Lexus RX: the luxury crossover that started the whole class

The Lexus RX is a luxury crossover SUV sold since 1998, when export sales began; in Japan the same car was first sold as the Toyota Harrier from late 1997. Many sources treat it as the first luxury crossover, and five generations have been built.

Lexus RX at a glance

based on one source (English Wikipedia)

History of the Lexus RX

The idea of a crossover between a luxury sedan and an SUV was raised by Toyota Motor Sales executives at a luncheon in Nagoya in 1993 and formally proposed in 1994. The final design under Makoto Oshima was approved in December 1995, and a concept called the SLV, for Sport Luxury Vehicle, previewed the car at the Chicago Auto Show on 9 February 1997. The SLV combined SUV, estate and sedan qualities with high ground clearance and an elevated seating position, and market research had found that only 7 percent of SUV owners ever drove off-road.

The production RX was built on a unibody chassis with front triangular quarter-windows, door-mounted mirrors, a rear liftgate with a top-mounted spoiler and two-tone paint. The 3.0-litre 1MZ-FE V6 gave 164 kW (220 hp) and 301 N·m through a four-speed automatic with a Snow mode that started in second gear, and the car had a drag coefficient of 0.36. Inside there was a central LCD screen for audio, climate and fuel data, walnut trim, two rows of seats and an optional Nakamichi sound system.

The RX 300 was joined in 2003 by the RX 330 with a 3.3-litre V6, both replaced by the RX 350 in 2006, and in 2005 the RX 400h became the first hybrid version, sold in Japan as the Harrier Hybrid. The third generation of 2009 brought the RX 350 and RX 450h, with an RX 270 for some Asian markets from 2010, and the fourth generation added the turbocharged RX 200t and 300. The RX has been assembled at Toyota Motor Kyushu since launch, and from 2003 North American cars were also built in Cambridge, Ontario, making the RX and RX Hybrid the first Lexus models built outside Japan.

Design and features

• First luxury crossover: a car-like unibody with a raised seating position, widely credited with starting the class.
• Road-biased: the design was based on research showing almost no SUV owners drove off-road.
• Hybrid early: the RX 400h of 2005 was among the first hybrid luxury SUVs.
• Front or all-wheel drive: the RX was never a heavy off-roader, offering front-wheel drive as standard.
• Built in two countries: Kyushu in Japan and, from 2003, Cambridge in Ontario.

Lexus RX versions

• RX 300 (1998): the first generation with a 3.0-litre V6.
• RX 330 (2003): the second generation with a 3.3-litre V6.
• RX 400h (2005): the first hybrid RX.
• RX 350 (2006): the 3.5-litre V6 that replaced the RX 300 and RX 330.
• RX 450h (2009): the hybrid of the third generation.
• RX 200t and RX 300: turbocharged four-cylinder models of the fourth generation.

The RX sits below the body-on-frame GX and LX in the range, and it shares its hybrid approach with the CT. More cars are in the Lexus collection.

Sources

• Lexus RX, English Wikipedia: origins, first generation, generations, production