2013 Rx 350 F-Sport First Impressions

[PCW]

Today I finally saw and test drove the new RX F-Sport at my local Northern Virginia dealer. I have been waiting for months to see one and I finally received a call that one was in. The model I saw was painted the new Silver Lining Metallic. My first impression was that the graphite-finished wheels looked too dark against the silver RX, but the front end looked very appealing and not overly aggressive. I believe that is a result of the body color painted bar that horizontally separates the upper and lower grill. It's a nice touch. But the more I looked at the wheels the more they started to grow on me as they are totally different than what I'm used to seeing on an RX. As everyone knows Lexus has had some very non-interesting wheels on all but the RX hybrids and this is a change in a total opposite direction.

The interior was spectacular as the black leather seats with the white stitching around them, the dash and door panels and the white seat perforations all looked great together accented with the black-toned wood. Additionally the entire headliner is all black so it makes the entire interior look very dramatic and more upscale then previous RX models. The seats were very comfortable and the lumbar was superior to that of my 2006 RX400h driver's seat. My current passenger seat has no lumbar so anything is an improvement but this lumbar came well into my lower back. Once I started driving it I really started to like the paddle shift feature and having 8 speeds to shift through gave a sense of enjoyment in driving an RX with a sporty nature to it. Also the suspension, while sport-tuned, was not a rough ride at all. I specifically went over some rough roads to see how it handled. It corned extremely well for an SUV and was not at all strained going into a highway exit ramp at 75 miles an hour.

I will go back in the next weeks to keep looking at the wheels as this may be the upgrade many folks have been waiting for, including me. I know that Lexus is offering an Appearance package on the 2013 RX Hybrid FWD version that includes the bottom of the F-Sport grill along with these new wheels refinished in Superchrome. So just maybe Lexus will make it an option to get either the dark graphite or superchrome versions of these beautiful wheels. Time will tell.