I spent a few days last week driving a 16 RX, and I frequently drive 4th gen GSs, and found that the RX steering wheel got just as hot as a GS or LSs.

 

2017 RX350 AWD
We are observing that the Steering Wheel barely get Warm as compare to our past Cars. Didn't found any settings to make it Warmer.
Seats are not getting that Hot feel either, we try using with all 3 bars Lighted (non-auto) and the setting on Display set as (+2) the Marker all the way towards the + sign on the right. We think this should give us Max Heated Seats but all they get is a little warm.

Does others seeing the same Behavior. Our last 5 Cars were BMW, Mini and Nissan Leaf and all there Seats and Steering wheels get really Hot.

I read somewhere on this Forum that If driving in Eco Mode the Seats get less Heat but get more Heat in Sport Mode, I did not see much difference going from Eco to Sport mode.

 

I have to agree with you freshwater! I have a 2016 RX350 and the steering wheel and the heated seats don't get hot enough. I have the settings set to the max and still not as hot as my wife's RAV4 heated steering/seats. I have also tried Auto and manual but still the same temp. My 2011 RX350 heated seats were way hotter. You would think that being the 4th gen, Lexus would have got it right!

I haven't tried the other modes but I don't think it would make any difference. I will mention it to the service advisor when I get my next service done.

 

Agree with the steering wheel being very weak compared to old 3RX. But the seats are very hot in any mode. I usually drive in ECO mode to limit the crappy hesitation and jerky drive in other modes, but the seats get very hot,maybe even warmer than the 3RX. Seats are run in auto mode. It's -10 here today and seats are still very warm in max heat.

 

I must say that compared to my old Acura MDX, the RX seats do not heat as much. But in fact, I prefer it this way. The Acura seat warmers took some time to heat up, but then got too hot, even in the low setting. My kids used to place the pizza in the front passenger seat and use the seat warmers to keep it hot. One day the Acura seat warmers stopped working, when I pulled the leather off the seat, I found that the cable connecting the elements between seat sections had melted due to how hot it got!

I find the RX seats heat up faster and keep a more consistent temperature across the seat. They are warm, but not hot. I have a 2017 450h with the cold weather package, if that makes any difference.

The RX steering wheel warmer takes a while to warm up, but it is sufficient in keeping my hands warm. Wish I had full leather wheel and it was heated all throughout. I have the luxury package with wood steering wheel. It looks good, but I do not get a good grip except for the 9 and 3 o'clock positions with the leather covered portion. That wood does stay cold!

 

This is my Wife RX, Her past SUV was BMW X5 and that SUV Steering wheel and Seat get real Hot. She need to have this feature working like Hot and now she is not a happy camper.. In Chicago We have real Cold Temp from Dec-April
I make few adjustment on the setting on the Display and move the Bar to the extreme left to see if that make it more Hot. I saw a .pdf for 2016 model and that one has a pic of showing the Bar to the left to get extreme Hot.

She will drive today and will let me know how she feels. She already looking on Amazon to get a Steering wheel cover which has heater installed.
I hope Lexus is Listening ...

 

I am taking my car to the dealership next week for this exact same issue. My steering wheel does not get hot and barely stays warm.

The heated seats get warm enough. In the 3GR RX, 450h owners had hotter seats than the 350 owners. Not sure if that is still the case with this generation.

 

This has been an on-going issue with recent Lexus models. There are similar threads in the IS and NX forums. Most people will bring it to the dealer who will say things are "in-spec". It's just a design choice that Lexus made. Realistically, warmth is a subjective thing and for some, it just isn't going to be warm enough. It is annoying that the steering wheel is not heated around it's full circumference though.

 

it's not annoying, it's stupid.

 

Like lexnewbi, I also wish that the steering wheel was full leather. The wooden portion stays extremely cold, while the leather portion for me is lukewarm. Yes it looks good but i find the wooden section too smooth to the touch. I prefer the feel of an all-leather steering wheel. I love the feel/heat of the steering wheel on my wife's RAV4.

Depending on the outside temperature maybe the seats feel warmer when the temperature is cooler and vice versa. Which might explain why some members think the seats are warm enough and others not. Don't you think the seat temperature would feel different at -20 than at 5 degrees? What do you think?

 

I personally dont care much about the steering wheel and that slight warm feel is good enough for me. But Female drivers including my wife want the steering wheel to be much warmer. Lot of these SUVs are driven by woman's so Lexus need to keep this in mind next time they Design this Car. My wife would have never lease this SUV had she known the steering wheel is very Luke warm. Interestingly it took 3 min for the sale guy to figure out how to even turn on the warmer on the Steering. We drive tested in 65 degree weather so did not feel much.

We all know that the wood part will never get Warm and its just not Lexus. Thats why I hate wooden Steering wheel even MBNZ start making all the steering out of Leather now. I think wooden steering is a thing of Past.. might look good in Tropical Climate..
But for us Snow Birds we like everything Hot (Nov-May) I wish they add something in the Car to keep the Coffee Hot like a Coffee warmer..

 

Agree wheel needs more heat. My F sport seats do get plenty hot. No complaints there

 

I too would like to vent on something we literally have zero control over

The heated steering wheel should have been around the whole wheel as well as been a lot warmer. I would love it if the car knows the outside temp when auto starting the vehicle and enables the heated steering wheel already when it's cold out.

Heated seats are nice however they don't heat the bolster area where my thighs are so my hamstrings are nice and toasty but my outer thighs are cold.

 

Not an RX experience, but the steering wheel in my GS gets warm, while the steering wheel in my Highlander gets so hot I have to turn it off after a few minutes.

Exact opposite in my house. My wife doesn't even like to use the heated steering wheel unless it's super cold, as her hands don't get that cold. Mine, on the other hand () are always freezing, so I use the heated steering wheel all the time. My wife has used hers only once.

 

I confirm 1 Big difference between the 2016 and 2017 Seats Heating setup on the Nav Screen is, on 2016 the bar has to be to the left to get Max Heat but on 2017 the Bar has to be moved to the right (+2) to get Max Heat as per Instruction book.
There are 5 different setting you can get from the Bars. But to tell you the truth I don't see much difference when moving the Bars.
For steering wheel we trying to put the flow of the vents towards the Wheel so that make them much warmer.

We just drove first time in Midwest Snow Storm and the SUV with All Season Tires handle very good in 6" of Snow.