Lexus LX 570 Sports Luxury 2009 Review

Overall rating: 4.5/5.0
Engine/Drivetrain/Chassis: 4.5/5.0
Price, Packaging and Practicality: 3.5/5.0
Safety: 4.5/5.0
Behind the wheel: 4.0/5.0
X-factor: 5.0/5.0

About our ratings

From the viewpoint of a lifelong offroader, raised on a diet of Series II Landies, Saladin scout cars and three-speed Nissan Patrols, there's argument for the LX570 to be regarded as the most complete vehicle since the time of Alexander the Great.

Little points impress, like the infinitesimal shut lines, the Germanic feel to switchgear and the never-ending array of thoughtful conveniences. The big points argue for stardom too -- like a bottomless pit of power, roadholding in at least the luxury-limo-league, cosseting interior fitment and the ability to tame the wildest terrain, be it in Bourke Street or beyond The Black Stump.

We'll not list its myriad attributes (we don't want to put Lexus sales-people out of a job, after all, and there's not enough space on the Web to fully list this vehicle's features) but if you'd like to think of every feasible inclusion and then mentally tick every box, you'd have a pretty good idea of what's standard on the LX 570.

What have top-flight European exec-sedans got? The Lexus pretty-much has all that too -- plus a whole lot more...

Needless to say it's got a silky six-speed auto transmission with manual tip-shift; needless to say it's supremely comfortable, with its heated and cooled seats, front and rear... And needless to say the vehicle handled well, with the distinct differences between Sport and Normal settings just allowing more rigid springing and more or less bodyroll, but not really affecting directional stability.

And while the LX's styling may look very similar to the LandCruiser 200 upon which it is based, in fact only the door panels are shared. If anything, the Lexus looks smoother, more as if it were crafted by the wind... It has as much familial visual link with the Kluger, as it does with the Cruiser which can be had -- albeit in much simpler guise -- for roughly half the price.

Of course, it's got leather, multiple memory settings for the electrically adjustable front (and rear!) seats, touch-screen sat-nav and a rear seat DVD player/entertainment system with cordless headphones. It also gets proximity-key one-touch unlocking and a third row that stows at the touch of a button.

Its curtain airbags can be deactivated in extreme conditions, but they will still activate in the event of a side-impact crash. There's variable gear ratio steering, hill-start and descent assist, height-adjustable suspension... Even the door-step trims light up the word Lexus in cool green. You get the picture...

There are just three options -- a cargo area mat, a cargo barrier, and headlamp protectors. You pick either the Prestige ($145,000) or the Sports Luxury ($161,500) model and then spend the next five years paying for it and learning what all the buttons do.

The difference between the two models -- apart from a not-inconsiderable $16.5k -- is the hi-tech hard-disc Sat-nav, which is tied in with the front, side and reversing cameras, Bluetooth connectivity, crash-predicting radar and upgraded sound system, plus a whole lot of government taxes.

For cashed-up techno-geeks, the three-way camera system is unavoidably attractive -- the reversing camera offers varying modes of guidance, but a 180-degree front camera literally sees around corners and allows the LX570 to be nosed out of tight spots with confidence, while a downward-facing camera in the passenger-side mirror lets the driver negotiate through rocks and trees (or tight school-yard parking) without the risk of a scratch.

For the marginally paranoid, the Pre-Collision Safety System decides when a collision is unavoidable, lowers the vehicle and arms the brakes, skid control and seatbelts to reduce injury. There are twin front knee airbags and seat-mounted side airbags for the front and second row seats. With the above mentioned full-length curtain bags the total count is 10.

Thus there are plenty of reasons why the LX570's owners manual is 644 pages long... This is an immensely sophisticated and complex machine and while you can pretty much get in and go, there are so many aspects that are unique to the vehicle that to get the most from the machine, it's best to go by the book -- or at least make notes during the 3-hour handover lecture.

Lexus has opted for the old-fashioned system of separate controls for each function, rather than the Germanic approach which sees i-Drive, MMI and now Command deliver a single controller that can perform multiple tasks via menus on the sat-nav  screen.

Preferences will be personal, familiarisation will come with ownership and there are proponents of both schools of thought, but with years of practice at working out where to put primary, secondary and even tertiary-level controls, we reckon that there's little wrong with the ergonomics in the LX. Once you know roughly where a button, switch, knob, lever or stalk is, you can generally feel for it without taking your eyes off the road, whereas menu-options on a screen do require multiple glances, even if they're only fleeting.

That said, the Lexus does have an awful lot of controls -- we never got around to counting, but there are certainly more than in the cockpit of some recreational small aircraft. The array of knobs and buttons, bells, buzzers and lights could be intimidating -- all the more reason to pay attention during the hand-over process, or to read the instructions.

Wary drivers would do well to concentrate on steering in traffic, and avoid trying to fiddle with much more than the (chillingly powerful) HVAC controls.

We're assured, by the way,  there is no standard LX hand-over lecture -- but if clients are having a tough time remembering what all the buttons, warning lamps and automated safety and convenience features do, Lexus staff will visit them and refresh their memories. Or at least teach their 14-year-olds what the car can do. The level of complexity is frankly, awe-inspiring.

Some aspects are just so outstanding as to bear special comment, however...

The LX570 -- and the LandCruiser 200 series upon which it is based -- are big, big vehicles. They have stonking big 285/60 R18 tyres on sculpted alloy wheels, and lots of power, so -- unsurprisingly -- they put up a billowing pall of fine dust whenever they barrel down a tinder-dry dirt road. Looking in the mirrors, you'd swear that you're being chased by the entire cast and crew of Desert Storm, but the cabin remained pristine.

In similar conditions a certain television show managed to coat its LX in dust -- every square inch inside and out. Perhaps we're not as tough on cars (or we know how to shut a door) but we didn't experience any such issues with the big Ls dust sealing... What's more, the rear window remained utterly dust free.... Sure, the (electrically operated) tailgate was soon caked in talcum-fine grime, but the rear glass was resolutely untainted.

The reason is apparently the stubby overhanging rear "wing" at the very top of the two-part tailgate, which evidently encourages a powerful eddying vortex to sweep the rear glass clean. It is a brilliant piece of design and while it may not be of much benefit to suburbanites, for people who use 4X4 s for their intended purposes, it is a major safety and convenience feature.

Suburbanites on the other hand, will enjoy the rain-shedding glass which dispels water-droplets, and also the auto-on wipers and headlamps.

For those who like statistics, here are a few: the LX570's proud creators claim a kerb weight of 2740kg; it will tote eight humans -- and everyone gets a cupholder. The drag co-efficient is an impressive 0.35, and 0-100km/h takes about 7sec.

The LX 570 is 4990mm long, 1970mm wide and 1885mm high -- that's 98mm shorter , 50mm wider and 25mm taller than Mercedes' GL500 big fella. The Lexus holds 138 litres of 91 RON petrol (spilt across main and reserve tanks) compared to the GL's 100 litres and its 5.7-litre fuel-injected petrol V8 under the bonnet delivers up to 270kW and 530Nm. In every way it's fullsize...

Lexus claims the LX 570 will use 14.8L/100km, but this is a long way from what mere earthlings can achieve. To approach that sort of consumption, you'd need to be a monk driving to Vespers. During our 400-km association, the average was 19.7L/100km, with occasional forays into the low 18s when feather-footing downhill with a following wind.

Achieving 14s or even 15s just isn't realistic, mostly because this is a three-tonne 5.7-litre V8 with performance that's such a darn good fun to invoke. Anyway, most folk that buy this vehicle simply won't give a tinker's cuss.

For all its luxury, the LX570 will go pretty much anywhere there's a big enough gap in the scenery.

Bits of our standard dirt road/track test-route have recently been graded by the local council -- creating even bigger, sharper obstacles! Despite this, the Lexus, with its electro-hydraulic suspension set on High and it's flick-a-switch transmission in 4-Low crept up the rutted 1-in-1, reach-for-the-sky, off-camber incline with just a few creaks from the driveline and the occasional half-spin from one or other of the wheels.

Back in regular 4-High (there is no 2-High option) and with the mile-high suspension (actually it's just 50mm higher than standard) in normal, burying the throttle in the shag-pile carpet and aiming the vehicle up our favourite 1-in-2 slope saw the Lexus bullet up a hill. Indeed, by the time the road levelled out after about 400 metres, the LX was doing over 80km/h -- it had accelerated as if there was no hill and perfect asphalt under the tyres.

At the other end of the scale, the hill-descent crawl-control has three speed options. Slowest is for rock-hopping down canyons and gorges, stretching wheel articulation to the max -- frankly, conditions few LX570s will ever encounter. Stage two is more for picking a way down steep forest tracks where it's slimy, slippery and rutted, while stage three will deal with narrow but obvious tracks where there's scant clearance and sharp turns. In reality, a halfway decent driver can get by without this feature, but it's a nice-to-have nonetheless.

There are a couple of minor omissions which are surprising -- most obvious are the lack of turn-signal repeaters in the leading edge of the exterior mirrors, a feature now standard in almost everything else. We also felt that the lack of opening side windows for the third row of seats was an oversight, even if they were merely swingouts. Beyond that, the LX570 pretty much has it all.

What's not to like?

Well, at a practical level, we don't, as a rule, like side-steps -- even tastefully illuminated ones. While they may make access easier for the under-6s, in reality they just transfer dust and muck to trouser-legs and stockings. But we do accept that they're the relatively disposable first point of contact for rocks and logs when off-roading.

Given the overall dimensions of the LX570, we weren't impressed either with the poor luggage capacity. It's average with the rearmost row folded away and with them down, it's pitiful. If you plan on using the LX570 for more than four-five bodies, then also plan to purchase a roof pod or two... Or buy a trailer -- the LX will tow a braked 3500kg.

We loathe, hate and detest auto-locking doors, but with some help from your dealer they can be programmed into oblivion. Not so, the nanny-state, cotton-woolly software that says you have to stop the vehicle to enter info into the sat-nav. Nor are we that wild about the insistent little electric chime that frantically informs when the skid-control system is invoked.

And as much as we've spent most of our words talking about the level of complexity of the LX570, we can't help but wonder (and worry) about how much attention the driver will be paying to the art and science of actually driving the machine. It is so smooth, so quiet, so insulated, that the driver can feel detached and removed from the controls -- not to mention distracted.

But most of all, what we didn't like most -- was giving it back.

For further information concerning the LX570, read our launch review here