Lexus RZ review

The first thing that strikes you in here is that massive 14-inch central touchscreen. It’s standard fit on all trim levels and, although it has a whiff of a chunky old CRT TV about it, it reacts well to your prods and controls pretty much all of the car’s functions. There were a few scratches on the Premium Pack Plus car we tested, which may not bode well. Thankfully there are permanent shortcuts down the bottom for the climate controls, but finding things like the drive mode selector is far too complicated.

Is there any cool tech? 

We like that the wireless phone charging comes with a fan underneath to cool your rapidly simmering smartphone, but there are two standout bits of tech you’ll be showing off to passengers. Firstly there’s the dimmable panoramic roof in the Takumi car, and from mid-range Premium Plus Pack upwards you get what Lexus calls ‘front radiant heaters’. They’re mounted in the dash and warm your knees using infrared radiation. Sounds a little scary to us, but apparently they use eight per cent less energy than the climate control. Every little helps when you’re trying to conserve range.

There are also electronic doorhandles inside the car that take a little bit of getting used to at first, but work much better than in some other cars we've driven with the feature.

Is the RZ practical inside?

In terms of space there’s plenty of rear legroom, while the boot offers 522 litres of load space with the rear seats in place and 1,451 litres with them folded flat. There’s also an extra 58 litres under the boot floor for charging cables and the like. There are some nice little bits of storage around the front of the cabin, too, including a central binnacle that opens in different directions depending which side you press the button on. Hours of fun.

What’s the crazy steering wheel like?

If you do want the One Motion Grip steering come 2025, the digital instrument binnacle is set higher and further away than in the standard wheeled RZ. The yoke itself is a butterfly shape and feels pretty natural to hold, although you’ll need to adjust your usual seating position and the accompanying paddles for adjusting the level of regen are tiny and often get in the way of the stubby little indicator stalks.