These rugged luxury SUVs can go virtually anywhere, but only one can ascend as winner of this comparison test on pavement, through mud, and over rocks.
When you don’t have concrete data to support a claim, just make up a believable statistic like this one: 90 percent of buyers won’t take their off-road-capable luxury SUVs anywhere near that muddy pit of financial despair, the off-road park, as long as they’re making monthly payments. Maybe it’s a 95/5 split, and maybe there are six people in that hardcore cohort who would buy the gap insurance to protect their investment. It’s possible no one knows for sure.off-road before picking a winner.
With independent suspension and air springs at each corner, the Defender drives so well on the back roads that we were prepared to be disappointed by its off-road capability. Surely an SUV with handling this responsive and engaging has to be compromised over rocks and muddy ruts, we assumed.The new-for-2024 GX550 sticks to its roots, mating a steel body to Toyota’s TNGA-F ladder frame.
Six cylinders fill the engine bays of both SUVs, but the powertrain similarities end there. The GX550 cranks 349 horses out of its 3.4-liter V-6 with twin turbos generating a monstrous 479 lb-ft of torque. In the Defender, the P400 3.0-liter I-6 is boosted with a turbo, an electric supercharger, and a 48-volt motor. It bests the GX with 395 horsepower, but torque falls short at 405 lb-ft. Both SUVs sprint to 60 mph in 6.4 seconds with the Defender gaining an advantage in the quarter mile.
Lexus engineers must have spliced some mountain goat DNA into the GX550 Overtrail+. With up to 24.5 inches of wheel travel, the GX550 managed to keep all four tires in contact with the rock face to easily find the summit without spinning the tires or relying on momentum. On its tippytoes, the Defender tends to three-wheel wherever the terrain gets lumpy. If momentum is broken, the Defender often has to hunt for grip—especially when one of the front tires is hanging in the air.
Neither truck was at risk of getting stuck in thick mud, nor was crossing water a challenge. The Defender is rated for a substantial 35.4 inches of water fording, partly due to its side-mounted air intake on the left fender that makes upgrading to a snorkel a cinch. The GX is rated to wade through 27.6 inches, but pushing either water boundary is a level of extreme most buyers won’t experience.
The GX550 might have a volume advantage, but its 1,400-pound payload pales compared to the Defender’s 2,040 pounds. With less space inside, you can always store stuff on the Defender’s roof, with a 370-pound dynamic load rating—291 pounds after installing an optional Expedition Roof Rack and a 661-pound static rating. The Defender’s payload sounds like a lot for an SUV, but start loading it up with people, extra fuel and water, gear, and canoes or similar sports equipment, and it all adds up.
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