The 2025 Lexus LX 700h Is The ‘Real’ Land Cruiser But It’s Not Perfect

If you want a new Land Cruiser, you can buy a new Land Cruiser, but if you really want a new Land Cruiser in the vein of the old Land Cruiser, you’ll probably want a Lexus LX. Confused? Let me explain. See, the Land Cruiser you can buy brand new from a Toyota showroom is actually what’s called internationally the “Land Cruiser Prado,” which is more similar to a Lexus GX than a full-sized Land Cruiser (like the last-gen Land Cruiser). However, if you need it all, you aren’t out of options. North America does receive a variant of the full-sized “J300” Land Cruiser that other markets get — the Lexus LX — and although previous LX models haven’t offered quite the same capability as the last-gen Land Cruiser platform-mate, the 2025 Lexus LX 700h aims to level the playing field for Americans who know exactly what they want and are willing to spend six figures to get it.

For three decades, the LX has been around as a luxury version of the full-sized Land Cruiser, a Japanese competitor to the Range Rover that melds stoutness with upscale appointments. Since the 2022 model year, America’s received the current LX in LX 600 form, effectively as a replacement for the full-sized Land Cruiser that Toyota withdrew from America at the end of 2021. However, the U.S.-spec LX hasn’t featured quite the same level of off-road equipment as the dearly-departed full-sized Land Cruiser, so when Americans learned that the 2024 Land Cruiser would actually be the light-duty Prado-based 250-series, some felt shortchanged. From overlanders to Doug Demuro, people wanted more than just a Prado (which is essentially like the Lexus GX), but rather the full-sized 300 series Land Cruiser that other markets get with more off-road equipment than its Lexus LX sibling.

Well, for 2025, the LX 700h arrives, and while it does offer a modest economy boost of two mpg city and one mpg combined over the LX 600, it seems largely to be an exercise in more, partially to appease full-sized Land Cruiser fans. More power, more torque, more power onboard to run overlanding equipment, and more available off-road goodies including more locking differentials. So, is more really better than the LX 600, and does it have what it takes to win the adoration of the Land Cruiser faithful? Let’s find out.

[Full disclosure: Lexus took me on a whirlwind tour of Napa to drive the new LX 700h, and set journalists up in a hotel that has LC 500 courtesy cars to just rip around in. Opulence has levels, but being able to sit down with the chief engineer of the LX 700h for additional insight was the finest of all. Maybe I’m just not cut out for the lifestyle of the one percent. -TH]

Hybrid Theory

Underneath the current Lexus LX sits the same TNGA-F body-on-frame architecture you’ll find used in vehicles like the Toyota Tacoma, the Tundra, the Lexus GX, and yes, the U.S.-market Land Cruiser (called the “Prado” in international markets). Featuring a solid rear axle and independent front suspension, it’s properly rugged stuff. For a few years now, America’s received the LX 600, powered by the same twin-turbocharged 3.4-liter V6 you’ll find in the GX 550. Hitched to a 10-speed automatic transmission, it’s a cromulent powertrain, but anyone fond of speculating had a feeling it wasn’t the end of the line. After all, the Tundra offers a hybridized twin-turbocharged V6, and there’s always an opportunity for more power, right?

Right off the rip, it’s clear Lexus spared no expense in ensuring the fewest compromises were made when modifying the LX to accept a nickel metal hydride hybrid battery pack and a motor inside its 10-speed automatic transmission. The spare tire crossmember is new, along with the floor from the rear axle back to ensure proper spare tire and battery pack packaging without an odd hump like you get in, say, the current U.S.-market Toyota Land Cruiser. Since the electrified transmission is longer than the standard 10-speed in the LX 600, the entire transmission crossmember has been revised and shifted rearwards on the frame to accommodate the new gearbox without affecting cabin floor packaging.

Speaking of the hybrid system, there’s a beautiful complexity and redundancy to it that almost harkens back to the days when you needed two ECUs to run a fuel-injected V12. To kick things off, the battery pack is actively thermally managed by the rear air conditioning compressor (yes, there are two compressors), and it sits inside a gasketed two-piece weather-sealed enclosure with its own internal moisture sensor to let you know if the stream you just forded breached the seal.

Unlike every other Lexus hybrid, the LX 700h features a separate starter motor and alternator that function as both mechanical backups and load-sharing devices for duties normally performed by the high-voltage hybrid system. This way, if you ever encounter a high-voltage system failure in the wilderness, you can still get home. The starter motor cycles periodically to prevent the bendix from seizing, and it’s also used in seriously cold conditions. Likewise, the physical alternator has a use aside from emergency 12-volt system charging. With everything you can get on this flagship, from massaging rear thrones to a 25-speaker sound system, the physical alternator quenches excess thirst for amps, taking some load off the high-voltage pack.

Pairing that hybrid system with the V35A-FTS 3.4-liter twin-turbocharged V6 results in 457 horsepower at 5,200 rpm, a useful 48-horsepower boost over the standard LX 600. However, the more eyebrow-raising figure is 583 lb.-ft. of torque at 2,400 rpm, 104 more lb.-ft. than the LX 600 at a peak some 400 rpm higher in the rev range.

Drop the electronic shifter into drive, roll onto the throttle from a stop, and well, a full beat passes before anything actually happens. It’s a rather alarming delay when you need to, say, turn left onto an arterial road, and you’ll soon realize that the same delay happens when getting back onto the skinny pedal after coasting below 40 mph or so. Input lag like this is not a great first impression for Lexus’ flagship SUV, and while the powertrain certainly has its pros, this odd torque delivery quirk certainly sticks in the front of your mind.

Once this monstrous torque curve decides to ash its cigar and saunter back into the party, it makes its presence known loud and clear. Sure, the LX700h may only officially be rated at 6.4 seconds from zero-to-60 mph, but it’s also more than 6,200 pounds of Lexus. Think of the difference between the torque in the LX 600 and the torque in the LX 700h a bit like loading an apple into a trebuchet versus loading a pumpkin and pulling the pin. They’ll both fly, and the apple might fly farther, but there’s a perverse joy in accelerating huge mass. The grunt down low, where you actually feel it, is herculean, with theater and occasion befitting the price tag.

Locked In

Speaking of powertrain bits, the Lexus LX 700h in Overtrail trim is the first flagship Lexus since 1997 to get triple lockers — a locking differential in the center, another one out back, and one more up front. Lock the center and rear differentials with the transfer case in low range, and you can slowly glide over a mound of basketball-sized boulders like you’re pulling into the Starbucks drive-thru.

With the extra forward visibility afforded by the camera suite and the massive ground clearance courtesy of the hydraulic height-adjustable suspension, tackling the rock-crawling section of the off road course felt less challenging than slowly trundling down a gravel driveway in a sports car. Lock the front diff too, and you’re pretty much ready for a supporting role in the next “Mission: Impossible” film, or stage a coup, or drive up the side of the Empire State Building. While the differentials play a huge role in not getting stuck, it’s worth complimenting the surprisingly quiet Toyo all-terrain tires, a high-sidewall choice with the benefits of huge deflection off-road and the downsides of, well, huge deflection on-road.

Attempting something close to the speed limit in an Overtrail on a serpentine mountain road feels about what you’d imagine salsa dancing on ketamine would feel like. It’s pretty wallowy and the extraordinarily modest engine braking really stretches out downhill corner entries, which can get a bit spooky when the grab handle on the A-pillar can obscure entire corners. Fortunately, there is a fix for this, but not if you live in Canada. The LX700h “F Sport Handling” includes such newfangled accoutrements as a rear anti-roll bar, a Torsen helical limited-slip rear differential, and lower-profile highway tires pictured above, all of which help add up to a substantially more buttoned-down handling experience that makes even the unibody Land Rover Defender feel a tad cumbersome. It’s not a surprising finding, but if you’re in the market for a hybrid LX, you’ll want to drive both tire packages back to back and figure out if you’re willing to live with the mushier handling of the Overtrail in exchange for increased off road capability.

Regardless of which trim you take for a spin, you’d be hard pressed to tell that the LX 700h is body-on-frame, as although it exhibits a little cross-axle load sharing inherent in a vehicle with a live rear axle, any squirm over crack-laden roads comes through the rear suspension rather than the structure. It all comes down to calibration and material testing, as Lexus still uses conventional rubber body mounts, but there’s a settled nature here you won’t quite find in a Cadillac Escalade. The other big thing you’ll notice is that the brake pedal calibration is absolutely perfect for an electrified vehicle. It’s incredibly difficult to discern any change in pedal effort from regenerative braking to friction braking, and effort seems positively natural. If ease is the ultimate measure of luxury, the way the LX 700h shrinks around you and holds surprisingly tight to the road in most trims speaks volumes.

Solace

While the hybrid system is the big news about the LX 700h, there are a few changes that have happened for 2025. For instance, the air bladders in the massaging seats used to be shaped like Cheez-Its, but are now star-shaped for pointier, um, the industry term is “finger action” but let just leave that one where it lies. At the same time, equipment like a head-up display and adaptive dampers have become standard across the range.

That being said, with this level of available equipment, were many updates necessary? I mean, the Ultra Luxury trim features a four-seat configuration with a full-length console, ideal for those who are likely to be driven, rather than drive themselves. With up to 48 degrees of rear seat recline, an ottoman for the right rear passenger, three screens for rear passengers, and the most gorgeous copper tan semi-aniline leather this side of a Bentley, it truly feels special.

Adding to the specialness across all trim levels is both the sheer fit-and-finish and the noise isolation present on the LX 700h. Not only does everything feel properly bolted down, every stitch is perfectly even in length and spacing, every button is set into close-fitting shrouds, everything that looks like leather or wood is leather or wood, and things like the power windows and windscreen wipers seem almost impossibly quiet. It’s a subtle, old-school type of luxury that focuses on materials and build quality over technology, one that the Magic City interior of a G-Class or the exposed hardware posturing of a Land Rover Defender can’t quite match.

However, there is one thing in the cabin that doesn’t feel quite as special as it needs to for the money: the 25-speaker Mark Levinson sound system. There’s an unnatural attack to the treble, pushing sibilant syllables, hi-hats, and trumpets through the rest of the soundstage and making all sorts of music sound harsh at higher volumes. It’s an acoustic issue that would be easy to work around if a seven-band or nine-band parametric equalizer was on offer, but Lexus only makes you let rough tweaks to bass, treble, and midrange.

Wait Just A Second

Is the 2025 Lexus LX 700h worth its price tag of $115,350 to $131,350 ($138,264 to $173,330 in Canada), especially over the standard LX 600? In its current form, maybe only in rare instances. If you’re okay with some serious pedal lag in exchange for improved fuel economy, if you want the most off-roady LX, or if you have an actual chauffeur to drive you around your vineyard, it’s the LX to have. However, outside of those few use cases, you might want to wait to see if Lexus updates the transmission calibration before going all the way up to the 700h. In the real world, the standard LX 600 has smoother power delivery, rides better, and offers all of the hybrid model’s impeccable build quality, outstanding materials, and surprisingly deft handling for a full-size SUV.

As for rivals, they probably aren’t worth much mention, chiefly because someone looking at an LX might not even consider the European competition. They’re buying and holding, not leasing. The new Range Rover is lovely, but it’s not quite as capable as an LX 700h Overtrail, and a dedicated four-seat version is more expensive than an LX 700h Ultra Luxury. A Mercedes-Benz G 550 matches the LX 700h Overtrail on locking diffs, but it’s $34,550 more expensive than the Lexus. A wildcard is the GMC Hummer EV SUV 3X, and although its $106,945 price tag undercuts the LX 700h, it shouts while the Lexus whispers. The LX 700h has the makings of a masterpiece, but it needs a little fine tuning, a little more drying time to perform to its full potential, especially when compared to the non-electrified model.

(Photo credits: Thomas Hundal, Lexus, Toyota)

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