On the Road – Lexus LX570 [VIDEO]

Every now and then, we all like to get dressed up. The most average guy can put on a tuxedo and sort of, kind of see James Bond looking back at him in the mirror.

And if you are, let’s say, Daniel Craig, in a tux you really do see James Bond in the reflection.

It all depends on where you start.

That’s why when you dress up a full-sized SUV to make it a luxury brand, where you start is very important.

Tahoes become Escalades, Expeditions become Navigators, and in the case of the vehicle we are testing this week, Land Cruisers become the LX570.

That’s right, start with the very capable Toyota Tundra platform, build it into the Toyota Land Cruiser and then add a dollop of luxury, and you get the Lexus LX570.

Let me amend that. An extra-large dollop of luxury. This truck has every conceivable bell and whistle, and each of them is seemingly wrapped in wood or leather. It is a very elegant place from which to do business.

And, frankly, at just under $100,000, it darned well ought to be.

The LX570 is much more angular now, with the trapezoidal hourglass grill that is common to the Lexus family now.

Power comes from a 5.7-liter V8 with 383-horsepower passing through an 8-speed transmission to the full-time 4-wheel-drive system.

All of that sounds good, but the price you pay is in weight. The LX570 tips the scales at over 3 tons. That’s nearly 500 pounds more than the Land Cruiser, from whose loins it sprang.

But with that weight, it won’t do much springing. 0-60 is in the mid-7 second range, and fuel economy averages 15 per gallon. That doesn’t sound bad for the class, until you realize the Escalade gets to 60 in 5.6 seconds, the Navigator in 6.2 and the Mercedes GL450 in 5.9.

The ride is as plush as you might expect, and coming from one of the most legendary off-roaders in the business, and being a body-on-frame truck, it is much smoother than it has any right to be. You can shift the LX “manually,” which is to say, you can use the flappy paddles on the steering wheel. But let’s be real. No one paying almost 100-large for a luxury SUV is going to manually shift the thing, or get it scratched up in the booger woods.

This is a country club transport module, and in that role, it is darned near perfect. You’ll never lift a finger to do anything, other than turn the wheel, and with luxury seating for 8, no one will ever have to call shotgun.

The Lexus LX570 knows its role in life, and fills it as well or better than any truck in this class.