Lexus LH - a real SUV with excellent passable abilities. More recently, Japanese designers and engineers have slightly modernized it, outwardly it began to look much more beautiful, under the hood a new motor, new electronics, new options appeared.
Lexus LX, as always, was considered an elegant and stylish car, luxury class anyway. The new Lexus LH has become slightly longer and wider than its predecessor, but not by much - in length, the car increased by 60 mm, and in width - by 10 mm. Lexus LH 2016 looks much more modern and fry. New headlights, beautifully shaped body surface create the impression of a completely new car.
The design of the car itself has not changed: the same frame, full permanent drive, self-locking differential, etc. Everything is as before, but with the mask of a new and modern SUV. Frame construction is very reliable, but lately, it goes out of fashion, now many automakers are moving away from the frame, but not Toyota and Lexus.
Motors and equipment
The basic configuration of this SUV in any country is the LX 570, under the hood of which there is a 367-horsepower gasoline 5.7-liter engine, which also stood on the previous generation. The difference is that in the new car, instead of the 6-speed automatic, the 8-speed automatic is now used, which can be switched in manual mode with the help of the steering wheel lobes.
For Russia, Ukraine and the Middle East, the LX 450d equipment with a diesel engine was prepared, which is also installed in the new Land Cruiser 200 2016 model year. This engine "self-igniting", the 8th cylinder, gives out power in 272 l. with., on the Land Cruiser, the same engine produces 249 liters. with. power. To the diesel engine is a 6-speed automatic. It is in this tandem that the best acceleration dynamics will be calculated, therefore, they decided not to put the 8-speed box. Marketers from Russia believe that it will be better to sell diesel equipment, because the new generation of Land Cruisers in most cases disperse from diesel engines.
Salon
Inside, the instrument panel decided not to do the virtual, and left the analog devices with arrows, these devices look pretty good, and most importantly - stylish. The rest - a lot of new things appeared in the cabin. The front panel is divided into upper and lower parts, which are separated by a clock. In the upper part there is a display on which everything that happens with the car is displayed, and in the lower part there are switches, buttons and selectors, in general, all functions are controlled.
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This is convenient, it is now clear how to search for a button for the desired function. There are no touchpads and touchscreens, which are very fashionable lately, and instead of them - the Remote Touch joystick, with which you can control the multimedia system and the usual control buttons. This joystick has a large size, it is convenient to manage it. But if the car will go, then we must still try to get the cursor in the right menu, but over time the skills will come.
Monitors are also provided for rear passengers, but they can only be controlled by a remote control that is installed in the armrest, which is rather conservative. But Japanese engineers believe that the buyers of these cars are accustomed to this method of control, and not to this modern touch control. But since time does not stand still, it’s time to get used to modern technologies and not be such an avid conservative. Heated and ventilated seats are also on the back seat, which is also equipped with a passenger presence sensor, which corrects the operation of the climate system.
The drum, located as close as possible to the driver, controls the Crawl Control system, which has 5 modes. The one that is a little further is designed to select one of the programs Drive Mode Select, each of the programs makes the work of the engine, box, steering and suspension different. For example, you can choose “Eco” mode, sport mode, super sport mode. There is a Customize mode, here the driver himself can adjust the driving characteristics of the car to his own taste, for example, the motor can be made like in sports, and the suspension - in comfort mode.
There is also a projection display on the windshield, it is perfectly readable and can be adjusted in height. Even among modern technologies there is a wireless charging for various devices. Feels like - a huge mammoth, stuffed with electronics and everything. But the car combines modern technologies and classics: the air suspension allows you to change the ground clearance while overcoming off-road, the body position will also change, and the rear suspension, which provides stable ground clearance.
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If the machine is not loaded, then there is no special sense in all these settings of the air suspension. Moreover, at high speed, within 160 km / h, the body twitches slightly, and this is most likely due to the dependent rear suspension. If you compare the gasoline equipment with a diesel engine, the second one is slightly better, firstly, the engine is quieter, and secondly, the diesel engine is quicker at medium speeds, the gasoline version is slower even with its 8th steps on the box.
With a sharp acceleration of the gasoline engine Lexus LX 570 creates a not very pleasant sound. And most importantly - the petrol version consumes 19 liters of gasoline on the combined cycle, and diesel - only 15 liters. If you compare the off-road characteristics of the Lexus LH and Toyota Land Cruiser, they are about the same, but the Land Cruiser will travel almost everywhere without any loss and scratches, but the LH can remain without a bumper.
In terms of equipment, the petrol Lexus LH wins over diesel, which has no hatch, large wheels with a diameter of 21 inches, there is no possibility to put an additional tank or another row of seats. But this is not such a disaster. This is done to ensure that the gross vehicle weight does not increase significantly. The diesel engine itself weighs 70 kg more than the gasoline one.
On account of the price, the top diesel version costs 5,354,000 rubles, while the top gasoline equipment costs about half a million more. But the basic version, that gasoline, that diesel, cost the same - 5 million rubles.
In the new Lexus LH updated Multi-Terrain Select, which can set the degree of wheel spin when driving off-road. What is good about this system is that there is an “Auto” mode that can be enabled in the Multi-Terrain Select menu or with the help of the off-road assistant Crawl Control. In Auto mode, you do not need to think and determine by what kind of coating the car is going.
The names of off-road programs often do not match with reality. There are such modes: "stones", "bumps", "dirt and stones", "dirt and sand", "loose rock". Each time you’ll get tired of determining whether you are going through mud or mud with stones. Therefore, I turned on the automatic mode and everything is fine.
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And it’s not particularly pleasant to drive along the sand, but this machine will calmly handle the sand, if you block the center differential before this, you can do this at any time, regardless of the program selected. You can also choose a downshift and calmly go wherever your heart desires. In case the car gets stuck, it is enough just to turn on the assistant Crawl Control, which has 5 speeds and drive back along its track.
Many lovers of off-road driving on expensive jeeps drive it in such a way as not to bother much. Off-road hydraulic suspension really gives a serious advantage, if the car gets stuck, you can simply lift the car as high as possible, turn on the back and go back along its track. And the fact that such a suspension adds comfort while driving is understandable. Also in the Lexus LH there is a camera that can look under the bottom of the car to determine what kind of dirt is there, but such chips do not really matter.
There is also an alarm clock that will turn on if the system detects that the driver starts to fall asleep at the wheel. There is also a modern system that sees road signs and road markings. It can keep an exact distance behind a certain, ahead driving car, brakes, if necessary, to a full stop.
Whether this car will continue to be released is not yet known, the chief engineer of Lexus LH says that after about 3 years, not a restyling will be released, but a new generation Lexus LH, in which they plan to introduce a new rear suspension and lighter frame.
And then a fun video test drive with the new Lexus LH 570:
