LIKES
- Efficient hybrid
- F Sport shines inside and out
- Comfy for five
- More daring than dull...
DISLIKES
- Edgy doesn’t always endure
- Useless third row
- Getting expensive
BUYING TIP
The 2022 Lexus RX seeks a luxury-crossover edge with an eye-grabbing shape, but performance toes the usual line.
What kind of vehicle is the 2022 Lexus RX? What does it compare to?
The RX is a luxury crossover SUV with seating for up to seven people and a catchy shape. It’s still a quiet, comfortable cruiser at its best, which makes it a rival for the Volvo XC60, Lincoln Nautilus, and both Infiniti crossovers.
Is the 2022 Lexus RX a good SUV?
It’s strong and silent, though crash-test scores raise an eyebrow. In hybrid spec, the luxury Lexus crossover earns a TCC Rating of 6.7 out of 10.
What's new for the 2022 Lexus RX?
A few new colors appear on its palette. The RX leaves its boisterous body unchanged, from the tall hourglass grille at the front end to the black bands that blot out part of the rear roof pillars, giving it a canopy-style look. The interior wraps conducively around the driver, building a wall of controls and metallic trim between them and the front passenger. There’s a lot going on, inside and out, and it’s intriguing—even if it hangs together a little less well than the same ideas on rival crossovers.
The five-seat RX has all the space most drivers need, and interior comfort and quality are high. The three-row RX L doesn’t have enough head, knee, or shoulder room to host any but the smallest passengers who don’t need car seats. Cargo space works better in the five-seat version, too.
Lexus fits all RX crossovers with automatic emergency braking, blind-spot monitors, and adaptive cruise control. The IIHS dubs it a Top Safety Pick, but the NHTSA has some concerns for crash safety in front-drive RXs.
How much does the 2022 Lexus RX cost?
It’s $46,395 for the front-drive RX 350 with LED headlights, 18-inch wheels, synthetic leather upholstery, and Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. We’d take the $49,095 RX 450h, with its hybrid powertrain and standard all-wheel drive.
Where is the 2022 Lexus RX made?
Ontario, Canada.
Styling
Lexus has dropped the party manners; now the RX just wants to party.
Is the Lexus RX a good-looking car?
It’s vibrant and eye-grabbing; time will tell if the Murano-like shape will read well years down the road. We give it a point for the tiptoe out on the edge of the styling ice, for a 6.
Lexus launched decades ago with anonymous clones of German cars, rendered with perfectly calm interiors and faultless durability. The RX signals the sea-change: it’s full of swooping lines, a massive mesh hourglass grille, lots of surface textures, and a hot red leather interior, if you’re brave. The massive front end shape telegraphs that its old egg shape has been doing Pilates, but we’re not quite sure what to make of some of the gratuitous shapes that puncture its surfaces, like its large side air intakes. It’s on trend at the rear, with blackout trim panels that make the roof appear to float, but the same idea works with more refinement on rival crossovers.
Performance
The RX is built for comfort, not for speed.
With a gas V-6 in the RX 350 and a hybrid V-6 in the RX 450h, Lexus specs out a mid-size crossover SUV with middling performance aspirations. It rides well no matter the version chosen, for a point above average here, which makes for 6.
Is the Lexus RX 4WD?
The RX 350 has front-wheel drive, but all-wheel drive can be fitted to it. Hybrids come with a special type of all-wheel drive.
How fast is the Lexus RX?
It’s quick for a vehicle that weighs about 4,200 lb. The RX 350 sports a 295-hp 3.5-liter V-6 that twists out 267 lb-ft of torque, and sends it to the front or all four wheels through an 8-speed automatic. It tow up to 3,500 lb, or it can launch the RX to 60 mph in about 7.7 seconds with ordinarily low-key exhaust sounds and well-coordinated shifts. On F Sports, Lexus cranks up shift speed and the sporty sounds, with no change in acceleration.
The RX 450h makes 306 hp net from the V-6 teamed with a battery pack and two electric motors. Engine power heads to the front wheels, while a motor handles power across the rear wheels for what’s sometimes called “through the road” AWD. A hybrid transmission pulls it all together for smooth power delivery that’s no slower or quicker than the gas-only model, thanks to the hybrid’s added battery-pack weight.
There’s little difference, too, between the handling of the RX 350 and 450h. It’s mostly tranquil, and its steering has little feel and not much weight, though a drive-mode selector can alter that once it’s dialed into Sport mode. The RX’s softly damped ride remains unperturbed, even by the largest available 20-inch wheels.
Comfort & Quality
Skip the L’s cramped rear row; the stock RX suits five well.
With a high-quality interior sized for five passengers and lots of carry-on luggage, the RX earns a 9 here.
Stock RX crossovers wear synthetic leather on their seats, and have good shape and range of adjustment for front passengers. The RX suits smaller drivers too with a low step-in height. Heating and cooling come with more expensive models, but real leather is an option, once the Luxury package is selected. Those colorful wood-and-leather combinations would garner the final point here, were they available for less than the $5,880 quoted by Lexus’ configurator. F Sports can wear lipstick-red leather and front seats with massive, chest-hugging bolsters.
The seats are less snug in row two, but the bench has good padding and reclining seatbacks, not to mention 38.0 inches of leg room and seatbacks that fold down to expand cargo space. They convert to captain’s chairs on the three-row RX L, but we’d pass on that model entirely; with just 4.4 inches more space into which the third-row seat is fitted, the space is nearly unusable (it has just 23.5 inches of third-row leg room) and not at all luxurious.
Safety
The RX’s federal scores pose concerns.
How safe is the Lexus RX?
We score it at a 7 this year, due to mixed crash-test scores from the NHTSA.
The all-wheel-drive RX earns a five-star overall rating from the NHTSA, though that includes four-star front-impact scores. With front-wheel drive, it’s rated four stars overall, with a worrying three-star score for driver-side front protection. We’d usually deduct a point for any four-star overall score and grant one for a five-star rating; it’s a wash here.
The RX adds one point above average for standard automatic emergency braking. It also has standard adaptive cruise control, automatic high beams, and active lane control, as well as blind-spot monitors, which come in handy since the raked rear glass and tapered roofline limit vision to the rear.
Features
The RX touches all the luxury-crossover bases.
With plentiful features standard and with a long options list, the RX earns two points above average, for an 8. A strong warranty adds one more—and it nearly adds a point for value in the recommended trim.
The base $46,395 RX 350 comes with all the usual power features, 18-inch wheels, LED headlights, power front seats, synthetic leather upholstery, and an 8.0-inch touchscreen with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. Step up to the seven-seat RX 350L and it starts at $49,225.
On both of these models, a 12.3-inch touchscreen with navigation is an option, as is leather upholstery.
Which Lexus RX should I buy?
We like the $49,095 RX 450h, which carries the same features as the RX 350 but subs in the hybrid powertrain, including standard all-wheel drive.
How much is a fully loaded Lexus RX?
The RX carries a 4-year/50,000-mile warranty, which also includes the first two scheduled maintenance visits for free.
Fuel Economy
Pick the RX 450h for superior fuel economy.
Is the Lexus RX good on gas?
It’s very good with the hybrid, but more buyers pay for the gas-only crossover. Its EPA ratings of 20 mpg city, 27 highway, 23 combined in front-wheel-drive versions earns a 4 here.
With all-wheel drive, the RX 350 slips a mile per gallon on the EPA cycle. Hybrids, however, would pick up a couple of points. They’re rated at 31/28/30 mpg.
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