Category: Sporting 4x4s 
Price Range: No data available
Quality, nice engine noise when you can hear it, very quiet, looks good; excellent Lexus reliability and customer service.
Lacklustre performance, no diesel, auto 'box, float with coil springs, thump with air-suspension, not really an off-roader or towing vehicle.
Scores well for refinement and specification, and a very good car for on-road use, but not particularly dynamic to drive, and not very versatile for something so large.
Key to the RX 300's comfort is its exceptional tranquillity. Its engine can be heard only under acceleration and even then it makes quite a nice noise. The ride is excellent on the standard coil suspension, although there's some float and general unsettlement over motorway crests and dips. This is better with the optional air-suspension, which keeps a tighter rein on body movements and reduces roll in cornering, at the expense of some patter over poorer road surfaces. A nice but costly extra; we wouldn't bother. Both front passengers get arm-rests on their big, comfy and electrically operated seats, while two rear seat occupants can share the huge centre rear armrest. There is plenty of leg and headroom for front seat occupants, with some of the fastest-moving electrically operated seats around too. Rear seat occupants fare just as well, and the boot is spacious. There are opening A4-sized door pockets, and a long, deep centre console cubby with a clever lid arrangement and a foam-insert for a mobile phone. Two shallow cubbyholes in the boot have lids that lock in place to form barriers, preventing luggage from sliding all over the shop. The standard stereo system is very good, a Lexus-branded Pioneer unit with six-disc in-dash CD changer and eight speakers. A Mark Levinson unit comes on the top-spec SE-L version, which is slightly better and comes with 11 speakers. The satellite-navigation system with touch-screen controls is one of the absolute best on the market.
