24th Jan 2006, 04:43
I am a proud owner of a 2001 RX 300. I was shocked to see the "bad on snow" comment. It seems obvious the person was driving irresponsibly and may need to check the tread on his tires. I have owned my Lexus for 3 winters and live in the Midwest. I have driven it in lite snow and ice as well as deep snow. It performed perfectly in all. I also own a truck and there is no comparison. The Lexus has over 140,000 miles and is still perfect. The only problem it ever had was an air sensor $200.00.
19th Feb 2006, 16:44
First off, driving 50mph in the snow is extremely dangerous. If you have driven that speed in the past while driving other vehicles, count yourself very lucky. While you can bring many vehicles up to that speed in the snow, it is a completely different story when it comes to stopping. All cars have 4 wheel braking, and no car will be able to stop as if it were on dry pavement.
I have seen many accidents caused by people driving too fast in the snow. It usually happens when someone cruises in the passing lane driving at a high rate of speed (50mph), while cars in the other lanes are driving at a much slower safer speed (25-30), which they should be. All that needs to happen is for just one of those cars to decide they want to go a little faster and pull into the passing lane. They assume the headlights of the SUV way behind them are driving at the same speed, yet in reality that person is travelling twice as fast. Needless to say the SUV cannot possibly stop or slow down in time and hits the slower moving car sending both of them into the guardrail or other traffic.
Please slow down!
With that said, the RX 300 handles excellent in the snow with the proper tires and proper driver. If you plan on doing any sort of winter driving, change the factory Bridgestone Duelers with either a dedicated snow tire or a better all season tire. The factory tires are not meant for medium or heavy snow use. They will handle light snow at best. For an all season tire the Michelin Cross Terrains are highly recommended for the RX300.
25th Jan 2007, 09:38
I was glad to come across this information. I to have a 2001lexus rx300,bought it used from a dealer. the worst on the snow I have ever seen.Even at 15 or 20 miles an hour,slides everywhere. I am going to have the control arm checked.thanks.
4th Jul 2007, 10:08
If you can't figure out to slow down in snow (especially) after sliding 20 times than you should stay of the road.
29th Jul 2007, 17:05
If you want to drive like a maniac in the snow you had better ditch that real wheel assist (aka AWD) overpriced Camry and get a real 4WD.
8th Nov 2007, 11:56
I think a car advertised as 4x4 should perform as a 4x4, without 'buts', and in my experience, AWD is way worse than clean 4x4 (not even counting cars, only SUVs). In hard conditions, hand brake helps and also if it's not manual transmission, driver ability to control it like one. With good 4x4 and decent driving skills, 40mph should be no problem in hard conditions (I'm from 6mnths winter/year).
10th Jan 2008, 20:23
I have owned my RX300 2001 for last 7 years other than an air filter, it has cost me nothing except the oil changes. I have driven it in mud, sand, snow, ice, through windy storms and heavy rain. In fact on wet roads the car feels tight and very much in control. I have not felt safer in any other car before this.
11th Jan 2008, 10:48
The following is a quote from the original review:
"A good SUV should be able to do 50 mph on a light snow road without skidding".
Well, thinking like that explains the fact that during every New England snow, there always seems to be at least one SUV overturned on the side of a highway, creating huge traffic jams for the other commuters to deal with, and causing serious injuries (or worse) for the driver & passengers of the overturned SUV.
21st Jan 2008, 09:02
For the person bad mouthing AWD, AWD is actually better in snow than 4WD. Lexus RX300-330 etc. are very comfortable, well made, luxury SUVs, and mine has performed wonderfully in snow, and all kinds of weather here in the north east. If one was looking for an off road type SUV, then perhaps a Jeep would serve their purpose, not a luxury vehicle.
22nd Oct 2008, 07:13
My wife's AWD RX300 handles New England winters very well. We've never had a problem at all. 120,000 miles and it's a superb vehicle.
I also own a Jeep Wrangler (Command-Trac Part Time 4WD as opposed to AWD) and it also is fantastic in the snow.
Drive according to the weather conditions and you will be fine.
I see far too many SUV drivers on the roads driving much too fast (usually with a cell phone glued to their ear) for the traffic & weather conditions. I also see far too many rolled over on the side of the highway. In my opinion it is not the vehicles, but driver stupidity, (carelessness, inexperience, (or whatever you choose to call it) that is the leading cause of accidents.
4th Feb 2005, 00:25
A truck is a truck and nothing can defy the laws of physics.
Try imagine a slippery road (let alone snow...) and figure out how you'd drive in a, say, Audi quattro and in your truck. If you want to do 50 mph then you have to drive something which was designed to do this (the Audi or other mainstream CAR which has 4wd)