The essence of soft roading

What we like:

Lexus quality and unparalleled refinement

What we dislike:

Isn’t remotely dynamic

The problem then with such a nearly perfect car is that you just know there’s some niggle to be found.

Unfortunately with the RX Lexus still hasn’t got it right as far as dynamism is concerned.

But let’s begin with the good shall we?

It’s supremely comfortable as every Lexus should be. I drove it for about three hours nonstop on our roads – start-stop traffic, highways, jams – it remained a perfectly pleasant place to be in all situations and as I write this I realise my bum hurts more on my 12 dollar Ikea chair having only been on it for less than an hour.

Yet when you start driving it like a hooligan you'll quickly find out the car isn't cooperative like a BMW would be. It rolls quite a fair bit; do a quick lane change and you’ll find the car struggling to deal with its massive weight and high centre of gravity.

The 2.0l engine under the hood sourced directly from the NX Turbo we loved and powered it brilliantly; put in an upsized car unchanged and logic will tell you, without needing me to, that it will be a little bit lacking. I’m not saying it’s slow or anything; but if you bought an earlier version in 350 guise you might want to do the same again. The 6-speed gearbox is a peach though; shifts quickly and knows what gear to be in all the time. Although why Lexus hasn’t shoved a fuel efficient 8-speeder in beats me too.

But that said the people that lean to such a car are not like me. They will not push the RX to extremes nor will they weave around traffic like your average 335i driver would. And so for everyday usability with a huge boot and space for five grown adults together with unparalleled finesse, quality and the promise of reliability, there are few other options.

Truly then, the RX gives meaning to an otherwise meaningless term – “soft roader”.

Credits: Story and Photos by Alvan Sio