I have RX350 and it is my first 4WD truck. I do not have a lot of experience in 4WD. I am a lover of Sand Duning. I enjoy that much especially in winter when whether becomes so great here in Saudi Arabia. I have been stuck in sand around two or three times with my RX350. My questions are as follows:
1. When I am off-road (on Sand) I hear from time to time there is some alerting beep from the car, particularly when I am crusing through heavy sand.
2. Does it make any difference if I am driving on Sand with transmission on Auto D-position or Manual S3, S2, or S1?
3. I notice that when I am through heavy sand, the truck automatically slows down, and sometimes when I press the gas pedal it is not responding to me.

Finally, I love RX350, being stuck in Sand Dune is part of my entertainment.

 

well all the symptoms that you are experience means your car is working properly.

1) the beeping is due to the vehicle stability control trying to prevent you from slipping because it thinks that it is saving your life

2) auto D position means that the car does everything yourself. manual s3, s2, s1 means that you are going to be controlling the gears. s1 means it wont shift up from 1st gear until you tell it to etc etc.

3) part of the stability control is to shut down power to the wheels to prevent it from spinning anymore. that is just the purpose of the stability control. there is nothing you can do to turn it off.

also, let me add, the RX is not an off roading car...you should have gotten a GX or LX lol

 

Thanks for the tips. My next plan it to get LX.

 

Up under the dash beside your tire sensor reset button there is another button that turns OFF all the electronic gizmos--VSC that slow you down so you dont do nothing stupid. find that button and hold it for 3-4 seconds and you will get 2 lights on your dash showing you the VSC system is shut off! Now go have more fun...lol

 

Thanks for the tip Booyah, but more important how to get VSC back on-control? Another thing I've noticed that you are describing 2008-RX350. So, this feature might be available only to 2008 RX350 not 2006 RX350. Are you aware if it available in both vehicles?

 

correct, trac off was added in like 2008.

 

2006 is RX330. Only 2007 & 2008 are RX350.

 

Actually it was added starting from 2007 model

 

i thought there was a 350 in 06, because the new 350's have those sick 7 spokes and ive seen 350's with the 330 wheels...

 

Just for clarity sake (not trying to nit-pick) the setting says automatically shift till you get to the highest setting ... [this is where the auto and manual transmission differ[ example : s3 means auto shift from s1 -> s2 -> s3 ]

Now if you start in s1 then trans would not shift to s2 till you rove the shift lever to s2 and so on.

Salim

 

2007 Lexus RX 350 Overview
For 2007, the Lexus RX 350 gets more power. The Lexus RX 350 is also all new for 2007 and replaces the RX330.

Here is the link;
http://autos.aol.com/cars-Lexus-RX+350-2007/overview

 

those sick new wheels are onl on 2008s

 

Unless somebody likes and puts them on their RX which is not a 2008 model

 

There's sand, and then there's sand. A while back a friend in the oil service business was telling me how they import sand from Saudi Arabia for special applications (used as a "proppant" in oilfield fracturing to keep cracks in the downhole formation created by hydraulic pressure open). If it seems strange to import sand from Saudi, consider how strange it is that they import sand from us to Saudi for highway and building construction.

It seems that the sands of the Saudi Arabian penninsula have spend thousands of years rolling back and forth in the desert - wearing each tiny grain smooth. While that's great for propping a high-pressure rock formation open, it doesn't provide much bonding strength in concrete construction. Here you want jagged edges and sharp angles to provide grip to the matrix.

That's why sand texture varies from place to place. In Saudi Arabia - and many other places, the beaches of the Florida panhandle for example, this highly polished sand is soft, allowing vehicles that ordinarily don't have a real problem traversing ordinary beach sand, to sink to the hubs within feet of leaving the pavement. The Panama City Chamber of Commerce calls it "sugar sand", but from a textural standpoint, it's more like ball bearings. Not all sand is alike, so advice that applies to one area may not transfer to another.

I drove my AWD RX 300 on the upper Texas coast from Port Boliver to Sabine Pass (about 40 miles) in the dunes above the high tide line. Old State Highway 87 washed away in a hurricane years ago, but you can still trace its path in some areas. While the roadway is gone, the sand is fairly stable, but drifting dunes keep speeds under 30mph - primarily because you could top a dune and find a fishing camp on the far side. All of the trucks and beach buggies you see in the area are pretty highly modified with high flotation tires and lift kits, and I saw a lot of dropped jaws when the Lexus appeared in their midst. Got a lot of thumbs up and friendly waves too. ( . . . and probably left a few shaking heads in my wake, "What is that fool doing?" too.)

We had no problems whatsoever with the RX, and we never were in danger of getting stuck, although we had to cross a few stretches where the dunes were fresh and a bit soft, we never high-centered the vehicle. I've driven on these beaches for more years than I'd like to count, and you'd be surprised where a passenger car can go if properly prepared for a few expected hazards. Stay out of the deep ruts and if you can't see what's ahead of you, get out and walk over the ridge to avoid nasty surprises. Final advice of an old beach bum: remember there is no shame in backing up.

 

here in the UAE ive seen plenty of bmw x5 (4.8lt) stuck in the sand while trying out sand duning. im pretty sure my rx350 will suffer the same fate especially way out in the desert. so i stick to tarmac.

did you deflate your tyres by 50% before going sand duning?