Lexus Keeps Up With the Benzes

You have broken into the penny jar, downsized family allowances and hired out Grandma as an apprentice weed whacker with Hector’s Yard Service. Eighteen thousand, nineteen thousand, nineteen five . . . dammit, you still don’t have enough for a Mercedes-Benz ML320 sport-utility vehicle.

But even with cash money in mitt, right now, with a bottle of Tullamore Dew for the sales manager, you’d still be low man on a waiting list that could stretch to next year. And then the only available color will be Misty Eggplant.

Be not bereft. Now--as there long has been for those with credit ratings $1.95 short of qualifying for a German luxury car--there is Lexus.

Specifically, there is the 1999 RX300 sport-utility, which--in terms of quiet capability, relaxed ride and quality of appointments--is a precise understudy for the near-perfect ML320. In fact, if someone swapped grilles and logos during the night, you’d probably step into the wrong vehicle come morning. Both are 15-footers with four doors and space for one driver and four passengers. Headlights have an extraterrestrial squint, and the smoked glass rear-ends suggest something added after designers signed off the original shape.

They are raked, rounded, flared and sloped in almost the same places. Neither is a reconfigured truck or rebadged version of somebody else’s off-road wagon. They weigh just more than 4,000 pounds apiece, and their V-6 engines put out more than 200 horsepower. Both ride on independent suspensions, front and rear, and serious, five-spoke 16-inch alloy wheels.

Each comes with side air bags and more sophisticated, crash-absorbing crush zones--a definite plus for any little guy hit by your heavier, higher vehicle.

And interiors of the Lexus and Mercedes are rich with soft leathers, deep, sparkling woods and the elegant ethos of Ethan Allen.

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Actually, as a prescription for easing the exquisite pain of choosing between a pair of grand vehicles, the RX300 is a little stronger in several critical areas than the ML320. There’s the major matter of price, with the Lexus several thousand dollars less expensive than the Mercedes. The RX300 delivers 19 mpg in town and 24 mpg cruising between towns, about 15% better gas mileage than the ML320.

To give the Mercedes its due, the M-B sport-utility carries all the distinction of the marque and certainly are the wheels to be seen in this season. It has greater ground clearance, carries more cargo and will tow 5,000 pounds compared with 3,500 pounds for the Asian.

Although not designed for adventure tours across the Serengeti, the Mercedes will go sludge-splashing and stump-hopping with more grit and grip than the Lexus. That’s because it has genuine four-wheel drive, with a transfer case and a set of low gears should viscosity get really vile.

In contrast, the RX300 has all-wheel drive for bad weather, not four-wheel drive for arroyos and gullies miles from the nearest Stuckey’s. Lexus offers a two-wheel-drive model, while Mercedes does not.

All of which makes the Lexus a direct, welcome concession to the huge majority of sport-utility owners who never take their vehicles off-road, but want the tough look, high ride and large interior capacity. The RX300 supplies all that, without the weight, expense or heavy growling of pure four-wheel drive.

As Lexus chief engineer Tsuneao Uchimoto explained when the vehicle was introduced: “We didn’t think about extremes, we didn’t think about rock climbing. We did think about snowy roads and sandy beaches.�

With bits and pieces borrowed from the Lexus GS300 and Toyota Camry (chiefly, the 3.0-liter, 220-horsepower engine, subframe, suspension, steering and gearbox), the RX300 is predictably quiet and smooth on dry days and standard highway surfaces.

It’s also an urgent little rascal. Maybe too urgent.

Our front-drive, two-wheel-drive test car did the 0-to-60-mph gallop in 8.6 seconds. That’s really quick among sport-utes with price tags hovering around $35,000. But under that kind of pressure, even on dry pavement, torque steer is quite noticeable. In the wet, movement is amplified into front-wheel flutters that require precise steering management to keep the vehicle somewhere between whoops and whew.

As a further nod to Melrose Avenue explorers targeted by the RX300, the on-road ride is pitched closer to softer than stiffer. That expands to Pillsbury Doughboy pitch and roll when off-road, but, once again, the primary purpose of this vehicle is not to flatten chaparral or browse extinct volcanoes.

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The interior of the RX300 is a delight.

There’s head and leg room aplenty for five healthy bodies plus baggage. Rear seats not only fold flat in a snap, but also have been given 5 inches of fore and aft travel. And the high levels of luxury and taste will certainly not bruise Lexus’ reputation for loveliness.

Thoughtful touches are everywhere. Like a four-speed automatic shift lever located in the instrument panel, similar to the positioning of airplane throttles. Also a 6-inch-wide LCD screen in the dashboard to provide audio, heating, air-conditioning, outside air temperature, clock, trip computer, even elapsed time readouts. And all enclosed in a rich walnut frame.

This is a brave and likely successful attempt by Lexus to take the compact sport-utility competition by the horns. Next month, watch it get down in the mud with the big guys, especially Range Rover, with an eight-passenger, 230-horsepower V-8-powered LX470.

Of course, Mercedes-Benz will be bringing out a V-8 version of its M-Class sport-utility at about the same time. Just to keep up with the Lexuses.

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1999 Lexus RX300 2x4

The Good: A vehicle for those who want the walk and the talk of a full-blooded sport utility, but less of the discomforts and cost. Innovative interior with luxury lining for which Lexus is famous. Especially good if you don’t want to wait for a Mercedes ML320.

The Bad: Torque steer needs taming. Suspension might be too soft for some.

The Ugly: Not sure about the alien headlights.

1999 Lexus RX300 2x4

Cost

* Base: $31,550 (includes standard dual front and side-impact air bags, automatic air-conditioning, premium audio system, antitheft engine immobilizer, automatic dawn / dusk headlights, automatic transmission, alloy wheels, anti-lock brakes with traction control, power windows, power driver’s seat, hidden storage, with tonneau cover for rear cargo area, grab handles, tilt steering, additional power outlet and wood trim).

Engine

* 3.0-liter, V-6 developing 220 horsepower.

Type

* Front-engine, front-drive, five-passenger, luxury sport-utility.

Performance

* 0-60 mph, as tested, 8.6 seconds with four-speed automatic.

* Top speed, manufacturer’s figure, 112 mph.

* Fuel consumption, EPA city and highway, 19 and 24 mpg.

Curb Weight

* 4,037 pounds.