Lexus RX330: The new benchmark?

After less than a month on sale, Lexus' sleek-looking RX330 has ecplisped both Mercedes and BMW in the luxury 4WD stakes.

How has it done this? A good question indeed, and much of the answer would have to do with the ever-improving reputation of Lexus.

The RX330 is Lexus' second luxury AWD in the Australian market - the LX 470 being the first - and after less than one month on sale it has already overtaken all others in the growing luxury 4WD segment.

The new RX330 accounted for 220 retail sales, despite only being available since April 18. It was the highest-selling vehicle in the luxury SUV category, ahead of BMW X5 (217) and Mercedes M-Class (127), both of which have remained unchallenged at the top of the table for more than a year.

"This is a dream start for the RX330 and is in line with our projection that the new model will significantly increase the annual sales volume of Lexus in Australia," said Lexus Australia senior manager, John Roca.

The Lexus RX series has been the highest-selling luxury SUV in the United States for several years, in RX300 guise.

Last year, US sales of the previous generation RX300 reached 72,963, well ahead of X5 (42,742) and M-Class (39,680).

"When it was introduced in the United States in 1998, RX was widely credited with creating a new category of luxury sport vehicles and we believe the RX330 will have a similar impact on the Australian market," said Mr Roca.

The RX330 gets its numeric moniker from the 3.3-litre V6 that resides under the bonnet.

One of the more impressive Japanese vee sixes doing the rounds, the all-alloy, quad camshaft mill is matched to an intelligent electronically controlled five-speed automatic transmission, complete with sequential (tiptronic) shift function.

Cranking out a healthy 172kW of power @ 5600rpm and 328Nm of torque @ 3600rpm, the 3.3-litre engine is one of the most powerful V6s in the country, with a smaller (read: more efficient) capacity, yet higher power output than many other variants.

One of the reasons the engine makes so much power for its size is due to the high compression ratio of 10.8:1, which is more akin to a supersports motorcycle than a generic V6. The Lexus engine also has fabricated stainless-steel exhaust headers and straight exhaust pipes to increase power and reduce noise when the engine is idling.

This makes the RX330 one of the quickest six-cylinder four-wheel drive wagons in Australia, with a 0-100km/h acceleration time of 8.4 seconds. It can cover the standing 400 metres (quarter mile) in 16.0 seconds.

The new 3.3-litre bent six, designated 3MZ-FE, offers a balance of high specific power output, strong torque, optimum fuel economy and low emissions. The engine has intelligent infinitely variable valve timing (VVT-i), for optimum performance at varying engine speeds and throttle inputs.

It boosts top-end power or low-down torque as required, while also offering benefits in better fuel efficiency and cleaner emissions due to more efficient fuel burning.

In the RX330 engine, VVT-i provides 60 degrees of valve overlap on maximum advance setting (sports performance) and no overlap on the maximum retard setting. With VVT-i, the RX330's engine has 275Nm of torque from 1500rpm onwards, translating to easy take-offs.

Inlet camshaft timing is varied according to engine rpm, throttle position, accelerator pedal angle, engine coolant temperature, intake air volume and intake air temperature.

The five-door RX330 was initially designed to combine the refinement of a luxury car with the high driving position, versatility and safety of four-wheel drive technology, with a 50:50 torque split between the front and rear wheel.

The RX330's advanced four-wheel drive system uses Traction Control (TRC) hardware and software to control the centre differential and hence distribute torque to the four wheels, so if the rear wheels slip, torque may change to 70:30 (front:rear), for example.

In addition to the 4WD transmission, the RX330 makes use of four-wheel independent MacPherson-strut type suspension in an effort to provide car-like handling characteristics. Furthermore, the RX330 gets nifty gas-filled linear control-valve dampers, which control body roll and smooth the vehicle's response to steering input, while absorbing road defects, such as pot holes and the like.

Passive safety features are numerous and include intelligent multi-stage driver and passenger SRS airbags, large-size TAP (Thorax-Abdomen-Pelvis) front seat side SRS airbags, full-length side curtain shield SRS airbags and the first-ever 18-litre driver’s knee airbag. No doubt Mercedes will be watching this innovation closely.

The RX330 also has the first-in-category feature of Lexus rear view camera on the Sports Luxury model, though one questions the usefulness of such a feature when rear park sensors do a more than adequate job at a significantly reduced price.

Moving right along, and the new Lexus 4WD has a power-closing tailgate and a versatile 40/20/40 split multi-adjustable rear seat. Active safety features include full-time four-wheel drive, ABS anti-skid brakes with electronic brake-force distribution and brake assist, active traction control, front and rear foglamps and a pair of very techno-chic auto-levelling HID headlamps.

These automatic levelling headlights adjust the position of the headlamp to compensate for variations in the vehicle's posture caused by speed, acceleration, road conditions, braking or luggage loading.

The auto-levelling system uses input on vehicle speed, and rear ride-height sensors and the headlamp computer control unit analyses the pitch of the vehicle, then adjusts the headlamp angle to maintain excellent visibility and to reduce potential glare to oncoming traffic. How thoughtful!

A neat feature Lexus calls vehicle swerve control is also part of the package, and basically dampens strong understeer (loss of front-wheel grip) or oversteer (loss of rear-wheel grip), to ensure vehicle stability.

A dedicated ECU uses data from sensors in the VSC system - including wheel speed sensors for all four wheels, a throttle position sensor, a deceleration sensor, steering wheel angle sensor, G-force sensor and Yaw-rate sensor - to determine whether to activate the system, which emits a beeping noise in the cabin when active.

Two models are offered - firstly the RX330 Sports, which gets climate-control air conditioning, 17-inch alloy wheels, roof rails, a massive moonroof, leather seat trim, power front seats, multi-information display and eight-speaker three-in-one audio system.

The second model is the RX330 Sports Luxury, regarded as the high-end model. It gets the added features of a rear vision camera, electro multi-vision display, touch-screen satellite navigation and a powerful 11-speaker Mark Levinson audio system.

At the end of the day, Lexus appears to have delivered what is arguably one of the best-looking, most versatile and well-equipped luxury 4WDs in the sub $70,000 category, one which has already dealt a punishing blow to the reigning champs in terms of sales.

A technological tour de force, with a 172kW V6 engine that lives up to its luxury badging, the new RX330 will cement Lexus' position as one of Australia's leading prestige marques, and will have the BMW X5 and Mercedes ML350 looking very hard at themselves in the mirror.