The RX 350 offers brisk acceleration performance to its powerful yet efficient 3.5-liter V6 engine introduced on 2007 models. The RX 400h features a hybrid gas-electric powerplant.

For 2008, the changes are mainly cosmetic. The only mechanical change is the addition of a Vehicle Stability Control cut-off switch.

The 2008 Lexus RX 350 features a new front grille design and chrome door handles. Two new exterior colors are available as well as a new interior wood trim option, black bird's-eye maple, available with the light-gray interior. Newly optional are seven-spoke, 18-inch alloy wheels with a liquid graphite finish.

The 2008 Lexus RX 400h gets a new finish on the grille, a blue hybrid badge on the front of models without the towing package, chrome door handles, new finish for the five-spoke, 18-inch wheels, a color-keyed rear spoiler, seven new colors, and black bird's-eye maple wood trim is available with light-gray interiors.

With the RX series, Lexus pioneered the crossover-style SUV, based on a unit-body car platform rather than a heavy-duty truck frame. Crossover utility vehicles offer better ride and handling and better fuel economy than truck-based SUVs, but they still deliver many of the things buyers want in an SUV: more cargo space than a car, a better view over traffic and a sense of security that accompanies an elevated driving position. The RX doesn't offer the big towing capacity or off-road capability of a true truck, but an all-wheel-drive RX 350 handles gravel and snow with ease, and it can tow up to 3500 pounds with the optional trailer package.

The RX is as quiet inside as most cars. It's easy to drive and easier than most SUVs to park, with light steering and responsive brakes. It also offers the latest technology: headlights that swivel to help the driver see around corners, a rear-mounted camera that displays what's behind on the dash-mounted navigation screen, a voice-activated hands-free telephone system, cruise control that can adjust for changes in traffic and a giant sunroof. It's equipped with the latest in passive safety features, including seven airbags.

The RX 400h combines a gasoline-powered V6 with one high-torque electric motor-generator on the front-wheel-drive model, and two motors on the all-wheel-drive model. The gas engine can propel the car or recharge the batteries. Most of the time the RX 400h runs on a combination of the V6 and electric motors, but in certain situations it will run strictly on the V6 engine, and in others strictly with the electric motors.

Emissions are extremely low, reducing the impact on the environment to something in the neighborhood of nil. The RX 400h burns about as much gas as a compact car. Yet it drives essentially the same as the RX 350. It accelerates as quickly off the line (which is quite quick), and more quickly at certain speeds. The main difference comes when the RX 400h runs only on the electric motors: when it glides serenely through a parking lot or down a neighborhood street.

In short, the RX 400h delivers the performance of some V8-powered SUVs with the economy of a four-cylinder. There are lots of good reasons to choose it over the standard RX 350, but not economic reasons. The RX 350 is a very efficient vehicle in its own right, and now that Lexus has equipped both variants identically, the $4,000 price premium for the RX 400h pays strictly for the hybrid drivetrain.

The Lexus RX 350 is well-suited for just about any assignment, from a drive along the Pacific Coast Highway to a camping trip in the Sierra Nevada. It's stylish and at home in the valet line at a fancy restaurant.