Here’s a big car that gives you more, much more, and pretends to be taking away less. Expensive, beautifully equipped, stacked with brainy hybrid technology, it’s hard to understand as anything more than a conceit. Yet for its striving for perfection alone, I loved driving it.
The hybrid system operates mainly in Eco mode which allows the electronic controller to shuttle between electric and petrol engine operation, and it’s almost totally seamless. Ev or electric only mode gives just a kilometre or two of silent-only operation. Pulling away mutes throttle response to give near silent going, but hooligans can hoof it and blow away the intent of all those azure ‘hybrid’ badges.
Fit and finish is superb as you’d expect from a R770 000 range-topping machine, and the LXH version has full array of toys including sophisticated camera-based PDC, full leather, superb 15-speaker Mark Levinson surround sound system, heated seats, electric sunroof and auto open/close boot. All useful for making the driving experience less of a chore. Lose these specifics and you have the R70k cheaper SX version. The main media interface includes a HDD navi system operated primarily through a mouse-like haptic device which is the Lexus version of MMI and iDrive. It’s a bit fussy in operation, perhaps less intuitive when there aren’t many menus to scroll through, and difficult in traffic. It works like a damped action trackball on the large format screen, with options selected via a side click. The navigation default (if you like it like that) and menu can both be accessed via two override buttons, and options can be scrolled through with a discreet up and down arrow rocker switch. But it still feels like a system that’s clawing for a point of difference rather than making a stride forward in the ergonomics department. I’m sure its fine when you have most of your defaults sorted. For me, I still find it easier to whizz through menus using a spin and push-to-select dial in the Merc, BM and Audi tradition.
For a large car with a heft of two tonnes, the handling is surprisingly good. The ride is soft without being wallowy, it goes where you point the lightly weighted steering with some precision, and while no racer by any stretch, it will handle the yumps and twists of any daily commute with aplomb and the absolute minimum of mechanical reminder. This car is seriously hushed. It feels sorted, secure and solidly engineered. After all,
Styling is surely a little generic – following the sloping back cues that have given Nissan’s Infiniti its appeal stateside, where the RX450h is no doubt going to find its biggest market. The imposing shovelhead front is good for carving through the lesser traffic. It’s still not pretty, and especially not that sharp frontal point underlined by the chin protector panels. But it contrives to look wide and substantial from behind and dead ahead, though the broad flanks and steeply raked rear roof line help to shrink the silhouette of the vehicle. It’s big, and majors on space inside, yet doesn’t look it from all angles.
Technology is a tour de force, though why it’s all necessary is another question. A whoofling 3.5 litre V6 producing 183kW/317Nm is the main event, which can kick the plot along at a credible pace if you stomp the right foot and keep the irritating CVT (continuously variable transmission) locked on the larger end of the cone, but for the most part you have to pootle along if you want fuel economy. Strident foot kicking brings out upper 11 litres/100km averages, the gentler approach can bring in mid-sevens as battery power helps subsidise things on start-up and slowdown, the latter through a regenerative braking system. Essentially it’s a front-driver with one electric motor/generator coupled to the petrol and acting as a starter/battery generator, plus another 123kw/335Nm driving the front wheels via a transaxle, and a third 50kW/139Nm electric motor driving the rear wheels only when front traction is lost, activated electronically rather than via a mechanical linkage. Total ‘system’ output is rated at 220kW. It’s no radical four-wheeler, but the ground clearance is good, and it should be capable of soaking up a few muddy roads.
As a commuter it seems quite over the top. An automotive oxymoron, if you like. Here’s this great hulking SUV that’s at the same time desperately trying to make a green statement with its expensive technology that cuts fuel consumption and emissions to that of an average sedan. It might make you feel better about the bulk and bombast, even if ultimately it’s a joke on the planet-saving index.
LEXUS RX450h LXE
HOW MUCH ? | R769 300 |
ON | Now |
ENGINE | 3.5 litre 24v V6, 183kW @ 6000rpm, 317Nm @ 4800rpm; front motor 123kW/335Nm, rear motor 50Kw/139Nm; system total 220kW |
TRANSMISSION | E-CVT continuously variable transmission, part-time four-wheel drive |
PERFORMANCE | 7.8sec 0-100kph, 200kph, 6.3 ℓ/100km, 148g/km CO2 |
HOW HEAVY/MADE OF? | 1975-2085kg/steel |
HOW BIG (LENGTH/WIDTH/HEIGHT)? | 4770/1885/1685mm |
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