dserban

As I posted few days ago, I am considering an LX, but I am kind of concern about the power. I will not be towing anything but I like a car with some "OOmpf". Any comments?

Thank you!

Toog4me

Well, the LX470 will get you where you want to go in good timing, and can take you wherever you want to go in double the speedlimit... but not as fast as you probably want...

The car weighs about 5400 pounds, has 230 hp, the engine displacement is 4700 ccs, and will get you to 60 in about 9 sec, the same time as a rav 4. the qm is 17 sec... heres the drawback, top speed is 109, and it is an suv, but that is considerably slow if you want more oomph.


Your other option is a 450 hp powered porsche cayenne or BMW X5 4.6, or 4.4, both are very very nice...
or even the ML55. all are very nice cars with TOns of oomph!

dserban

Thank you for your input.

I have an X5 right now, the 3.0, the problem is time to time I have to carry some furniture (I am in the furniture business) and there is not much room without doing damage to the car.

The 4.6 or 4.4 will not solve the problem, the Cayenne nobody knows what the specs are.

My concern about the ML is the relibility which is not the best. That is why I am looking at the Lexus.

JAC JZS

Yeah the ML was rated by Consumer Report to be very unreliable. They list it as one of the used/new cars to definately stay away. Job well done Merc My uncle has one and it's always in the shop.

treynor

I've had my '01 LX470 for a year now, and it's acceptably powerful for commuting, long trips, towing etc. I've pulled my race Viper + trailer (~5000 lbs) over the 152 hills a couple of times and the LX maintained 55 mph without a problem. Being a HP junkie, however, I'm going to add the TRD Supercharger when it's released later this year, which will add enough to make the LX quite brisk.

Toog4me

Yeah, all Benzes are really unreliable... you can do what treynor is doing and spend some extra dough on a trd supercharger... that would make it a lot nicer...


Other than power, to me, the LX is a really good suv and is extremely luxurious... but have you looked at the escalade?

dserban

Yes I looked at the Escalade. Not as luxurious, MPG is worst and no Navigation.

Toog4me

and i take it that either Range Rover isnt big enough for you or not powerful either?

I think your best bet would be to stick with the lx but i dont know why you would want to haul furniture in a lux. SUV, youde be better off with a rough SUV, LIKE the Escalade EXT, and pay the extra for an aftermarket NAV system... but whatever. theyre all nice cars, but notall have the oomph you say you want.

AKoch

Gentleman,

IMHO we are all a bit crazy here. We never drive fast on our highways in North America, turns are always slow and wide, traffic is slow. Still we need more horsepower. I do not get it.

I never experinced a situation were the horsepower of my LX was not enough. Sure, if you want to tow a lot more then 6500 - you'd need it. May be you need a specialized vehicle then? LX is ment for off-road to begin with. It's roots are not trucks, but 4x4 off-road heritage.

It's kinda pathetic to ask for a huge engine for a vehicle that can't really handle that horsepower adequately.

Arguable, of course.
Alex

Toog4me

Well, dserban wanted a car with oomph. Whether there is a lot of traffic or not, which there isnt always, having an suv that will get you to 60 mph or 35 in a reasonable time is nice to have, esspecialy if you are hauling furniture. And trust me, i think the numbers for the amount of LX owners who actually use their car for offroading is far far less than 10 percent, so i dont think lexus was too interested in making this the perfect off roader.


dserban asked for a car with oomph, and to tell you the truth, the LX doesnt really give you oomph.. nice power? yes. oomph, no!

treynor

Speak for yourself. (a) Acceleration is fun; (b) turns are as fast as you make them; (c) highway speed is a personal / situational decision. I see 80 MPH on the local freeways all the time and the LX is pretty lethargic at that velocity. The extra HP from the TRD S/C will be welcome at freeway speeds and above.

AKoch

Hi,

- to 2k SC400: "so i dont think lexus was too interested in making this the perfect off roader"
2k, Lexus does not do cars regardless of what marketing department says, Toyota does. And LX is rebadged TLC Cygnus for the US and Canada. It is and so far always was an primary off-road vehicle for many parts of the world.

- for Ben (LX470, RX300, Viper RT/10.... "Speak for yourself"
I'm trying. What I'm saying is just in observation on what I see around. IMHO, I did put it there.
Acceleration is fun, no doubt - I'm getting Mitsu Evolution for this (my favorite sports car). I'm interested in acceleration and cornering abilities when I'm driving a sports car, not the vehicle for off-road, exploratory trips, commuting, etc.
80MPH translates into only 140..150km/h. This is pretty much maximum you see in the States. I LX's maximum is around 170km/h -- I personally do not have any suicidal tendencies, so I will not drive it any faster then 120..150km/h. It simply put can't handle it well. As for speed -- what I cosider to be 'norm' for a highway is 200...280km/h, which is 125...175MPH or so. At least that's what I'm used to. Not on LX, thank you <g>. If you want an SUV (or SUV-lilke) vehicle that can do that - get X5. I just do not want to see the vehicle that I like a lot to loose its roots and evolve into something X5-like, or Escalade-like. That's pretty much my point.

Just the last word -- I do not mind some extra HP in any car, including LX. But I so not understand this obsession with HP, when it becomes the primary selling point of a vehicle. IMHO its nice and cool, but of tertiary importance for as long as an adequate power is provided, and vehicle is well-balanced overall - transmission, chassis, suspention, manners, abilities.

Cheers,
Alex

treynor

Very well put, Alex. I too would not consider driving an LX at 200 KPH :eek:

Toog4me

dserban, may be you can clear this up!!!


What do you mean by some "oomph?"

dserban

Power. I think an SUV as heavy as the LX should have more horse power than the MDX which is less than 6,000 pounds.

That we will use or not this power is at everybody's pleasure.

I like a car or SUV to be able to pass fast a sluggish car on the freeway without being afraid that I might not make it on time before the truck on the other lane catches up with me.