Lexus GX vs Lexus RX

What's the difference?

Talk about nailing the brief. If you can live with the fuel bill, the Lexus GX won’t just drag you up from a Prado, but sideways from an LC300. I still think the Overtrail looks the best, but if yours is a city life, you can’t go past the entry-level model for its value proposition.

It’s hard to look past the value equation of the RX350h Luxury 2WD when comparing it to almost all its competitors. The pricing is on point, but there are some features missing.

However, there are very few (if any) rivals with a true hybrid powertrain (sorry, mild hybrids do not count), so the RX will capture buyers looking for environmental credentials and efficiency without going full EV.

The drive experience is much better than before and it’s all wrapped up in a very stylish package. The Lexus RX should not be ignored.

I reckon Lexus has nailed the brief with this GX, especially in the deep 'Graphite Black' which makes it look even tougher.

It’s worth pointing out there are two distinct looks on offer with this Lexus, the Overtrail fitted with smaller wheels, off-road rubber, more aggressive arches and unique bumpers.

The Luxury and Sports Luxury are more street style, and I think the GX Overtrail looks ace. There’s no over-the-top grilles or design flourishes, just a big, blocky SUV that looks plenty tough.

Inside, it’s a high-tech and premium feeling space. The seats are lovely, the tech is big clear and easy to use, the cursed Lexus 'Remote Touch' track pad has been consigned to the history books in favour of a touchscreen and the lovely cabin materials extend to the back tows, too.

Across its five generations, the RX has held significant visual appeal - especially the still-handsome second-gen version that was the first RX sold Down Under. The first-gen model skipped Australia.

The new model that launched in 2023 is a clear evolution of the car that came before, but it’s been softened and sharpened in the right areas, giving it one of the most appealing designs in its segment.

The proportions and design elements like the squat stance, unique C-pillar treatment, slimline headlights and nicely sloping roofline give it a sporty look.

In fact, I reckon it might be the best looking Lexus available today - not including the jaw-droppingly beautiful LC coupe and convertible, of course.

The interior is modern and feels like an evolution of Lexus’ previous cabin design - but elevated. The gloss black section of the dash helps here.

Levels built into the dash break up the bulk, but the interior is very grey. It could do with a dash of colour.

The synthetic leather seat trim doesn’t look premium. If you want a more expensive feeling RX, you need to pay more for a higher grade.

The GX is a big truck, though admittedly not Lexus’ biggest , stretching just over 5.0m in length, a little more than 2.1m in width, around 1.9m in height and riding on a 2.85m wheelbase.

Only the Overtrail is a five-seater, with the more road-focused trims providing seating for seven. It also means the Overtrail gets more boot space, while the seven-seaters gets 291 litres of room behind the third row, growing to 1138 litres and 2177 litres when you start lowering the seats.

All models weigh in excess of 2.5 tonnes, by the way, and will tow a 3.5-tonne braked trailer. And for reasons known only to Lexus, there are 12 cupholders included, which means each passenger can bring 1.7 drinks.

The big question with seven-seaters is how much room you have in the back, and the GX is pretty generous. I enjoy plenty of room for my 175cm frame behind the driver’s seat, and climbing into the back is relatively easy, too.

The middle-row seats collapse and fold right away, meaning you can climb into the third row without too much grunting. And once there, you’ll find room for adults along with two of the five USB connection points dotted around the cabin.

The RX is a five-seat only proposition in this generation - the previous model had a seven-seat option - so if you need a third row you can look at the Lexus LM people mover or massive LX 4x4 SUV, or at any number of other three-row lux SUVs like the Volvo XC90 or new Mazda CX-90.

That doesn’t mean the cabin isn’t practical. 

Up front the seats offer excellent comfort levels and ample upper body support, but not a lot of hip support.

Lexus has changed up the door handles for the new RX and it can be complicated - initially.

The interior handles bamboozled every new person that got in my press car over the three week loan. But once you realise it’s a simple push of the thumb on the handle’s thumbpad and a gentle push, it all makes sense.

Lexus calls the electrically activated door handles an ‘e-latch’. Is it tech for tech’s sake? Probably. 

I recently reviewed the Lexus LM and commented on how much I like Lexus steering wheels and that’s true of the RX, too.

It has clearly identifiable controls and feels nice in your hands. Thankfully, the cruise control buttons are housed on the wheel too, so no annoying stalk on the wheel.

There’s plenty of space across the front row so you should avoid the awkward driver-passenger elbow bump on the centre armrest.

Under the armrest is a huge central bin that opens on the driver and passenger side. There’s also a big covered storage nook forward of the shifter and another ledge above that, as well as a sizeable glove box. 

The doors have ample storage room for bottles, but the space is almost too wide. My bottle slid around when driving so I had to lay it down.

The centre console houses two big cupholders with adjustable depth in one of them. Clever touches like this and the central bin add to the appeal.

As with the Lexus LM, I am a fan of the new Lexus multimedia set-up. It has an easy-to-navigate menu along the side, easy wireless Apple CarPlay connection, and visually appealing graphics.

It’s a world away from Lexus’ previous system. That frustrating touchpad is, thankfully, in the bin.

I quite like the gear shifter with its unusual gate and even the indicator feels and sounds premium.

Small rear windows make for a rear three quarter blind spot, but visibility is otherwise good.

On a side note, the RX has very strong air conditioning - perfect for an Australian summer.

Jumping into the second row, there’s plenty of space all around and no shortage of head, leg, knee and shoulder room. Although foot room under the front seats is tight.

As with the front seats, the rear row offers comfortable seating. Kids should be happy back there.

There’s only a small transmission tunnel so middle-seat legroom is good. And in great news for passengers, the rear backrests recline. 

Lowering the 40/20/40 split-fold rear seats for more cargo space is done via a lever on the side of the outboard seats, or by a button in the boot area. There are ISOFIX clips on the two outboard seats.

Other amenities in the second row include map pockets, two USB-C ports, knee-level air vents, climate control, and a pull-down armrest with pop-open cupholders.

Open the power tailgate and you’ll find cargo space of 612 litres with all seats in place, or 1678L with the second row stowed.

That’s a decent amount of space but not class leading. The Mercedes-Benz GLE has 630L and the VW Touareg can swallow 810L.

There’s no under-floor storage because that’s where some hybrid hardware is housed. You will find audio speakers, nice carpet, a cargo blind, two 4.0kg hooks and three top tethers. No spare, only a tyre repair kit.

The range-opening RX350h Luxury 2WD petrol-electric hybrid starts at $86,904, before on-road costs, and for that amount, the standard specification list is healthy. But it doesn’t include everything.

As well as a long list of standard safety gear (see section below), the RX350h comes with three-zone climate control, heated and eight-way adjustable power front seats, electric steering wheel adjust, rain-sensing wipers, a 14-inch multimedia set-up with wired Android Auto and wireless Apple CarPlay, digital radio, sat nav, a 12-speaker audio system, five USB-C (and one USB-A) ports and more.

It is missing a few items, however, that should be standard, such as a head-up display and wireless device charging. Those features are available as part of an options pack - or 'Enhancement Pack' in Lexus speak.

For $5000 more you get those two things and a panoramic sunroof, ventilated seats, a more digital instrument cluster and other goodies. 

You can opt for an all-wheel drive version of the 350h and that adds just over $3500 to the price. If you want the same powertrain but more gear then you’ll need to step up to the $110,575 Sports Luxury.

There’s also the petrol-only RX350 in F Sport and Sports Luxury guise, as well as the flagship RX500h F Sport Performance hybrid that tops out at $124,675.

Looking at the opening price of some of its rivals, Lexus has most of them beat.

The Mercedes-Benz GLE300d starts from $144,900, the BMW X5 xDrive30d is $134,900, Porsche Cayenne starts at $138,700 and the Volvo XC90 B5 Ultimate Bright kicks off from $100,990.

Only the Volkswagen Touareg 170TDI ($89,240) and Jaguar F-Pace P250 R-Dynamic ($83,700) are close on price.

This is a pretty straightforward choice, as you get to choose from exactly one engine option. Every GX scores a very punchy 3.5-litre, twin-turbo V6 engine, along with a 10-speed automatic that feeds the power to all four wheels.

The engine produces 260kW and 650Nm and it feels sprightly.

Powering the RX350h is a series parallel hybrid system consisting of a naturally aspirated 2.5-litre four-cylinder petrol engine, a front-mounted motor and a nickel-metal hydride battery. 

Lexus doesn’t provide combined torque outputs for the hybrid, but total power for the system is pegged at 184kW.

This drives the front wheels only via a continuously variable transmission (CVT).

It is thirsty, the GX. It has a big 80-litre fuel tank and the official fuel consumption figure for the combined (urban/extra-urban) cycle is 12.3L/100km.

That translates to a theoretical range of 650km. But I don’t love your chances. We were using more like 20 litres per hundred kays (though that was in the city) which drops the range figure to more like 400km.

The official combined cycle fuel consumption figure for the RX350h 2WD is 5.0 litres per 100 kilometres, with CO2 emissions of 114g/km. You won’t get figures like that in a petrol or diesel competitor.

Over three weeks of mixed city, country, urban and freeway driving, I recorded 6.8L/100km which is not too bad given some of my spirited driving. The trip computer said 7.0L which is close to my figure.

The RX350h takes premium unleaded petrol and has a 65-litre fuel tank, so expect a range of around 950km based on our real-world consumption number.

Piloting a big 4WD with genuine off-road aspirations in the city is always a lucky dip, but the Lexus GX falls on the more car-like side of that equation.

Sure, it never feels quite as tight as a true road-focused SUV, but nor does it feel overly floaty and hard to manoeuvre. In fact, should you never venture off the tarmac — which I suspect is a category many of its owners will fall into — you can pretty easily forget you’re driving a Prado-based 4WD.

The steering feels a little vague, and the manoeuvrability isn’t terrific, but the tech on board makes navigating tight spaces pretty breezy, and I found it easy enough to drive and park in town.

That engine, by the way, is a gem. Sure, you can feel your child’s trust fund evaporating every time you flatten the accelerator, but the GX doesn’t want for grunt, and you’ll have no problem getting going and up to speed.

The transmission is seamless in the way it goes about its business, and while not particularly quiet, the drivetrain feels like it perfectly suits the nature, and size, of the GX.

In short, it's an off-roader that won't sap your will to live should you never venture off the tarmac, and it looks damn good doing it, too.

The old RX was competent and even nice to drive but not a patch on the likes of the BMW X5. The new-gen RX improves on that in a big way.

It offers solid acceleration from a standing start. Lexus says 8.1sec from 0-100km/h - without giving you chills. The sportiest RX is the 500h Performance hybrid and that covers the same distance in 6.2sec.

The transition from electric power to petrol propulsion is more evident in this model than it was in the LM350h people mover I tested recently - the RX is a little noisier. The CVT doesn’t help this, offering up an uninspiring engine note.

It is, however, a much more fun car to push into tight bends than the previous RX. It remains reasonably flat in corners, and pulls out of tem with ease, but can’t compare to the dynamics of the dearly departed IS sedan.

The 19-inch tyres have large sidewalls and as a result soak up harsh bumps on the road. The non-adaptive suspension is tuned for better dynamism, meaning the ride quality is on the firm side.

The front-wheel drive RX lost traction for a second on a sweeping uphill section of my drive route, but the electronic traction systems otherwise kept the big SUV in check. 

But around town in urban areas, there is very little to complain about behind the wheel of the RX350h.

The RX comes packed with standard safety gear and the SUV was awarded a maximum five-star crash safety rating from ANCAP in 2022.

Just some of the inclusions are auto emergency braking with pedestrian (day/night), cyclist (day/night) and motorcyclist (day) detection, intersection assist, emergency steering assist, driver monitoring, lane keeping aid and lane departure warning, adaptive cruise control, front and rear parking sensors, blind spot monitor (including stationary) with rear cross-traffic alert and safe exit assist to avoid 'dooring' incidents. 

I must say, Lexus’ (and parent company Toyota’s) driver assistance tech has come a long way.

In the early days of the pandemic during a rare non-lockdown period in Melbourne, I drove from Melbourne to Sydney in the previous-generation Lexus RX200 Sports Luxury.

The lane keeping system and adaptive cruise control were shockingly underdone. The cruise control would simply stop working when you encountered even a slight downhill section. 

Not anymore. The new, smoother lane keeping set-up uses subtle wheel adjustments, unlike the ping pong effect of the previous RX, and the cruise system is now very much in control of the speed.

The Lexus safety suite now operates without too much intervention and is hard to beat among its key rivals.

The GX is covered by Lexus' five-year/unlimited kilometre warranty, which is good. And there’s five years capped-price servicing, which is also good.

But less good is the fact service intervals are every six months, which is annoying, and they cost $595 a pop, which means you’re looking at almost $1200 a year to keep this on the road - or almost six grand over the first five years.

The RX350h is covered by a five-year, unlimited-kilometre warranty, and the servicing schedule is every 12 months or 15,000km.

There’s a capped-price servicing plan lasting five years and it will cost $695 per service. That's significantly less than some rivals like the Mercedes GLE.

The RX is covered by the 'Lexus Encore' loyalty program and includes complimentary service loan cars, fuel offers as well as discounts and other offers with Lexus partners.