2004 Lexus RX 330

Automotive Industries,  Nov, 2003  by John Peter

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I don't like the Lexus RX 330 as much for what it is as what it's going to be.

This Luxury Utility Vehicle (do you think the acronym LUV was created on purpose?) is everything you'd expect from Lexus.

The interior is all done up in wood and leather with a cleanly-styled IP, plenty of places to plug in your gadgets and the obligatory analog dock. My 16-year-old entertained himself with the console storage bin. Push one button and it opens automatically. Push another button and it closes automatically.

The styling serves to set the RX 330 apart from the competition, though my wife wasn't that impressed with the aggressive windshield rake. Attending a friend's wedding, she, short of stature, had to lift herself up into the vehicle and kept flattening her up-do on the A-pillar.

The Lexus is a comfortable ride. I'm still wishing I had had the time to take it on a long trip to stretch its legs and test out the driver's seat. But while the comfortable ride is good on long trips, it's not the vehicles best asset around town.

It only takes one trip, hustling through the green left-turn arrow to remind you that you're sitting well off the ground.

While the RX seems pretty sure-footed it's still not a luxury sports sedan.

The 3.3L 230 hp V-6 comes on with a growl and does a more than adequate job of propelling this 4,000-pounder up to freeway speed.

But what impresses me most is that this vehicle will get a version of Toyota's Hybrid Synergy Drive system later next year. It's one thing to drive the technology in a small car that was specifically designed for such things. I can't wait to test it out in a full-size SUV.

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