2008 Lexus LX570 - Short Take Road Test

A perfect trifecta of bad timing.

BY JOHN PHILLIPS
November 2008

When Toyota first began working on the new body, engine, and purpose-built frame for its latest heavyweight twins—the Land Cruiser and the Lexus LX570—the company couldn’t have predicted $4 fuel, an economy on crutches, and Americans’ panicky migration from full-size SUVs. Never has it been more politically incorrect to sing the praises of a passenger vehicle that weighs 6180 pounds, attains observed fuel economy of 14 mpg, and costs $75,465. Poor Toyota. A perfect trifecta of bad timing.

Which is a little embarrassing for us because every C/D editor who drove the new LX570 came back to the office, looked sheepishly at his shoes, then said in a small voice, “Holy crap, I love that thing.”

Describing the LX570 as an eight-seat LS460L with 8.9 inches of ground clearance isn’t too far off the mark. That’s how mechanically silky, fluid, fast, insulated, and isolated it is. It offers the velvety step-off of an S-class Benz. The interior is awash in the sort of leather and real wood you’d find in Churchill’s library. The seats are thrones. The paint would pass muster in Maranello. We’d love to own a sofa upholstered in the LX570’s headliner material. The turn signals click like your grandparents’ Seth Thomas clock. At the push of a button, the third-row seats silently fold and rise out of the way, affording a cargo area 67 inches deep and 40 inches wide.

Heck, the heavenly ride would do justice to the Spirit of Ecstasy—unexpected from a body-on-frame truck with a rigid axle—although it comes at the expense of major body roll, even with the shocks toggled to their firmest setting. The only other dynamic flaw: steering that is light but vague.

The 383-hp V-8 propels the LX570 to 60 mph in 6.7 seconds, quicker than an Audi Q7 4.2 or an Infiniti QX56. At wide-open whack, the engine emits a muted snarl, like a puma locked in your guest bedroom, yet it’s quieter than a QX56. In acceleration, it basically matches a Mercedes-Benz GL450. And the six-speed transmission is so uncanny about being in the correct gear that you’ll rarely slap at the manumatic.

Anything based on a Land Cruiser ought to excel in muck, and the LX570 doesn’t disappoint. It offers a low range, a locking center diff, ride-height control, adjustable shocks, second-gear start, ABS that can adapt to sand and gravel, and “crawl control.” The latter acts as a kind of off-road cruise control, topping out at 10 mph, with the brakes kicking in should one of three specified velocities be surpassed. It serves double duty as hill-descent control. The hand brake is mounted on the center console—a big deal for hard-core off-roaders. Apart from the Queen’s own Range Rover, nothing this sumptuous has ever fouled its wheel wells with several inches of gooey river-bottom loam.

Drive solo in this behemoth and enviro-conscious citizens give you the stink eye, as if you’ve fired up an unfiltered Camel in the produce section of Whole Foods. Which is a shame because the LX570 may well be the most desirable SUV on the planet.