The 2022 Lexus LX 600 is the best Toyota Land Cruiser yet
Want a new 2022 Toyota Land Cruiser SUV? Well, you can’t have one. Toyota decided to not bring the new one stateside because its annual sales numbers didn’t justify the cost of federalizing it. So, you’ll have to settle for a 2022 Lexus LX 600, which is a Land Cruiser with elitist airs. It employs the same TNGA-F platform used on the redesigned Land Cruiser, Toyota Tundra and forthcoming Toyota Sequoia.
“Just by virtue of the vehicle being fundamentally based on the new Land Cruiser, I think we have a very credible argument to Toyota Land Cruiser customers who are looking for the next generation to consider Lexus,” said Vinay Shahani, vice president of Lexus Marketing during a recent interview. Offered in ascending Standard, Premium, Luxury, F Sport, and Ultra Luxury models the LX 600 wears a familiar look, albeit updated with thin, crisply designed lighting offset by a truly gargantuan spindle grille that lacks a frame, making it appear even larger. In contrast, the back of the vehicle is tastefully tame, spelling out the brand name and featuring visually connected taillamps.
Its handsome, dignified appearance quietly offsets the more outrageous front.
Inside, it feels somewhat less claustrophobic than before, with quilted leather seats, along with wood and aluminum trim. It’s appropriately upscale for a Lexus, but others offer more opulent cabins at this price. Still, the LX 600 has its share of special features, especially on the Ultra Luxury model.
It’s here where you’ll find seating for four, with center consoles front and rear, along with a reclining rear seat with ottoman that folds down from the back of the front seat. There’s also a rear seat monitor, good for watching movies and TV. It almost works. Adults can use it if they’re under 6 feet tall, and the monitors are great, but they aren’t equipped for wireless headphones.
The biggest change is the infotainment system, which has been totally redesigned. Drivers face an 8-inch digital instrument cluster, while a 12.3-inch infotainment screen and a 7-inch screen mounted below it for controlling climate and vehicle functions anchor the center stack. They prove far easier and more intuitive to use than the cumbersome system Lexus saddled its customers with for too many years.
But the real performance most buyers want will come off-road, and that’s where the LX 600 shines. It’s body-on-frame platform feels like a real truck. Take it off-road and you’ll notice just how large and wide this vehicle truly is, although it makes easy work of the most remote trails. The various cameras lend the driver a view of what can’t be seen from the driver’s seat.
Ride quality is good for a truck, but you’d never call it posh. As you’d expect in a body-on-frame vehicle, pockmarked pavement can send shudders through the vehicle, but that’s typical of the breed.
Overall, the LX 600 provides all of the capability of a Land Cruiser but is dressed for a night on the town.