The 2023 Lexus RX 350h, and going mainstream

Remember bands? Do kids today even listen to real music anymore, or is it all AI-generated? God I sound old. The thing with bands is that they always start off “free”. No one is listening, so they play uninhibited music. Then the music is refined, they become popular, and suddenly they write music for the masses instead of themselves.

The 2023 Lexus RX 350h is music for the masses, and that ain’t good news.

The 2023 Lexus RX 350h Overview

The truth is this: every Japanese car company is at least a little weird. 

Mazda had the rotary engine. Acura made a Ferrari knock-off that was better than the real thing. Mitsubishi took a crappy econo-box and turned it into the best rally car ever made. These were not cars for the mainstream.

Lexus did the opposite – they started off with the LS sedan, something meant to battle Mercedes and BMW. Big ol’ boys. Definitely not punk rock at all. A decade later, they realized the median age of the typical Lexus buyer was Cro-Magnon, so they introduced the IS sedan. Altezza tail lights, a tachometer that was upside down – yea, it was weird.

In the today times, Lexus continues to straddle the line. They make the amazing IS 500 (RIP soon) and RC-F (RIP now), and then they make…this. The RX 350h. It’s about as mainstream as it gets for the big L, being their bread and butter SUV.

There are a lot of RX flavors, but into this particular pot go a naturally aspirated four-cylinder, CVT, and hybrid battery. Not exactly an MWS recipe for soul. You can get an F Sport model with more juice, but that’s a bit too rock n’ roll for this review.

Some of their cars are so emotional, they’ve made me cry. Not really. Maybe.

Can the RX make my tear ducts well up? 

Performance Score: 3. It’ll huff, it’ll puff…

Engine

The quality of any driving experience always starts under the hood. Or the floor, in some cases. In this case, it’s both.

The RX 350h has two electric motors (one at each axle), paired with a 2.4 liter naturally aspirated four-cylinder. It’s slow, and not in a savory kind of way. It’s also rough, gruff, louder than I expected it to be, considering this car’s mission statement. Yes, the CVT doesn’t help, but if it’s gotta hang onto revs, can it at least be good-sounding revs?

The promise of electric thrust is never fully realized here. It’s not smooth – step on it and you’ll get a look of confusion on the RX’s face as it tries to figure out which motor and wheel to dance with. This is a Toyota motor that seems to have escaped the factory and walked across the street to the Lexus plant, then promptly sat in the engine bay and said “this is my house now.” I expect more.

Transmission

I’ve been in cars with CVTs like the WRX, or even a V-6 Nissan Altima, and they were fine. That’s not praise, but it’s not damning either.

However, there’s a lot going on in the RX. Engine, battery, all-wheel drive – it’s asking a lot. So the CVT does its CVT thing, droning and whining and hanging onto revs like an obsessed girlfriend. But there’s no power to hang on to, and it makes the powertrain sort of stutter and act confused as to what it should be doing.

Adding insult to injury is the shifter itself, which is convoluted to use. Push over and up for reverse, over and down for driver – look you shouldn’t need a diagram on the shifter that looks like play from Madden to make it work, okay?

Chassis and Steering

Without any F Performance spices, the RX’s bland nature continues on unabated. There’s no fancy rubber, adjustable suspension or shiny strut braces to stiffen up the chassis, though if I’m honest, that’s usually tinsel; you don’t need it to have fun.

All-season tires serve this 4,300-pound SUV well enough – combined with all-wheel drive, you should be able to get through four seasons without issue.

But the RX doesn’t make me frown because of that – no soccer mom is planning on doing an oversteer demo in the school parking lot. No – this Lexus’s problem is the ride. Why does it bounce and clomp so much over bumps? This is the company that made that commercial with the Champaign glasses! Sadly, the RX remembers dips in pavement long after you’ve driven over them.

Good things? The steering ain’t bad. It’s precise and offers some feedback, allowing you to build a bit of a rhythm on back roads. Yay for that.

Brakes

Like the rest of the RX, the brakes have a spongy, softy, whatevery feel to them, but they work well enough. What else am I supposed to say – congratulations for not using drums in the rear?

Lifestyle Score: 4. Move up, dad

The RX is a fine SUV for your daily activities. Lexus has avoided adding the “Coupe SUV” to their lineup, but the RX is plenty stylish without cutting into the cabin.

One of the good things about trying to appeal to everyone is a one-size-fits-all mentality. No, I won’ knock my head on the door frame like in a Land Rover Discovery, thank you Lexus.

Start up front with seats that are simply meh. They are supportive for driving, but not for driving. Ya dig? But they also don’t intrude or give me a back ache. If you’re young enough to go to a midnight concert and get to work functioning the next morning, you won’t care, but I’m more of a matinee guy at this point.

The back seat is tighter than some rivals like the X3. Car seats fit, but if you’re tall and need to push the seat back, it could be an issue. Unacceptable in a mid-size SUVs. Lexus had a three row RX, but this generation has done away with it.

Fuel Economy: 4. Same old

Regular readers might roll their eyes, but I can’t help it. Let’s bring back out the shining example of miles per gallon – BMW’s X3 M50.

*Claps in German*

The RX get a combined 36 MPG, which isn’t terrible for a 4,300-pound all-wheel drive SUV. But considering the things you’ve added (a battery), and taken away (power), shouldn’t we be in the 40s by now? Where is this future I keep hearing about, where cars fart out trees?

Anyway, the X3 – 27 combined MPG, so nine less than the RX 350 h. Is nine MPG a lot over time? Yes. But in the real world, the way you need to cane this thing to get up to speed, and the dullness you’ll experience…what are we doing here?

The M50 produces 393 horsepower to this RX’s 246, giving you two-thirds more performance for just one-third the economy sacrifice, which is supposed to be this car’s bread and butter. Lexus has a plug-in version called the 450h that can take oyu up to 37 miles on electricity alone, but that’s not who’s batting up here now.

Feature and Comfort: 5. Indifferent duds

Recent Toyota examples have crept up in price, making things like the Crown pretty close to this RX. The result is an SUV that doesn’t really feel as luxurious as the badge suggests.

Past, meet future

The issue here is that Lexus is all over the place. Get in some of their older examples, and it feels like there should be a tape deck in the dash. Others, like this RX, are modern yet not as nicely finished.

We’ll give you tech, but you don’t get nice buttons.

Inside the RX, we have NuLuxe faux leather – it’s fine for everyday use, but feels pretty far away from what that original LS would have come with. There’s a large infotainment screen with Lexus’s typical interface (shared with Toyota), and it works well. But the entire dash feels plastic fantastic, and buttons creak when you press them.

Some of the switch gear is Toyota too, taking away a bit of Lexus mystic. It’s not as bad on more upscale offerings like the GX, but the RX is noticeably cheap inside.

Vanilla Slice, Slice baby

I must be honest, from the GX to the IS to this RX – I love Lexus exterior styling. It’s so modern, sharp and clean, but also different enough from Audi so you’d never mistake it for one. 

Painted this particularly fetching shade of Eminent White Pearl ($500, please), this RX seems to somehow still look like an RX. They just have a look about them, dating back to the 90’s. Body cladding is minimal, and most of it is body color thankfully. Sorry, no Altezza lights on this one.

19-inch wheels here are standard, but you can get 21-inch wheels (along with cool trim) on the F Sport model. Opens up some other color options too. I suppose a benefit for this example is a lower base price – that F trim is nearly seven grand more.

Other SUVs to consider

• 2025 Volvo XC60 T8 Polestar
• 2025 Mercedes AMG GLC43
• 2025 BMW X3 M50
• 2023 Rivian R1S
• 2023 Kia EV6 GT
• 2023 BMW X5 xDrive 45e

The 2023 Lexus RX 350h mainstream, so others can play punk rock in the basement

I get it. Not everyone wants an IS 500. It’s thirsty, loud, raw. 

Actually, I don’t get it. Not really – doesn’t everyone want at least a little fun? You know, daddy’s alone in the car, and maybe we can take the long way home just once?

SUVs don’t need to be boring. Hybrids don’t need to be boring. Hell, even CVTs don’t need to be boring (that’s pushing it). But in keeping this base model so mainstream and trying to please everyone, they’ve taken all the punk out.

So what is Lexus? The RX is their most popular model, almost 120,000 examples sold in 2024. Can we fault them for designing and building what people want? Maybe this isn’t a Lexus problem at all, but a mainstream one. Why do you want bland?

Or maybe it is on Lexus – the X5 xDrive 45e is the same concept, and that’s fun to drive. BMW sells a ton of those. I suppose Lexus knows their demographic better than I do.

Before we close, let’s play an imagination game. Take out the battery and the wimpy four-banger. In their place, inject some of that V-8 goodness from their F models. Change nothing else. Suddenly, the Soul Score is an 8, maybe higher.

We’d be CVT-ing it all over the place.

Wouldn’t that be fun to listen to? Our favorite band, playing some of their old classics. 

Before the masses really paid attention.