The story
The LX 570 is the 200 Series Land Cruiser in Lexus clothes, and for 13 US model years it was the most capable thing in a Lexus showroom. It sits on a new ladder frame with double-wishbone front suspension and a multi-link solid rear axle, and it uses the 5.7-liter 3UR-FE V8 with 383 hp and 403 lb-ft. Full-time four-wheel drive runs through a Torsen center differential that can be locked, and Crawl Control does the throttle and brake work for you on steep, slow terrain. Then Lexus added four-corner hydraulic Active Height Control with Adaptive Variable Suspension. That system is the main difference between the LX and the Land Cruiser, and it divides owners.
FIRST, FOR ONCE
Development of both the 200 Series and the LX began in 2002, and the design was approved in 2004. Lexus showed the 2008 LX 570 at the New York International Auto Show on April 4, 2007. It was the first LX to be revealed before its Land Cruiser twin. The frame was all new. A third of its mass is high-tensile steel, all three crossmembers are hydroformed, and the tow hitch is built into the frame, as on the Tundra. Lexus said the platform covered 240,000 test kilometers in subtropical forest, the Australian Outback and American deserts.
The LX was 102 mm longer than the LX 470 on the same 112.2-in wheelbase, and it lost the old truck's plastic lower cladding. The front suspension gave 9 in of wheel travel. ClubLexus quotes Car and Driver calling it "the most desirable SUV on the planet" and cites a 0–60 mph time of 6.7 seconds for a truck weighing about three tons.
THE V8 AND THE ROBOTS
The 3UR-FE is a 32-valve, chain-driven quad-cam V8 with dual VVT-i, shared with the Tundra and Sequoia. It drove a six-speed AB60F automatic, and from the 2016 refresh an eight-speed AE80F. Towing was rated up to 8,500 lb at launch; the 2016-on owner's manual lists 7,000 lb with trailer brakes. The electronics did as much as the hardware. Crawl Control works like an off-road cruise control in both directions. The truck also has multi-terrain ABS, Hill-start Assist and A-TRAC traction control, and from 2013 Multi-Terrain Select and Turn Assist, which brakes the inside rear wheel in tight low-range turns.
The AHC has six settings and can raise the truck about 3 in or lower it about 2 in from normal ride height, using a knob on the console. The AVS dampers are diagonally cross-linked through a hydraulic system, an idea Wikipedia compares to the 4Runner's X-REAS. One thing the LX doesn't have is the Land Cruiser's KDSS. An IH8MUD member fitting 35s points out that this actually makes big tires easier to fit on the Lexus.
THREE FACES
The LX 570 had three distinct looks. The 2008–2011 trucks are the plain-faced originals, with a 2011 bumper update that hinted at the spindle grille. There was no 2012 model year in the US. For 2013 came the first proper spindle grille, plus Multi-Terrain Select, Turn Assist and a five-speed Crawl Control. Lexus unveiled the 2016 refresh at Pebble Beach in August 2015, and it kept only the doors and roof. It brought an all-new interior and the eight-speed, and it was the first LX sold officially in Japan.
The last years brought niche variants. A two-row, five-seat version arrived for 2018. There were 500-unit Inspiration Series runs in 2019 and 2021, and a Sport package for 2020. US sales peaked at 7,915 in 2008, the launch year, and ran between about 3,100 and 6,000 a year after that, ending at 3,563 in 2021.
HOW IT ENDED
Production ended in October 2021, when the 300 Series-based LX 600 replaced the V8 with a twin-turbo V6. Toyota pulled the 200 Series Land Cruiser from North America after 2021 as well, so the LX 570 and its twin bowed out together as the last of the V8s.
On the used market the LX 570 is something of a bargain. DrivingLine noted that used LX 570s typically sold for less than comparable Land Cruisers, even though they were pricier and better equipped new. The discount is mostly fear of AHC repair bills. After a decade of ownership, one long-time IH8MUD poster concluded that the system had turned out to be "brilliantly engineered and built," without the catastrophic tales of woe owners had expected.
SIDEBAR · THE LX THEY DIDN'T SELL YOU
Diesels, superchargers and a 4.6
US buyers only got the 383-hp 3UR-FE. Elsewhere the J200 LX came in several more flavors. The LX 450d used the 4.5-liter 1VD-FTV turbodiesel V8, with 268 hp and 479 lb-ft, from 2015 to 2021. Hong Kong got an LX 460 with the 4.6-liter 1UR-FE (313 hp) for 2012–2014. Gulf and Australian LX 570s were rated at 362 hp.
The wildest was a supercharged Middle East special edition for 2014–2015, rated at 450 hp and 521 lb-ft. That's 67 hp more than any LX 570 sold in America.
