• Loads of room up front
• Could be larger in the rear
• Boot space just okay

How much space is there?

The RZ is a large car. Sure, it’s slightly smaller than Lexus’ flagship RX, but it’s a bit larger than the Toyota bZ4x that it’s mechanically similar to, as well as the Hyundai Ioniq 5 and Skoda Enyaq. But despite the added dimensions, it’s not all that much larger than these cars inside.

Tall adults can sit comfortably in the rear and up front there is loads of knee and elbow room. A good amount of storage for bottles too. It just doesn’t feel that much larger here when compared with its slightly smaller rivals.

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Boot space and storage

The 522-litre boot is deep and wide, with a bit of a lip. The rear seats fold neatly (but not perfectly flat) to free up 1,451 litres worth of space. The Skoda Enyaq’s boot, however, is comfortably larger and deeper at 585 and 1,710 litres respectively. 

Weirdly, the RZ has a very cheap and flimsy parcel shelf. There’s nothing particularly wrong with it, but when you take it out it flexes and wobbles in a very un-Lexus like way. The practicality of those rear seats is so-so, with a simple 60:40 split being offered – and no ski hatch.

Is it easy to park?

Broadly, yes. The wide windscreen and relatively thin front pillars means visibility out of the front is good. Rear visibility is less so, blame those swooping rear lines, but all RZs come with parking cameras.

All models also get Lexus’ safety system. This will monitor the outside of the car and prevent you from opening the door into traffic. More of which can be read about in the safety section below. An autonomous parking system and 360-degree camera are available as an upgrade too.

Safety

• Euro NCAP five-star safety rating
• Loads of safety tech
• Two Isofix points

The RZ was tested by Euro NCAP in 2023. It scored particularly highly in the ‘safety assist’ category. As is often the case, we found the Lexus’ active safety systems to be particularly irritating. The lane-keeping aids are extremely strict and aggressively tug at the wheel to keep you in your lane – or what the car thinks is your lane – while the eye-monitoring driver attention alert will scold you for innocent acts such as looking over at the road you’re joining while you’re on a sliproad.

There’s a speed limit buzzer which moans every time you go over the posted limit – the car figures these out based on the signs it reads, which means it sometimes misses one. The worst thing is that most of these systems, while they can be deactivated, turn themselves back on every time you start the car. Highly irritating.

The RZ, has two Isofix points on the outer rear seats. The most interesting bit of safety kit on the RZ is its E-Latch system. This electronically controls the opening of the doors. It works alongside a blind spot monitoring system and can prevent you from opening the door into oncoming traffic.

Watch: Lexus RZ EuroNCAP crash test video