2020 Lexus GX 460 Proves to Be King of the Trails
‘Sarah-n-Tuned’ host takes to the mud in a 2020 Lexus GX 460, which she calls the ‘best’ Overlanding platform.
The 2020 Lexus GX 460, it’s big, it’s heavy, it’s kind of expensive, and it’s got an old-school-style V8. Despite all of this, there’s a reason that Lexus GXs have been so sought after in the off-road community. It’s an easy, but not cheap, platform to build on, with a respectable reputation for being incredibly reliable. Yes, that particular trait is thanks to the Toyota side of the gene pool — but Lexus takes what Toyota has and makes it luxurious. If you’re going to drive a reliable car off-road, why not do it with some style baked into it?
That point is exactly what Sarah, the host of the popular YouTube channel Sarah-n-Tuned, argues in her review of the new GX 460. Featuring her friend and fellow auto enthusiast Liz, Sarah intelligently breaks down the several reasons the 2020 GX 460 makes the perfect platform. First, for the size and the options, it’s not as expensive as it could be. The GX 460 Sarah tests in this video is priced out to be nearly $73,000. Granted, it does seem a little steep, but when the pricing of the newest Toyota Land Cruiser can get upwards of $90,000, it’s not bad. At a lower price than the Land Cruiser, you get an SUV that’s the same size as the 4Runner, coming with a lot of the off-road goodies from a 4Runner, and far more comfortable and luxurious interior.
“I am a huge fan of these, always have been,” says Sarah enthusiastically. “It’s my favorite size of an off-road vehicle. It’s not as big as the Land Cruiser or the LX 570… It’s just right.”
While the dimensions of the GX 460 are similar to it’s Toyota sibling, there’s another key difference. You know, aside from the price tag, badge, and gaping, monstrous grille. The GX 460 weighs in at around 5,100 lbs, which is a lot closer to the weight of the Land Cruiser, or other larger Lexus’. While that sometimes plays a role in off-road capability for some makers, Lexus has never let weight keep them off the dirt. It does, however, put a small dent in mileage.
With the 4.6 liter 4 cam, port-injected (which is Sarah says makes it “old school”) V8 that the GX 460 has hitched underneath the hood, the Lexus scored a combined mileage of about 17.3. On the freeway, Sarah logged roughly 19 mpg, and city driving was, well, a lot worse. We can only imagine what the numbers would be when it’s off-road. For a car with full time four wheel drive, though, Sarah notes the scoring isn’t terrible. It’s also not as slow as she thought it would be – especially when the engine makes 301 hp and 329 lb ft of torque. For a car that weighs as much as it does, the numbers could be a lot bigger – though, Sarah says the “boujee soccer mom car” is not as slow as she anticipated.
Thoughts on the Interior
“As far as the interior is concerned,” says Sarah from the driver’s seat. “I’m only going to talk about what stood out to me because, well, it’s 2020. I don’t need to read the manual to you. You all know how to Google.”
Sarah’s feelings about the interior were fairly positive until it came time to talk about what surrounded the infotainment system. She pointed out a cheap-looking bit of plastic, that to her looked like a “boombox straight out of the mid-2000’s.”
‘It’s my favorite size of an off-road vehicle. It’s not as big as the Land Cruiser or the LX 570… It’s just right.’
Other than that, the infotainment unit was updated for the model, and she was impressed with the number of options and selections. Additionally, aside from being able to connect to smartphones, the GX 460 is also compatible with smartwatches. Seeing how that pans out will be interesting, to say the least.
The back seats of the Lexus are, according to Sarah, just as comfortable as being in the driver’s seat. The rear seats have individual TVs on the back of both the driver and passenger seat, headphones provided by Lexus underneath each seat, and an individual remote behind the passenger’s seat. Just one, though, so your kids (should you have any) will have another thing to fight over. Other than that, the Lexus also has third-row seating. But using them all but eliminates any and all storage space in the rear.
What About Off-roading?
Sarah was unsurprisingly impressed with the GX460 off-road, despite the sloppy all season (AS) tires that came with the car. It climbed a steep hill in 4Lo perfectly fine, the hill descent control got it back down the hill just fine, and it road “buttery smooth” in all other scenarios. She didn’t mention whether or not she utilized the adjustable suspension height switch for her off-road testing, though. Either way, the GX 460 took it well.
“This wouldn’t be an off-road video without driving through a mud puddle,” said Sarah. “There’s a massive one just ahead, and we’re going to do it.” She did it, but thanks to the stock tires, the Lexus struggled to maintain grip half-way through the puddle. However, we’re confident that the 4WD system paired with better tires would have made all the difference. Like we are, Sarah’s excited to see the GX 460 turned into overlanding/off-road rigs.
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