2007 Rx 350 Article

[Lexusfreak]

From Jim Kenzie of the Toronto Star 'Wheels' & Motoring TV....

Pioneering crossover just gets better

Lexus RX 350 gains 39 upgrades, including more horsepower

Engine, ride and cabin quieter as Toyota tries to extend popularity

JIM KENZIE

Do you want to know why Toyota is the most successful car maker in the world right now?

Well, here's a clue: At the introduction of the updated 2007 Lexus RX 350 SUV, Kent Rice, assistant general manager of quality control engineering at Toyota's Cambridge plant, which assembles the vehicle, seemed proudest of the fact they managed to shave 10 seconds off the production time for the vehicle.

They make a big deal of 10 seconds for a reason.

A new RX 350 now rolls off the line every 175 seconds, instead of 185 seconds. That's a 5 per cent improvement and Rice says it can mean up to 5,000 more vehicles per year presumably with no more employees or other costs.

Ten precious seconds.

No wonder these guys are so hard to beat: they just work harder than everybody else.

The RX has been an extremely successful vehicle for Lexus as it is the brand's best-selling model. It pretty much invented what is now known as the crossover segment — an SUV if necessary (tall, two-box wagon-like body configuration, four-wheel drive) but not necessarily an SUV (passenger car underpinnings, essentially a transverse-engined front-wheel-drive-biased chassis, distantly related to the Camry).

The RX is also the only Lexus-branded vehicle assembled outside Japan, about which Rice and his team at Cambridge are justifiably proud.

(The RX is also assembled under both Lexus and Toyota labels at Toyota's Kyushu plant for Japanese and other world markets. Cambridge will build the better-equipped models — power moonroof and/or power tailgate — which are projected to be the best-selling variants in North America.

Kyushu built the RX 330 with the panoramic multi-panel moonroof — a feature not offered on the RX 350 — and the more-basic RX 350s.)

But Toyota also didn't get where it is by standing around. The 2007 RX 350 gains 39 significant upgrades, five of which were driven by new regulations, the other 34 mainly a result of customer feedback.

Presumably the customers wanted more power, more comfort and more convenience, because those are the areas that received the most attention.

The most significant change to the RX is easily guessed from the new nomenclature: the 350 signifies a new 3.5 litre V6 engine, similar in fundamentals to the new engine in the IS 350 sports sedan but without that car's trick dual-fuel injection system.

A 6 per cent larger engine generating 21 per cent more power is impressive indeed; however, most of that gain comes from reading the dynamometer at higher r.p.m.: the 350 is rated at 270 hp at 6200 r.p.m., the 2006 RX 330 has 223 at 5600.

Torque is up only 3 per cent and it peaks at higher r.p.m. than before: 251 lb.-ft. at 4700 r.p.m. versus 242 at 3600.

So don't expect acceleration to be significantly greater.

Still, greater output with no gain in fuel consumption isn't easy - the Transport Canada highway number is the same as before, the city number is actually slightly better.

The transmission is a new five-speed, now attached to a viscous-coupled centre differential. Torque is nominally split 50-50 front-to-rear; if either axle loses grip, the diff locks up, directing torque to the other end.

ABS, electronic brake force distribution (to ensure each wheel gets the most braking grip it can use), emergency brake assist (to apply full braking power if the car senses a panic stop), traction control and directional stability control all mean that if you lose it in this vehicle, maybe you should be taking cabs.

Customers also wanted even more quietness. The RX was already pretty serene, but a new laminated windshield cuts interior noise by 2 decibels. Doesn't sound like much, but it is.

New power steering pump and air conditioning compressor are also quieter.

New convenience items include satellite-ready and MP3/WMA-compatible sound systems, a larger (9-inch) LCD screen for the optional rear-seat video system and a new VGA touch-screen sat-nav display (also optional).

The power door locks have been programmed at the factory to auto-lock when Drive is selected. More aware customers can get their dealers to deselect this highly irritating feature.

It's been a while since I drove any RX, probably back when it was only an RX 300, two generations ago.

Certainly, this one is quieter and much better-riding than the last one I drove.

The weather was actually pretty good for a preview test drive of a vehicle that is clearly intended to be an all-weather companion: cold, rain, snow, sleet, ice.

We didn't have a chance to specifically evaluate all the electronic chassis systems individually, but at all times the RX 350 felt secure and well-planted, and that's exactly what buyers of a vehicle like this are looking for.

Performance is more than adequate and the engine is barely audible unless you're pushing it.

The new transmission shifts smoothly, and the vehicle rides well, with only a small bit of clumpiness over rough pavement.

The cabin is a restful, well-equipped place to pass some time. A series of packages, including moonroof, power tailgate, satellite-navigation, headlights that turn with the front wheels, upgraded audio and rear-seat entertainment systems allow you to customize it to your personal tastes.

It isn't hard to understand the RX's ongoing popularity. It does what it does extremely well.

It also isn't hard to understand Lexus's step-wise gradual upgrading of the vehicle. If it ain't broke ...

[Rx330driver]

great article. Does anyone know when these will be hitting showrooms, cause i rent yesterday for a service, and they were still displaying the 330. Also, they already updated their website...meaning maybe in march? right before the es i presume. They probably did this for easy access to torque, but ,why on earth did they make a new 5 speed...why not 6, gah

[wwest]

Are we really going back to the use of the VC. viscous clutch/coupling, after only three years of the use of brake apportioning of engine torque? Or like other features is this a Canadian market aspect only?

[Lexusfreak]

Are we really going back to the use of the VC. viscous clutch/coupling, after only three years of the use of brake apportioning of engine torque? Or like other features is this a Canadian market aspect only?

Considering the Cambridge plant 'exports' about 90 - 95%+ of what they build, I'd say it's a safe bet to assume it's for at least the North American market. ;) They would do that for just the Canadian market.....it wouldn't be very cost effective.

[Rx330driver]

jsut a little thing here, the plant i know is in canada, but i know that my 04 rx330 was built in japan, when did they start makign them here?

[Lexusfreak]

jsut a little thing here, the plant i know is in canada, but i know that my 04 rx330 was built in japan, when did they start makign them here?

If memory serves, it was a third to halfway through the 2004 model year. I have toured the plant a little over a year ago......it's a very well oiled machine they have there. B)

[Rx330driver]

lol just as long as its well oiled, were fine, haha. that sucks, i like cars that are built in their original country

[Lexusfreak]

lol just as long as its well oiled, were fine, haha. that sucks, i like cars that are built in their original country

If one tours the plant in Cambridge (which I did) I think your mind would be at ease with the quality of workmanship there. Another plant just down the road in Woodstock, Ontario is being built as we speak to build the new Rav4. B)

[stonecutter]

lol just as long as its well oiled, were fine, haha. that sucks, i like cars that are built in their original country

If one tours the plant in Cambridge (which I did) I think your mind would be at ease with the quality of workmanship there. Another plant just down the road in Woodstock, Ontario is being built as we speak to build the new Rav4. B)

I'm sure Canadian plants churn out quality cars, but if I have a choice, I'd prefer one built/assembled in Japan. This might be archaic thinking, but my impression is that Japanese workers take great pride in their work and each person puts his/her heart into the job. At least that is the reputation they have in the old days, things may have changed now.