LEXUS EVENS THE SCORE

After 20 years, the 4WD flagship gets a diesel to answer owners’ prayers

Lexus has added diesel power to its flagship four-wheel drive. It’s been 20 years in the making and many will wonder why it didn’t happen on day one.

The Lexus LX previously came solely with a petrol V8 — and the hefty fuel bill you might expect from a 2.7-tonne 4WD.

Transplanting the diesel from the Toyota LandCruiser on which the Lexus is based might seem an obvious move but the majority of LX sales are in the US and the Middle East, where petrol is preferred.

Australian LX sales are minuscule by global standards but somehow Lexus made the financials add up and we now have the LX450d.

It arrives late in the model cycle of this generation LX, introduced in 2008 and facelifted twice already. The only visual difference between the petrol and diesel versions is the badge.

VALUE

Power comes from the LandCruiser’s 4.5-litre V8 twin turbo diesel, with the same outputs, 200kW/650Nm.

It retains the six-speed auto from the LandCruiser rather than using the eight-speed from the petrol V8 LX570. Towing capacity is still 3500kg.

As the diesel engine is heavier, Lexus engineers removed some of the luxury items so the rolling mass remains about the same.

Missing — for now — are sunroof, Mark Levinson audio, DVD screens on the headrests, and the third row of seats, making it a five-seater rather than eight-seater. Thankfully it retains the chilled centre console.

The diesel gets a sole 93L fuel tank — the petrol version has a 45L sub tank to boost capacity to 138L — but can get further between refills. The range is almost 1000km in ideal conditions because it uses a third less fuel,

9.5L/100km of diesel against 14.4L of petrol.

The other sweetener: the LX450d is $8600 cheaper than the LX570.

The LX450d’s list price is $134,500 plus on-road costs, taking it to about $146,600.

The Lexus is covered by a four-year/ 100,000km warranty versus three years/ 100,000km for Toyota.

Servicing costs on the LX450d are $3112 over three years with the special Lexus service program (free loan car during servicing or Lexus will pick up the car and drop it back), with six-month/10,000km intervals.

ON THE ROAD

Lexus has made its lifework about suppressing noise but the sound of a V8 diesel coming to life after pressing the LX’s start button is heavenly. The prayers of Lexus 4WD buyers have been answered.

It’s more muted than the LandCruiser, thanks to extra sound-deadening but there’s no mistaking that this is the real deal.

With a torque graph that looks like a tabletop, power delivery is both seamless and effortless. It feels unstoppable.

Inside the cabin, creature comforts abound. There’s a 12-inch screen in the centre of the dash for infotainment, a digital speed display in the instrument cluster and a head-up display in the lower section of the windscreen.

The cabin controller that operates the audio and navigation can be a fiddly, using a computer mouse style operation.

There is a commanding view of the road from the driver’s seat and it has ample adjustment. The steering wheel gets paddle-shifters to select gears manually, if desired. And the cargo area has acres of space, aided by a second-row seat that also slides and/or tilts forward.

A dial in the centre console adjusts suspension between comfort, normal and sport modes. Riding on 20-inch wheels with