Automobile Magazine has posted up a first drive of the 2010 Lexus GX 460, which reads like an obituary of body-on-frame luxury utility vehicles, and includes this suggestion:
When this new GX got the green light four or so years ago, the world was a different place. Today, Lexus doesn’t really need two V-8-powered, body-on-frame utility vehicles. A more appropriate stable mate to the successful RX model might be a crossover patterned after the GMC Acadia which delivers about 10-percent better gas mileage and more interior space, albeit without the GX’s off-road prowess.
The argument that Lexus should abandon the GX because of the LX ignores one of the biggest differences between the two: price. There is a near $25,000 USD price difference between the two models. Instead, the body-on-frame sets the GX apart from most of its competitors, with the reduced interior space as the trade off.
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On a sidenote, here’s a GX 460 curiosity:
The instrument cluster is a delightful array of three liquid-crystal displays and four glowing needle and digit gauges. Scrolling through the menu allows displaying such useful info as which way the front wheels are pointing.
[Source: Automobile Magazine]
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