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The RX is Lexus’ best-selling model, outselling the next best (the ES) by more than 12,000 vehicles as of the end of June 2013. Fifty percent of RX buyers have owned a Lexus before, and 40 percent are on their second RX 350.
If you see someone driving an RX 350, there’s a good chance that person has a college education (75 percent), does not have children under 18 (8 percent), and is not particularly young: the median age is 62, and 13 percent of RX buyers are under 40.
Enter the F Sport — Lexus’ answer to BMW’s M and Mercedes’ AMG performance divisions. The line launched in 2008 on the IS-F, which converted a humble IS to a V8-powered growler.
The F Sport earned Lexus some respect that could only come with speed, and the latest IS F-Sport was launched in June. Steve Hearne, Lexus sales vice president, said, “With its bold design and sporty performance, the new F Sport model is proving to be a home run at our dealerships.” The home run adds $12,325 to the base price, pun intended.
The RX 350 F Sport does not growl. It adds all the premium features of the regular RX, and you can see that review here. For performance, it adds an eight-speed automatic transmission with paddle shifters, an F Sport-tuned suspension, and 19-inch wheels.
The other F Sport features are pretty cosmetic: special leather seats, a different front bumper and mesh grille, three-spoke steering wheel, and wow! F Sport badges!
Related:
VIDEO: Driver tries to make Lexus GX460 fail during off-road test
The GX460 that Lexus loaned us, see video review, cost $66,715. That seemed like a lot, but it has 10 airbags and a paragraph of safety features that includes a driver-attention monitor that is supposed to see if your face is pointed at an oncoming obstacle. We didn't test that. The video shows lights in the sensor that are not visible to the naked eye. Who knows how the video camera could see it?Unfortunately, the gap between our regular RX and F Sport test drives was too long to notice any dramatic performance difference (no one forgets the difference between IS and IS-F). However, if you refer to the second paragraph, you can see a possible reason to make an F Sport version: attracting younger buyers.
As the photos show, it really does make for a more youthful-looking RX. Younger than 62 myself, I still never felt compelled to slam the eight-speed transmission around. But like most vehicles, it is sold more on what it could do than on what it will actually do.
The video is 21 seconds of the RX backing out of a messy garage. The "Intuitive Parking Assist" did its job of warning us about all of the junk that could've been hit. The beeping gets old, but you can shut it off.
Our test model optioned up to $53,865; which brings up one more demographic for RX 350 buyers: their median income is $168,000. Brian Champagne has reported on cars for more than nine years. He has a master's degree in communications from the University of the Pacific and teaches at Utah State University.
