Monday, April 8, 2013

Lexus tries to make RX 350 a sports car, and fails





Lexus injected its brand, which had taken the place of Cadillac among AARP members, with a little excitement when it introduced the LFA and the IS-F. While those models have legitimate sport cred, the F-Sport line of cars, exemplified here by the 2013 Lexus RX 350 F Sport, comes off as much less convincing.




In colloquial terms, F Sport is all hat and no cattle.




On its own, the Lexus RX 350 works as a solid luxury SUV. Seating for five, flexible cargo space, and an easy driving character have made it a strong seller for Lexus, and a success that other automakers attempt to duplicate. Appointments such as leather, power adjustable seats, and a powered lift gate add to the RX 350's appeal, not to mention a base price around $40,000.




Lexus fits the RX 350 with a useful cabin electronics suite featuring navigation, hands-free phone, and a quality stereo. A few driver assistance features are also available, but Lexus pushes few boundaries, going with tried-and-true rather than setting a benchmark for the gadget-happy set.




However, Lexus made a significant step forward with its Enform app integration. This system lets drivers access popular apps such as Yelp, Pandora, and Bing local search using the car's interface, including voice command.




... [Read more]




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