RX300 Wins edmunds most significant award.
10-20-06, 08:48 AM
#1
Lexus Champion
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RX300 Wins edmunds most significant award.
Suprisingly the LS400 didnt get it for 1990 and the SC didnt win for 92 but the RX got it for 99.
1999 Lexus RX 300 — The SUV Crosses Over
The idea of a car that looks like an SUV seemed downright silly to many industry experts in 1999. The Lexus RX 300 was heavily based on the Toyota Camry/Lexus ES 300 platform and featured a 3.0-liter 220-horsepower V6 hooked to a four-speed automatic transmission. Offered in both two-wheel drive and all-wheel drive, the RX 300 was supposed to provide buyers with the spacious cabin and rough-and-tumble image of an SUV while maintaining the confident handling and comfortable ride qualities of a sedan. The RX 300 single-handedly turned Lexus into America's top-selling luxury division — a title it has retained ever since. The term "crossover" didn't exist in 1999, but the RX 300 first defined the concept, and then legitimized it as "the next big thing" in the automotive market. Numerous models have entered the midsize crossover segment in the past seven years, but the RX 300 was the first.
The car-based, midsize SUV that started the "crossover" craze
The model that made Lexus the No. 1 selling luxury brand in the U.S.
1999 Lexus RX 300 — The SUV Crosses Over
The idea of a car that looks like an SUV seemed downright silly to many industry experts in 1999. The Lexus RX 300 was heavily based on the Toyota Camry/Lexus ES 300 platform and featured a 3.0-liter 220-horsepower V6 hooked to a four-speed automatic transmission. Offered in both two-wheel drive and all-wheel drive, the RX 300 was supposed to provide buyers with the spacious cabin and rough-and-tumble image of an SUV while maintaining the confident handling and comfortable ride qualities of a sedan. The RX 300 single-handedly turned Lexus into America's top-selling luxury division — a title it has retained ever since. The term "crossover" didn't exist in 1999, but the RX 300 first defined the concept, and then legitimized it as "the next big thing" in the automotive market. Numerous models have entered the midsize crossover segment in the past seven years, but the RX 300 was the first.
The car-based, midsize SUV that started the "crossover" craze
The model that made Lexus the No. 1 selling luxury brand in the U.S.
10-20-06, 02:21 PM
#2
Super Moderator
I couldn't agree more. 
Down here in Mexico, I still get a lot of second looks to this day and people still ask me if it is new. When I tell them it is a 1999, they just can't believe it. They think that crossovers came well after vehicles like the Murano.
Down here in Mexico, I still get a lot of second looks to this day and people still ask me if it is new. When I tell them it is a 1999, they just can't believe it. They think that crossovers came well after vehicles like the Murano.
10-20-06, 05:37 PM
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The first compact crossovers ("SUV" built on a car chassis) came out many years earlier, and defined the crossover segment. 1996 CRV, 1994 RAV 4, et. al.
10-20-06, 07:01 PM
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I agree too. Still miss the RX we sold. 
It was WAY ahead of its time.
It was WAY ahead of its time.
10-20-06, 07:03 PM
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10-21-06, 05:37 PM
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10-21-06, 06:34 PM
#9
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Yes, by its success, it capaulted Lexus into the #1 selling luxury brand in the U.S.
No, It was NOT the vehicle that started the car-based crossover SUV craze. The Subaru Outback, Toyota RAV4, and Honda CR-V had all been on the market several years before the RX300 debuted, as ff correctly pointed out.
With their generally good automotive knowledge, it is surprising to hear Edmunds, known as one of the better auto reviewers, make a grossly inaccurate statement like that.
Last edited by mmarshall; 10-21-06 at 06:43 PM.
10-21-06, 06:38 PM
#10
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Yes, bit, they ARE very much like RX300's when you look at the basic platform, layout, and construction.
No, they are NOT like the RX300 when you compare them to the Rx300's superb comfort, interior, and noise isolation.
10-21-06, 08:38 PM
#11
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My older sister owns a 99 RX300, I'm just amazed by how well that car was built, despite the horrible turning radius. When she bought it at around 95k miles, besides doing the timing belt, and changing the original battery at 107k miles. It's flawless.
10-22-06, 08:09 AM
#12
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I have to agree with you on the turning radius. To this day, I can't figure out how Lexus missed this in their marketing research. They had several years with the Harrier in the Asian markets before the RX300 hit U.S. shores to find out this was an issue.
10-22-06, 08:21 AM
#13
Lexus Fanatic
While not an engineer myself, I think at least part of the problem with the RX300's large turning radius stems from the fact that this vehicle, to my knowledge, was Lexus's first attempt with a car-based AWD system designed primarily for on-road use....the larger LX430 was essentially a redone Toyota Land Cruiser designed to carve its way through the boonies, cross rivers, and be a mountain goat.
So, the RX300's large turning radius may have been the result of not only the design of vehicles's steering rack but also the design of the front suspension, drive shafts, CV joints, universal joints, front differential, etc..... and how far those components ( and the front fender clearance ) would let the front wheels turn. This was the first Lexus attampt at this kind of drivetrain with a V6 ( the earlier Toyota RAV, of course, had an in-line 4 ), and the Lexus engineers no doubt learned from this experience.
So, the RX300's large turning radius may have been the result of not only the design of vehicles's steering rack but also the design of the front suspension, drive shafts, CV joints, universal joints, front differential, etc..... and how far those components ( and the front fender clearance ) would let the front wheels turn. This was the first Lexus attampt at this kind of drivetrain with a V6 ( the earlier Toyota RAV, of course, had an in-line 4 ), and the Lexus engineers no doubt learned from this experience.
10-22-06, 10:43 AM
#14
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and mmarshall that the RX was a FWD vehicle with available AWD and FWD vehicles (and AWD ones derived from FWD) usually have poor turning circles compared to RWD.
But in our 5 or 6 years of ownership the turning circle never bothered us.
But in our 5 or 6 years of ownership the turning circle never bothered us.
10-22-06, 10:55 AM
#15
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FWD vehicles have larger turning circles for more or less the same reasons that AWD ones do.....the front wheels having to literally swivel around the built-in limitations of CV joints / boots and front driveshafts.