I am getting an AWD primarily for better response in snow ...I live in a community where they snow cleaning is good but not great...there are times when the plows come in late...I need to be able to drive up a ramp in several inches of snow...

I had a sedan and struggled most of the time....

How does the RX400h AWD fair in snow ramps? (assuming I would need winter tires anyways)

 

This will be my first Winter in the RX400h we just bought so I am curious as well. I would imagine it should do very well in snow I hope?

 

It does ok. The rear wheels don't start working until the front wheels are slipping so it could be better. My X3 did fantastic in snow but it had full-time AWD. But the Lexus still is competent.

 

That kinda sucks. I was under the impression the Lexus was full time AWD. Bummer.

 

Im pretty sure the regular RX has full time AWD but the hybrid is definitely part time. If you go to the info screen on the navigation and look at the energy monitor, you can see when power is going to the rear wheels. The rear wheels only get power during heavy acceleration and during loss of traction.

 

I played around with the AWD in the snow. It will climb a showy hill but not a super steep one (20+ degrees) but it really depends on available traction. Once a lot of the weight transfers to the back the fronts try to spin fast and it seems to cut power to all 4 wheels. The stability control/traction control can't be turned off. The rear never gets enough power to have much of an affect once the fronts are spinning.

When all 4 wheels have decent traction things work great. I was surprised how strong the AWD system was on the boat ramp pulling out my 3000 lb boat.

I have owned 20+ awd cars/trucks over the years. The RX400h AWD is average. It is not as good as our Audi A4 but is better than our Volvo Cross Country.