I thought I'd write a quick review and comparison between my 2022 Limited and a 2023 GX460 Black Edition I just test drove.

I am a previous GX470 owner, putting 120K miles on an '07 Sport (yes, KDSS ;) ). Loved that truck. At the time it felt like a clear upgrade from the v8 4R I tested.

My primary issue w/our 4Runner Limited is that the 4.0 v6 is a little weak on torque and sounds like a bucket of bolts. I love v8s. The new Black edition of the GX460 is appealing because it's fairly basic while having some benefits like real roof rails.

My impressions in no particular order:
- Everything is cushy. The whole thing feels like a layer of butter. Softer seats. Softer steering. Softer ride. Quiet. Hushed.
- Steering is kind of heavy at low speeds, but light and without any feel at higher speeds. Steering feel on 4r much better.
- Rear view camera is way better than the 4r
- Interior materials feel a step up. Everything. Dash, door panels, turn signal stalks, gauges, etc. All just a step up in quality.
- Front seats fit me about as well. My old GX was made for shorter folks and the seat cushions were too short. Front seat OK in the GX460
- Rear seat is less comfortable. Higher floor. Less comfortable seat. I think this is a byproduct of the compromise for 3rd row and the 2nd needing to fold for access
- Rear seat fold-down is janky as heck compared to 4r due to 3rd row
- Load height of rear is really high and the overall cargo area is lower than the 4r due to the mandatory 3rd row in the floor
- Engine is super muted. Can barely hear it.
- Engine/tranny is tuned for "lazy progress". It is torquier but doesn't want to shift down so it really encourages you to chill and "waft"
- Like a bit old shot of novicaine
- Even the Black edition is ugly
- Only the Luxury version (top) gets leather. The Black edition is trim on the base and is vinyl. SUPER nice vinyl.
- Handles worse; less fun to drive overall. You can feel the extra 600lbs of weight. My 4r felt instantly more "responsive and alert" pulling out of the dealership

Net: going to pass. Really surprised I didn't like it more.

I felt the same in 2015 when I bought my 4r. TRD or premium with kdss vs GX. I drove both back to back a few times. I liked the 4runner better for interior layout and function, much better body clearance, lighter feeling drive, and at the time a more modern interior.

I really wish they had just built a V8 4runner. It would have been great.

Looking at the new GX460 on line, it appears to have an "off-road" package available with crawl control, etc. Have any of you guys driven one with this or have even seen one?

The offroad package is only available on the Luxury trim which starts at 70k. Not sure why they aren’t showing the black line on the build site. I am pretty sure it had a hill descent knob on the dash. I don’t think you can get it (the black line trim) with the offroad package.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

No you can’t get black line + luxury but you can get a luxury with the sport package AND the off-road package.

Drawback is there’s only one in the country and it’s $73k.

CarGurus - 2023 Lexus GX 460 Luxury AWD - $73,105


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

This has always been offered in the "luxury" trim as standard IIRC - or at least I've never driven one without it. It's also an easy plug and play add-on to any GX model from 2010-2019 because it's done via a control module swap. No complex swap of switches and such needed like it takes on the 4Runner. mods:body [GX Offroad]