Hello
You can rely on Lexus to do things just that bit differently.
HELLO LEXUS RX + DS 4 MEETS ITS FORMULA E COUSINS + GOODBYE FORD MUSTANG MACH-E & VOLKSWAGEN MULTIVAN
I’ve a soft spot for Lexus, which started over two decades ago when my grandad began a fiveyear flirtation with buying the first-generation IS saloon. Each year we’d go to a dealer, take a test drive, take home all the sales literature – and then nothing would happen. Until, at last, with the upstart 3-series rival about to be replaced, he ordered one of the final cars.
We finally sold it for him last year, as at the age of 97 he’d decided it was time to stop driving. The bodywork wasn’t perfect any more but it had an uninterrupted 17-year Lexus service history, the rear seats were immaculate, and even the protective plastic film around the tape deck was still in place.
In the years between the purchase and sale, I’ve driven a Lexus LFA and run an IS of my own, a long-term test of the third-gen model. The latter had its faults, in the form of a woeful entertainment system and a hybrid powertrain that offered no discernible advantage over pure petrol or diesel, yet it steered sweetly and the fit, finish and design of the interior were all class-leading. As for the LFA, it might be the best thing I’ve driven during 15 years of writing about cars.
Look across the Lexus range today and it’s a hotchpotch. Without a tape measure you can’t tell which is the UX, NX or RX, and the electric RZ only stands out as it looks how you’d badly draw the others. There’s the ES saloon too, which replaces the IS and GS, and that’s the most interesting thing about it.
At the same time, you can buy the wonderful RC F Coupe (which we rated as better than the last BMW M4) or the spellbindingly beautiful LC grand tourer. No one does, granted, and I’m not sure anyone will take the plunge on the new LM either – but after life with aVW Multivan I’m hot for this £90k MPV with a bad name and a big front grille, as the ultimate in ostentatious family transport.
Anyway, among this muddle there’s a new RX. The first one appeared in the late, late ’90s when BMW and Mercedes were leading the headlong rush into the SUV segment – but it carved out its own little niche when it went hybrid, first wi
