As the Lexus LX 570 gets closer and closer to the dealerships, the test drives are starting to come in. First one to the press is Motor Trend, and it’s heavy in praise:
This largest Lexus has no more business vamoosing through chicanes than it does scaling 45-degree slopes, fording two-foot-deep streams, or straddling nine-inch-tall rocks, and yet it’s capable of doing all the above.
In fact, it seems to have been optimized for such bushwacking, with innovations like Crawl Control (think three-speed downhill-assist that also works uphill), Active Height Control (which can tip-toe three inches above or kneel camel-like 2.4 inches below normal ride height. “What percentage of your buyers go off-road?” a colleague asks. “Um, I don’t think we have numbers on that,” the presenter dodges.
Cute answer by the Lexus representative.
I’m not sure why the article’s writer is so surprised at the offroading capability, this certainly isn’t the first LX suitable for the trails. Still, I suppose it would be hard to equate the luxury inside with its performance on the outside.