No-V-8? No big deal.
It’s easy to cry over the loss of the V-8. The iconic engine has reigned supreme over muscle cars, work trucks, and some of the world’s most important sports cars for decades. Its history is no different with the Lexus LX. The V-8 has dominated the Lexus-badged Land Cruiser for two decades. That is, until the LX600 was unveiled in October 2021, and along with it, its new twin-turbo V-6 powertrain. Thankfully, that engine is very much up to the challenge.
The new LX600 is the fourth generation of the top-range Lexus SUV. It’s also arguably the most important, because, for the first time since it’s existed, the LX is no longer being sold alongside its Toyota Land Cruiser counterpart in the U.S. Toyota truck lovers have the new Sequoia or the new LX to choose from, but nothing in between. Land Cruiser lovers elsewhere in the world are a bit more fortunate, though.
After spending a weekend in a new LX600 F-Sport, covering hundreds of highway and backroad miles in the northeast, the main standout to me was the truck’s engine. For a 5901-lb rig, it sure can hustle.
The LX packs Toyota’s V35A-FTS engine. That powerplant first made its debut back in 2017 in Lexus’s then-new LS flagship sedan. Mated to a 10-speed automatic transmission, it pumps out 409 horsepower and 479 lb-ft in the LX. Not an absurd amount of power—slightly less hp but more torque than its V-8 competitor, the Cadillac Escalade, but more power and more torque than the new base Range Rover’s straight-six, though that new truck is quicker off the line.
On the highway with the LX, it’s easy to not care at all about what engine’s under the hood. It’s a mile-eater. A proper cruiser. Passing, merging, passive traveling, whatever. It does what’s asked of it. But if you really want to mess around, the LX and its twin-turbo V-6 will do their best to play ball.
After a few hours of driving on the New York State Thruway in mostly solace, I broke off onto some Catskill country roads. There, I found myself chasing a Mercedes-AMG C63 through the woods. No, I’m not sure how that happened, but it did. Somehow, the LX was doing a solid job keeping up. This continued until I was reminded of just how massive and hulking this gentle giant is, and how understeer was just an extra tenth of driving effort away in the slick conditions we were passing through.
The LX is big, but it moves very well. It’s not only its engine that helps it with that, though. The truck also has Lexus’s Adaptive Variable Suspension tech, which does a superb job at keeping the truck planted and cornering a bit more flat through corners, when dialed into the more aggressive drive modes. The F-Sport trim we tested also comes with specially tuned dampers and a Torsen limited-slip differential in the rear. While that stuff helps, you never completely forget just how heavy and massive this thing is. It’s playfully bouncy.
Inside, the LX is fine. The gadgetry—gauges, screens, controls—all feel a little dated. It all works, but with a starting price north of $102,000 on the F-Sport trim, the screens should feel a bit more 2022 than 2014. The main 12.3-inch infotainment screen and its Apple CarPlay are great, but there’s something about the two other displays—the 8-inch gauge cluster and 7-inch climate and vehicle control screen—that feel behind the times. That’s especially concerning considering that this is an all-new generation of a nameplate that tends to have long life cycles. Otherwise, tech aside, it’s extremely comfortable and luxurious-feeling, and I’d jump at the opportunity to road trip one again. Though, maybe not over the same chance in the new Range Rover.
Also, if fuel economy is of concern (these days, it probably is), the LX recorded an average of 15.3 mpg over almost 500 miles of combined city and highway driving. A bit lower than Car and Driver’s 17 mpg rating and the official 19 mpg combined EPA figure.
The 7-inch vehicle control and climate display.
Aaron Brown
The new LX is a solid rig, and that is in no little part thanks to its fantastic engine. Measuring in at almost 75-inches tall, 200-inches long, and 78-inches wide, with 6000 pounds to lug around, it’s not the sportiest tool in the shed. But it’ll try its best if you beg it to.
Keyword: I Don’t Miss the V-8 in the Lexus LX600