RZ test drive

[GSLV6]

Long time since I posted on here, due to moves/illnesses in my family, but I thought I'd share my thoughts on the RZ which I was fortunate enough to have for the day yesterday, after leaving mine off for it's 100K service (despite having only covered 45 miles) returning it today, courtesy of Lister's Lexus, Cheltenham.  I was thinking of changing our ten year old RX3 and wanted to see of the RZ floated our boat.  I'm not a big all electric vehicle fan but decided to take one out with an open mind.  Had my RX3 from a few years old, so just under 8 years now and whilst it's not been without the odd issue, by and large, it's been excellent and electrical glitches aside, dependable.

Our RX is an F-Sport with most of the options boxes ticked, so ML sound system, roof bars, LEDs, HUD etc etc.  The RZ borrowed was a top spec Takumi model.

I'll keep it brief, ignore things that don't really matter and just get into the knub of things.

First thing:  It's not physically quite as large or spacious as the RX, the boot in particular is quite modest and it's sleeker, no doubt for bettering the drag coefficient to help range.  This in mind, they've also omitted a rear wiper (a bit no-no for me) as it added too much to drag apparently (Can't see it had to as the RX's cleverly hide them under the rear spoiler, but there we do).  I quite liked the looks, in fact I prefer the RZ over the new bulbous RX which I'm not a fan of on looks.

Interior is very pleasant.  Seats are comfortable, supportive (better than the RX3 imho but not quite as supportive as the RX4 F Sport Takumi) and have adequate adjustment.  Rear pillion space is ok too, but looked a little more cramped than the RX4 I also looked at.  Fit and finish is all top notch as I'd have expected.  I'll get onto controls and things a little later.

Drive:  I wasn't really sure what to expect but found the drive in busy town work was exceptional.  Silent, cosseted, smooth and the suspension better tuned than the RX3 F-Sport.  On A roads, it handled well enough but push it a little too hard and the weight becomes obvious in the bends. The steering was slightly too under weighted and direct for my likes too with very little feedback from the road.   It's not a car I'd want to push on twisty roads, as it suits a smoother more gentle approach to keep things from getting out of hand especially given the lack of feedback. I wasn't sure what to make of performance, having never driven one and published figures I guessed were pessimistic as with most Lexus performance specs.  I simply was not expecting it to be as fast.  Acceleration in sport mode is simply phenomenal!  It would easily show a clean pair of heals to many mid sized motorbikes, never mind ICE sports cars, in a straight line at least.  It isn't just quick it's genuinely fast, by any standard, on acceleration and this would make for effortless, if eyebrow raising overtakes.  You definitely need to chose the time and place, and watch the speed to avoid racking up points.  On the motorway, the feeling of a luxurious ride continued, with very little tyre or wind noise.  They've absolutely nailed the aerodynamics on this model.

However (there was bound to be at least one), I did find that the high pitch of the motors became monotonous at motorway speeds and could see this becoming yawn inducing, like listening to one of those white noise audio files which are designed to help induce sleep.  I was watching the range keenly, and noted that as I left the showroom, air con off, and in standard mode, it read 193 miles of range on close to 100% Battery.  By the time I'd covered 27 miles, that was down to 163 miles, but as some of those were motorway miles driven at 70, I expected a little less than normal bimbling.  The info told me it was averaging about 3.2 miles per KWhr so range left was probably about right.  A few miles had to be put up later on taking my son to cricket and back, then returning to Lexus this morning via the same route taken yesterday.  This time the chilly 7am start meant I had to use the rear window de-mister for a fair few miles and had the heating up a little, as well as the radio on.  I was shocked at what a difference this made to range.  Navigating pre-rush hour traffic saw a busy motorway trip followed by a not too bad urban crawl back by which time the range indicated I think 127 miles left.  It seems for the average driver with heater used, A/C on, radio on and lights was well as rear screen demist, the more realistic range before range anxiety would set in is an honest 150 miles, well short of the 270 odd advertised.  To get that, you'd have to be doing a steady 55mph, on flat uncongested roads without anything switched on other than the motor working at a guess, so my prejudices were founded.

Overall, I was very impressed indeed with the RZ but could I see it replacing the RX?  No, not a chance.  Until the UK has way more working charging points it would become a headache.  For commuting work, it's simply too expensive an option when you could have an ES, NX plug in hybrid or similar for less and for utility, the Rav 4 Hybrid is a better option imho.

Whist I'm on dislikes, a major one for me is the electronic ICE system including controls.

I found the controls unintuitive, difficult to figure out until I'd had an hour or two with it, and even then simply couldn't get on with a touch screen for some options, and steering wheel controls for most of the others.  I got really fed up with all the bing bong warnings and interruption of the navigation screen (once I'd figured out how to access it) for messages about my phone not being connected and when rear passengers were taken, the message "check rear seats" comes up after switching off (apparently due to an american lady leaving a child in the rear whilst doing hr shopping and then trying to sue lexus when the child overheated!).  There was too much nannying going on behind the wheel with too much superfluous information, a bewildering array of options within controls and over reliance on a touch screen, which if that ever went down would render the use of the car very difficult. 

Likes:  ride quality was superb, quiet and  comfortable.  Performance was blistering when demanded. 

Dislikes:  High pitch sleep inducing motor noise at motorway speeds, infotainment system, controls, bells and other bing bong warnings, constant messages popping up on screen, tyre life very limited.  This one has 6K miles from new and was looking like tyre replacements were shortly due due to the weight and torque on tap.  Taking into account, tyre life and frequency of recharges, I doubt whether overall, it would be much more economical an ownership prospect than the RX. Range really not that impressive in real world driving scenarios.  It would make for a comfortable and luxurious option for a chelsea tractor, or commuting from the sticks to town providing you had a charger at home.

Whilst there, I also took a look at a Takumi spec F-Sport RX4 a few years old, the last of the 3.5 V6 models.  It was roomier, to my mind a little more comfortable and supportive with far more sensible controls not as reliant as the giant tablet screen on the RZ.  It was also roomier and had more compliant adaptive suspension over my RX3's standard set up.  I have put myself on a list to exchange mine for a 2020 to 2022 F-Sport Takumi as a result.  For anyone interested I am now looking for a new owner for my excellent RX3, still within the ten year warranty, fdsh from new and absolutely anything needed has been done including the big service.  Underneath it's clean as a whistle as I've lanoguard treated it and has a good 200K miles left in it.

 

[John Adams]

17 minutes ago, GSLV6 said:

Long time since I posted on here, due to moves/illnesses in my family, but I thought I'd share my thoughts on the RZ which I was fortunate enough to have for the day yesterday, after leaving mine off for it's 100K service (despite having only covered 45 miles) returning it today, courtesy of Lister's Lexus, Cheltenham.  I was thinking of changing our ten year old RX3 and wanted to see of the RZ floated our boat.  I'm not a big all electric vehicle fan but decided to take one out with an open mind.  Had my RX3 from a few years old, so just under 8 years now and whilst it's not been without the odd issue, by and large, it's been excellent and electrical glitches aside, dependable.

Our RX is an F-Sport with most of the options boxes ticked, so ML sound system, roof bars, LEDs, HUD etc etc.  The RZ borrowed was a top spec Takumi model.

I'll keep it brief, ignore things that don't really matter and just get into the knub of things.

First thing:  It's not physically quite as large or spacious as the RX, the boot in particular is quite modest and it's sleeker, no doubt for bettering the drag coefficient to help range.  This in mind, they've also omitted a rear wiper (a bit no-no for me) as it added too much to drag apparently (Can't see it had to as the RX's cleverly hide them under the rear spoiler, but there we do).  I quite liked the looks, in fact I prefer the RZ over the new bulbous RX which I'm not a fan of on looks.

Interior is very pleasant.  Seats are comfortable, supportive (better than the RX3 imho but not quite as supportive as the RX4 F Sport Takumi) and have adequate adjustment.  Rear pillion space is ok too, but looked a little more cramped than the RX4 I also looked at.  Fit and finish is all top notch as I'd have expected.  I'll get onto controls and things a little later.

Drive:  I wasn't really sure what to expect but found the drive in busy town work was exceptional.  Silent, cosseted, smooth and the suspension better tuned than the RX3 F-Sport.  On A roads, it handled well enough but push it a little too hard and the weight becomes obvious in the bends. The steering was slightly too under weighted and direct for my likes too with very little feedback from the road.   It's not a car I'd want to push on twisty roads, as it suits a smoother more gentle approach to keep things from getting out of hand especially given the lack of feedback. I wasn't sure what to make of performance, having never driven one and published figures I guessed were pessimistic as with most Lexus performance specs.  I simply was not expecting it to be as fast.  Acceleration in sport mode is simply phenomenal!  It would easily show a clean pair of heals to many mid sized motorbikes, never mind ICE sports cars, in a straight line at least.  It isn't just quick it's genuinely fast, by any standard, on acceleration and this would make for effortless, if eyebrow raising overtakes.  You definitely need to chose the time and place, and watch the speed to avoid racking up points.  On the motorway, the feeling of a luxurious ride continued, with very little tyre or wind noise.  They've absolutely nailed the aerodynamics on this model.

However (there was bound to be at least one), I did find that the high pitch of the motors became monotonous at motorway speeds and could see this becoming yawn inducing, like listening to one of those white noise audio files which are designed to help induce sleep.  I was watching the range keenly, and noted that as I left the showroom, air con off, and in standard mode, it read 193 miles of range on close to 100% battery.  By the time I'd covered 27 miles, that was down to 163 miles, but as some of those were motorway miles driven at 70, I expected a little less than normal bimbling.  The info told me it was averaging about 3.2 miles per KWhr so range left was probably about right.  A few miles had to be put up later on taking my son to cricket and back, then returning to Lexus this morning via the same route taken yesterday.  This time the chilly 7am start meant I had to use the rear window de-mister for a fair few miles and had the heating up a little, as well as the radio on.  I was shocked at what a difference this made to range.  Navigating pre-rush hour traffic saw a busy motorway trip followed by a not too bad urban crawl back by which time the range indicated I think 127 miles left.  It seems for the average driver with heater used, A/C on, radio on and lights was well as rear screen demist, the more realistic range before range anxiety would set in is an honest 150 miles, well short of the 270 odd advertised.  To get that, you'd have to be doing a steady 55mph, on flat uncongested roads without anything switched on other than the motor working at a guess, so my prejudices were founded.

Overall, I was very impressed indeed with the RZ but could I see it replacing the RX?  No, not a chance.  Until the UK has way more working charging points it would become a headache.  For commuting work, it's simply too expensive an option when you could have an ES, NX plug in hybrid or similar for less and for utility, the Rav 4 Hybrid is a better option imho.

Whist I'm on dislikes, a major one for me is the electronic ICE system including controls.

I found the controls unintuitive, difficult to figure out until I'd had an hour or two with it, and even then simply couldn't get on with a touch screen for some options, and steering wheel controls for most of the others.  I got really fed up with all the bing bong warnings and interruption of the navigation screen (once I'd figured out how to access it) for messages about my phone not being connected and when rear passengers were taken, the message "check rear seats" comes up after switching off (apparently due to an american lady leaving a child in the rear whilst doing hr shopping and then trying to sue lexus when the child overheated!).  There was too much nannying going on behind the wheel with too much superfluous information, a bewildering array of options within controls and over reliance on a touch screen, which if that ever went down would render the use of the car very difficult. 

Likes:  ride quality was superb, quiet and  comfortable.  Performance was blistering when demanded. 

Dislikes:  High pitch sleep inducing motor noise at motorway speeds, infotainment system, controls, bells and other bing bong warnings, constant messages popping up on screen, tyre life very limited.  This one has 6K miles from new and was looking like tyre replacements were shortly due due to the weight and torque on tap.  Taking into account, tyre life and frequency of recharges, I doubt whether overall, it would be much more economical an ownership prospect than the RX. Range really not that impressive in real world driving scenarios.  It would make for a comfortable and luxurious option for a chelsea tractor, or commuting from the sticks to town providing you had a charger at home.

Whilst there, I also took a look at a Takumi spec F-Sport RX4 a few years old, the last of the 3.5 V6 models.  It was roomier, to my mind a little more comfortable and supportive with far more sensible controls not as reliant as the giant tablet screen on the RZ.  It was also roomier and had more compliant adaptive suspension over my RX3's standard set up.  I have put myself on a list to exchange mine for a 2020 to 2022 F-Sport Takumi as a result.  For anyone interested I am now looking for a new owner for my excellent RX3, still within the ten year warranty, fdsh from new and absolutely anything needed has been done including the big service.  Underneath it's clean as a whistle as I've lanoguard treated it and has a good 200K miles left in it.

 

Hi Paul, just to answer a few points.

 

Since the software update I have seen a significant increase in range. Over the weekend I just completed a 410 mile round trip mostly motorways. Travelling at 70mph with ac on and an outside temp of 17-18 deg I averaged a total for the journey of 3.3miles/kwh. On a 80 mile stint between services stations it did an exceptional 3.7mile/kwh. As a long term critic of the RZ, I have to say I am more than pleased with this. I had no range anxiety and no problems the 2 times I stopped. 

Have to say I have never experienced any high pitch noise at motorway speeds. Indeed it is very quiet at 70mph. I have though switched off the acoustic noise or whatever you call it which probably helps.

 

The various bongs were annoying at first but you get used to them and I don't really notice anymore.

Finally, if it needs new tyres at 6000 miles it has obviously had a hard life. Mines done 5500 and the tyres are in excellent conditions and I would expect at least 15000 if I were to keep it.

 

[GSLV6]

Thanks for the feedback John.  I didn't even know acoustic feedback was fitted!  3.7 miles per KWhr is more like it and makes for what, a 250 mile range?  My mix of M/way and A & B rioads showed 3.1 to 3.2 miles/KWhr  (3.1 this morning dropping into the high 2's).  Tyre life I would expect to be less, and less still on a demonstrator.  Whilst I only tried the acceleration on a slip road, I guess many will find it addictive and treat a demo car differently to if it were there own so perhaps use a heavier right boot.  Glad you like it.  There's a lot to like about it.  I guess I'm too long in the teeth to want such an app based touchscreen type of experience so for me, the RX wins out overall but it was a surprisingly close run thing as I hugely enjoyed the RZ and if I were in the market for a luxury electric vehicle, that might well be what I'd end up with.

[wivenhoe]

Couple of points - a new RX is exactly the same in terms of touchscreen, bongs and the like. I think you would have to get a previous generation one to avoid them. Initially I felt the same re the bongs but as John says you turn them down ! - and get used to them  you can turn them off but it is a bit of a faff  

Can you remember if the Battery display also showed the %. If it didn’t then it has not had the update that has made all the difference in terms of range, particularly with the aircon / heating on Eco - seems to reduce range by about 10 miles out of 220. Rear screen, heated seats, radio and the like have no real effect on range.  The radiant heaters are effective and again gave little effect on actual range. If it has had the update, the range is a forecast on the basis of previous drives so it will dive if previous drives have ‘gone for it’ 

Sorry if the above seems a bit defensive but after a year and importantly the update, I have now think the upsides outweigh the downsides - but I am not a road warrior. 

[GSLV6]

I think it had the updates you describe but the cost of a new model is more than I can justify, another reason for looking at an RX4, pre touch screen model....or was until I read about security vulnerabilities...

[Tickedon]

31 minutes ago, GSLV6 said:

I think it had the updates you describe but the cost of a new model is more than I can justify, another reason for looking at an RX4, pre touch screen model....or was until I read about security vulnerabilities...

There are nearly new examples of the RZ on Autotrader from just under £43k - including from Lexus dealers. The depreciation on them is ridiculous, at these (nearly new, very discounted) prices they are much more reasonable! 

[GSLV6]

May be worth considering unless theft statistics or insurance on those proves an equally tiresome read, but really I have no interest in any electric vehicle that would leave me stranded if I couldn't get to a working charging point on a long trip and definitely won't be investing on one which doesn't have at least a 300 mile range.  That day will come perhaps but as I don't have a charging point at home and neighbours with electric cars all have horror stories when undertaking long trips then clearly they're not worth the outlay just yet.  A slanted personal opnion perhaps but one I won't be shaken from whilst these issues remain. As an engineer, the "facts" about how clean electric is are less facts, more faery stories.  There's definitely pros and cons, but I have yet to be pursuaded.

[wivenhoe]

I have been told by the dealer the canbus is not as accessible on the RZ as the RX. It pains me to say this - driving an unpopular car does have the advantage that the thieves don’t bother with it. 

On a more serious note, I suspect all EV’s are less of a target as they are not wanted in the Middle & Far East which is where a lot of the stolen RX’s & Range Rovers end up. 

[Malc1]

7 hours ago, wivenhoe said:

in the Middle & Far East which is where a lot of the stolen RX’s & Range Rovers end up. 

fret not ......  there's a possible move afoot in these areas to simply execute a new modus  ...  end buyers of any illicit / stolen cars will be having a summary execution  .......  no Qs asked ..  that might stop some of this thievery .......  might we adopt a simple robust response too by sending the caught thieves here to have some sort of redemption .........  just a hand or two chopped off, ameliorated from simple straightforward execution .........  too messy and might upset some of the do-gooders no doubt BUT it could reduce the theft rate and bring insurance premiums down a tad 🤞

Malc