If you want to really go off-road — as opposed to off into the grass — and be really comfortable, there aren't many options.
Which makes it easy for Lexus to sell the GX 460 to people looking for both — without compromising either.
What It Is
The GX 460 is an extremely off-road-capable midsize SUV that is also an extremely luxurious midsize SUV.
It is built rugged — with a girderlike perimeter steel frame onto which the luxurious body is bolted. The frame doesn't flex — and thus is very hard to hurt — which is part of what makes this Lexus able to go severely off-road and come back tracking straight. The frame won't bend, even if half of the weight of the vehicle isn't supported by tire contact with the ground — as when crawling over rocks.
The doors will still close right when you're back on the ground — on all fours.
And when you're back on pavement, you'll be in a Lexus — one that's available with a power-reclining third row, too.
Prices start at $53,000 for the base trim and top out at $64,265 for the Luxury trim, which comes standard with real wood trim, including a real wood-trimmed heated steering wheel — as well as an auto-leveling suspension and the power-reclining third row.
Both trims come standard with the power of a V-8 engine — and four-wheel drive with low-range gearing.
What's New
The GX gets a new front clip with a larger "cowcatcher" grille and a new off-road package, which includes a low-speed rock-crawl mode plus skid plates and a transmission oil cooler to help you get there — and get back.
What's Good
It's one of the very few body-on-frame SUVs you can still buy new.
It's the only luxury-brand body-on-frame midsize SUV you can still buy new.
A V-8 engine is standard in all trims.
What's Not So Good
Both the low-speed crawl control system and the 17-speaker Mark Levinson audio system are available only with the Luxury trim.
The third row is vestigial.
With the third row up, cargo space is vestigial.
Under the Hood
The GX is an anachronism — in a good way.
It comes standard with a V-8 engine — and without direct injection, which involves two fuel pumps, very high fuel pressure and the possibility of carbon-fouled intake valves at some point down the road.
The V-8, which displaces 4.6 liters, produces 301 horsepower without the boost of a turbo or the additional parts — or the potential worry and expense of carbon-fouled intake valves.
It is basically the same V-8 that Lexus has been using in the LS sedan until just recently, and it has a much-deserved reputation for being extremely reliable as well as extremely smooth.
It's paired with a six-speed automatic transmission and four-wheel drive with a two-speed transfer case and low-range gearing.
Every GX can pull up to 6,500 pounds.
On the Road
Most SUVs have gone unibody — the body and frame are a welded-together piece — because it saves weight compared with having a separate steel frame onto which the body is bolted. The unibody layout also helps with rigidity; there's less potential for the body to move in relation to the frame because they're welded together.
But nothing rides like body-on-frame, which is why most big luxury cars and most SUVs used to be made this way.
The heavy steel frame — and the road below it — are separated from the body (and the passengers from the road) via a number of rubber biscuits in between the frame and the body, which tamp down/isolate the road — and its imperfections — from the passengers inside the body.
And for serious off-roading, it's hard to beat — because it's hard to break.
At the Curb
The GX comes standard with a third row, which is optional (with an extra cost) in same-sized rivals such as the Land Rover Discovery.
The catch is there's not much legroom back there — and because it is there, there's not much cargo space behind it. With its third row up, the GX has just 11.6 cubic feet of cargo capacity; the good news is this can be expanded to 64.7 cubic feet by lowering the seats, which you can do by just pushing a button.
On the way home from rock-crawling, you can listen to the GX's available 17-speaker Mark Levinson audio system, which is essentially identical to the audio system in Lexus' top-of-the-line sedan — the LS 500 — which you can't take rock-crawling.
The Rest
Some critics fault the GX — and its standard V-8 — for being overly thirsty. But if you compare its thirst — 15 mpg city, 19 mpg highway — with that of smaller-engined rivals such as the V-6-powered Land Rover Discovery — 16 mpg city, 21 mpg highway — you'll find there's really not much difference.
Except for the difference that may matter most after the warranty expires: a simpler, less-stressed layout and fewer things to potentially go wrong.
The Bottom Line
If you want to go seriously off-road on weekends — and not feel like you're going off-road on the way to work — you might want to check the GX out.
Eric's new book, "Don't Get Taken for a Ride!" is available now. To find out more about Eric and read his past columns, please visit the Creators Syndicate webpage at www.creators.com.
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