The 2010 Lexus RX 350 and Lexus RX 450h Hybrid now have a cockpit controller like BMW’s iDrive–but the Lexus Remote Touch controller is drop-dead simple to use. Remote Touch is the technology highlight of the third generation of Lexus’ midsize luxury SUV, along with an impressive Bluetooth system, iPod integration, improved navigation, and a hybrid version that will account for one in five RX sales.
Lexus’ Remote Touch replaces the previous-generation touchscreen display and uses a force-feedback joystick rather than the control wheel employed by BMW (iDrive), Audi (MMI), Mercedes-Benz (Comand), as well as Honda/Acura, Hyundai, and Infiniti. Force feedback means that when the joystick pointer nears an object on the 8-inch onscreen LCD, the pointer snaps to the selection.
Remote Touch is idiot-proof. The controller has a big palmrest with a short, joystick-like control pad at the front. (It looks like you’re pushing around a squarish, leather-capped mushroom more than a tall joystick stalk.) Push to slide the pointer where you want to go, press the Select button on the left or right side of the palm rest, then push/slide and click again to fine-tune your selection. Even as BMW’s latest iDrive on the 3 Series and 7 Series has become comparatively simple to use, Remote Touch is simpler still for navigating the screen.
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