2005 Lexus RX 330 Test Drive

One Smooth SUV

Lexus' buttery smooth crossover adds better handling and transmission--but also the pricey options.

From The Driver's Seat

Before jumping right into the description of the RX330 cockpit, it's worth noting that this is the first Lexus vehicle made outside Japan (in Ontario, Canada); Toyota also makes vehicles in Georgetown, Ky., and Princeton, Ind. I bring this up because too often I hear from people who think that buying a Japanese car means not investing in America. That's only half right -- there are literally tens of thousands of Americans who work at Toyota, Nissan Motor, Subaru, Mitsubishi and Honda Motor plants in the U.S. and still more who work in Alabama for Mercedes and in South Carolina for BMW. And if you happen to be a shareholder in these carmakers, you also own some of that wealth.

What's the point? Patriotism isn't reducible to the badge on the hood of your car. Your Nike shoes and Gap T-shirt were made in Asia -- and your Cadillac EXT was made in Mexico.

The Canadian-made RX330, meanwhile, is quite an impressive piece of work, with all of the basics and beyond well covered. Besides that whole light show I mentioned in the intro, standard features include full-time all-wheel drive, full-size spare tire, dual front airbags, driver's knee airbag, front-passenger side bags, and side curtain airbags for the rear passengers. Also: stability control, alarm/vehicle immobilizer, variable speed wipers, tire-pressure monitor, first-aid kit, dual-zone climate control, six-disc in-dash CD changer with eight speakers, eight-way power driver's seat, reclining (and sliding) rear seats that split 40/20/40, auto-dimming rearview mirror and exterior mirrors -- the outside ones are heated as well -- and carpeted floor mats. Actually, there's even more, but you get the picture.

If this still isn't good enough for you and, perchance, you want leather seats for instance, then you have to add an option package (none of which start under about $3,000). The package on our tester included leather trim for the interior, power-tilt steering wheel, a moon roof, that power rear lift gate I mentioned in the intro, HID (high-intensity discharge) headlamps, a roof rack, and wood trim on the wheel and shift knob.

And, actually, that last bit, though rich-looking, is a bit of negative if you live anywhere where all-wheel drive (you can also get the RX as a 2WD vehicle) is a genuine necessity. That's because, in cold climates, wood is just not the ideal surface for your fingertips, since it stays cold to the touch much longer than leather, necessitating gloves, which tend to slip on a wood wheel. Another niggle: The rear seats flip forward, but only by opening the back door of the car can you get to the switch for these. Some of the competition feature levers that you can reach right from the bed of the vehicle.

Then again, these are about the only negatives for the entire interior of this vehicle. Everything else -- the fit, the fact that the CD unit is actually in the dash, not the trunk, the fact that the seat headrests adjust both fore and aft as well as up and down -- pretty much paces this category. Why? The best vehicles in this segment are all so good, this has become a race of inches, not miles, so the little things make the difference, and Lexus nails these:

• Consider that you won't dirty your pant leg (unlike in the SRX, for instance) exiting the vehicle, because the door openings are wide, and you don't sit so high that stepping to the ground is a plunge from a high throne.



• The gear lever for the transmission is mounted nice and high, where your hand finds it easily -- this leaves room underneath this bulge in the dash for even more storage.



• Buttons are big and logically arrayed. This car doesn't have a field of Chiclets like some of its European competition, but buttons that big-fingered North Americans can use easily.

On the interior, the only vehicle that really comes close -- especially when you add in important factors like cargo room and sliding second-row seats -- is the Volvo XC90. The Touareg might have, but it's too small inside to really match the Lexus. The Infiniti FX45, also on the smaller side, is more impressive in other ways (which we'll get to in a moment) but isn't as sharp as the Lexus on the inside. The Cadillac misses the mark as well.

Then again, the Lexus is more of a mixed bag on the road. Gone is the too soft springiness of the old RX, and now the RX330 will actually hold on in corners where the previous vehicle would've blown wide. That said, there's not much feel out of this steering wheel; for that, go with the Touareg or especially the Infiniti FX45. True, you get a more sedate ride than in the flinty-feeling FX45, but then, the cornering just isn't that sharp in the Lexus. The most evenly balanced handler of the bunch might be the VW, which somehow gets both road feel and a comfortable ride on imperfect pavement. The RX330, meanwhile, is a well-handling crossover, but we'd say it's on the "family" side of the spectrum, not the "empty nest" side.

That said, the very impressive, 230-horsepower V-6 is mated to a flawless transmission. The five-speed automatic makes the most of this motor's 242 foot-pounds of torque, and gets you to 60 mph in 7.8 seconds. That's hardly lightning fast (the FX45 will rush you to that mark in 6.3 seconds; Cadillac's SRX V-8 takes a scant 6.6 seconds), but it's pretty good for a family vehicle and, like we said, that's who this Lexus will appeal most to: mom and dad. Another highlight of that motor is decent mileage; 18 city/24 highway is hardly the stuff of Toyota hybrids (speaking of which, there will be a hybrid version of the RX coming at the end of next year), but in this category it's quite respectable.