Up until the 2023 Lexus RX, every modern Lexus came with an annoying asterisk: Yes, it was a fine vehicle, but the touchpad or mouselike multimedia controls were so confounding and frustrating that it eventually made you think Luddites had it pretty good. So what’s changed for 2023? The updated 2023 Lexus RX ditches the mouse and adds a touchscreen, Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, addressing one (or is it several?) of the luxury SUV’s weakest areas.

The 2023 Lexus RX isn’t without its quirks; the asterisk is just a little smaller. The touchscreen and tech enhancements are the most significant changes for 2023, though a bunch of little things — new smartphone holder, over-the-air updates, expanded F-Sport line — have similar executions: They sound great on paper but are a little less impressive in practice. The bulk of the RX is unchanged, available in five-seat RX 350 and hybrid RX 450h variants, along with an L version of each that includes a small third row for a total of six or seven seats.

There's something seemingly funky going on with the Lexus RX spec sheet, or at least with the cargo capacity measuring method used to populate it with an official cubic-foot number. Basically, the specs say it has 16.0 cubic feet behind its raised back seat. That would be less than a Toyota C-HR, which is a notably cramped subcompact SUV. All you need are eyes to know something's fishy about that. Doing these luggage tests has revealed other car companies also report cargo capacity figures that sell their SUVs short relative competitors, but this is a new low, so to speak.

After a few back-and-forths with Lexus (and several months), plus a revealing glance at the extended length RX L's spec sheet, I came upon the answer: the 16.0 cubic-feet indicated is a measurement of the cargo floor to the cargo cover. The industry norm is cargo floor to the roof. Both numbers are provided for the RX L: 15.26 cubic-feet to the cargo cover and 23.03 to the roof. That's still not a lot for a midsize SUV, but assuming the regular RX is in the same numerical ballpark, it would make a lot more sense given how much stuff you can actually fit inside.

Speaking of which, let's see just how much stuff you can fit inside. It's definitely more than a C-HR.

This is a wide, deep space. However, the current RX has a more radically raked roofline than its predecessors, which almost achieves a crossover coupe look. The result is less overall cargo space (and likely a less-than-stellar floor-to-ceiling cargo spec), but losing greenhouse usually effects versatility more. Basically, you can carry a comparable number of bags, but that 52-inch TV will be a tough get.

To begin, I left the cargo cover in place. As in every luggage test I do, I use two midsize roller suitcases that would need to be checked in at the airport (26 inches long, 16 wide, 11 deep), two roll-aboard suitcases that just barely fit in the overhead (24L x 15W x 10D), and one smaller roll-aboard that fits easily (23L x 15W x 10D). I also include my wife's fancy overnight bag just to spruce things up a bit (21L x 12W x 12D).