A great number of them do. But some still live at home with moms & would not understand.. Someone should pose this question to the members of http://www.xbimmers.com/forums/. I am sure they will get a kick out of it.. Instead of magazine humping, some of you should take the time out and drive some vehicles..

 

I've said this elsewhere, but I've noticed (being a recent college student) that alot of college males now drive mom's old RX300. It's funny seeing them blasting rap music and being all "gangsta" in the former luxury, soccer mom ride.

 

So the SRX have better drivng dynamic and won the comparo, what is wrong with that? Why is that bias? Does the SUV have to be numb driving?

I bought my RX350 because of it's soft ride and the wife loves it. But for those who can only buy one car/suv in their family. Then some would prefer the soft ride of the lexus, but other would sacrifice alittle and get better handling SUV and maybe get an X5/X3/FX/MDX/Q7/Q5/SRX. I see nothing wrong with that.

 

The RX has no soul, that’s the problem, A SUV can be comfortable and fun to drive at the same time. Horsepower and gas mileage have never been a problem with Lexus, it’s the suspension and the steering, only the over 65 owner can appreciate the Lexus suspension and the steering . Other younger Lexus buy it for its reliability and quality, but motor trend is not JD power or consumer report, they do not care about reliability and quality. That’s why the RX lost to the Caddy.

 

I have no beef with that, because I used to drive both my parents vehicles when I still lived at home, and in fact still do when I visit. However, driving mom's vehicle, does not constitute BUYING it from a dealer. Just saying.....

I have driven the X3. I fail to see the correlation. SUV does not = sporty driving, and anyone buying one for that SPECIFIC purpose, needs to get there head checked. Poweful and competent, fine. Sports car like.....

 

You drove the X3 huh? So what do you think? Did you have to hang on for dear life in the corners? How was the steering & braking? Suv does not equal sporty driving.. Maybe in the Lexus/Toyota world, but you truly need to drive the Porshe Cayenne (GTS, Turbo), Mercedes ML AMG, and the like to be amazed.. This vehicle below is quicker around the ring than an e46 M3.. There are 400+ hp cars that are not as quick as the e46, yet a sporty suv is.. Drive themmmm & put the mags down.. Let me get my head checked on this vehicle below..


Holy cow a 180mph speedo?
What is it doing in an suv?




Carbon fiber, sport seats, paddle shifters 555hp Got damn!
Who in their right mind would buy such a thing? The Brady Bunch?

 

I don't think the SRX sales are going to take a sudden surge because it won against the RX 350. People will still buy an RX 350, heck I see at least two everyday and it's increasing here in NYC. I'll take an X5 over both if I was in the market however.

 

WTF does a spec built X6M have to do with this thread outside of your usual BMW leg humping? What on earth does this vehicle have anything to do with this thread?


I'll take a souless appliance that is BY FAR quicker than the soulful one. We are talking a solid 2 second difference in performance. In other words the 2010 SRX accelerates like a 1999 RX 300. If you buy a SUV to take some corners and b/c its sportier with less utility you need medicine prescribed. I have gotten NO pleasure driving any SUV fast or in corners if it was meant to be built for it or not. Its utterly stupid. Do some of them defy physics? Yes. I also don't want to eat test tube hamburgers!!!! I want the REAL thing! Saying a SUV is soulful is saying I can make SPAM taste just as good as a nice Ribeye.

 

Only in the US we can get into a discussion about how SUVs/crossovers can be fun to drive and excellent at corners...

THAT's WHAT THE WAGONS ARE FOR!

Yeah thanks BMW for introducing the X5M and X6M to us while what you should've done is bring over the M5 wagon and make a M3 wagon...

 

While SUV usually do not drive as sporty as a sport sedan, that line is being cross more ane more often by a new generation of crossover SUVs. If you are comparing a SUV to the handling of a M3, then of course it will not handle like that, but a lot of these high performance SUV now a days handles better than your average sport sedans that are on the market now.

 

The thing is with the RX the platform is there for an vehicle that could exhibit some feedback and maybe a few ounces of "fun". I mean, they already stated that it has enough grip, Lexus just continues to fail in the steering department. If they weighted it up and added more feel and retooled the suspension, the RX itself is not impossible to feel at the very least competent, if not sporty. Why they cannot do this is beyond me. I've seen all sorts of excuses why heavy steering is a bad thing (it's too heavy, I get tired, etc.), but the reality is there's nothing nice about feather light, weightless travel that has no feedback whatsoever. In fact, it can be downright scary when you are actually pushing a car, the steering wheel moving from side to side on center with all kinds of slop and no movement of the wheels at all. Just because this is an SUV, I don't think it's "too much to ask" for steering feedback, nor is it in some realm called "sporty", just driving feedback that at the very least has the driver feeling somewhat connected to the wheels in front.

As far as not being able to criticize a vehicle because "that's how the engineers designed it" - well suffice to say I am puzzled by this statement. Is every single negative aspect of a vehicle off the table for discussion because the person doing the criticizing "doesn't know what the engineers intended"? What if I don't LIKE what the engineers "intended" (in this case, poor road manners)? And really, most of what "engineers intend" also double as selling points. If the poor road manners of the RX are "intended and built in", why doesn't Lexus make a big fuss over them in their marketing message? BMW CLEARLY markets the performance they build into their vehicles? The answer is that it's nothing to be wielding in the face of the press, it's not impressive, and you don't trumpet things that are clearly negative aspects, which is what the dynamic range of the RX seemingly equates to.

 

RX is a soccer mom car, and very successful at it, I would think most women drivers do not prefer underboosted/more"sporty" steering. Most would prefer a more relaxed and easy kind of driving.
Sportiness DOES NOT equate superiority or inferiority, it's a PREFERENCE, and each vehicle is designed to cater to their target market.

 

Has anybody driven the 2010RX with the additional Sports Package that allegedly *does* refine the suspension tuning for a more sporty feel?

Sandi

 

BINGO!!

Sometimes the so-called enthusiasts need to pull their heads out of their you-know-what once a while to see that there are other people out there who have difference PREFERENCE about cars...

How would you feel if someone calls your girlfriend/wife "fat" when you actually like women with umm... big bones?

I also prefer a sportier and better reponse handling however there are times I truly wish my car can ride softer so I don't have to feel every pot holes on the road. I've had the ES350 and RX350/400h as loaners and although that's not the kind of car I would want to drive everyday but I can see why there are people, make it A LOT of people, who like them. They tend to make you forget that you are driving a car, more like sitting in your living room sofa with a nice stereo system and guess what? SOME PEOPLE LIKE THAT.

To conclude I think that it's good to have different opinions in a discussion because that makes it more interesting but stating something like:

"but the reality is there's nothing nice about feather light, weightless travel that has no feedback whatsoever."

Is just plain dumb.

 

I have an RX 350 loaner right now and wanted to repost my reply from there into this thread: