THE STRONG GET STRONGER.(NEWS)(Toyota Motor Sales U.S.A. Inc. Lexus Div.)

Byline: DUTCH MANDEL

If you've loved the Lexus RX for the past decade, you won't be able to keep your hands off the new one. This third-gen soft-ute does everything for which it has been celebratedproviding a stylish, nontruck experience, lathered with luxury froth and festooned with technical widgetsand does it better than ever.

This is no mere facelift. It looks similar to the outgoing model, but there's much more going on. It is bigger and wider, increasing interior volume to benefit shoulders, knees, hips and heads. It feels spacious, which equals comfort, yet it is not cumbersome on the road.

Designers didn't waste that extra space. Soft-touch leather is buttery good; the seats are firm and reward long stints with little fatigue; the instrument panel opens wide, with large, easy-to-read gauges. Sightlines improve thanks to an A-pillar corner window and larger rear glass. The RX also gets the new industry leader in center-console-mounted driver-control devices, this one called Remote Touch. It replaces a touch-screen interface on earlier models, with ergonomically superior effect. Force feedback can be boosted or softened, depending on driver desire.

The RX shines on the road. It has never been accused of being a "driver's vehicle, nor should a crossover ever be confused with such. But this new model does afford an experience to remember.

Maybe we can credit its newly designed double-wishbone independent rear suspension for those manners. While the front remains a MacPherson strut setup, the newly designed rear is compact, with a wide arm span and rigid ...