Ihave1cat

Good evening everyone!

I recently had the chance to acquire an RX 350h (2023). I know that some of you that were looking at a new car (or may be looking at one now) - and looked at the 2022 RX. I was in that boat, and the biggest deciding factor for me was the technology. With the release of the 2023 RX (somewhat of a dream car for me) - I finally have gotten the car I want (sans the ML audio - which is very hard to get right now - other than that - it has every reasonable feature - Ultra Luxury Canadian model).

If anyone has any questions about the RX versus the NX, I'd be happy to answer them!.
After owning my NX and RX (for a few days) - this is my short list of impressions so far.

Driving Feel
The cars, despite being powered by the same engine, have a distinct driving feel - the RX feels heavier, however, it doesn't feel like it takes a lot of force to maneuver. The steering is light, but the acceleration feels "sluggish". This is due to the fact that the RX is around 200lb heavier. It also includes full size spare tire (21") so that also adds to the weight. The turning radius is also larger, which takes a bit of getting used to when parking in tight spaces.

Comfort Feel
This is one area where the RX shines more than the NX. The NX feels comfortable but, in comparison to the RX, is overshadowed quite a bit. The way the RX absorbs bumps is much smoother. Given the longer wheelbase, the RX can comfortably ride over rougher pavement. The one exception is body roll and the floatiness - the RX feels like a land whale at times, where it flops around (comfortably and softly, but still...).
Sound dampening is also improved quite substantially. The RX is quite a bit quieter (the NX is very quiet too).
Seats feel about the same. The rear passenger room, however is substantially increased. The seats also recline quite a bit, adding to the comfort of the rear passengers.
In terms of the overall dimensions - the car feels substantially more roomy. Whereas the NX was more cocooned, the RX feals like you're driving a living room.

Gas Consumption
The RX takes longer to "get up to speed" and short trips are problematic. With a few short distance trips to the grocery store (+/- 3km) - I average around 8l - 10l/100km. On longer distance trips, I was able to get to around 6.5l/100km. The takeaway here is that the car doesn't do that well with short distance trips. This might be due to either the fact that it's heavier, or the fact that it uses a different battery chemistry than the NX.

Audio Quality
I know this is subjective, and I come from the NX's ML system, however the RX "Base" 12 speaker (with a true subwoofer) is not bad at all. Most music sounds very good, with a slight compression of the mids. You can somewhat compensate this by playing around with the tuning. But it's fine. There is nothing to complain about, and you'll only complain if you put it directly against a ML system - otherwise, it sounds better than the base NX system (which my friend has). No complaints here.

Lighting
I find that the 3-beam LED (with the adaptive high beams - another LED module - I don't think that they are available in the USA) - are good, however I feel that the NX has better lighting. Either the RX has them aimed too high, or they reduced the brightness slightly. This is subjective, but a first glance.

Things I don't like

• The HUD: The HUD in the NX was good, however I feel like the RX has some strange obscure angle, that makes me go cross-eyed when I look at it. Not sure why, just it's odd.
• The clarity of the digital rear-view mirror. The digital rear view mirror has been "tuned" for better night driving. It's very usable at night now, however I find that this affected the clarity of the daytime viewing a bit. It doesn't feel as crisp, and objects in the mirror look slightly fuzzy.
• The glovebox has shrunk from the NX
• The center console has lost the coin area (the small rectangular area that I used for coins, not sure if it's a coin area)
• The "ambient illumination" is still pretty shoddy at best. The new "two-tier" area is the main illuminated part (which works well). Lexus tried to illuminate the doors too - but they don't really work out that well. It should be brighter.
• The included Courtesy lights are much more dim than the NX ones you can get. They are VERY dim.
• The driver attention monitor camera.It is a constant source of frustration - beeps at you. I quickly disabled this. (I have not tested the traffic jam assist)

Things that have changed:

• A fixed wireless charger! My iPhone 14 Pro did not work. It would start charging - then disconnect. Finally - it works! I guess it is possible to make a wireless charger that works with iPhones!
• The cruise control has been slightly altered - the screen "simplifies" when in cruise control (it mainly just displays speed now) - in the instrument cluster

In any case - that's my few day impressions! I'd be happy to answer any questions that people have between the two cars!