC sources in the car! There is a cigarette lighter type socket in front of the shift lever, another in the center console and one or two in the trunk.
There are USB ports in the center console and in the fold down arm rest of the second row.

Today I had my first experience with the back up monitoring system. Backing out of a slanted head in parking spot I couldn't see very well and was being quite careful.
The car collision monitoring spotted a car approaching and came to an immediate hard stop.

In this particular case, I would have preferred that it not be on. But you never know if it will actually prevent a collision.

ravenuer

Curmudgeon, I'm enjoying reading about your discoveries in your new car. I too very much like the rear monitoring system. But I'm confused when you said "In this particular case, I would have preferred that it not be on.". That might have resulted in a crash, no?

Curmudgeon

Not well said on my part. As I was backing up, I saw the vehicle approaching and safely reacted.. There was no collision danger at all. The car disagreed with my assessment and jerked to a stop.

I didn't like the vehicle reaction, but would have wanted that reaction if there had been an actual danger that I missed.

Thus to take advantage of the car feature, I'll have to put up with occasional unexpected stops. I don't anticipate it being a problem.

jim256

I put the Intelligent Clearance Sonar (ICS) in the same category. I can't get nearly as close to the front garage wall as I used to on the prior car. I could disable ICS but would rather not. 'Might save the day sometime.

ut2sua

I am not getting this (?) I think I can hit any wall with low enough speed with my 4RX.

Oldfart

Mine stops on its own