Lexus RZ long-term review: report 3
How does Lexus's four-wheel-drive electric SUV cut it as a commuter car and a countryside companion alike? We're finding out...
The car Lexus RZ 450e+ Takumi Run by Chris Haining, sub-editor
Why it’s here To find out whether Lexus's premium electric car combatant offers the right blend of efficiency, luxury and performance to succeed in a crowded market
Needs to Cope with a long motorway commute as well seeming at home in the countryside, and be easy to live with day to day
Mileage 4315 List price £69,095 Target Price £66,025 Price as tested £69,095 Official range 251 miles Test range 170-190 miles
4 March 2024 – More like my cup of tea
My Lexus RZ has been putting me in mind of iconic TV comedy series, Father Ted.
There’s a plotline in which the titular priest buys his housekeeper, Mrs Doyle, a tea-making machine – a kindly gesture, he thought. Little did he realise that the seemingly mundane task of supplying the parochial household with cups of tea was actually one of Mrs Doyle’s few remaining pleasures – and the machine was taking it away. How on Earth does that concern the RZ, you ask? Well, metaphorically, at least, it’s a tea-making machine that Mrs Doyle might actually like.
Driving, no matter how workaday the journey, is my favourite pastime, narrowly beating the joy of getting to write about it. And while I’ve driven a great many cars with driver assistance systems, they all too often frustrate and detract from the driving experience. In the RZ, though, they heighten the pleasure. Its Lane-Tracing Assistance (LTA, or lane-keeping assistance, in other words) is among the best of such systems I've tried to date. It accurately follows curves in the road, gracefully steering through them, rather than making short, abrupt corrections that unsettle occupants.
Best of all, it’s good at sensing that you’re holding onto the wheel like you should be. So many cars ( including my previous BYD Atto 3) assume that any absence of steering input (such as when you’re on a straight road) means you’re not holding onto the wheel, and the only way to stop the nagging is to briefly deviate from the straight line you’ve been faithfully describing. When systems are this intrusive, I tend to switch them off, but the RZ’s is a breath of fresh air, working with me to take the effort out of long stretches of the M25 motorway.
What’s more, as well as offering adaptive cruise control, the RZ is also unusual in having a non-adaptive setting that simply holds whatever speed I set. I find this a boon in some situations, such as in light motorway traffic. You can switch between cruise control modes via the excellent head-up display, and that’s another feature I’d not want to be without.
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