Have you ever had one of those days: It’s five minutes to deadline and you’re stuck. Welcome to my life.

So, for today, let me share with you what I did yesterday and how I worked as a “driver” of a super-efficient and wonderful-to-drive Lexus LM 350h. Yup, an MPV that’s kinda like a very private van.

It’s not often I focus my review of a car on the passenger seat. After all, most of you reading reviews on cars do so because you want to drive them, and generally, those sitting in the back don’t matter.

But as I was looking at the Lexus LM350h… I thought about how much fun it would be to ride as a passenger.

And as far as I could see the backseats of LM are what matters. This is, after all, an MPV where driving comes secondary to the happiness of its passengers.

So, just for DAILY TRIBUNE’s Blast Digital show, I asked the host of the show, Toby Magsaysay, to take the passenger’s seat.

The comfort begins

Let’s try something new today, I say to Toby. You be the passenger, after all, if anyone could afford this LM, he or she wouldn’t want to drive it. I think they would much rather be the passenger.

“Sure,” came Toby’s reply. “It looks like a van built for the passenger and that would be loads of fun.”

Toby makes his first move of the morning by activating the sliding doors. He hops onto one of the reclining leather seats, and he smiles at having more gadgets than he could really think to play with.

As I drive, Toby kindly asks me what it’s like as the driver.

“Fun and easy,” came my reply.

I notice that it is possible to split passenger seats into two separate partitions — I guess that is done just in case they want to ignore each other with headphones in and watch separate shows.

Not for Toby though, who was busy fidgeting with his seat and the many buttons that control the gadget-friendly backseats.

As far as I could see, the best thing about the rear though is how isolated you seem to be from the moving vehicle you are riding — and how private that backseat can make you feel. 

As a driver, I notice that road noise is imperceptible and the LM rides buttery smooth both at high speed and when you’re being carted around town in traffic. I guess the only way you’ll have an uncomfortable time is if your driver decides to make a few full stops, pretending to test the brakes. Yes, I tried it.

Truth be told, for all the fun the LM is for the backseat passenger, it comes as no big deal that driving the LM is easy and pretty Lexus average for whoever is behind the wheel. The LM is all about the party in the back and making sure the business up front is done well.

The drive

Steering was light-set and despite being such a large vehicle, the LM is quite easy to maneuver. Handily, it also comes with a 360-degree camera and digital rear-view mirror, which you will need if your passengers have decided to pretend you don’t exist and deploy the divider.

We wouldn’t call it fun to throw down a back road, although amusingly in its all-wheel drive form, and its 2.5-liter four-cylinder hybrid setup and with an electric motor on the rear wheels, it’s possible to break traction and get a little sideways.

It’s not a rapid thing either, but having instantaneous torque from that motor means there’s enough pickup for it not to feel sluggish. Power delivery is smooth, and its CVT still groans a bit when your foot is planted.

That was yesterday… until the next detour.