artaquio

I own a RX300 2001 AWD. From time to time I do some offroad driving, and sometimes I miss a possibility to lock the central diff.
You can see one of my videos in Youtube (searching rx300 offroading) and you can also check my last GPS position N27º 53.2 W015º 38.9

I always thought that the transfer box will send power, when a wheel is on the air, to the oppositte axle, but it is not that way. So if you lost contact with one wheel, then the car is almost stopped.
I thought that snow has some kind of "locking diff function" but I am not sure.
When driving at very bad surfaces, I use L gear and snow on.
Anyway, I will appreciatte any suggestion or help to achieve a better central diff work when offroading.
Please avoid those kind of messages like "better bought a LandCruiser", "R U nuts?" and similars.

lexus114

Art,the snow button only starts you out in second gear,so as to avoid the higher torque of first gear. I wonder if your viscious coupling is working correctly? do any lights on the dash come on when your doing this?
rm

salimshah

Ah, an old subject we keep coming back to..

The 300s have viscous coupling which unfortunately will deliver power to the wheel which has the "most give" at low speed.

Now if you have traction control (optional in early years), the brake will prevent the loose wheel from turning and possibly help you out of a muddy situation.

We used to have "wwest" as a member who used to lambaste the viscous coupling mechanism as well as competitor who setup demos to show the RX's limitations.

Salim

lexus114

Well,with that said, I guess his coupling is working as it should....

HarrierAWD

You can't lock the differential with the RX300, so it's not a serious offroader. It seems to do well in most offroad situation, including rocks since it has very high clearance for an "onroad" SUV.

I did get stuck in the mud 5 years ago. Had to spend hours removing each wheel and washing off the mud inside each wheel spoke. So I've been renting Jeeps whenever we go serious offroading.