NOW into its eighth year on the Australia market, the Lexus LX470 is a high-quality, Japanese-built luxury 4WD wagon that was first sold here in mid-1998 and quickly established itself as one of the leaders in the rapidly expanding luxury 4WD market segment.
Powered by a V8 engine, the LX470 is built on the same assembly line as the Toyota LandCruiser and the standards are very high on both vehicles.
The body of the Lexus 4WD is virtually the same as that of the Toyota LandCruiser 100 from the windscreen backwards, but has distinctive frontal styling similar to that of the Lexus GS300 sedan.
In an effort to keep pace with its newer competitors from both Europe and Japan, Lexus has recently added value by fitting extra equipment.
Now included as standard are a premium, 11-speaker Mark Levinson audio system, illuminated side steps and roof rails with built-in racks.
It’s a sad fact that, despite the LX470’s LandCruiser heritage, most buyers will use it either as an upmarket people mover or as a suburban cruiser.
That is a pity because this is an excellent cross-country vehicle.
Among other things the height from the ground can be varied, with everything from a very low setting to make it easier to climb in and out of the cabin, to a high setting for serious off-road use.
LX470 is excellent in the bush. Indeed, because of its additional ground clearance, it can go some places where the 100 series LandCruiser fears to tread.
Like the LandCruiser, the LX470 has an underslung spare wheel that limits departure angle.
The big Lexus off-roader is crammed full of luxury equipment.
On top of the new stereo, side step and roof rails, there’s dual climate-control air conditioning, leather and walnut trim interior and a moonroof.
There’s also a cool-box which runs off the air conditioning and acts as a car refrigerator capable of holding six cans of drink.
Lexus LX470 uses the Optitron instrument system that is a model for clarity and readability.
It also has a number of safety features including Electronic Brake-force Distribution (EBD), a high-tech variant of the old-style load-sensing system.
It senses how much traction is on offer to each of the front or rear axles.
During heavy braking it juggles the brake force to give as much as each end of the Lexus can cope with which reduces the chances of side slipping under hard braking on uneven surfaces.
There’s also Lexus Brake Assist. This system senses when the driver wants to brake hard but is a bit tentative with the pedal, so not achieving maximum stopping power.
The electronics apply full braking and, in conjunction with the ABS system, stop the vehicle in the shortest possible distance.
The handy rear-vision camera that debuted in the LX470’s little brother, the RX330, is also now standard in the big SUV.
It sends a picture to the satellite navigation screen when reverse gear is selected, letting you keep an eye out for straying kids or the car behind you in that tight parking spot.
A word of advice, though. Treat the camera as a convenience, rather than a safety feature and use it in conjunction with a quick walk around the rear of your car before reversing out of your driveway.
The LX470 is powered by a silky-smooth, twin-cam, 4.7-litre V8 engine permanently driving all four wheels.
However, the engine has been revised to meet the latest in European emission controls.
The big V8 is relatively economical for what it is and a canny driver will be able to use the near-flat torque graph – with 340 Newton metres from 1200rpm and a maximum of 410Nm at 3400rpm – to pull the fuel consumption below 14 litres per hundred kilometres on a trip.
The automatic transmission is a sophisticated five-speed unit.
There’s also an advanced steering system which Lexus calls VGRS, or Variable Gear-Ratio Steering.
As the name suggests, this alters the steering ratio, not simply the amount of power assistance, for improved response, especially at very low speeds.
The LX470 comes in just one variant with five-speed automatic transmission and is priced at $122,200.
