Lexus GX to go unibody?? Autoblog

[CookieRoe]

Surprised no one posted on this. BUT, this would be thread #985 regarding the future of the 4Runner.

Lexus GX to go unibody, gain turbo power?

According to the article, this is mere speculation, but apparently may happen. I don't know what to think. The Prado/4Runner/GX frame sells big overseas, so I can't imagine Toyota switching over to unibody if sales are good. If this was a "US chassis" only platform, then yes, I could definitely see the 4Runner going unibody. I just don't know what to think. I think I'd rather see the 4Runner name live on as opposed to seeing it die off.



I posted here to get more exposure.

 

[rebelbowtie]

havent read the article yet but turbo power i am all for, however unibody i am not. i have never owned a Toyota truck before my 4Runner but when i was shopping for an SUV the body on frame design is the very thing that drew me to the platform.

it wouldnt be the end of the world (jeeps are all unibody and theyre still trail beast) but it would be a step in the wrong direction for us truck enthusiest. great for soccer moms though...

 

[Mark86]

Still don't understand why a luxury company sells a live axle truck. Who needs fine leather and wood to get dirty? Woukdnt surprise me.

 

[rebelbowtie]

Still don't understand why a luxury company sells a live axle truck. Who needs fine leather and wood to get dirty? Woukdnt surprise me.

It's a niche market, you ask who needs that? I do

 

[Casper421]

My $.02: switch the GX to the Highlander unibody platform and keep the 4runner a body on frame offroad machine it started off as decades ago!

 

[Quentin]

havent read the article yet but turbo power i am all for, however unibody i am not. i have never owned a Toyota truck before my 4Runner but when i was shopping for an SUV the body on frame design is the very thing that drew me to the platform.

it wouldnt be the end of the world (jeeps are all unibody and theyre still trail beast) but it would be a step in the wrong direction for us truck enthusiest. great for soccer moms though...

The Wrangler is BoF... and I'd venture to say that only the Wrangler is a "trail beast". I sure as **** wouldn't take a Patriot off-roading. :lol:

 

[rebelbowtie]

The Wrangler is BoF... and I'd venture to say that only the Wrangler is a "trail beast". I sure as **** wouldn't take a Patriot off-roading. :lol:

the Cherokee models are unibody, iirc the early AMC Jeeps were unibody, the commanche, liberty, Patriot, Compass. you would be kidding yourself if you didnt think that XJ or ZJ Cherokee's were formidable off road vehicles.

 

[Quentin]

the Cherokee models are unibody, iirc the early AMC Jeeps were unibody, the commanche, liberty, Patriot, Compass. you would be kidding yourself if you didnt think that XJ or ZJ Cherokee's were formidable off road vehicles.

I was speaking of today's Jeep offerings. I would call only one of today's Jeep offerings formidable offroad.

One of my best friends has an XJ Cherokee. It retains the solid rear axles that is not in most of today's Jeeps.

 

[Thai]

My $.02: switch the GX to the Highlander unibody platform and keep the 4runner a body on frame offroad machine it started off as decades ago!

Isn't that what the RX is for???

 

[Quentin]

Isn't that what the RX is for???

RX and Highlander are on the same platform, but the RX is a good bit smaller and only offers 2 rows of seating. I could see them slightly stretching the Highlander and making a really good 7 seater out of the GX replacement.

Who knows what the styling would be like. The Highlander already has a general resemblance to the LX/Land Cruiser, but I think the spindle grille doesn't really work on the big boxy styling of the LX, so more feminine styling like the RX is probably a better bet. It would help separate the Highlander and proposed Lexus version.

 

[Mark86]

I thought the new RX is more like a Venza. The Highlander feels much larger with the third row and IMO looks nothing like an RX.

 

[Thai]

I wonder if Lexus will go the route of Mercedes. You have RX and GX all based on the same platform, just different wheelbase. With Mercedes, you have the ML and GL, both on same platform just different length and wheelbase (and options).

 

[Quentin]

I thought the new RX is more like a Venza. The Highlander feels much larger with the third row and IMO looks nothing like an RX.

Toyota is pretty good about sharing platforms without doing straight up badge engineering. Platform sharing is a strange thing with Toyota. The Sienna, Camry, Highlander, Venza, RX, and a few others have the same basic underpinnings, but the bodies, wheelbases, etc are all completely different.

I wonder if Lexus will go the route of Mercedes. You have RX and GX all based on the same platform, just different wheelbase. With Mercedes, you have the ML and GL, both on same platform just different length and wheelbase (and options).

I think it will ultimately turn out that way: the GX replacement will be a bigger, longer, wider RX.