I would disagree that the X5 should be listed as a competitor. Having spent a great deal of time driving one (my father's) and having the ability to compare it to my RX, they are completely different vehicles. Size, cargo area, seating area, engine (he has had the original 3 liter and the new 4.4), power, handling all would go to the X5. It is nowhere near as luxurious however and the ride is different (more of a driving machine vs. comfort). If you were to compare it to the X3, now that's a different conversation.

 

the original picture of the cargo area on the RX.

im almost positive that is the carpet from the current RX which is why it doesnt reach the sides of the car...

i guess this shows just how much the revised suspension saved in terms of cargo space...i guess the extra production year for the current gen didnt give them enough time to make at least the cargo carpet lol

as forthe 450h moniker. i couldnt really care less that it doesnt have the power of the 4.5 liter. i mean has anybody else laughed at the american automakers? who put 4.0 V8s that produce like 230 horses? isnt this the same thing? really displacement just gives you more torque, and not necessarily horsepower numbers. so really, until we see the torque figures, which should be quite great, then we cant judge the cars name.

 

LOL..Keep your shirt on buddy I did not drive the Rav4 today and will take day time comparo pics of the areas I view as being similar to the RX.. This includes but are not limited to the carpeting on the seatbacks and the plastics in the cargo area as I mentioned prior.. I never mentioned "carpeting on the rear hatch wheel well area".. Hang tight..

 

Some should work for the prosecution. I mean talking about fit and finish on a pre-production vehicle. Talk about reaching.

I agree the car should be 400h, not 450h. But I guess they figure the old 4.3 made 300hp. Hell I dunno

As Andrew said, I can't wait to get one as a loaner!

 

Perhaps when I get tire of the defense stuff

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5BEnKvIEaAE
this guy is a worse talker than bob carter

 

The LS430/SC430 makes 288hp under revised SAE, also the W220 Mercedes S500 makes "only" 308 hp, so I don't have problem with the new RX hybrid with 295hp named RX450h.

Also, the LS460 AWD(& GS460) makes 30+hp less than LS460 RWD , but they all have the 460 engine ...

 

i also want to note that from this video, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tM4uyGHfHlk , the remote touch is actually a mouse..with the pointer arrow and everything. im not sure how much i like that....

 

if they want to make a wider range (price) on the RX i am fine. just like the LS, previous gen was all around 60k. with the la460(l), now it ranges from 60k all the way to 90s (if you throw in the 600hl, you get 120k). that's a HUGE range

if the low end RX continues to start around 30s to 40k, with the up-scaled fully loaded rx450h with RSES for 50s? i think nothing wrong with that. it kind of bridges between the RX and the GX

 

my guess is that it wont start with a 3 any more. somebody in the Rx section who works at a lexus dealership said the base prices went up by 3 thousand. so that brings the base 350 to $40,xxx. 15 thousand is a lot for options.

 

The 450h moniker is fine to me...it is more powerful, and that signifies it...in the US, the current S-class came as the S550 even though the same car in Europe was still the S500.

Like the black interior pic...

 

Fair enough. The X5 is not a direct competitor, but size-wise they actually are in the same class. The X3 is too small and it's in a different class.

The MDX would be more of a direct competitor along with the Benz ML.

So the rear wiper is integrated into the spoiler, very slick. There is also no visible exhaust.

I really like the attention to detail that Toyota put into the new RX. The lack of visible exhaust and rear wiper gives the rear end a very slick look, and it's almost close to the LF-Xh concept.

Mid 50K range IMHO is the absolute max a loaded RX will go for, and that would a loaded hybrid model. Likely a regular RX loaded will be around 50K range, and loaded hybrid low to mid 50K range.

 

People forget hybrids get instant torque. Very well could feel like a 4.5 V8 in terms of torque.

 

Exactly. We don't know how improved the electric motors are. The electric motors could have a lot more torque than the RX400h.

 

i bet the pricing will end up being similar to this one and when equipment is compared, even an better deal...

as to the competition... question is what competes with RX? As leader of its segment, everything does. Just because some cars compete on different merits, doesnt mean they are not in the same class.