2018 RX 350 is the Perfect Road Trip Luxury Crossover

Through high temps and steep roads of a 1,500-mile West Coast road trip, the RX 350 handles all challenges with style and class.

There are many vehicles out there that may be the perfect vehicle for a road trip. For some, it’s an old van with a few surfboards on the rack, ready to catch the big waves of Big Sur. For others, it might be an LFA on a secret cross-country run, burning down the miles in an attempt to arrive at its planned destination in record time.

And then, there’s the RX 350. If there’s any vehicle that can replace Chevy Chase’s Family Truckster, it’s this luxury crossover. Everett, Washington newspaper Everett Herald (via its online portal, HeraldNet) recently experienced all the RX 350 has to offer during a long trek to a family reunion.

The Everett Herald‘s RX 350 was a front-drive model powered by the 3.5-liter V6 with VVT-i, good for 295 horses and 268 lb-ft of torque. This power, delivered to the front through an electronic-controlled eight-speed automatic, was definitely enough to charge through the 1,500-mile, nine-hour drive from Everett to Northern California. Per the newspaper, the powertrain made the climb “to 4,310-feet Siskiyou Summit in southern Oregon” so effortless that the only difference between the highest point along I-5 and the lowest “was all the struggling cars getting in [their] way.”

The RX 350 is also a gas station champion, thanks to its EPA-estimated rating of 20 mpg city/27 mpg highway/23 combined mpg. With gas prices as high as the 106-degree temps experienced on the trip (currently above $3/gallon on the West Coast), the luxury crossover can help keep a few more dollars in your wallet for Starbucks runs. The newspaper did take issue with the “tetchy computer mouse-like remote touch operation” of its infotainment system, but lauded the crossover for its “supreme comfort” on the long journey.

We believe the Everett Herald has got the right idea about the RX 350: it truly is the perfect road trip luxury crossover.

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Cameron Aubernon

Cameron Aubernon's path to automotive journalism began in the early New '10s. Back then, a friend of hers thought she was an independent fashion blogger.

Aubernon wasn't, so she became one, covering fashion in her own way for the next few years.

From there, she's written for: Louisville.com/Louisville Magazine, Insider Louisville, The Voice-Tribune/The Voice, TOPS Louisville, Jeffersontown Magazine, Dispatches Europe, The Truth About Cars, Automotive News, Yahoo Autos, RideApart, Hagerty, and Street Trucks.

Aubernon also served as the editor-in-chief of a short-lived online society publication in Louisville, Kentucky, interned at the city's NPR affiliate, WFPL-FM, and was the de facto publicist-in-residence for a communal art space near the University of Louisville.

Aubernon is a member of the International Motor Press Association, and the Washington Automotive Press Association.

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