1999 Lexus RX 300 A great luxury car for mud and snow. By Mitch McCullough, Editor-in-Chief, New Car Test Drive .com

The 1999 Lexus RX 300 may be the ultimate luxury car/SUV hybrid. It offers a seemingly perfect compromise between a luxury sedan and a truck-based sport-utility vehicle.

It offers sure traction in foul weather, responsive handling on paved and unpaved roads, a smooth ride, maneuverability in crowded parking lots, and easy access to a luxurious interior. RX 300 is not the ultimate off-road vehicle, but it handles corners almost as well as a sedan and easily tackles unpaved roads and heavy snowfall. A low floor height makes sliding in and out easy, yet there's plenty of ground clearance for light off-highway driving. Four people can sit comfortably or the seats can be folded down for hauling a load a wood.