Despite these car-like cues, however, the RX 330 looks sufficiently brawny for off-highway duty, thanks to its beefy front bumper and pronounced fender flares. Door handles are of the reach-through type, more hand-friendly than the fingertip-grip variety and offering less opportunity to break long fingernails.
A nice feature, something that was not seen in the U.S. since the 1948 Tucker but is now also available on other models, is the Adaptive Front lighting System (AFS), what Preston Tucker would have called steer-able headlights. The system uses an on-board processor that calculates a more optimum angle to illuminate a turn, and swivels the headlamp closest to the turn accordingly, allowing drivers to see around corners better. It comes on all RX 330s with HID headlamps.
A rear view of the RX 330 reveals a visor over the top edge of the rear window, a short radio antenna at the right rear corner of the roof (promising better reception in marginal areas than the also-included imbedded-in-glass type), and clear-lensed tail lamps.
Like the Toyota Highlander, the RX 330 is built on the same platform (with modifications) as the Toyota Camry and Lexus ES 330 sedans.
