Text by Tom Appel
2025 Lexus LX 700h Overtrail
Specs
Class: Premium Large SUV
Country of Manufacture: Japan
Color: Nori Green Pearl
Seating Capacity: 5
Miles driven: 231
Real-world fuel economy: 19.1 mpg
| CG Report Card | |
|---|---|
| Room and Comfort | B |
| Power and Performance | A- |
| Fit and Finish | A- |
| Fuel Economy | B |
| Value | B- |
| Report-card grades are derived from a consensus of test-driver evaluations. All grades are versus other vehicles in the same class. Value grade is for specific trim level evaluated, and may not reflect Consumer Guide’s impressions of the entire model lineup. | |
| Big & Tall Comfort | |
| Big Guy | A |
| Tall Guy | B |
| Big & Tall comfort ratings are for front seats only. “Big” rating based on male tester weighing approximately 350 pounds, “Tall” rating based on 6’6″-tall male tester. | |
| Drivetrain | |
| Engine Specs | 457-horsepower 3.4-liter |
| Engine Type | Hybrid, Turbocharged V6 |
| Transmission | 10-speed automatic |
| Drive Wheels | 4WD |
Driving mix: 65% city, 35% highway
EPA-estimated fuel economy: 22/30/25 (city, highway, combined)
Fuel type: Premium Gas
Base price: $114,000 (not including $1350 destination charge)
Options on test vehicle: Mark Levinson-brand premium audio system ($2660), 5-passenger seating package (-$1750)
Price as tested: $116,260
Audio-System Quality
Poor Fair Good Very-Good Excellent
Pros and Cons
The great: Solid and high-qualify feel, comfortable and roomy cabin
The good: Plenty of power, surprising fuel economy
The not so good: Flagship pricing
Review
We’ll call it the “Overtrail Paradox.” It’s the condition that exists when a product is designed with features and capabilities that would normally be emphasized for the purpose of marketing, but inexplicably are not.
Overtrail
New for the 2025 model year, the Overtrail is one of four trim levels available on the also-new hybrid variant of Lexus LX large SUV. The off-road ready Overtrail boasts a number of features that differentiate it from the rest of the big SUV range. Yet, despite the hardware, the Overtrail features only the subtlest of design tweaks. More on that in a moment…
New Hybrid
Redesigned for the 2022 model year, the LX was moved to all-new architecture and given a new name. The 2022 LX 600 replaced the LX 570, and featured a then new turbocharged 3.4-liter V6 rated at a healthy 409 horsepower. For 2025, a hybridized variant was added to the LX stable featuring a 457-horse variant of the 600’s V6. Both drivetrains mate to a 10-speed automatic transmission, come with standard full-time 4WD, and feature a 2-speed transfer case.
LX 700h Trim Levels
The hybrid, dubbed LX 700h, is offered as follows:
- Overtrail ($115,850)
- F-Sport ($118,350)
- Luxury ($120,350)
- Ultra Luxury (141,850)
LX 600
Non-hybrids LX 600 versions of the F-Sport and Luxury can be had for $4000 less than their hybrid counter parts, while the Overtrail and Ultra Luxury trim levels are exclusive to the LX 700h.
And while the Ultra Luxury predictably includes a number of very premium features to justify its very premium price tag, the Overtrail—which remaining luxurious and refined—includes a number of significant enhancements designed to enhance the LX’s off-road prowess.
Overtrail Features
Included as part of the Overtrail roster of off-road features:
- 33-inch all-season tires on matte-gray 18-inch wheels
- Front skid plate
- Front and rear locking axles
- One-inch suspension lifted for greater ground clearance
- Crawl Control
- Active Height Control (AHC)
- Adaptive Variable Suspension (AVS)
- Multi-Terrain Select including the following driver-selectable drive models:
-
- Auto
- Sand
- Mud
- Rock
- Deep Snow
-
(Note that AHC and AVS are engaged automatically, as needed, as part of the Multi-Terrain system.)
Overtrail Design Features
What’s not included are badges, or any exterior branding that hint at the Overtrail’s rough-route potential. Instead, the Overtrail is only gently (and in our opinion, handsomely) stylistically tweaked. Unique Overtrail elements include:
- Unique color palette, including:
-
- Earth
- Nori Green Pearl
- Eminent white Pearl
- Caviar
-
- Matte-gray grille
- Dark-gray grille, roof rails, and window surrounds
- Unique wheel-opening trim
- Black door handles
- Unique rear spoiler
- Semi-Aniline upholstery
- Open-pore wood cabin trim
- All-weather floor mats
Test Car
Consumer Guide recently spent a week with the new LX 700h in Overtrail trim with Nori Green Pearl paint, extra-cost Mark Levinson-brand premium audio system. All told, and 2-row seating package. All told, our test came to $116,260, including destination charge.
Available 3rd-Row Seating
Note that while the LX 600 Premium and LX 700h Ultra Luxury come only with two seating rows, other LX trim levels come with a 3rd-row. The 3rd row can be deleted, as on our test vehicle, for a credit (see prices above).
Cabin Appointments
In typical Lexus fashion, the LX cabin is an amalgam of top-notch materials and generally restrained designed. Our test car’s dark cabin may have worked to curb somewhat the Overtrail’s premium nature, as the real-wood elements on the center console and inlaid on the doors blended too easily into the décor—it’s nice wood, it deserves a little contrast.
Room and Comfort
All that said, the LX interior is a nice place in which to spend time. Our LX was outfitted for five passengers, and while seating three in the rear seat should be considered a temporary condition, there’s plenty of space for four. Large door openings allow for easy entry and exiting, while the added inch of ride height did little to impeded cabin access.
Connectivity
The Lexus touch-screen setup is clean, simple, and for us was hiccup free. The screen is easy to read, even in bright light, and inputs are responded to immediately. Also, while casual music listeners won’t car, serious audiophiles will appreciate the Mark Levinson audio options, which is among the better premium sound systems in the class. The LX’s extra-quiet cabin helps underscore the stereo’s fidelity.
Power, Performance, and Fuel Economy
Underway the hybrid and turbocharged drivetrain delivers ample smooth power. The hybrid system operates almost completely imperceptibly, including the engine stop/start feature. When tasked for passing or merging power, the engine emits a smooth, refined growl. No reasonably driver can claim to miss the V8 engine in the LX, as the beefy V6 is its better by most metrics. As a bonus, we saw 19.1 mpg in routine driving, a considerable improvement over the 13.8 mpg we observed in the last V8-powered LX 570 evaluated by Consumer Guide.
Ride and Handling
The big LX handles better than a large SUV should, serving up a decent amount of steering feel and nicely controlled lean in fast corners. The brakes feel good, too, and dive during rapid deceleration is a non-issue, unlike the previous-generation LX. Ride quality, too, is excellent. Only the most broken road surface registers unpleasantly inside the LX.
Overtrail Design
While we general don’t commit much on styling, we have to admit to finding the LX in Overtrail trim quite handsome. The monochromatic treatment seems to hide the size of this Lexus, and the lack of exterior badging is a classy move that we think Lexus buyers will appreciate. Will casual observers know that this flagship SUV is equipped with some serious off-road gear? We don’t know—that’s the Overtrail Paradox. But, we like the look.
Value
At nearly $120,000, the LX 700h Overtrail is not priced for the faint of heart, though it is the most-affordable LX hybrid offering. Given that the somewhat roomier Cadillac Escalade and Lincoln Navigator can be had for a similar sum, the LX strikes us as a little rich. But just a little.
That said, Neither the Cadillac of Lincoln can be equipped to hit the trail, and—in our testing—neither is nearly so fuel efficient. Were we surgeons and not auto writers, we’d put the LX on our test-drive short list.
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2025 Lexus LX 700h Overtrail Pictures
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