2025 Lexus LX700h Review
MSRP: $114,000
3.5 Liter Twin Turbo V6 w/Hybrid Assist
457 HP / 583 (!!) TQ
Fuel Economy: 20 in mixed driving as observed
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Guy who did stuff: Yousef Alvi
The Land Cruiser and it’s cloned brother the Lexus LX has always confused me. Here was two six figure bordering vehicles, with only the badged differences, fighting for the exact same buyer. In other words, why would you go to a lowly Toyota dealership to buy the same vehicle, for pretty much the same price, if you can just go to the Lexus dealer and get a better ‘everything’? By ‘everything’ I mean from the sales experience, service department, physical dealership opulence and all the other feel good perks that comes with a new Lexus purchase?
I’m not the only one that felt this way. If you look at the sales numbers throughout the years, the LX would stomp all over the minisicule amount of Land Cruiser sales. Finally, after decades, ToMoCo has to the senses. The Lexus LX now is the only ‘real’ Land Cruiser you can buy in the US with a price tag fitting it’s mythic status. The Land Cruiser found at Toyota’s dealers is the ROW Prado edition. So it’s smaller, looks completely different, powered by a different drivetrain and lastly about $50,000 cheaper to boot.
Powering the 2025 Lexus LX700h is the iForce Max powertrain and it’s a spectacular piece of engineering. Making 457 horsepower and a huge 583 lb/ft of torque. The 700h can either glide you or drop kick you around town. If you stick with ‘glide you’ you can get an impressive 20 MPG! If you decide the ‘drop kick’ route, switch over to Sport Mode and holy freakin’ crap…hold on! The LX700h will literally leap from a standstill, riding on the gigantic torque curve until you panic and slam on the brakes. In a vehicle this big and heavy, it’s bit unnerving to be honest…unnerving in a fun hilarious way….but unnerving nonetheless.
Bolted to that drivetrain is this new Overtrail package and i’ll say it right now:
“Skip all other trim levels...get this one. ”
Lexus leaned more into it’s Land Cruiser DNA than any model previous with the Overtrail trim. Fitting triple REAL locking diffs, skidplates, aggressive 33 inch AT tires, 18 inch wheels, blacked out trim and overfenders…the Overtrail is ready to tackle most anything on you can on God’s Green Earth. More importantly though, for the 99% of the people out there who will never take it offroad, the Overtrail rides SIGNIFICANTLY better than all the other trim levels. Why? Because big, squishy, lucious, thick and juicy sidewalls!
The Overtrails sits on 33s with 18 inch wheels. Which is a far cry from the gigantic 22 inch wheels found in other trims. All of that extra sidewall gives the LX an actual absorbative ride. Instead of crashing about on every pebble and in turn under dampening the suspension to make up for it…the Overtrail just rides…amazing. So much in face that it’s easy to say that this is the best riding LX you can buy.
Interior side of things is pretty much the same as other trim levels. You still have lush surfaces everywhere you can reach and touch. The leather seeminly melts in your hands and the trim pieces are first rate. The seats are supportive, comfortable and look great! That’s not just the driver seat but that is all rows of seating! Which also find themselves spaced out perfectly for occupants and/or cargo.
Lastly and for the nerdy out there…the most important aspect of the LX700h Overtrail is it’s legitimacy as an offroad machine. Most ‘offroady’ vehicles you buy now, lean heavily on electronics to gain offroad abilities. The LX Overtrail does not and the LX itself has not…the LX has been only of only a few vehicles you could buy that sports true, mechanical locking differentials front, center and rear! The others would force you absurdly down market like the Wrangler or go complete douche like the G Wagen….and that’s about it.
What true mechanical triple locking diffs gives you is an unparalleled amount of grip and sure footedness that is not found on anything else on the road. Instead of relying on 0s and 1s to figure out in the hell to do, you lock whatever diff you need and use good old fashioned power to get out of anything you might find yourselves in…all with the piece of mind of actual solid chunks of metal is doing the work!
In other words, the LX can overcome, wade through, go over and through anything mother nature can throw at it. It will do so with a shrug and a yawn. It will also do so until the end of time because at the end of the day…it’s the true Land Cruiser.
Yousef Alvi
