Living with a Lexus RZ: are steering wheels overrated?
Car changing is a big deal
The Lexus RZ is the first car in the UK to get steer-by-wire with a yoke in place of a normal steering wheel. Is it just a gimmick, or is it actually useful? Global Content Director Iain Reid has been living with one to find out.
This is my Lexus RZ, and it’s a slightly left-field alternative to posh electric SUVs like the BMW iX3 and Audi Q6 e-tron. The angular design and two-tone paint make it stand out somewhat, but this car’s real party piece is inside.
In place of a normal steering wheel, this top-spec RZ 550e has a spaceship-style yoke connected to a steer-by-wire system. There’s no physical connection to the front wheels – a series of sensors and motors handle the steering instead.
The benefit to this is that you can turn from lock-to-lock in 180-degrees, without having to take your hands off the, err, yoke. In theory, that makes the car easier to manoeuvre in town and more agile on a twisty road, and after testing it for two months I have mixed thoughts.
Let’s start with the positives. I thought this would take ages to get used to, but it’s surprisingly intuitive. The steering speed changes depending on how fast you’re going, so on the motorway it feels secure and planted, while around town you can change direction really quickly.
Executing a three-point turn or a tight parking manoeuvre is so much easier when you don’t have so much wheel twirling to do, and I’d also be lying if I said I didn’t feel like a fighter pilot driving this thing.
It’s not all good though. Lexus has mounted the indicator and wiper stalks to the yoke itself, so they move when you turn it. This is fine when you’re driving in a straight line, but when you need to signal mid-turn, on a roundabout for example, it’s a bit of a fiddle.
The funky shape of the yoke also forces your hands to the nine-and-three position. I know that’s where you’re supposed to hold a steering wheel, but if you like to rest your hands lower down on a long journey then you can’t. The steer-by-wire tech works great, I just don’t see why it can’t be attached to a normal, round steering wheel.
But overall, I really like the RZ’s steer-by-wire setup. I went into it thinking it would be a gimmick, but after two months I get into a car with a normal steering system and feel like I’ve gone back two decades.
It’s just a shame that this tech is currently only available on a £70,000 luxury SUV, but that won’t be the case for long. Peugeot is planning to launch a similar system on the new E-208 next year, and Mercedes is bringing it to the EQS. Hopefully other brands will follow suit so more people can enjoy this great bit of tech.
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