PREMIUM PERFORMER

After a facelift and under-the-bonnet overhaul, the latest Lexus RX manages to mix style and substance in a package that’s all class

- STEPHEN CORBY

WHEN AMERICANS started calling their new-millennial brats ‘Lexus’, you knew the up-and-coming automotive brand had finally crossed the threshold from wannabe rich kid to aspirational establishment.

Not that naming your offspring after Japan’s only truly luxe car brand will guarantee an audience with Simon Cowell. It’s just that Lexus sounds a lot less silly than Infiniti. Or Abcde.

Despite what some people may have said about its styling, the current Lexus RX isn’t silly at all. This poster-child for posh Japanese SUVs has long been championed by sedan rejectors across the globe, though there’s no hiding the fact it’s clearly been aimed at America’s freeways, not Australia’s lumps and bumps. The airy steering and floaty ride of the current-shape RX (launched here in late-2015) made it somewhat disconcerting to drive at speed on our country roads.

Not any more. While this 2020 refresh is merely what Lexus calls a ‘mid-life facelift’, it’s far superior to the kind that may also include a package holiday in Phuket. If you want to keep bringing the boys to the yard then best keep your fancy SUV fresh and fabulous, and that’s exactly what has happened here.

The updated RX is essentially the same high-quality SUV as it was before, but with all its rough edges buffed to a luminous sheen – one that delivers the serene driving experience and infotainment sizzle the RX’s deluxe cabin has long deserved.