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The crossover SUV experts at TheCarConnection.com have studied the new 2010 Lexus RX and have researched reviews from around the Web to compile this comprehensive look at the latest Lexus luxury SUV. TheCarConnection.com's editors also drove the 2010 Lexus RX to help you decide which vehicle is perfect for your needs, and to provide you with the best shopping information possible.
Likes:
- Velvety ride
- Lexus service and reputation
- “Remote Touch” controller better than iDrive
- Available hybrid version
Dislikes:
- Engine note is now noticeable
- “Remote Touch” still takes getting used to
- Passionless driving experience
- Not much that’s really new for ’10
The 2010 Lexus RX 350 is arriving in showrooms completely revamped—yet completely familiar to anyone who’s driven the previous two editions of the five-seat crossover vehicle.
Sized at the larger end of the two-row crossover class, the 2010 Lexus RX 350 shares the familiar shape that spawned this entire class of vehicles back in the late 1990s. In this edition, it’s lost some of its better details but is instantly recognizable as a Lexus first, an RX second, and a soft-hearted sport-ute third. The fastback may be growing ever more AMC Eagle-like, but the tall roofline and handsome proportions are still in evidence, as is a bit more sculpturing to fit with the latest Lexus theme of “l-finesse.” Inside, the Lexus RX 350 has given up a touch of its refinement, though, with a newly styled interior that divides driver controls visually from the passenger zone—leaving a large swath of silver-painted plastic and a less sophisticated look in the place of the subdued, woody library feel of the last RX generation.
For the Lexus RX, 2010 brings a moderately updated drivetrain. The RX 350 sports a 3.5-liter V-6 with 275 horsepower (up a slight 5 hp from before), teamed to a six-speed automatic transmission and a choice of front- or all-wheel drive, the latter of which has an adaptive torque split for rapidly changing driving conditions. (There’s a hybrid edition covered separately as the 2010 Lexus RX 450h.) The new transmission, with its extra forward gear, also has a sport-shift mode. And with help from the new “eco driving” light and a careful right foot, the 2010 RX 350 can be coaxed to 18/24 mpg fuel economy. The bigger surprise is the increased powertrain noise found in the latest edition, a little unexpected in a vehicle that’s taken great pride in its isolation from the road.
