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Writer's pictureIshaan Bharadwaj

The Pinnacle of Off-Road Luxury - Lexus LX500d


There have been fewer cars that have been my favourite for more than 2 decades. The first time I saw a Lexus LX was back in the 90's when I was in school and an embassy number plate borne LX in the shade of silver would pass my bus stop every day at 7 am.


The love for LX has always been integral and even with the incoming of most high-end luxury SUVs like the Range Rover and the Mercedes G-Wagon, I always looked up to driving the LX someday and making some core memories with it.



So this year, it finally happened. Lexus sent me their 2023-24 LX500d and I was jumping with joy just by looking at it. This behemoth of an SUV can outsize most 1BHK homes in Mumbai. The Lexus LX is fundamentally a Toyota Land Cruiser J300 underneath its skin, based on the TNGA-F platform that underpins body-on-frame vehicles in the mid and full-sized SUVs in the Toyota/Lexus Line-up.


The business end


The LX500d is fitted with a F33A-FTV 3,345cc V6 variable nozzle twin-turbocharged diesel engine with a cast iron cylinder block that produces 304 bhp of max power at 4,000 rpm and 700 Nm of max torque that peaks between 1,600 to 2,600 rpm. This engine has a bore-to-stroke ratio of 86 X 96 mm and a compression ratio 15.4:1.




The size of the LX is what takes the entire bakery than just the cake. At 5,085mm, it might not be the longest SUV in the luxury segment, the Mercedes Benz Maybach GLS600 and the Range Rover LWB are far longer. But when you lift up the suspension to its full ride height, the overall height peaks at close to 2,000mm which makes even the cars like the BMW X5 look like X1s.



Just look at how tiny the Maruti Suzuki Dzire looks parked beside the LX, it makes everything look insignificant. And that's the first and foremost thing one gets sold to with the LX, the sheer presence of it. As much as it looks gargantuan, it isn't significantly cumbersome to manoeuvre through the city traffic thanks to the shorter wheelbase as compared to its key rivals and a better turning radius.



But if you're reduced to driving your SUV within the city and barely take it outside to explore the unseen, might as well get yourself a sedan because the LX is supremely capable through the trails and it would be criminal not to let it breath some mountain air. We took the LX to Shimla and to lower Kinnaur during the peak winter season in 2024 and we were more than surprised by how brilliant this SUV is.



The Torsen torque-sensing limited-slip central differential with electronic differential lock efficiently distributes engine power to all four wheels even when the surface situation has a very low friction coefficient as we had experienced in one of the trails while climbing towards Narkanda, 90 km ahead of Shimla. However, the SUV is running on large 265/50 R22 tyres fitted on massive 22-inch alloy wheels which creates a larger footprint on any surface that it operates on, in addition to its 2750 kilogram kerb weight.



The overall visibility from the driver's seat also helps the LX 500d greatly in terms of its driving, especially when you're driving through some tight trails or almost sliding through slate ice, the large glass area all around makes it super practical to drive and function. While we are on the topic of the cabin, the interiors are just gorgeous. Swathed in Hazel Nappa leather, it smells and feels like money well spent. What a fantastic-looking cabin, and even with 2024 running,



Lexus isn't shy of giving large physical buttons and rotor knobs around the driver's console and steering wheel. Our test car had the Artwood Takanoha 'Ornamentation' as Lexus calls it, which is a mix of Tiger's Eye semi-precious material mixed in veneer. It has a deep 3D-like detail under the clear coat which looks lustrous and very rich. The overall sense of perceived quality may feel a little reduced as compared to a Range Rover or a Maybach GLS600 to which this directly competes, but if you look and experience the real quality of the LX, it is a tier better than that of its competition.


The Drive Out on the road, we first want to address the situation on the slippery surface, because this is where the LX excelled the most. It was negative 6 degrees outside during the late morning and there was a significant amount of snowfall that was happening, causing the roads to have a deposit of slate ice on the top. In this slippery situation, the weight of the LX, which is close to 3 tonnes and a wider tyre footprint helped create a good amount of traction, and then is the 4x4 system which is exceptionally good. The traction situation for this bad boy felt like a piece of cake where cars like the Fortuner and Jimny were found struggling.



I love the direct steering feedback too, it feels very planted to drive and there is a good amount of communication from the front wheels to the steering while you're driving on the winding roads like the ones in the mountains or on the highway. Inside the city though, through start-stop traffic, the steering feels extremely light and sometimes doesn't feel real. This 3 tonne SUV should have a heavy steering too, that EPS motor is doing a great job at making ones life easy.


The sound insulation too is outstanding. It isn't as good as the Range Rover ofcourse, but it filters out some extremely silly noises out of the cabin making it feel like a sanctuary inside. What also makes it a sanctuary worthy car too is the overall visibility in the cabin because of the large window area, which filters in quite a lot of natural light and makes you quite connected tot he environment around you. It's great if you're sight seeing, but equally troublesome if you're a celebrite and want to avoid getting clicked at every traffic signal.



Out on the highway the LX eats up kilometers like a hungry viking after a workout. It is smooth, very planted for a ladder frame SUV and comfortable as f**k! Its V6 engine is also surprisingly efficient, on our highway trip from Shimla to New Delhi, over a distance of 410 kms, the LX returned an overall fuel economy of 18.8 kmpl which was absolutely staggering. Although I was driving with a very light foot all the time, even in the real world situation, the highway economy stays around 12-13 kmpl.


Verdict

It's a hard thing to say Luxury and Reliability in the same breath for a car these days, with over powered machines being delivered with Artificial Intellegence and features from Neptune's space station, one can be perplexed if anything, god forbid, goes wrong.



And this is where Lexus's dependability, all thanks to Toyota's nationwide after sales backing and extremely durable key components comes into play. Unlike other luxury cars and SUVs, this LX is not going to sit for days at a workshop for petty repairs. This SUV can take Indian roads and offroad like a piece of cake. No wonder North Korea's Kim Jong Un was spotted in one while driving through the flooded plains of Pyongyang recently. The only thing to sweat about is the price tag which sinfully close to 4 crores, since it is CBU and also it is limited to 50 units in India per year, so before they think of revealing it to the public, they are mostly sold out. Practice for Fastest Fingers First if you want one.

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