The new Lexus RX450h overwhelming won our 2009 Executive Car of the Year award because of its blend of technology, luxury and fuel efficiency.

Replacing the previous RX400h, the new RX450h benefits from the Lexus L-finesse design philosophy and we think it certainly has a greater presence on-road, particularly from the rear .

In a sea of prestige vehicles which included other luxury SUV products tested by us during 2009, the RX450h offered the space, amenity and on-road security desired by many executive buyers and members of their family.

It’s a new breed of Hybrid from Lexus which is powered by an 183kW 3.5 litre V6 engine and a pair of AC synchronous motors.

There’s a 123kW electric engine in the front of the vehicle driving the front wheels through reduction gears to a CVT transmission. The second 50kW electric motor only powers the rear wheels on take off, when acceleration is called for, or in slippery conditions.

These two electric motors can propel the RX450h along silently in purely electric mode or for more punch the V6 engine will kick in and assist when more acceleration is required.

Despite the system producing a total of 220kW of power, the RX450h doesn’t have the push-in-the-back acceleration one would expect from such a power figure, it’s more subdued because of the variable nature of the power delivery from the combined power plants.

Lexus quotes diesel-like combined fuel consumption of 6.4l/100km (a 20 percent improvement over its predecessor) and the quoted C02 emissions are 150g/km which is a remarkable figure for a two-tonne executive SUV.
 
Being a Crossover style vehicle one sits higher off the ground than in an ordinary car, which gives the commanding driver position that everybody enjoys.  Fortunately the RX450h is not overly tall so it’s easy for passengers to get in and out of the vehicle which cannot be said for some other luxury SUV models.
 

 When you’re inside the RX450h the comfort levels are superb, and much of the time, especially in traffic, you’re travelling in near silence thanks to the vehicle being on electric power rather than engine power.

Even when the petrol motor kicks in it’s very quiet and almost inaudible by normal internal combustion standards.

From a drivers perspective the reversing camera gives a high definition view of the world behind plus there is a predictive path on screen so you can see exactly where you are and where you’re going, plus there’s lots of luxury features that will surprise and delight.

The Satellite Navigation system is one of the easiest yet to understand and operate, without the complexity of some systems that we found in European competitors. Driver and passengers enjoy the luxury of climate controlled air-conditioning as well as lashings of leather and wood trim.

We test drove the $133,990 Limited version of the RX450h which came with a panoramic glass sunroof that sees the deletion of the roof rails fitted to the RX450h and RX450h SE models which retail for $114,990 and $124,990 respectively.

As well as the sunroof the Limited model also boasted a Head Up display and a powerful concert-like quality Mark Levinson premium audio system which also brings the now desirable Bluetooth connectivity to the vehicle as a standard fitting.

Unlike the old RX400h which had a touch screen system for the cars on board computer, audio and navigation system, the new RX450h has a joystick on the central console which operates much like a computer mouse. 

The 4WD system of the Lexus RX450h has been improved upon with the driver now having the ability to switch off the ESP for better performance on slippery surfaces like wet grass or dirt roads, as the vehicle is perfectly capable of venturing off the city tarmac.

But the best feature of all is the superb fuel economy for a V6 all-wheel-drive vehicle, so an executive need not worry about creating the wrong image by driving a Lexus RX450h.