More than a ‘fancy’ Prado

RUGGED SUV: LEXUS GX SHOWS ITS CREDENTIALS

- Charl Bosch

The Lexus GX has wasted little time in becoming the marque's second best-selling model only a month after making its local debut.

An addition that moves Lexus into the rugged SUV segment for the first time, despite the presence of the Land Cruiser 300-based LX, the GX arrives on the back of having sold 540,000 units over its preceding two generations based on the third and fourth generation Prado.

A trend that continues with the new Prado, the third generation GX has been radically upgraded and in places, redesigned from its sibling both inside and out, even to the body-on-frame TNGA-F platform that underpins both models.

Positioned between its RX and LX siblings, the GX is benchmarked against the Defender 110 P400. It will for the moment only derive motivation from a single powerplant; the 3.5-litre twin-turbo V6 and carry the GX 550 name.

The second application of the engine in South Africa, the first being the Land Cruiser 300, has been detuned from that of its sibling to 260kW/650Nm.

Up 260kW/650Nm on the Prado’s 2.8 GD-6, the unit is paired to a 10-speed automatic gearbox, with drive going to all four wheels via a permanent four-wheel-drive system inclusive of a low-range transfer case.