Lexus rolls out redesigned RX hybrid

Starting price is $41,660 (plus $875 freight) for the front-wheel-drive version and $43,250 for the all-wheel-drive model, which we tested.

The entire RX line has been redone for 2010, with the gasoline-only models, known as the RX 350, beginning at $36,800 for the front-drive version and $38,200 for all-wheel drive.

The RX, introduced originally as a 1999 model, has been the best-selling Lexus vehicle from the start. It also holds the position as the top-selling luxury SUV. The 2010 version is the third generation of the gasoline-only models, which started out as the RX 300.

Toyota's luxury brand rolled out the first hybrid version, initially called the RX 400h, for model year 2005.

Based on the chassis of the Toyota Camry sedan, the RX has a first cousin in the Toyota lineup, the Highlander. Both introduced the concept of the crossover utility vehicle to their brands.

While both are quite similar underneath, they have different styling; and the Highlander is offered in a seven-passenger version, created by adding a two-person, third-row seat.

The RX, though, comes only with two rows of seating and a capacity of five. Both the RX and the Highlander offer carlike ride and handling, as well as interior comfort, with the higher profile of a sport utility, giving them the basic attributes of a crossover.

The second generation of the RX arrived in 2004 as the RX 330, renamed because of its larger 3.3-liter V-6; and for 2007, the name changed again, to RX 350, with the introduction of a 3.5-liter V-6.

As with the original RX 400h, the new hybrid version combines a V-6 gasoline engine with an electric motor at both the front and rear for all-wheel-drive, and the V-6 with an electric motor in the front for the front-drive model.