Fwd Or Awd? Merged Topics

[RickLines]

I am considering the purchase of a Lexus RX 350 '08. I live in Houston and there are no hills here and I am not looking for off road capability. I understand the AWD is not for that purpose anyway. What I read is that it is mainly a safety consideration for wet or dangerous road conditions at best. I am leaning towards the AWD for that reason, but I have a question.

Are there any owners out there who can give me their recommendations for choosing the FWD or AWD option?

My salesperson tells me that 95% of RX's sold are FWD and that I will have to wait a while to get AWD if I want it. I have a feeling he is slightly biased since the color I want is only in FWD on his lot. I just want an honest opinion of what to go with. I tend to over engineer things that I don't need or are not significantly advantageous but just sound good. Am I crazy to want AWD in Houston?

[RickLines]

OK here's the poll

[wwest]

I am considering the purchase of a Lexus RX 350 '08. I live in Houston and there are no hills here and I am not looking for off road capability. I understand the AWD is not for that purpose anyway. What I read is that it is mainly a safety consideration for wet or dangerous road conditions at best. I am leaning towards the AWD for that reason, but I have a question.

Are there any owners out there who can give me their recommendations for choosing the FWD or AWD option?

My salesperson tells me that 95% of RX's sold are FWD and that I will have to wait a while to get AWD if I want it. I have a feeling he is slightly biased since the color I want is only in FWD on his lot. I just want an honest opinion of what to go with. I tend to over engineer things that I don't need or are not significantly advantageous but just sound good. Am I crazy to want AWD in Houston?

It doesn't sound as if you really need an AWD vehicle.

The FWD RX with VSC/Trac, etc, will provide stellar service provided you feel a FWD vehicle will best serve you.

But if you should decide otherwise the RX series is definitely a poor AWD choice. The RX series, as is the Toyota Highlander and Sienna, are primarily FWD vehicles with rear dive capability added in as an afterthought.

But your salesman is likely correct, the majority of buyers (95%) are smart enough these days to recognize that the RXes AWD system is nothing more than a pig in a poke, totally useless when compared as a plus, add-on, to a FWD with VSC/Trac.

Given that uselessness of the AWD aspects of these vehicles if you want an AWD then have a serious look at the BMW X3 or even the Acura RDX. Honda/Acura's SH-AWD system is the very best that can be had for AWD in an otherwise "base" FWD vehicle.

[RickLines]

Thanks for the information. It is very helpful. It makes sense.

[SLA]

AWD is only important when you need it and like beauty, is judged by the beholder.

I attended an AWD Tech. Conference at a test facility.

The SH-AWD system was the only AWD CUV type vehicle out of at least 20 different

systems in which the system failed to function the second time up a controlled split mu event.

The vehicle was sent to the garage not to be seen again : (

I (and a crowd of attendees) judged it not to be best in class.

[wwest]

AWD is only important when you need it and like beauty, is judged by the beholder.

I attended an AWD Tech. Conference at a test facility.

The SH-AWD system was the only AWD CUV type vehicle out of at least 20 different

systems in which the system failed to function the second time up a controlled split mu event.

The vehicle was sent to the garage not to be seen again : (

I (and a crowd of attendees) judged it not to be best in class.

"SH-AWD" "system failed to function.."

And that could have been a one in a million failure, the luck of the draw, as it were.

I have yet to see a post concerning the SH-AWD system wherein someone is trying to figure out how to turn off the AWD "mode" in order to get UNSTUCK. On the other hand that request/complaint is a very common one for any of the Toyota or Lexus F/AWD (front torque biased, TC implemented AWD mode) vehicles. So common, in fact, that Lexus has responded ('08?) with an option to turn off TC and then sequentially, VSC.

Given the seriousness of the problem owners seem to be having with TC implemented F/AWD systems I can understand the need to provide a method for easily turning TC off. But the seeming need to turn off VSC is beyond my capability to fathom.

[mehullica]

You are too much to fathom wwest. Nothing but mindless, endless chatter.

[SW03ES]

You are too much to fathom wwest. Nothing but mindless, endless chatter.

It consistently amazes me lol

Anyways, as for AWD my personal opinion is that a vehicle that is AWD will always be more valuable at trade-in time because it can be sold anywhere. It may be true that FWD is whats mainly sold down south, but up here I have never even seen a FWD RX. Your FWD RX would be unsellable here. Just my opinion.

[wwest]

You are too much to fathom wwest. Nothing but mindless, endless chatter.

It consistently amazes me lol

Anyways, as for AWD my personal opinion is that a vehicle that is AWD will always be more valuable at trade-in time because it can be sold anywhere. It may be true that FWD is whats mainly sold down south, but up here I have never even seen a FWD RX. Your FWD RX would be unsellable here. Just my opinion.

"..up here I have never even seen a FWD RX..."

Is there really some visible difference that is that obvious..??

If so I sure haven't noticed.

[SW03ES]

No but I look around a lot, I've seen them on the lots, I know several salespeople that I talk with about these things when I'm in for service, and I've never seen a FWD one up here and have been told they're almost non-existant.

Its simply a regional difference. AWD won't stop someone down south from buying it used, but FWD WOULD stop someone up north from buying it.

[kivettlexuslover]

Indianapolis has some nasty, unpredicted weather conditions, being the "armpit of the Mid-West". Nonetheless, many people buy FWD over AWD here because the tires wear less with FWD, and AWD vehicles require more maintenance, including alignments. The AWD is one more option to go wrong, and create a multitude of problems along the way. For years, people were able to get around in FWD and RWD vehicles in the snow just fine, but had to adjust their driving principles a little. Here in Indy, there are several FWDs available on Toyota and Lexus car lots, that we have noticed while test driving, so to say you can't get rid of it doesn't make a valid point. I just sold our Yukon Denali on EBay in 5 days at our requested minimum, to a buyer in Washington (state), so it really doesn't matter where you live. We are looking to purchase a Lexus all the way in Texas, simply because of the options, pricing, and mileage, compared to the markets elsewhere in the US.

[bfbRPh]

I am considering the purchase of a Lexus RX 350 '08. I live in Houston and there are no hills here and I am not looking for off road capability. I understand the AWD is not for that purpose anyway. What I read is that it is mainly a safety consideration for wet or dangerous road conditions at best. I am leaning towards the AWD for that reason, but I have a question.

Are there any owners out there who can give me their recommendations for choosing the FWD or AWD option?

My salesperson tells me that 95% of RX's sold are FWD and that I will have to wait a while to get AWD if I want it. I have a feeling he is slightly biased since the color I want is only in FWD on his lot. I just want an honest opinion of what to go with. I tend to over engineer things that I don't need or are not significantly advantageous but just sound good. Am I crazy to want AWD in Houston?

I live in Austin and have owned 3 AWD Rx 300s, and an AWD Rx 350, and 2 GX 470s. We only buy AWD because they handle a lot better on wet highways and in the rain, mud, and especially snow. We've driven up Ski Mountains in heavy snow when you need either chains or 4x4 and it handles great!!! My wife has had 2 hydroplane incidents in heavy rain with FWDs and we've never had a problem with the AWD. Based on my experience, if money is not a problem, the AWD is a great option in an area that gets lots of rain or snow. Your salesman is right about the number of AWDs, but Lexus produces a lot less AWDs than 2WD and most of them go up north. You can usually find them in El Paso, Lubbock, and Albuquerque plus a few in Austin. Because there are not too many available, we’ve sold ours to people as far away as Colorado (it gives you other options) and they hold their value very well. Unless cost is a problem, I would choose AWD over FWD anytime!! By the way, with our 4 AWD RXs and 2 GX 470 AWD/ 4x4 our service has been no different than with a FWD. Actually, we've not had any special maintenance on the AWD.

[ivanz]

Over here you can only get AWD, there is no option for RWD. I've had AWD cars for quite some time, and they are quite helpful when it is raining and you start to accelerate from a stop.

[Black5Golf]

I am possibly moving to CT and may be purchasing an RX330. Do I really need AWD? or is FWD with good tires sufficient? I know where we might live is somewhat hilly and many backroads can be used to get around.... plus possible trips to VT in the winter.

I lived in the NE over 10 years ago and got along fine with FWD and good winter tires but it was not an SUV.

Thanks in advance.

[Nebraska99]

I am possibly moving to CT and may be purchasing an RX330. Do I really need AWD? or is FWD with good tires sufficient? I know where we might live is somewhat hilly and many backroads can be used to get around.... plus possible trips to VT in the winter.

I lived in the NE over 10 years ago and got along fine with FWD and good winter tires but it was not an SUV.

Thanks in advance.

I highly recommend the AWD. We had more snow that usual here in the St Louis area and the AWD was just amazing going through 6-8 inches of snow.

[SmilingBoognish]

We went with AWD primarily due to local laws which require FWD to chain up. Good tires are far more important than AWD, but the AWD can help with not getting stuck.

[SmilingBoognish]

AWD on a RX in Houston will be pointless. The RX has traction control, so any *marginal* handling benefit you get from going FWD -> AWD is completely gone in the RX set up.

[bainzey]

I run my FWD RX 330 throught the winther here in Vancouver, Canada. We get a decent dump of snow... and it does pretty welll. I have a set of pretty decent winters I put on, and a set of (still in orig packing) chains that I bought for those "just in case" times, to my surprise actually I haven't even used them once. I go up the mountains, "Whistler + Cypress" to snow board all the time, and with the ECT on, it does amazingly well, compared to any other FWD, even in up to 8-10 inches of snow, I kid you not. I very was plesently surprised.

If the snow gets tooo deep then of course the 4WD will be optimal. But if you have your RX equiped with a decent set of winters, it is no slouch in the snow. Trust ME!