..... under the assumption that it uses the GS450h drivetrain it WILL be RWD. The Rx400h uses a dfferent engine and a last gen HSD package.

 

my imagination, or is that a rear diff?

 

Compare:

 

I always thought the Highlander was a downscale RX.. since the RX came first...

I presume everyone has seen this:

http://www.autoexpress.co.uk/news/sp.../lexus_rx.html

so if true, although the third row would most likely be crap, like on the highlander, atleast if give you more room in back if you only have five people.

V8 on top-of-the-line would be great, but I'll take a V6 with 303hp any day.

 

Good catch. It very well looks like a rear-diff.

 

Or that shadow sould be part of the cladding hanging down just in front of the wheel, as it is on teh side we can see. I see 2 bright spots apparently equal distance apart on what looks like the rear suspension. To my eyes this shadow doesn't seem to fit in between those.

 

Speculation, speculation....but you guys might be right!

 

Whatever happened to:



?

 

Station wagon... BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOORING !!!!

 

I might be missing something in the conversation here, but doesn't the AWD RX330/350 have a rear diff anyway? Only the FWD version doesn't. One of the comparison pics above clearly looks to be a FWD RX350.

I could be wrong though because I can't really see anything on my laptop. Looks like a bunch of shadows too me

 

Maybe I was expecting a "Major" design change but from the spy photo's I'll be hard pressed to even consider upgrading to the 09 RX. Most of the body components are identical to the 04-08 run. To me this looks like a mild facelift, not a major design update. If this is the best that the Lexus designers can come up with after 5 years it will make me take a closer look at the competition. Why would I buy another vehicle that looks that close to the one I'm driving? I hope the spy shots are bogus.

 

Looking back at pass trends of Lexus re-design, the 09 RX will not look like the 04-08 RX. It will not be a drastic change either. The changes will be tasteful and will please most of the buyers out their. It will not be a radical design such as the MDX or the FX.

 

Really? I thought the RX change from 03 to 04 was fairly significant. THey didn't reuse all the same body parts in that redesign. If the spy shots here are any indication of the 08 to 09 then I don't see that much of a change. Yet, spy shots can be very deceiving. Hope I'm not disappointed.

I only have 35k on my 04 RX so I don't really need another car but I was hoping to trade it in for something that looked different.

 

The 09 is not a refresh, its a total re-design, so it will have diff. body parts. I would not take those spy pics too seriously.

 

No 3rd row and no "L" version. There are no current plans for an F version at this time.

Not sure what "sources" have indicated otherwise, but the above is true.