duoclai

Hello,

I'm new to this forum and also new to Lexus.
I first would like to thank every one for thier Personal knowledge and experience on Lexus auto, as I know nothing or too little info of.
I'm currently driving 2000 conv MB CLK430 and looking into buying a new SUV for my wife. She currently driving a 98 Honda Passport with AWD.
I need some help on deciding between the two 07' RX350 with FWD or AWD.
-Performance/Pickup/Power?
-Handling/Turns/Cures/Straight-way?
-Safety?
-And of course; is the cost worth getting AWD?

Much thanks and truly appreciated all advice and inputs.

phiton

hey, to answer your question, i think the price difference between the FWD and AWD is about 1000-1500 dollars. As for performance, the awd will take a little longer to get to 60 mph as it is sending power to all four wheels but power should be the same. But I'm sure the awd would have slight saftey advantages but since it is a Lexus suv, i'm pretty sure your wife wouldn't take such fast turns or anything too extreme to require the awd. The RX is mroe known for its quiet, refined ride rather than taking it off roading or around fast corners. Hope this helps.

Tammy

Suggest you drive both types and feel the difference

RX_brain

Depends on your location, if you get alot of snow/rain or plan to do some LIGHT off road driving, I'd buy the AWD. Otherwise, keep the money or spend it on other options. Enjoy!!

duoclai

Tks guys for all your input.

We live in CA (San Jose) so I can't complain about the weather.
I'll take Tammy's suggestion on test driving them both later this week.
I just don't want to regret not getting AWD at first, but the extra $1k+ can go to 19s/20s rims or a fat body kit.

sroh

I also live in San Jose, CA and just purchased an AWD 350. One of the reasons we bought this vehicle is so we can take it for ski trips to Tahoe.

duoclai

sorh, did you get yours at Steven Creeks? What package did it include and how much was out the doors?

tfischer

The AWD gets about 1 mpg less than the FWD, which is pretty insignificant. This is probably due to the extra weight, but I'm not sure.

As for performance, I think they are pretty much the same. Also, my understanding of the AWD, and I have one, is that it runs as a FWD in normal operation, and does not send power to the rear wheels unless it detects a loss of traction on the front wheels.

For this reason, I think that performance is about the same, and the extra weight of the AWD would, if anything, make the car more stable, although it is not a big rollover candidate anyway.

The AWD is a big advantage in the snow (or at least a perceived advantage), and almost all of the RXs shipped to the north and NE portions of the country are AWD. The south gets more FWDs. California gets a lot of both, for the reason noted in the above post.

I'm not sure, but my guess is that a AWD model is easier to re-sell.

Happy motoring.

jamesfabin

Based on your questions, I would recommend the AWD. I also live in SoCal and don't really need the off-road or bad weather advantages of AWD, but being a BMW guy I wanted every bit of performance out of the RX350 I could get. Here is what I noticed (and I'm a VERY agressive driver):

- The AWD adds additional weight low in the car, giving it a more stable feel on twisty roads taken fast, this is very noticable when pushing the car.
- The AWD system doesn't show any signs of torque steer when taking off into a turn, I had this on the FWD system.
- The straight-line 0-80 mph (or 0-60, how ever you measure it) isn't noticably slower, and in SoCal, the only time you get to do a straight 0-80 in the real world is while getting onto the freeway.
- Driving in my normal agressive style, the beeping anti-roll system came on much sooner on the FWD. With my AWD is comes on often taking off-ramps, but there is plenty of traction and control left to allow me to push it a bit more thru the curves. I wouldn't recommend driving this agressive unless you are experieced and confident in your skills, but I found the RX350AWD to handle being pushed past its limits better then the 2006 Infiniti FX35 (which I purchased in January and replaced with the RX350 just 2 months ago).

James