Look!  Up in the sky!

The Lexus RX 300 is a sport utilit --

Well, it's a sport --

Okay, it's a Lexus.  The main difference between this SUV-shaped Lexus and its more carlike kin is one of altitude, not of attitude.  Blindfolded, you couldn't tell a trip in the RX 300 from any Lexus sedan, with all the creature comforts and quality that statement implies.  Like its brethren, the RX rides smoothly and for the most part quietly.  But it has a better view of the road and a bit more ground clearance.

Don’t be fooled by the shape.  The RX 300 isn't a first-class mudder.  It's much more at home on road and track than in field and stream.  And its shuttlecraft styling and TV-like interior readout screen could be straight out of Amazing Stories.

But if what you want is to look down on your fellow Lexus drivers, the RX 300 is the height of opulence.



When is a truck not a truck?

It used to be that the phrase “sport utility vehicle” meant a truck.  Big, square, brawny, and tough.  Now, though, there at least two kinds of sport utility vehicles.  Some are still trucks, while some are high riding cars.

The difference?  We think of trucks as having frames, giving them strength but adding weight.  The new generation of SUV's, ranging from Toyota’s RAV4 through the Lexus RX 300, use unibody construction, just like cars.  This means that they're lighter and generally easier to handle. That's made them very popular, especially with folks who've never driven a capital-T truck. 

But it also means that if you want to use your SUV for more rugged outdoor activities -- and particularly if you're taking it off-road -- you need to choose carefully.

Because nowadays, whether you're a car or a truck, it's hip to be square.