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Driven: Lexus RX450h+ Takumi. Image by Lexus.

Driven: Lexus RX450h+ Takumi
For years, Lexus’ cars were always let down by one particular foible. But that issue has now been fixed, so just how good is this RX450h+ PHEV?

   



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Lexus RX450h+ Takumi

4.5 4.5 4.5 4.5 4.5

For quite some time now, whenever we've driven a Lexus, we've usually liked the product overall but been infuriated by the clunking infotainment system, with some truly bizarre controller efforts attempted by the Japanese company over the years. But now that this luxury marque has sorted out the touchscreen, can the products push up towards the top of their respective classes? Time to find out in the premium SUV sector, by living with the latest Lexus RX450h+ plug-in hybrid (PHEV) for a week.

Test Car Specifications

Model: 2025 Lexus RX450h+ Takumi PHEV
Price: RX from £62,140, 450h+ PHEV from £63,995, Takumi as tested from £75,995
Engine: 2.5-litre four-cylinder petrol plus 134kW front and 40kW rear electric motors
Battery: 18.1kWh lithium-ion
Transmission: electric continuously variable transmission (e-CVT) automatic, e-Four all-wheel drive
Power: petrol 185hp, electric 182hp front motor plus 54hp rear motor, system max 309hp
Torque: petrol 227Nm, electric 270Nm front motor plus 121Nm rear motor, no system max quoted
Emissions: 25-26g/km
Economy: 235.4-256.8mpg
Electric driving range: 42 miles
0-62mph: 6.5 seconds
Top speed: 124mph (hybrid, 80mph electric)
Boot space: 461-1,678 litres
Maximum towing weight: 2,000kg (braked trailer)
Kerb weight: 2,240kg

Styling

The fifth-gen Lexus RX is a striking-looking creation, even if it's not a million miles away visually from its Mk4 predecessor, built from 2015-2022. But with its toned-down 'Spindle' grille at the front, plus Lexus' innate ability to combine swoopy forms like the side upper window line with a general angularity and creased bodywork in an elegant fashion, this is a really handsome SUV and even if only afforded a casual glance, it's clearly unlike any of the European competition. If we've got a complaint about the RX's appearance, it's that there's a lot of front overhang when you view the Lexus from dead side-on, but as it's a vehicle which looks luscious in some exquisite colours like Sonic Copper or Terrane Khaki, then we're inclined to say the 450h+ is an aesthetic hit.

Interior

Like any self-respecting Lexus cabin in antiquity, the build quality and material finishing inside the RX450h+ is beyond reproach. The utterly solid feel of everything you touch and operate conveys an all-encompassing sensation of deeply shot-through excellence, while the look of the interior is classily restrained and yet visually interesting at the same time. So it's a wonderful place to have to spend any amount of time at the wheel of this SUV, but then the crowning glory is the new infotainment system. Now, we're not about to say that Lexus has uncovered the perfect human-machine interface set-up with its first attempt at a major overhaul, but this is so, so, so, so, so, so, so much better than anything similar we've had to deal with before in this Japanese maker's interiors.

That 14-inch display is smashing to look at and operate, even if some of the menus could do with tidying up a bit, and if you still don't like what Lexus has served up here then both Apple CarPlay and Android Auto can be wirelessly connected instead. OK, most of the climate controls are on the touchscreen too, but the key functions are all permanently presented across the bottom of the display and the icons are easy to tap as well, while the actual split-zone temperature control is handled by two attractive rotary dials with the Celsius figure digitally displayed in the middle. Broadly speaking, this is now a genuinely terrific luxury SUV cabin in the RX, and no mistake. What a shame the magnificent Lexus LC couldn't quite hang on long enough to get this same valuable interior update...

Practicality

A slight black mark on the RX's form book here, because although there are plenty of good points - there are lots of useful in-car stowage compartments, while it also looks like five adults could get comfortable in here for short- or mid-range trips, at the very least - on the other hand there are some less-than-stellar details. Such as the fact that, for all its expense and sheer physical size on the outside, the RX450h+ is a five-seater only, when many of its rivals at this sort of prestige level will either offer 5+2 optional configurations or a full-on seven-seat cabin. Who knows, maybe there's a new RX L on the way to rectify that? But the other issue is boot space of just 461 litres. Quite frankly, that'd be a subpar figure on a B-segment crossover these days, never mind something as top-end as the Lexus. Basically, the long and short of this section of the review is that there are many rivals which are considerably more useful in this market sector, if you need more practicality than the RX450h+ can summon up.

Performance

Of the three hybrids in the RX range, only this mid-level 450h+ is a PHEV. The other two, the 250hp 350h and the flagship 371hp 500h, are non-plug-in petrol-electrics (Lexus uses the little '+' symbol to denote PHEV status), but the powertrain underneath the 350h and this 450h+ is near-identical; it's the 500h which is an outlier, as it has a turbocharged 2.4-litre four-cylinder petrol hooked up to a six-speed automatic and Direct4 all-wheel drive as its basis, and Lexus - like parent manufacturer Toyota - never normally cites a system maximum torque for any of its hybrids, PHEV or otherwise, but it does for the 500h: the extremely specific number of 550.8Nm. We'll just call that one 551Nm, Lexus, ta. It also gets a slightly more potent rear electric motor than the other two RXs, as well as a less powerful (albeit a touch torquier) front motor, too.

Anyway, back to the 450h+. It, like the 300h, is based on the tried-and-tested normally aspirated 2.5-litre petrol four-pot. Again, if you drill down into the specs, bizarrely the 450h+ has a marginally less muscular version of the 2.5 than the 350h entry-level SUV has (you're talking 185hp/227Nm in the former versus 190/239Nm in the latter), and they also have exactly the same electric motors - a 134kW (182hp)/270Nm front item and a 40kW (54hp)/121Nm rear unit. The difference, of course, comes in the electrical support system, as the 350h has a small (size unspecified) nickel-metal hydride battery while the 450h+ has an 18.1kWh lithium-ion power pack, plus a secondary battery that allows it to run as a 'HEV' when it doesn't have enough charge in the li-ion unit to be a 'PHEV' (this is because the underpinnings are related to the Toyota RAV4 plug-in, which pulls much the same 'PHEVHEV' trick). It also means the 450h+ has a stronger system max output of 309hp, so although it's heavier than the 350h by almost 200 kilos, it runs 0-62mph in 6.5 seconds, rather than 7.9 seconds.

Perhaps the main complaint about the 450h+, after this stat-blast, is that it now employs the 2.5 four, rather than having its plug-in system based on the lovely old 3.5-litre V6 in its immediate predecessor. This is an issue because the 450h+ has an electronic continuously variable transmission (eCVT) and while it is a largely decent attempt at this gearbox type, it can still - if you ask for full power - allow the petrol engine to rev out noisily. It's not the worst mooing din in the world, and certainly not the worst we've heard from either Toyota or Lexus over the years, but by the same token it's nowhere near as appealing as listening to a gravelly V6 singing away at the redline.

But that's about our only complaint with the powertrain in the RX450h+. The SUV is suitably swift and responsive to throttle inputs, with a massive amount of midrange flexibility. The e-Four all-wheel-drive system gives it lots of traction so you can get on the power nice and quickly when exiting corners, and in short the Lexus always feels entirely worthy of its claimed 309hp headline figure. And yet, despite the fact it has that much power from a nat-asp petrol engine in 2.2 tonnes of high-riding vehicle, we managed to elicit 43.4mpg from it across hundreds of miles of testing, all without plugging it in once it had exhausted its main 18.1kWh reserves of electric. So if owners are a bit lax with actually mains-charging their RXs, the SUV should still prove suitably economical to run.

Ride & Handling

With a few F-branded and/or V8-powered exceptions, Lexus has never placed much stock in dynamic acuity over supreme comfort and refinement. And if you're buying a big, luxury SUV like this with a drivetrain that is focused on economical benefits primarily, then do you want the RX to corner like it is on rails? Probably not, no.

To that end, the way Lexus has set the RX up is superb. Unless you're on particularly poor road surfaces, this is an incredibly comfortable, incredibly smooth and incredibly quiet thing to travel in. The suspension soaks up the worst of what the tarmac can throw at it, and the passenger compartment is swaddled in so much sound-deadening that the isolation of mechanical, tyre and wind noise is near-absolute. On the flip side, the RX450h+ has good, weighty steering and body control with a degree of squidge to work through, while the levels of grip, traction and balance are high enough that you can hustle it along at a fair old pace if you require. Naturally, a plug-in-hybrid version of something like a BMW X5 or Porsche Cayenne is going to drive with more verve and engagement, if that's what you're after first and foremost, but the Lexus is no less sharp than something like a Volvo XC60 or Audi Q7, and we reckon it might be more comfortable and refined than any of them.

Value

The starting figure of £62,140 for the RX family doesn't seem exorbitant, and weirdly the cheapest 450h+ is not much more cash than that at £63,995. However, if you want the super-luxury Takumi spec like our test car, the asking price of £75,995 is a little more eye-watering, especially as this is a model which doesn't have a seven-seat option (at the time of writing). At least, as a Takumi, the Lexus has everything but the kitchen sink thrown at it in terms of equipment, so it's a truly opulent experience when you're sitting in its cabin - which kind of justifies the thick end of 80 grand as an outlay.

Verdict

It could perhaps do with a dash of extra practicality within, it's not the cheapest thing in the world given it only has five seats onboard, and we're sad that the PHEV powertrain isn't centred on the old 3.5-litre V6 but the current 2.5 four instead, but otherwise the Lexus RX450h+ Takumi puts on an thoroughly impressive all-round display. Superb to travel in, reasonably sharp to drive, economical without the driver even trying too much to conserve fuel, and now blessed with an infotainment system which no longer makes you want to gouge out your own eyes in sheer frustration, this is a premium SUV with immense feelgood factor - and it's something a little different from the European norm. All of that makes the latest RX PHEV a remarkably likeable and gratifying thing to live with.



Matt Robinson - 17 Jan 2025



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2025 Lexus RX450h+ Takumi PP UK test. Image by Lexus.2025 Lexus RX450h+ Takumi PP UK test. Image by Lexus.2025 Lexus RX450h+ Takumi PP UK test. Image by Lexus.2025 Lexus RX450h+ Takumi PP UK test. Image by Lexus.2025 Lexus RX450h+ Takumi PP UK test. Image by Lexus.

2025 Lexus RX450h+ Takumi PP UK test. Image by Lexus.2025 Lexus RX450h+ Takumi PP UK test. Image by Lexus.2025 Lexus RX450h+ Takumi PP UK test. Image by Lexus.2025 Lexus RX450h+ Takumi PP UK test. Image by Lexus.2025 Lexus RX450h+ Takumi PP UK test. Image by Lexus.








 

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