Not sporty enough, not efficient enough—the 2023 Lexus RX 500h F Sport
Enlarge / Modern Lexuses are dominated by a huge hourglass grille that reminds GenXers like me of Battlestar Galactica. (credit: Jonathan Gitlin)
Something about automotive body styles brings out emotions in people. Witness the once-mighty station wagon's fall from grace; at one time, it was the family supercar, now it's mostly just adored by people on the Internet (who never actually buy them) and reviled by everyone else. The wagon gave way to the minivan, which in turn lost favor to the SUV, but the real winner over the past few decades has been the crossover. Something of an "I know it when I see it" category, the crossover is more car-like than an SUV, and more SUV-like than a car and subject to plenty of arguments over what does and doesn't quite fit in that four-wheeled pigeonhole.
If you have feelings about the crossover-and from the comments I know that some of you do-it's probably Lexus' fault for creating them in the first place. In 1998, the then-upstart Japanese luxury brand introduced the RX 300, an attractive luxury hatchback with an off-roader's ride height, and a new segment was born. Now, nearly a quarter of a century later, the RX is in its fifth iteration, on a new GA-K platform that's stiffer and lighter than before.
A black-on-black car is horrible to photograph. Just saying. [credit: Jonathan Gitlin ]
Its styling has gotten a little more complicated of late-particularly that massive Cylon-like front grille. The powertrain options are a little less complicated than they used to be, however, as the entire lineup moves to four-cylinder turbocharged engines, some of which are supplemented by a hybrid system. In time, the US will get a plug-in hybrid RX, and the faithful RX 350h returns to the range, but new for model year 2023 is the (deep breath) RX 500h F Sport Performance AWD, which starts at $62,750.