Australian

I know these things are the ultimate urban vehicle but they have off road capabilities so where have you been. Anyone done lift kits? Has anyone even driven over some dirt? I haven't in this but have in cruisers and ravs without issues but always found the easiest path. There are plenty of places to 4wd in Australia many tracks easier than others of course. Post some of your experiences.

bob2200

I do grass fields and fire-roads (more like barely drivable trails), but do them very, very slowly, which probably is not the kind of off-road driving you have in mind. I have been concerned about branches scaping the RX on fire-roads, but no damage so far. My paint job is no longer perfect, so I don't worry about it that much. I have a FWD model, and still haven't had traction problems. I go back to the days when FWD was considered the newest and greatest for traction/snow in mainstream vehicles (not pre-WWII jeep, but close).

Carver

I had to crawl a tall curb in Corpus Christi one time. My idiot sister was navigating and got me trapped in a line to get on a ferry to somewhere and we were at the very last opportunity to break the law so up and over we went. The 300 acted like it had been crawling curbs all it's life, no muss no fuss.

Lexmex

When I was in Mexico I used to drive up an down a lot of mountains on unpaved roads and when I mean unpaved...it meant you take what you get with a lot of uneven surfaces. There's a famous mountain called the Nevado de Toluca just west of Mexico City that I have been up and down more times than I can count...that's a real test given that sometimes you have to pull over and let another car go by (that's how scary the mountain is).

salimshah

Talking about '99 RX ... it has above average clearance (compared to cars), poor maneuverability (at least not easy to flip over), reasonable center of gravity. Suspension is tuned to prefer comfort and components are not very rugged (good for road .. we have not seem people post problems), but the iron is not beefy [designed to reduce weight and lower production cost]. Put a decent set of tires and can makes its way through. The under-carriage has plastic and the oil pan is exposed, so other than ground clearance you dont get much protection. People on paved roads have reported a few (only few) issues with damage to the radiator due to flying rocks. The jury is still out on cooling capability of the transmission fluid.

The real limitation is the drive train. The AWD system incorporated in RX is no way real rear wheel drive. The viscous coupling to the rear makes it unlimited slip differential. If you do not have traction control (not standard back then) the fronts can get you stranded. Case in point being good traction on one front wheel an all other three are say in mud (no traction). The RX will stay put. To be fair, every drive system will have a limitation or at best a compromise is done. The key is to know the limits and not go near them.

In summary, the RX will do fine on packed sand (even some soft sand), dirt roads, small ruts and moves you in reasonable luxury. If any one is serious about off-roading, they should buy another vehicle. I would not take it out for rock crawling and or serious mud tracks. Brush (with firm ground under the wheels) has cosmetic (paint) concerns.

Salim

Australian

It is exactly what i would have in mind and what most serious 4wdrivers think as most need their car for work purposes and not looking to damage their cars.
I am not thinking rock crawling or making air like crazy young queenslanders i have seen what those guys do in 4wds and i like that as a spectator as couldn't afford to maintain their hobby.

OzrkFisher

I sold a 1995 4Runner (2nd gen) to step into this ride.. so from experience.. I would not ever take this Lexus into the kinda terrain I took my 4runner in, ever. Never. Wouldn't even think of it... just my .02
ozarkflysher

lexus114

They do?? Basically just a higher off the ground awd car. Great for bad weather, NOT off roading!