Lexus RX 500h F Sport+ Review: A Luxury SUV That Stands Out from the German Cars

When you are looking for a luxury SUV that turns heads, has good road presence, and sharp design, there are various options available in the market. If you are looking for an SUV that costs around ₹1.25 crore, has subtle luxury, good performance, and strong hybrid tech, you can check out the Lexus RX in the segment. Recently, the Japanese luxury automaker added new variants to its lineup. However, the mid-size luxury SUV segment is mainly dominated by German SUVs in the market. Earlier, we drove the Lexus RX 350h, a strong hybrid petrol SUV that focuses more on fuel efficiency and ease of driving. However, the Lexus RX 500h F Sport+ is the performance-oriented variant in the RX series.

We drove it for more than 1000 km in the city and on highways and tested its performance, comfort, features, fuel efficiency and other factors. During our drive, we took it through multiple Tier II and Tier III localities, and people did turn their heads to check which car this was.

After experiencing it for quite some time, here are our thoughts on why the Lexus RX 500h F Sport+ is an underrated performance SUV in its segment, and whether it's a worthy upgrade over the regular RX 350 h.

What’s Good

Design

The design of the Lexus RX 500h F Sport+ is bold and sporty. It is big on the outside and has great road presence. Talking about the front, the RX 500h F Sport+ comes with a sharply designed LED DRL and LED projector headlamp, but the indicator unit was a halogen unit. The throw of the headlights at night was good; however, we expected slightly extra illumination at its price. It has a huge grill, and there is a subtle cladding on the lower side of the bumper to differentiate it compared to the regular RX 350h.

Coming to the sides, the overall silhouette is the same as the RX 350h, which we drove earlier. However, one of the differentiating elements is that the RX 500h runs on 22-inch alloy wheels, which are finished in matte black paint shade, giving it a bold and sporty appearance.

At the rear, the design and all the elements remain identical to the RX 350h. It has connected LED taillamps, a powered tailgate with gesture function, and a rear wiper and washer that is neatly hidden under the rear spoiler, giving it a neat look. Regarding the boot space, it has good storage space, and we were able to store a lot of luggage during our trip.

Performance

The Lexus RX 500h comes with a 2.4L inline four-cylinder turbo petrol engine mated with a six-speed e-CVT gearbox. Since Lexus offers a strong hybrid powertrain, the RX 500h comes with a battery and a dual-electric motor setup. The combined output from the engine and the motor is 366 bhp and has a torque of 460 Nm torque from the engine.

The performance from the turbo petrol engine was smooth and punchy. While cruising in the city, it maintained the EV mode, which switched on and off automatically depending on the condition. Hence, it helped us get some extra kilometres in the pure EV mode.

However, the Lexus RX 500h is more for performance and pleasure. As soon as you put your foot down, there is instant push from the engine and the dual-motors, giving you a kick in the pants feeling, and you gain triple-digit speeds in no time. Further, to make the drive more engaging, it comes with three driving modes, which alter the engine output to a certain extent.

The Lexus RX 500h comes with three driving modes: Eco, Normal and Sport. While we mainly kept it in the Eco mode, the performance was adequate for your daily driving. In the city, it maintained its pace well, and you’ll not feel the need to put it in the Sports mode.

However, if you wish for full 366 hp from the engine, you engage the Sports mode and put your foot down, you’ll feel the difference in power delivery, and it will pin you back to the seat. It does a 0-100km/h sprint under 10 seconds, but the biggest drawback of this pull and power is that the fuel efficiency drops at a very fast pace.

Comfort

The seats of the Lexus RX 500h are pretty comfortable. Since we had earlier driven the RX 350h, the seating experience was more or less the same. The front seats are pretty comfortable, and with multiple adjustments, you get a commanding view of what’s around.

Talking about the rear seats, there is an ample amount of knee, leg, and shoulder room on offer. To enhance the comfort levels, the RX 500h comes with an electric reclining function, giving you added comfort and a premium cabin experience. With the seats completely reclined, our 1000km trip was very comfortable and the rear air conditioning with Type-C ports for charging helped in elevating our overall experience inside the cabin.

The suspensions of the Lexus RX 500h are tuned slightly on the stiffer side. Compared to the regular RX 350h, we felt there was a big difference in the ride quality, and since it was on the stiffer side, the bumps and bad potholes did filter inside the cabin. However, while going hard on corners, the body roll was very well contained, and while changing lanes quickly, it maintained its pace, and gave confidence to push it and drive it more aggressively. Though the cabin insulation was on point, while going on the expansion joints on the flyover, some noise did filter inside the cabin.

The feel and feedback from the steering wheel are decent, and there are two modes, Sports and Comfort, in which you can keep the settings. We mainly kept the steering wheel in the Sports setting, and there was an added weight that was there and helped give a more engaging and fun-to-drive experience.

Features

The Lexus RX 500h is a feature-loaded car in the segment. Though it has a similar feature list as the RX 350h, which we drove earlier, the 14-inch infotainment screen was intuitive to use, the heads-up display was clear, came with front-ventilated seats and other features. Further, it comes with a 360-degree parking camera, and the quality was good in the dark, and it was not pixelated. However, it comes with multiple colours for the ambient lighting, and it could have been more prominent instead of being subtly on the dashboard.

For music lovers, the Lexus RX 500h comes with a 21-speaker Mark Levinson music system. The music quality was good, and the bass and treble were on point. It is indeed a perfect cabin for music lovers for your road trips. Talking about the instrument cluster, it has the same layout as the RX 350h, but in the Sports Mode, the dials have a different layout, and browsing through the multiple information displays in the centre is also easy, but it requires some time to get used to it.

What’s Bad

Fuel Efficiency

Though Lexus is popular for its high fuel efficiency factor, in the RX 500h, we felt it was a slight drawback. During our drive experience, we got a fuel efficiency of 10.5km/l from its 2.5L turbo petrol engine, which is despite being a strong hybrid engine. If you drive it more aggressively and redline it continuously, the fuel efficiency may even drop to single digits.

Low Approach and Departure Angle

Lexus positions the RX 500h in the mid-size luxury SUV segment, and it even comes with an AWD setup. In fact, there is a dedicated button to activate the AWD option in the centre console. Since the RX 500h comes with a lower garnish on the front and rear bumpers, it reduces the approach angle and departure angle.

During our drives, we felt a bit of an issue with taking the RX 500h on steep inclined ramps of some parking lots. If not taken into consideration while driving, or if you approach it aggressively, you may even scrape and end up with some scratches or even damage the bumpers of the car.

What is the price of the Lexus RX 500h F-Sport+ variant?

The price of the Lexus RX series starts at ₹89.90 lakh (ex-showroom) for the base variant. However, the price of the RX 500h F-Sport+ variant is ₹1.09 crore (ex-showroom) with the Mark Levinson audio setup.

Should you buy it?

Our answer: Yes. If you want a luxury SUV with a reliable petrol engine, good performance, and a striking exterior head-turner design, the RX 500h is worth considering. It may not be as fuel-efficient as its counterpart, but if you are an enthusiast who wants a Japanese SUV that offers good performance with strong hybrid technology, this can be your good pick. Though you may feel the interiors and the ambience could have been slightly improved, it is an underrated option if you want a luxury SUV at its price.

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