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Old 11-14-2002, 03:55 PM #16
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AutoWeek Review

2003 Lexus GX 470
GX acts as fulcrum between RX 300 and LX470

By MIKE FLOYD

Designed to deliver both sweeping on- and off-road performance, programmed for optimum stability in any driving situation and tucked neatly into the middle of the lineup, the 2003 Lexus GX 470 is a study in equilibrium. Think the Flying Wallendas
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Old 11-14-2002, 03:56 PM #17
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Edmunds Preview

First Drive: 2003 Lexus GX 470
Bases Loaded
By Brent Romans

Allow me, if you will, to perform my best impersonation of Miss Cleo and peer into the future. There you are, comfortably relaxed in front of the computer. Things are going well. Things are calm. Sparky, your golden retriever, sleeps softly at your feet. The house is quiet and a light snow falls from dulled skies. And so, as you lazily click about the Internet and sip green tea, you mold and knead the following question in your brain: On which luxury SUV should I spend my $50,000?

Now, this is not a question that very many people get to ask themselves. Well, maybe they can ask, but not many have a bank account to answer with. Fortunately for you, I am here to aid in your automotive quest. And unlike a psychic friend, I come free.

Foremost, there is not a bad decision to make here. The Acura MDX, BMW X5, Cadillac Escalade, Land Rover Discovery, Lincoln Aviator, Mercedes-Benz M-Class, Porsche Cayenne, Volkswagen Touareg
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Old 11-14-2002, 03:57 PM #18
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Pics from Edmunds


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Old 11-14-2002, 04:04 PM #19
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Car & Driver Review

C&D Review Link:

Car and Driver Review of GX470





LEXUS GX470

Vehicle type: front-engine, 4-wheel-drive, 5-8-passenger, 5-door wagon
Estimated base price: $45,000
Engine type: DOHC 32-valve V-8, iron block and aluminum heads, Toyota engine-control system with port fuel injection
Displacement 285 cu in, 4664cc
Power (SAE net) 235 bhp @ 4800 rpm
Torque (SAE net) 320 lb-ft @ 3400 rpm
Transmission 5-speed automatic with lockup torque converter
Wheelbase 109.8 in
Length 188.2 in
Width 74.0 in
Height 73.0 in
Curb weight 4700 lb
Manufacturer's performance ratings:
Zero to 60 mph 8.5 sec
Standing 1/4-mile 16.5 sec
Top speed (governor limited) 112 mph
Projected fuel economy:
EPA city driving 15 mpg
EPA highway driving 18 mpg
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Old 11-18-2002, 12:45 PM #20
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GX470 Review

All-new Lexus GX 470 gets downright amazing when the pavement runs out

By Jerry Garrett

No, the Lexus GX 470 is not a gussied-up Toyota Sequoia. It's not even the same vehicle.

The GX 470 is an all-new offering
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Old 11-18-2002, 12:56 PM #21
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ConsumerGuide Review

For
Build quality, Passenger and cargo room, Ride

Against
Fuel economy, Handling

Highlights for 2003

Lexus adds a third SUV to plug the gap between its car-based RX 300 and truck-type LX 470. The GX 470 shares a new body-on-frame design with the redesigned 2003 4Runner from parent company Toyota. Its V8 and 5-speed automatic transmission are also found in the 4Runner as well as the '03 LX 470. So is the standard all-wheel drive system with low-range gearing and hill descent control, which automatically applies the brakes to limit speed down steep grades. Also included is hill ascent control, which holds the vehicle in place on an incline for 5 seconds. Among other standard features are 17-inch wheels, antilock 4-wheel disc brakes with full-power assist, and antiskid/traction-control system. The GX 470 has front torso side airbags, plus curtain side airbags for the first two seating rows. Also included are self-leveling rear air suspension, height-adjustable suspension, and automatic shock-absorber control within four driver-selected modes. Standard amenities include leather upholstery and heated front seats, sunroof, automatic climate control, in-dash CD changer, driver-seat memory, and lighted running boards. Seventeen-inch wheels are standard.

Unlike 4Runner, the GX 470 offers a 3rd-row bench seat for up to 8-passenger capacity, same as the LX. The GX has a swing-open tailgate with fixed glass vs. 4Runner's liftgate with power opening window. GX options include a navigation system, premium Mark Levinson audio, rear air conditioning, and a rear DVD entertainment system. Towing capacity is 5000 lb, or 6500 with the optional trailering package.

Competition Luxury SUVs vary in size and type, including former members of both the Full-size and Midsize SUV classes, along with a few all-new models. All offer higher standards of workmanship, comfort, refinement, and pricing than other SUVs.

Our Best Buys are Acura MDX and Toyota Land Cruiser. Both are extremely capable on-road and offer roomy interiors that feature quality workmanship and materials. MDX gets slightly better fuel economy and is more reasonably priced. Land Cruiser offers a V8 engine, rugged body-on-frame chassis, and true off-road ability.

Though rugged and trucky, the Recommended Mercedes-Benz M-Class is spacious, offers a variety of model and engine choices, and numerous safety features. If you don't venture too far off-road, take a look at the car-based Lexus RX 300. Recommended based on price, refinement, and luxury appointments.

News The GX 470 has just arrived, so there's no news about what may lie ahead. We think the newest Lexus SUV should have no trouble meeting its announced U.S. sales target of 20,000 units a year, if only because that figure seems suspiciously modest.
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Old 11-18-2002, 11:58 PM #22
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Hey all,

New information about GX470 on LEXUS.COM.

http://www.lexus.com/gx_adventure/

All info here:

http://www.lexus.com/showroom/model/gx.html

Thanks.
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Old 11-19-2002, 12:00 AM #23
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Exterior Pics from LEXUS.COM





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Old 11-19-2002, 12:01 AM #24
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Interior Pics from LEXUS.COM





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Old 11-19-2002, 12:08 AM #25
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2003 Lexus GX 470
A midsize, full-lux sure thing
By autoMedia.com

Styling

When it comes to playing new-product poker, few have been able to match the enviable record established by the folks at Lexus. For 2003, they've raised the ante on the SUV side of their game with this slick little number, the GX 470. Scaled and priced to fit comfortably between the existing RX 300 and LX 470, it neatly fills an inside straight--and makes Lexus the first luxury marque to offer three different flavors of upline sport-utility vehicles as part of its portfolio.

The GX 470 leans more toward its bigger brother in both visual and mechanical makeup, but despite sharing common powertrain elements, the midsize-plus GX 470 boasts its own completely unique sheetmetal. Beneath its distinctive wrapper lies a full-perimeter frame, which features hydroformed side rails linked by nine crossmembers that give the GX 470 exceptional strength. With a 109.8-inch wheelbase, 62.2-inch front/rear track and 8.3-inch ground clearance, it also feels reassuringly solid and capable, whether on or off road.

Performance

Sole motivator for the GX 470 is the sophisticated and smooth 4.7-liter DOHC V8, which produces 235 horsepower and a healthy 320 lb.-ft. of torque. More importantly, 80 percent of that twist is on call from a mere 1,100 rpm. Low-end leverage of that sort works wonders when it comes to mitigating motoring stress, whether you're running stoplight-to-stoplight in town, negotiating challenging freeway on-ramps, or heading to a mountain hideaway towing up to a 6,500-pound trailer (delayed availability). Backing this engine is an electronically controlled five-speed autoshifter complete with a dual-range transfer case. High range or Low, power gets shipped to all four wheels via a TORSEN
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Old 11-19-2002, 12:15 AM #26
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Holy Shit!! 2003 FourWheeler of the Year!

http://www.lexus.com/images/showroom...x_20021118.gif

Lexus Announces Prices On Award-Winning 2003 GX 470 At South Florida International Auto Show

November 8, 2002 -- Miami, FL -- The all-new Lexus GX 470 luxury utility vehicle was named the "2003 Four Wheeler of the Year" by the editors of Four Wheeler Magazine today at the South Florida International Auto Show in Miami. Also announced were prices for the GX. Lexus will be the only full-line luxury make to offer three distinct luxury utility vehicles when the GX 470 goes on sale early next month.

Delivered annually since 1974, the "Four Wheeler of the Year" award has become a prestigious honor that is cherished by manufacturers. The GX bested seven other four-wheel-drive machines for the title. "The Lexus GX 470 exhibited surprising ability and balance," commented Jon Thompson, editor of Four Wheeler magazine. "The GX 470's engineers endowed the GX with the abilities to tackle the toughest trails while retaining a serene and secure highway ride.

The all-new, V8-powered, 235 horsepower GX 470 joins an already diverse Lexus luxury utility vehicle lineup. Positioned between the car-based Lexus RX 300 and the brand's premium luxury LX 470, the versatile GX combines the appointments and workmanship of a Lexus sedan with innovative full-time four-wheel drive and off-road management systems and an arsenal of dynamic handling technologies.

Built exclusively at the award-winning Tahara plant in Japan, this new luxury utility vehicle accommodates eight passengers and offers the latest in Lexus safety technology.

Some of the standard features on the all-new GX include:
* Driver's and Front Passenger's Airbags and Side Impact Airbags
* Front and Rear Side Curtain Airbags (1st and 2nd rows only)
* Torsen limited slip differential
* Vehicle Skid Control (VSC)
* Downhill Assist Control (DAC) and Hill-start Assist Control (HAC)
* Active Traction Control (TRAC)
* Adaptive Variable Suspension (AVS)
* Adjustable Height Control
* Wood and Leather-wrapped Steering Wheel and Shift Knob
* Heated Front Seats with Variable Heat Setting
* Variable Intermittent Rain-Sensing Front Windshield Wipers
* Automatic Dual-Zone Climate Control with Air Filtration System
* Homelink
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Old 11-19-2002, 09:56 AM #27
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New Car Testdrive.com Review

NCTD.com Review
(There are FOUR pages of reading!)

Summary:
Toyota has slowly and deliberately become SUV headquarters for buyers who want quality, durability and reliability in a cargo hauler. Toyota and Lexus, its luxury division, offers more different kinds of sport-utility vehicles than any other manufacturer.

We've been hoping for a Lexus that offers more space, style, and power than the RX 300, and this is it. The Lexus GX 470 is a good choice for buyers who want luxury, capability and reliability. Its price far less than the big LX 470. It offers off-road capability not found in the new RX 330 and will go places the big LX 470 can't go. Equipped with the third-row seat, the GX 470 can carry up to eight people.
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Old 11-19-2002, 02:35 PM #28
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Quote:
The GX 470 offers all the features that serious off-roaders want: a moonroof, 6-disc CD changer, leather-and-wood steering wheel and climate control.
I was laughing my ass off when I read this quote taken from the SanDiego review Thai posted above

Very impressive that the GX won the Four Wheeler award
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Old 12-10-2002, 03:41 PM #29
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Link:

The Car Connection Review

2003 Lexus GX470
Because there’s no such thing as too many SUVs.
by John Pearley Huffman

It’s hard to argue with success. Toyota may have started Lexus to compete sedan-to-sedan with BMW and Mercedes, but its defining vehicles have been the Land Cruiser-based LX470 and that pioneering crossover ute, the amazingly popular RX300. The SUV business has been dang good to Lexus and it was only natural that they’d try and push the advantage.

That push is the new GX470 that splits the difference between Lexus’ two existing SUVs – it’s not much larger than the RX, but it’s built like and shares its engine with the LX. Splitting that difference leaves the GX on the high end of the meatiest part of the market where vehicles like the Ford Explorer, Jeep Grand Cherokee and, no coincidence at all, Toyota’s own freshly redesigned 4Runner flourish. It has a full frame, a suspension built to tackle real off-road challenges, a V-8 under its hood, and a thick load of luxury equipment.

The GX470 is strictly conventional in general layout, pizzazz-free and derivative in appearance, and only marginally innovative in detail. But it’s capable, built like a Lexus and a flat-out stunning example of good business sense.

Related but not identical

Though it doesn’t share a single body panel, the GX470 is based on the same basic ladder frame chassis and mechanical package as the new 4Runner. However it’s not fair to write the GX470 off as a dipped-in-glitter 4Runner; it’s more accurate to think of each as a different variation of the Land Cruiser Prado – a more prosaic vehicle than either the GX or 4Runner that’s sold outside of North America.

Body-on-frame construction in an SUV usually indicates more serious off-road intentions than one gets from unibody crossovers like the RX and Acura MDX, and the GX delivers exactly that. As in the 4Runner, the front suspension is an independent system of double wishbones and coil springs while the solid rear axle uses control arms and (unlike the 4Runner) air springs with adjustable height control. There’s good travel at every wheel and a dual-range full-time four-wheel drive system is standard.

Power for the GX470 comes from Toyota’s ever more familiar 235-horsepower, 4.7-liter, DOHC, 32-valve V-8 that was introduced on the current Land Cruiser and now powers that vehicle, its clone the Lexus LX470, the Toyota Sequoia SUV, and is optional on the Tundra pickup and the 4Runner. As in the 4Runner (and the revised 2003 Land Cruiser and LX470), the 4.7 is backed by a new five-speed automatic transmission whose shifts can only be detected by the FBI crime lab.

Off road the GX470 is surefooted even though many of the plastic pieces hanging down off it (such as the flood lit running boards) is vulnerable to damage (we crunched one board against a not-so-large rock during the Utah press intro). Three on-board technologies, each electronically tied to the ABS-controlled four-wheel disc brakes extend the GX’s off-road prowess. A-TRAC (for Active Traction) applies braking to specific wheels that aren’t getting traction to direct more torque to wheels that are. Downhill Assist Control (DAC) guides the truck down slowly in high-drama situations, and Hill-start Assist Control (HAC) helps from keeping the truck from rolling back when stopped on a slope. A-TRAC effectively replaces limited slip differentials and works at least as well here as it does in the Sequoia, the DAC works brilliantly but isn’t quiet about its work, and the HAC is even useful on-road when facing steep grades.

On road, the GX is quieter than any 4x4 should be. Noise from the 265/65R17 tires is minimal but perceptible and there’s a hint of wind rush noise around the roof’s luggage rack, but otherwise it’s amazingly, well, Lexus-like, in its spooky silence. The steering feels good if not overly communicative, ride motions are nicely controlled in normal traffic but heavy crosswinds can be felt. For a tall vehicle that’s not light, the GX470 corners like a tall vehicle that’s not light.

With 4675 pounds to slog around, the V-8 has to work hard and can feel strained. It’s not quick, but there’s enough thrust aboard to sustain speed in most situations. Lexus rates it to tow up to 5000 pounds, but don’t expect it to haul half that without straining.

Lexus inside, Suzuki outside.

The GX’s interior is sumptuous in the way a Lexus’ interior should be. The leather upholstery has almost a velvety sheen, the instrumentation lights up with electro-luminescent lushness and the wood veneers look like refugees from a Lemon Pledge commercial. The third-row seat (which sits atop the space-robbing solid rear axle) is practically useless, but front seat passengers are treated regally and the second row seat is well shaped, if not endowed with an overabundance of leg room. Shoulder room is also scant throughout the cockpit, but an optional on-board DVD entertainment system (it plays through a drop-down monitor for rear seat passengers and through the dash-mounted navigation system’s screen for front seat passengers – only when the vehicle is parked) keeps everyone thoroughly amused, assuming it’s not playing a Kevin Costner movie.

The big disappointment with the GX470 is that it looks like a scaled up Suzuki XL-7 in profile, like a boring sedan from the front and like a high school geometry textbook that’s exploded in the back. A vehicle this competent and this confident deserves an appearance that’s both more distinctive and more elegant.

Surefire success

SUVs and Lexus make for an unstoppable combination. For buyers who need – or just want – more off-road prowess than the RX supplies, the GX offers it with little pain or compromise in comfort. For those who’d really like an LX470, the GX offers virtually all of that vehicle’s ability and luxury in a slightly smaller package for about a third less money.

The Japanese-built GX won’t be cheap with prices starting at $45,500 after shipping, and with RX production moving to North America this year, Toyota will have plenty of capacity to turn them out in vast numbers. Both SUV shoppers and Toyota’s ever-more awestruck accountants will be thrilled.

2003 Lexus GX470
Base price: $44,925 (plus $575 destination)
Engine: 4.7-liter DOHC V-8, 235 hp
Drivetrain: Five-speed automatic transmission, four-wheel drive
Length x width x height: 188.2 x 74.0 x 73.0 in
Wheelbase: 109.8 in
Curb weight: 4675 lb
Safety equipment: Dual front airbags, front side impact airbags, front and second row side curtain airbags, four-wheel anti-lock disc brakes
Major standard equipment: Power windows/locks/mirrors, A/C, power mirrors, leather upholstery
Warranty: Four years/50,000 miles
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Old 12-13-2002, 09:49 AM #30
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Thai Thai is online now
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Join Date: Nov 2002
Location: Eastern USA
Posts: 18,770
Thai is a splendid one to behold Thai is a splendid one to behold Thai is a splendid one to behold Thai is a splendid one to behold Thai is a splendid one to behold Thai is a splendid one to behold Thai is a splendid one to behold
Here are some pictures of the GX by Erick G at ClubLexus.com:

Sand Dollar Pearl (very nice...my favorite color!)


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My 2019 Land Cruiser
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2023 Lexus GX
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Lets Go Brandon!
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