Lexus LX 450d, Track Test

If the Nissan GT-R has a terrifying nickname like ‘Godzilla,’ then we’re going to call the LX 450 ‘King Kong.’ The LX is the big daddy of all full-size luxury SUVs. It’s a glorified luxury version of the legendary Toyota Land Cruiser LC 200 – which is one of the most capable full-size SUVs ever made. The LX 450 comes with everything you could possibly imagine to get you to ends of the earth, and on top of that it’s got a Lexus badge – which means that not only is it luxurious, but also that it’s likely the most reliable car in its segment.

Enter the cabin, and you feel like you’re in your own luxury suite that’s built inside a tank. There’s a tonne of room and the seats are as plush as they come. The centre console is splashed with so many buttons just for off-road work that most people will have no idea what to make of them. The quality levels are, of course, top notch, and the cabin is very functional as well.

The LX gets a colossal 4.5-litre V8 diesel with a power output of 261bhp and 650Nm of torque – equivalent to the smashing power of King Kong’s fist. Surprisingly, the engine does feel rather tame and friendly when in the city, but if you push it, it comes to life with renewed vigour.

One of the most incredible traits of this machine on the move is the way in which it brakes. For all its girth and mass, it literally stops on a dime! The brake pedal is a little like a switch, there’s simply no waiting for the weight to shift to the front, or for brake pressure to build – it’s just a case of pressing the brake pedal, and then holding on as this mammoth machine comes to a stop like a car a quarter of its size. In addition to the luxury and refinement, we presume that this physics defying feat is also the Lexus effect.

The LX scored higher than everything else in terms of refinement, comfort, space and quality, but to own one in India will cost you more than it would cost to rebuild an entire city after it’s been destroyed by a 100-foot gorilla. It’s also a humongous SUV, and it’s not particularly agile either – but the fact remains that this is still one of the most impressive cars currently available in India.  
 
This is a car that you buy to fulfil your long desire to own one of the most capable machines on the planet – and, on top of that, the pièce de résistance of that machine. Despite it being so capable and reliable, this is a machine that you buy with your heart.

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