yoon

whats up guys just wanted to ask a noob question if you dont mind. right now im planning on getting tein coilovers for my 01 rx300. however i am aware that it only fits on fwd models. how can i tell if my car is fwd or awd? the guy i bought it from doesnt know anything. thanks in advance

Tammy

The All Wheel Drive has three "propeller" shafts (forming one) from front to rear...right down the center of the RX. Then there is the rear differential with the axle driveshafts in the rear. Front Wheel Drive doesn't have this...

Lil4X

It's easy to tell an AWD from a FWD RX 300 - even in traffic - if you know what to look for. If you stand about 20 - 30 feet behind the car and look below the bumper, to the left of the muffler. You'll see a black frame crossmember just aft of the rear wheel centerline. Slightly to the left of center, you'll see a 4" oval hole in that crossmember, and through it, the rear diff will be visible on an AWD RX 300. FWD's will also have the hole, but you'll see nothing but pavement through it.

You have to get lined up just right, but once you see it, it'll be pretty obvious on any RX 300.

tfischer

My way is just to get down on my knees and look to see if there is a driveshaft coming back to the rear wheels. If not, it's FWD only. Of course, if you can get it up on a lift, it's very obvious even to the untrained eye.

Also, sometimes the buyer will put the original sticker or some other original sale docs in the big fat black folder with the various owner's manuals. I found my window sticker in there when I purchased a used, excuse me, previously owned, RX330. Such docs will have AWD or FWD to describe the car. You might find something there.