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Suppose you were led blindfolded to an RX 300 that was suspended overhead on a hoist. With blinds removed, further suppose you were then asked what kind of a vehicle you were looking at.
Your first guess would probably be a car rather than a sport ute or a truck, for there is nothing underneath the new Lexus "sport luxury vehicle," as its prototype was dubbed, to make the average automotive aficionado think otherwise. It uses a unibody rather than a body-on-- frame as found on most other sport utes. The independent suspension components are not beefed up and look rather carlike. And there is no skid pad for getting over rough terrain. MacPherson struts hang out partially over all four tires - apparently the designers were not particularly concerned about wheel overtravel. Four-wheel-drive models don't carry a low-range transfer case. The RX 300 is also available in front-wheel drive only, a fact that says something about the uses Lexus foresaw for its new vehicle.
So the RX 300 probably wouldn't be your first choice for navigating the rain forests of Borneo. But it does well at what it was designed to do: give a smooth on-road driving experience approaching that of a luxury car. The suspension design...