Lexus GX 470 Overview

The 2003 Lexus GX 470 is a brand-new nameplate that's based on the all-new Toyota 4Runner. The new Lexus comes with a powerful 4.7-liter V8 that's smooth and quiet. The GX 470 features the latest in off-road management systems and a suspension that gives it the ability to go virtually anywhere. On the road, it uses Vehicle Skid Control to help the driver maintain control in slippery corners. Its brakes are excellent. Inside, the GX 470 is roomy and quiet, swathed in leather and birdseye maple. It is a Lexus, so everything is where it's supposed to be.

The Lexus GX 470 fits between the popular car-based RX 330 and the ultra-luxurious, ultra-capable truck-based LX 470. It's smaller and lighter than the Toyota Land Cruiser-based LX 470. Like the LX, the GX uses traditional truck engineering with body-on-frame construction, a rear-wheel-drive chassis layout, and a V8 engine.

Though based on the 4Runner, the Lexus GX 470 offers a personality of its own. To some extent, it competes with the BMW X5 4.4i and the Mercedes-Benz ML 500, but the Lexus is longer, wider, taller and lighter than either of those entries.