Pedigree is the Mark of a Basic, and That Defines this 4WD SUV
A Chanel tote bag that patinas with age, a brass-buttoned army blazer, your grandmother’s pearls that look simply pretty much as good together with your denims as they did together with her robe. All classics that final via the ages. Add the 2024 Lexus GX to that record.
I simply spent per week check driving the 2024 Lexus GX 550 Overtrail version, priced from $64K to $81K, and walked away a modified girl. There’s nothing like sitting up excessive and having instantaneous energy underneath foot that may make you are feeling like a queen. That’s due to the GX’s full time 4 wheel drive (which is customary on all fashions), 349 HP and 479 lb.-ft of torque underneath foot. Produced by a V6 twin turbo engine, all that energy is what strikes you so rapidly, and it makes you are feeling robust and assured.
However every part about this luxurious SUV will make your passengers really feel assured, too.
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New Tech and Design That Feels Acquainted and Basic
The redesign of the Lexus GX was massive information. This fashionable bucket-list SUV wanted a makeover; whereas the outside stored up with the Lexus design journey, the inside continued to really feel clunky and old style, from outsized inside parts and a gear shifter to an outdated multimedia system.
However what it did so spectacularly was off-road and tow within the posh surrounds of leather-based seats and a rugged however refined cabin.
The character of this SUV hasn’t modified; it’s merely gotten higher with the 2024 mannequin.
The most important change is within the entrance seat. Lexus designers have been in a position to improve visibility by flattening the whole sprint and reducing it, setting the multimedia display screen and driver show a bit decrease. The result’s a wider, extra commanding view of the street. Head up show (a $900 choice ) in our check mannequin was an awesome addition, protecting my eyes on the street with out interruption.
The middle console and local weather controls underneath the multimedia display screen have been additionally streamlined with a extra elegant appear and feel. Your entire console feels designed quite than assembled.
However it nonetheless maintains the basic really feel: the gear selector remains to be a lever that matches properly in your hand; no push buttons right here. 4 wheel drive controls sit just under the gear shifter, and drive mode controls are at your fingertips on an angled panel. The local weather management panel is a static bar on the multimedia display screen so they’re all the time straightforward to seek out, and radio quantity and temperature controls are dials to allow them to be rapidly accessed.
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The Up to date Multimedia System Is a Sport Changer
The GX is among the many final of redesigned Lexus fashions to get this new system, housed in a 14” touchscreen, however consumers will probably be grateful. It includes a new look and performance, together with “Hey Lexus” voice activation and multitudes of car settings that allow you to customise issues like ambient lighting, head up show, driver help options, voice-activated help and extra.
The up to date system additionally consists of navigation and a 3 yr trial of Lexus Drive Join, a premium navigation system that updates and shops maps and locations. Lexus father or mother firm Toyota designed this technique for off-grid vacationers in order that they’ll all the time have probably the most up to date maps even when there isn’t any cell service.
Moreover, the system affords wi-fi Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, and a panoramic HD digital camera system in all however the base mannequin.
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Lexus GX 550 Overtrail Version: A Particular Deal with for Off-Roaders
Lexus GX house owners who path trip and off-road are a particular tribe and Lexus put loads of thought into how these prospects use their GXs. The Overtrail comes geared up with a variety of options that may optimize time on the path, together with leatherette seats, adaptive suspension, locking rear differential, crawl management, downhill descent mode, multi terrain drive mode and all terrain tires. All GX 550s include a trailer hitch to tow as much as 9,000 lbs. Then, the Overtrail mannequin is designed for personalization; you possibly can add enhanced roof rails, a rooftop field, ladders, fog lights and extra to accommodate your overlanding wants.
To make room in your gear, this mannequin doesn’t include a third row, although all the opposite fashions have the choice. The cargo space has about 40 cubic toes of area, loads of room for baggage and kit. And, to make room in your finances for all that gear and customization, it’s comparatively properly priced at $69,250, simply $5K over the bottom mannequin
Sure, There are 3 Rows For Seven Passengers — Customary
All fashions aside from the Overtrail include a third row and a middle row bench seat. And all however the base mannequin provide second row captains chairs as a $440 choice. That is nice for households who want 3 automobile seats within the middle row, however with caveats: Heart row seats fold and flip for third row entry, so households who want the third row day by day could need to go for captains chairs as a substitute.
I did word throughout my check drive, nonetheless, that the center seat within the middle row bench is absolutely solely fitted to small passengers, maybe in a automobile seat or booster. The middle console covers a part of the transmission tunnel, leaving no foot area for a center seat passenger.
How Youngsters Automobile Seats Match
There’s nice information right here: First, the middle row bench is massive and large. There’s loads of legroom and area for rear-facing youngsters automobile seats. There are two full LATCH units, and decrease anchors are lined by a chic leather-based (or leatherette) panel with a velcro closure. Outboard seats are 19” deep and 22” large; the center seat is 14” large. Total, most automobile seats ought to match properly and the bench ought to simply match 3 seats throughout.
One or two rear-facing automobile seats ought to match, too: my seat back-to-seat again measurements got here to 32” behind the motive force’s seat when it was set for my top, which is 5’8.” So a rear dealing with seat ought to match simply behind the passenger’s seat and presumably within the center seat. I didn’t get an opportunity to check the 3-row mannequin, which has about 10 cubic toes behind the third row, however hope to and can report again once I do.
What This Basic Fancy SUV Prices
The Lexus GX 550 is available in 6 flavors: Premium, Luxurious and Overtrail, every with a “+” version that provides extra options and choices.
- The Premium mannequin with full time 4WD, leatherette seating for 7, 6 USB ports and an family outlet, working boards, energy raise gate, moonroof, tow hitch, tow mode, the 14” contact display screen multimedia system, 12” driver show, wi-fi Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, premium sound, 20” wheels and the complete Lexus Security System suite of driver help and security options, is priced from $64,250.
- Premium +, which provides an influence third row, energy steering wheel, heated second row outboard seats, ambient lighting, energy rear gate movement sensor, and a wi-fi cellphone charger, is priced from $69,250
- Luxurious, which provides leather-based seating, massaging entrance seats, second row sunglasses, illuminated door sills, puddle lamps, 22” wheels, and has a 7,800 lbs. tow capability, is priced from $77,250
- Luxurious +, which provides a panoramic solar roof, cool field console, Mark Levinson premium sound system, digital rear view mirror, automated working boards and adaptive suspension begins at $81,250
- Overtrail, which has most traditional options, seating for five, ambient lighting, the choice of eradicating the moonroof for a $1,100 credit score, begins at $69,250
- Overtrail + provides massaging seats, energy steering wheel, ambient gentle, reminiscence seats, heated second row seats, wi-fi cellphone charger, second row sunshades, illuminated door sills, puddle lights, energy rear gate movement sensor and begins at $77,250
- Choices embody digital key for $375, heated second row captains chairs for $440, site visitors jam help, $620-$840 relying on the mannequin, Mark Levinson premium sound for $1,140, cool field, $170, head up show, $900, wi-fi cellphone constitution, $75
The Lexus GX 550 Is aware of What It Is and Who It Is For
It’s not making an attempt to be every part for everybody. There are different vehicles for that—Lexus even makes a number of. The GX 550 is for the off-roading household, even small ones, who want actual 4 wheel drive and options that may assist it, and who need prime notch luxurious for the lengthy haul. Sure, it’s costly but it surely’s an funding, identical to these pearls or Chanel bag, that may repay in spades with the experiences it should introduce you to.
