Lexus LX 570. New Arrival. The Management Fleet

We welcome the Lexus LX 570 to our long term Management Fleet, consider off-road excursions and surviving Dubai traffic. But first, what does that button do…?

The Toyota Land Cruiser is known as the ‘Ship of the Desert’ which means crankandpiston has just bagged itself first class passage on a luxury cruise liner for the next few months.  The third generation Lexus LX takes the 200 Series Land Cruiser to a whole different level of comfort and luxury while still maintaining the ‘drive it anywhere’ ethos of the longest running vehicle in the Toyota arsenal.

As the most recent addition to the fleet, we haven’t really had the opportunity to put it through its paces yet. A cursory toe in the water – challenging the Lexus to some off-road action for photography purposes – was shrugged off by the LX without even needing to switch drive mode. This was a good thing, since there are so many buttons on the control deck we are going to have to study the driver’s manual to find out what most of them are for.

On the black stuff – the road, not the Irish alcoholic beverage – the LX 570 hustles its considerable curb weight with ease thanks to the 5663cc of V8 stashed under the bonnet.  Adjustable ride height and sport suspension options – some of the switches that have been located and we think we understand – also take care of cornering duty with a lot less body roll present than expected from such a large vehicle.

The commanding view from the Captain’s chair is impressive with fantastic all-round visibility provided by big mirrors and large areas of glass. This 360-degree, crystal clear visibility is a two-way street though and we now understand why most Lexus LX in the United Arab Emirates are sporting heavily tinted windows. Well, that and it looks badass.

Even on our brief custodianship of this latest arrival, there has been something evident from the get-go. Other road users give you above average respect, keep their distance behind and get out of the way in front. This just isn’t the normal modus operandi from drivers on the streets of Dubai. Obviously, as well-mannered and courteous road users, we will not be abusing our newly found road status. At all. Much.

What we will be doing is exploring the cavernous interior behind the front row of seats, watching a bit of television in the second row and working out just how many folk and random items of equipment we can get into the Lexus once we set up the seats in the third row. Perhaps even some more luxury off road excursions while the on board refrigerator keeps our beverages nicely chilled.

First things first though. Better have a read of that manual and find out what all these switches do.

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