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UPDATE 3/16/22: This evaluate has been up to date with check outcomes.
The 2022 Lexus LX600 has a number of weight on its shoulders. The one factor any earlier LX needed to be was the luxurious model of the Toyota Land Cruiser. Certainly, the unique LX450 was little greater than an 80-series Land Cruiser with nicer leather-based bought by a extra upscale vendor community. Over time, the LX’s styling and appointments developed to be extra distinctive, however even the presence of ordinary Lively Peak Management could not offset how the Lexus grille therapy eroded the LX570’s capacity to perform as an off-roadable luxurious SUV. That by no means a lot mattered as a result of the Land Cruiser was there to scoop up the aspiring overlanders, however now the Toyota is gone from our shores, leaving the 2022 Lexus LX600 by itself.
However there’s extra to the LX’s mission than mollifying the Land Cruiser devoted. Its new five-tier mannequin spectrum now features a base mannequin, a volume-selling Premium grade, a first-ever LX F Sport trim, a Luxurious grade, and a range-topping Extremely Luxurious trim that appears destined to draw high-end livery firms and well-heeled consumers preferring to take a seat within the right-rear seat. Lexus says the Premium, F Sport, and Luxurious three-row fashions will make up 85 to 90 p.c of gross sales, which leaves single-digit crumbs for the $88,245 base, a two-row five-seater that gives zero choices, and the magnificently costly $127,345 Extremely Luxurious that has every part plus a pair of massaging rear recliners and a command middle rear console that caps its max occupancy at 4.
The LX retains body-on-frame building, however it employs the brand new TNGA (Toyota New International Structure) F-series platform that Lexus calls GAF. The acquainted 112.2-inch wheelbase stays, however the entrance and rear tracks are an inch wider. There at the moment are six lug nuts as a substitute of 5, and electrically assisted energy steering replaces the previous hydraulic setup. There is a familiar-looking pair of management arms up entrance and a stay axle in again. Solely the F Sport will get a rear anti-roll bar, nevertheless, and the rear dampers lean ahead as a substitute of inward. This enables the physique to crouch decrease over the body, letting Lexus ditch the earlier detachable rear leap seats in favor of an electrically deployed third row that folds into the ground. This new structure saves weight too. A loaded Extremely Luxurious we examined weighed in at 5901 kilos, which is 275 kilos lower than the final LX570 we measured.
Behind the wheel, the driving place is notably much less bolt-upright and trucklike, and the comfy new seats decrease themselves considerably greater than the outgoing Land Cruiser. The ensuing crossover-cockpit really feel is enhanced by a shifter and console which might be nearer in attain. A dual-screen infotainment system reserves audio, navigation, and (wi-fi) smartphone-mirroring capabilities for the 12.3-inch higher display screen, with secondary HVAC, situational, and off-road controls reserved for the decrease 7.0-inch show. Probably the most often-used local weather changes are made through bodily controls. The consequence is among the cleaner Lexus interfaces in latest reminiscence. If solely the Begin button wasn’t so excessive up on the primary infotainment bezel, the place it is easy to mistake for the smaller, greater, and barely out-of-reach quantity knob—and the stereo’s equalizer controls weren’t so deeply buried within the menus.
Underway, the very first thing you will discover is the steering feels far much less trucklike. The brand new steering system is not almost as heavy instantly off-center, and that improves parking maneuverability and freeway cruising alike. Effort buildup in corners feels extra trustworthy than within the BMW M240i xDrive we drove not too long ago, and the previous platform’s top-heavy preliminary roll is historical past. Twirling the drive-mode dial makes noticeable modifications to the steering effort, the damping profile of the adaptive dampers, and the shift schedule of the 10-speed transmission. With the steering, although, it is fortunately extra about tightening the preliminary really feel round middle than merely cranking up the help.
We’re additionally followers of the twin-turbo 3.4-liter V-6 and its 409 horsepower and 479 pound-feet of torque, which quantities to 26 extra ponies and 76 extra pound-feet than the 5.7-liter V-8 it replaces. This engine pulls arduous however stays easy, with not one of the previous powertrain’s occasional preliminary lurching, because of a mix of peak torque that arrives 1600 rpm sooner and extra progressive throttle tip-in. The 60-mph run in our loaded Extremely Luxurious took us simply 6.1 seconds, which is precisely one second faster than the final LX570 we examined.
Gearchanges are easy, and regardless that this can be a 10-speed, there isn’t any extra gear shuffling. Passing maneuvers are simpler to execute because of top-gear 30-to-50- and 50-to-70-mph acceleration occasions of three.4 and 4.4 seconds, that are some 15 p.c faster than earlier than. Shift paddles are there must you need to decide on your gear, however that hardly appears vital until you are choosing the optimum ratio off-road in low vary. This powertrain can also be much more economical, with EPA estimates of 19 mpg mixed, 17 metropolis, and 22 freeway, simply exceeding the outgoing setup’s dismal 14 mpg mixed. It might additionally pull a good bit, with a brand new greater tow score of 8000 kilos.
F Sport and Luxurious fashions roll on 265/50R-22 Dunlops, and each can add the hydraulic Lively Peak Management system as an possibility. A Luxurious pattern truck was so geared up, and it delivered a easy, quiet, and settled trip over quite a lot of surfaces. The low-profile sidewalls did chatter a bit on washboard grime, however not more than you may anticipate from such rubber. An F Sport that we additionally sampled lacked Lively Peak Management however did have a sport-tuned model of the adaptive dampers, together with a Torsen limited-slip rear differential (all LXs have a lockable middle Torsen), progressive-wound rear springs, and the aforementioned rear anti-roll bar. The result’s a chassis that feels even lighter on its toes, however, as you may anticipate, a trip that tended towards flinty on the extra frost-damaged roads we encountered above the snow line.
Nonetheless, we are able to totally see why Lexus expects the lower-spec Premium ($96,345) to be the amount vendor. That value is barely $3000 greater than the outgoing three-row LX570, and regardless of the dearth of the height-control possibility, it is a greater automobile in quite a few methods. Its inside contains many of the necessities and appears improbable, and it rides on 20-inch wheels and adaptive dampers. Our favourite possibility right here is likely to be the $1295 Look bundle (additionally obtainable on the Luxurious), which blacks out the outside trim and that admittedly huge entrance grille. It is also a prerequisite for the no-cost 18-inch wheel-and-tire bundle, which the overlanders and Land Cruiser fanboys amongst us will certainly recognize. We managed some high quality time on this configuration, and the additional sidewall completely proved its price on native Forest Service grime roads.
Whether or not the Premium with 18-inch wheels will likely be sufficient to appease the Land Cruiser devoted stays to be seen. Regardless, this sort of selection by no means existed within the LX lineup earlier than the 2022 Lexus LX600 arrived. The brand new LX600 is clearly eons higher and much much less one-dimensional than the one it replaces, and that definitely will likely be sufficient for many consumers.
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