Lexus has given its GX SUV a major makeover, and not a moment too soon. The GX has a new engine, new suspension, and new technology, all on Toyota’s latest SUV and truck platform. With a new design that looks like its edges are carved from a hunk of shiny metal, the 2024 GX 550 looks sharper and more squared-off than the previous generation.
As the adage goes, however, looks are only skin deep. Lexus GX chief engineer Koji Tsukasaki would agree; when asked which came first, design or engineering, he emphatically says engineering.
“The platform was first, above everything,” he told PopSci.
The engineering team started with Toyota’s global GA-F platform and leaped off, building a capable and highly anticipated SUV on the way.
Stronger and lighter
In the lineup, the GX slots between the largest Lexus vehicles in the lineup, the LX and TX, and the smaller RX crossover. Less displacement plus turbo equals more power in 2024, and the numbers tell the story. The new GX is equipped with a 3.4 twin-turbo V6 engine generating 349 horsepower and 479 pound-feet of torque. That’s a big jump compared to the previous generation, which was powered by a 4.6-liter V8 engine capable of 301 horsepower and 329 pound-feet of torque.
It’s clear that Lexus is playing into the upward trend of overlanding/off-roading with this SUV. That goes double for the pair of new trim levels–Overtrail and Overtrail-Plus–which ride on fat 33-inch all-purpose tires and are equipped with settings made for dirt, sand, mud, and snow.
One of the ways they achieved that was by using non-linear tailor welded blanks, which are steel sheets of differing thickness and material, joined by laser welding and then press-formed. By pinpointing the weld points precisely where they’re needed most, the vehicle realizes substantial weight reduction while maintaining its rigidity. Trimming weight makes a difference: the new Lexus GX is about 750 pounds lighter than its…
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