Cadillac SRX vs Lexus RX350 Comparison Test: Can GM’s Best Topple Lexus?

[algiorda]

Interesting comparison between the New Lexus RX350 and the new SRX

http://www.popularmechanics.com/auto...s/4323555.html

The Bottom Line
As much as Cadillac may have had its crosshairs set on Lexus, it built a much different car. The design character and driving dynamics clearly favor the sporty side. If, say, you hauled the family to a mountain retreat along some twisty roads, the SRX would be the best crossover. But in the usual day-to-day grind, the RX’s greater refinement and comfort would be awfully hard to ignore. Forced to choose, we’d go with the Lexus.

[Northern SRX]

I wonder how different the comparo would be with the SRX's stronger powerplant...

[jdavis]

It is difficult to topple an incumbent. To do it you will have to be better on all counts and appeal to a broad spectrum of the public. Cadillac will do well just to get close on this first salvo from the "new GM".

[USAFRET]

Interesting, but I still WANTED the SRX and have NO REGRETS.

[algiorda]

The part I can't get past in the article is that somehow a sport tuned suspension is a bad thing? I would think that alone would run rings around the Lexus????

One are the Lexus kicks the SRX's butt is in resale value. That wasn't mentioned in the article.

[Northern SRX]

Originally Posted by algiorda

The part I can't get past in the article is that somehow a sport tuned suspension is a bad thing? I would think that alone would run rings around the Lexus????

One are the Lexus kicks the SRX's butt is in resale value. That wasn't mentioned in the article.

Nobody buys a Toyota or a Lexus because of its sporty handling and yet they sell like hotcakes. Kinda tells you where the market is, doesn't it? In the 1st generation SRX, Cadillac aimed squarely at European while Lexus continued to aim the RX at what I considered to be a more Buick nature. Lexus won - that's where the meat of this market is.

I remember when we test drove cars when we picked up our '04 SRX and the list quickly narrowed down to the RX330 and a demo SRX N* w/MRC. Both would have been the same price OTD. The choice was between a sedate and refined vehicle with killer resale that was built on the platform of a well-built but ordinary sedan or a crossover with sharp looks that was built on a premium and sporty platform with some significant snarl added into the mix. The choice, as I described to my wife, was like between the girl in high school you wanted to cuddle and the one you wanted to...um...er...

It certainly appears that Cadillac left enough of the "visceral" in the vehicle to appeal to those attracted to Cadillac but went after the rest of the Lexus' character.

Hope it works for them. After our '08 SRX has spent its useful life with us, I'm afraid I might be looking elsewhere - although a CTS wagon could keep me in the Cadillac family...