Road Test
As you know, the Lexus reputation for impeccable quality has buoyed the brand into the creamy layer atop the world's outpouring of automobiles. Yet the gimlet-eyed pros on this staff, ever watchful for lapses, keep the fine-toothed comb in motion. And we found some lulus on this baby.Consider: The camera that watches behind for bicycles and hamsters you might back over also shows a Lexus logo atop the bumper. On the screen, it's upside down. Ha!
We'll return to this shocking exposé, but first some background. The RX330 hit the showrooms in March of this year as a replacement for the immensely successful RX300, the original white-gloves-and-Gucci-loafers kind of SUV at prices starting in the mid-$30,000 range. You could take it off-road, but trekking to Saks is so much more rewarding. Folks bought the heck out of that unit, more than 75,000 of them some years, most front-wheel-drivers.
Think of the RX300, and the RX330 replacing it, as ritzy mid-size station wagons with the added bonus of a commanding view all around. The RX330 has been upsized considerably, 5.9 inches longer and just over an inch wider. But it's hardly bulky-still about three inches shorter than a Honda Accord.
Two different cars were evaluated for this test, giving us the chance to review a wider selection of equipment. We had a front-driver and an all-wheel-driver with similar tires (optional all-season 235/55VR-18 Goodyear RS-As on 7.0-inch-wide wheels). The photo car, which also served for track testing, had the Performance package ($5455) that includes air suspension and look-where-you're-going high-intensity-discharge (HID) headlights (on both high and low beams, and the light on the shoulder side of the road rotates into the curve as you steer). The other test car had a $6770 package that included a navigation system, a rearview camera, and an 11-speaker, 240-watt Mark Levinson stereo. The all-wheeler weighed in at $43,313; the front-driver at $45,848.
In looks, this is the antitruck, with a fast windshield, a coupelike angle to the rear glass, and low-profile tires. And it's quick on its feet, hustling to 60 mph in 7.8 seconds (a 1.8-second improvement over a 2001 RX300 we tested) and on through the quarter-mile in 16.2 seconds at 86 mph (1.2 second and 7 mph ahead of the old one). Weight is up 226 pounds to 4249, and urge is up, too, thanks to an extra 0.3 liter of displacement in the now 3.3-liter V-6 and an extra gear in the now five-speed transmission. Power is up 10 hp, torque up 20 pound-feet.
Compared with other SUVs of similar price, the RX330 is a step behind the quicker Lincoln Aviator in acceleration, about even with the Acura MDX, and it has Range Rovers and Land Rovers completely covered at any price.
The sound at full throttle just hints at the thrilling rip of a combustion machine. This is a Lexus, after all. About the only noise at any cruising speed you'd mention with a straight face is a rustling of air, probably from the roof rack. The big Goodyears don't kawop! over bumps, but they surely contribute to weavy steering on blacktops worn by truck traffic. Crossing the center stripe on such roads with the hammer down, as you would when passing, puts a zig in your path that could raise DUI suspicions. If you can back off the style priority a little, the higher-profile 225/65R-17s are probably a less unruly choice.
The taller tires should add plushness to the ride, too, although anyone who would complain about the versions tested really shouldn't choose an SUV. Scheduling prevented an A-to-B ride comparison of the two suspensions, but the clear benefit of the air suspension shows in height control. It brings automatic load leveling plus a high mode (jacks itself up 1.2 inches for 8.3 inches of total ground clearance), a low mode (automatically drops 0.6 inch from normal when you reach 62 mph, or you can select it when you need to chase a Miata), and the kneeling-bus mode (drops 1.2 inches in park when the key is switched off). Kneeling happens automatically if you've selected that mode.
Using a comparison test of eight high-end SUVs as the standard ("The Bradsher Bunch," January 2003), we find that the RX330's 176-foot stopping distance from 70 mph is slightly better than average for that group. On the skidpad, its 0.75-g performance was much better than the 0.68 of the RX300 but below average today. For the record, we were unable to switch off the stability-control nanny; those systems always resist slipping the tires enough for the best cornering numbers.
