Lexus RX Morizo RR: What's Confirmed, What's Rumored, and What We've Actually Seen

Lexus has never sold an RX that could keep a BMW X5 M in sight. That may be about to change. Since late August, a wide-fendered RX prototype on staggered 21-inch Michelins and Brembo brakes has been photographed twice in Europe, and the hardware goes well beyond anything the current RX 500h F Sport Performance carries. What Lexus itself has said about the car: nothing. The "Morizo RR" name, the 500-to-600-hp figures, and the 2028 timing all come from reports, not from Toyota. This page keeps those two categories apart and will be updated as the picture changes.

One clarification before the details, because the two cars are constantly confused: this page is about a midsize RX. It is not about the LBX Morizo RR, the 300-hp subcompact Lexus already sells in Japan and Europe but not in the United States. That car exists and is fully specified; the hot RX has not been confirmed to exist at all.

What we've actually seen

There have been two sightings. The first photos, published by Carscoops and Autoblog on August 26–27, showed the car in light camouflage over factory Copper Crest paint. A second batch followed on September 3–4 via The Drive and Auto Express, the latter placing the prototype around Toyota's development center in Germany.

The chassis hardware is the story. The prototype wears staggered Michelin Pilot Sport 4 SUV tires, 265/40 ZR21 in front and 295/35 ZR21 at the rear, on 21-inch multi-spoke wheels. No production RX uses a staggered setup. Behind them are cross-drilled, ventilated rotors and red Brembo calipers; today's F Sport Performance uses six-piston aluminum calipers on 15.74-inch front rotors, per Lexus's spec sheet.

The body has been widened to match: flared fender extensions at all four corners, blending into small sill extensions at the rear, plus a noticeably lower stance on what appears to be a wider track. Up front, the bumper is the RX 500h F Sport Performance piece with two extra ducts cut into the grille opening, which Auto Express reads as brake cooling, and open outer intakes. Behind those, Auto Express and The Drive both spotted what look like additional heat exchangers, most likely intercoolers or auxiliary radiators. That is a strong hint the engine is turbocharged harder than anything Lexus currently builds.

Around back, the body-colored bumper trim also comes from the F Sport Performance, cut open for a pair of what Carscoops called provisional tailpipes. Nobody has photographed the interior, and since the exterior add-ons look like placeholder parts, the cabin at this stage most likely still resembles the current RX.

How much power: 500, 600, or somewhere in between?

This is the biggest unknown, and the sources disagree. The original rumor came from Japanese magazine Mag-X in May 2025, relayed by Lexus Enthusiast: an all-wheel-drive hybrid built around an all-new 2.0-liter turbocharged four-cylinder with front and rear electric motors, and combined output of nearly 600 hp. Autoblog says its own spy-photo sources put the figure north of 600 hp. Auto Express, working from the visible hardware rather than sources, estimates around 500 hp.

The engine itself is not a rumor. Toyota Gazoo Racing president Tomoya Takahashi confirmed the G20E, a turbocharged 2.0-liter four-cylinder, in a January 2026 interview with Automotive News, reported by Motor1. Engineers are targeting more than 400 hp in road-going form, with race versions able to exceed 600 hp. Takahashi said the unit will be electrified, will work in front-engine layouts, and is being developed with larger vehicles and all-wheel-drive applications in mind. An RX is exactly that kind of vehicle. Whether Lexus would pair the G20E with a conventional hybrid system or a plug-in has not been reported either way.

For scale, today's ceiling is the RX 500h F Sport Performance: a 271-hp 2.4-liter turbo four, a six-speed automatic with an integrated motor, an 80-kW rear eAxle, and a nickel-metal hydride battery, for 366 hp and 406 lb-ft combined. Auto Express argues a small-battery Toyota hybrid could also come in several hundred pounds lighter than the 5,500-pound German V8 SUVs, at the cost of little or no electric-only range. That is analysis, not a leak.

Is it really called Morizo RR?

Maybe. The name comes from the Mag-X report and has been repeated by every spy-photo outlet since, but Lexus has not used it. Morizo is the racing pseudonym of Toyota chairman Akio Toyoda, and the badge has so far appeared on the GR Yaris, the upcoming GR Corolla Morizo RR, and the Lexus LBX Morizo RR, a 300-hp version of Lexus's smallest crossover sold outside the United States. The other candidate is Lexus's own F badge, used on the IS F, GS F, and RC F; Auto Express explicitly notes the badge is unknown. Lexus's recent performance-flavored news has been limited to trim packages like the IS Special Appearance Package, so a GR-engineered RX would be a different kind of statement whatever it's called. For the badge's full history and what it has and hasn't meant so far, see our explainer on what "Morizo RR" means.

The LBX has muddied the search results further. In early September 2026, Carscoops and Autoblog published photos of an LBX Morizo RR prototype carrying what appears to be a carbon-fiber roof and rear bumper, a more pronounced splitter, and vents between the exhaust outlets. That is a separate car, a separate prototype, and a separate program from the RX seen here, and Lexus has confirmed none of it either. It does suggest the badge is an active project at Lexus rather than a one-off, but it is not evidence about the RX.

Release date and model year

Nothing is official. Mag-X said 2028. Autoblog's sources say 2028. Carscoops expects a 2028 market launch. The Drive expects the car on dealer lots in calendar 2028 with a reveal sooner, although its own URL labels the car a 2027 model. Auto Express is the outlier: the car could theoretically appear as early as next year, it says, but is more likely to slip, given how long Lexus spends developing performance models.

The sequencing matters more than any single year. The current fifth-generation RX arrived for 2023, and separate prototypes spotted in June point to a mid-cycle refresh, reportedly due next year, with a larger center display. Auto Express expects the performance model to follow that refresh and inherit range-wide updates, including the new cabin design introduced on the redesigned 2027 NX. Read together, the reporting suggests a facelifted RX first, then the hot version.

How it would stack up against the Germans

The rivals named in every report are the BMW X5 M Competition, the Mercedes-AMG GLE 63 S, and the Audi RS Q8 performance, all twin-turbo V8s with 48-volt mild-hybrid assistance. BMW rates the X5 M Competition at 617 hp and 553 lb-ft, with a 3.7-second 0–60 mph claim. Audi's RS Q8 performance makes 631 hp and 627 lb-ft. Mercedes-AMG quotes 603 hp for the GLE 63 S. A 500-to-600-hp four-cylinder hybrid would land at or just below that group on paper, with a different character: less displacement, more electric torque fill, and potentially less mass.

The RX is also the smallest of the group: Lexus lists it at 192.5 inches long on a 112.2-inch wheelbase, an in-betweener next to the X5 and GLE, as The Drive puts it. That could help handling and cost it buyers who want the most SUV for their money.

Price

There is no pricing information of any kind, and we won't invent a number. Two data points frame it. The RX 500h F Sport Performance, the most expensive RX today, lists at $68,450 including a $1,550 delivery, processing, and handling fee, per Lexus's June 2026 price update. The German V8 SUVs start at roughly $130,000 to $138,000 before options. A performance RX would almost certainly sit between those figures; where in that $60,000 gap is the open question.

Will it be sold in the US?

Unknown. The RX is Lexus's best-selling model in America, which argues for it. The precedent argues against: the LBX Morizo RR is sold in Japan and select other markets but not here, though the entire LBX line is absent from the US, so it's not a clean comparison. The European test location says nothing about target markets. Until Lexus USA says something, treat US availability as an open question rather than an assumption.

What we don't know yet

• The name. Morizo RR is a report, not a badge Lexus has shown; RX F remains possible.
• Output. Estimates run from about 500 hp (Auto Express) to more than 600 hp (Mag-X, Autoblog's sources). No official figure exists.
• Hybrid type. Conventional like the RX 500h, or plug-in? Nobody has reported either.
• Transmission. Whether the RX 500h's six-speed automatic carries over.
• Reveal date and model year. Most reports say 2028; The Drive's URL says 2027; Auto Express won't rule out either direction.
• Price and US sales. Nothing reported on either.
• Interior. No cabin photos exist.
• Whether the program is related to the hotter LBX. Both prototypes surfaced within weeks of each other, but no report connects them and Lexus has confirmed neither.

What's next

Three things would move this from rumor to fact. First, any official trace from Lexus: a teaser, a trademark filing, a pressroom mention, or a concept at the LA Auto Show in November or Tokyo Auto Salon in January, where the LBX Morizo RR first appeared. One caution there: if what shows up at either event is the hotter LBX rather than an RX, that is not confirmation of this car. Second, the reveal of the refreshed RX, which the reporting places ahead of the performance model; its powertrain lineup will show whether the G20E is already in the family. Third, the first production application of the G20E anywhere in the Toyota or Lexus range, which would pin down the road-going output an RX would build on. We'll update this page as each of those lands.