Range Rover vs Lexus LX

What's the difference?

The Range Rover Autobiography long wheelbase is an outstanding SUV that is not just beautiful to drive but makes family practicality a priority, too, 

The price is reasonable relative to the competition, the features list is long and complementary servicing offers peace of mind.

If you don’t need the third row, I’d consider the standard wheelbase Autobiography even if it does reduce legroom, there’s still plenty of space.

My son stopped short of giving the Range Rover Autobiography full marks "because there are no massaging seats in the second row".     

The Lexus LX500d is a genuine seven-seater with impressive levels of refinement, comfort and even off-road capability.

The interior borders on being chintzy and it’s price-tag is the wrong side of bloody expensive, but there's no denying this Lexus is packed with stuff.

It’s more city than country, more bling than bush tourer – it’s like a tarted-up 300 Series – but that’s absolutely fine for the people who buy these.

I wouldn’t blame anyone for cross-shopping a Toyota LandCruiser 300 Series with this – and then opting for the 300 Series! For one thing, you’ll save a stack of cash.

This fifth-generation Range Rover debuted in 2021 and despite its smooth, modern styling this SUV retains the familiar traditional Range Rover look with the short squared bonnet, flat roofline and tall windows.  

Let’s talk about the wheelbase, because it has a huge impact on passenger space.

We had the long wheelbase which is 3197mm between the front and rear wheels - that’s 200mm more than the standard wheelbase. 

Just look at those stretched rear doors in the photos - this is a go-anywhere limousine, or go-anywhere daycare centre in my case.

The overall length of the long wheelbase Range Rover is 5252mm. That’s big, but the design of this SUV doesn’t make it appear enormous.

What I don't like are the retractable door handles. They take a while to pop out and they look and feel cheap. Land Rover has used these on its other SUVs and if I had time I’d pen a letter asking the company to please stop. I’m sincerely hoping this review will do the same thing. I await your response JLR.

I think the tail-lights are pure genius. The pencil thin design is such a brave move away from the norm where brands are going over the top with LED lighting, and the simplicity is refreshing.

Inside, a traditional-looking Range Rover cabin awaits you with the flat dashboard, the low window sills contrasted by super modern touches like the displays and fully digital dials.

It’s sumptuous, luxurious, but not over the top. Again some people are looking for bling and gimmicks, but you won’t find them here - and I like that. This interior feels solid and substantial, but plush. 

In firmly keeping with its target market, the LX500d is a premium-looking SUV.

This is a big unit and everything is slick and in-your-face impressive. Inside and out this Lexus looks a lot like a tarted-up LandCruiser 300 Series that’s been on a recent cycle of steroids. 

The optional 22-inch alloy wheels (part of the $5500 Enhancement Pack, as mentioned above) add to the overall look. 

The interior is a tasteful blend of woodgrain, leather accents, soft-touch surfaces, plush seating, and even comfortable arm-rests.

Range Rovers have been a family favourite for decades and they’ve been doing school runs and trips away long before other brands even thought about producing SUVs for families.

So what you’re buying is Land Rover’s decades of knowing how to make a family SUV and you can tell by little things such as, how wide the doors open, how easy it is to get in and out of (even for little kids), the flat floor, the good visibility (thanks to low window sills), and then there’s the space and cabin storage. Stuff other brands seem to be still working out.

The second row seats in the Autobiography have electric sun shades, dual-zone climate control and the window seats are power adjustable and heated.

My eight-year old couldn’t resist playing with his electric sunshade and the seat adjustment, but fortunately the driver has an override switch which let me turn off his 'seat privileges’ as he called it. 

Being the long wheelbase means the rear doors are long and heavy. So while the eight-year old could open them, he had trouble closing them. 

The long wheelbase offers unrivalled legroom in the back and that meant my wife and I could put our own seats back further for our own comfort -even with a baby seat behind us.

Enormous door pockets, a giant centre console storage area, cupholders in all three rows, USB ports, wireless phone charging and in our case an optional domestic power outlet ($130) made this a comfortable, roomy, well equipped cabin.

Sure, the third row isn’t exactly spacious, but I’ve never met one that is. 

The intelligent seat folding system is remarkable. From the boot or side doors you can electronically adjust the second and third rows - either to raise them or lower them so they are flat for storage.

With all seats in place there is 229 litres of cargo space still left in the boot, but with those back seats folded flat you have 713 litres of capacity - and that’s just up to the cargo cover. 

The Range Rover Autobiography has air suspension and this means the SUV can lower itself to an 'Access' height to make it even easier to get in and out.

Everyone is well catered for inside this Lexus, in terms of, well, everything.

The tech is easy to use – it was simple enough to get Apple CarPlay working – and the screens are big: the horizontal 12.3-inch multimedia unit upfront, an 8.0-inch screen (to monitor air-con, air-suspension height, the four-wheel-drive system, and other vehicle information), a head-up display, plus a 7.0-inch touchscreen for rear passengers.

Heating and cooling are via the 'climate concierge' and everyone can keep themselves as comfortably hot or cold as they like with separate controls.

Storage is plentiful with the usual array of door pockets, cupholders, big glove box etc, but there’s also a cavernous centre console (with multiple ways to open the lids) as well as map pockets for the second row, cup-holders in the centre fold-down armrest and even cupholders for the third row.

The Lexus has a Qi wireless charger as well as front and rear USB-C charging ports – one upfront, two in the second row, and two in the third row – so that should keep any whinging about devices to a minimum – but, knowing kids, it probably won’t. 

There’s also a 12V DC socket (front and rear) and a 220V socket in the rear cargo area.

Power-adjustable seats upfront make life easy for the driver and front passenger and these pews are as good as what I’d imagine a massage chair is like. Even the second row is on the right side of plush, but the third row is not quite there.

Second-row passengers have their own air con and entertainment controls, and there’s also an HDMI port.

The moon roof – an Enhancement Pack inclusion – is power-adjustable and allows plenty of welcome natural light in through the top.

In terms of packability, the Lexus LX500d has a claimed 174L (VDA) of cargo space when seven seats are in use; 982L when five seats are being used (that’s with the power-folding third row stowed flat at the push of a button); and 1871L when all seats are stowed away (the 60:40 folding second-row seats tumble-fold forward), except for the driver and front passenger. 

The boot has a 220V power outlet.

As mentioned the seven-seat Lexus LX500d is the entry-level variant in the Lexus LX line-up. 

The standard features list is comprehensive but, for the sake of brevity, we’ll rattle off only a handful of them including a 12.3-inch multimedia touchscreen (with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, and Bluetooth), a 25-speaker Mark Levinson sound system, heated and ventilated power-adjustable seats, woodgrain steering wheel trim, 8.0-inch multi-information display, quad-zone climate control, 7.0-inch touchscreen and separate control panel for rear passengers, multi-terrain monitor with panoramic view, and 20-inch alloy wheels.

It also has a digital rear-view mirror, adaptive variable suspension, and active height control with low, normal and two high settings.

The Lexus LX500d retails for $153,091 (excluding on-road costs). Our test vehicle has an optional Enhancement Pack (which includes 22-inch alloy wheels, moonroof, hands-free power boot with kick sensor, $5500) and has been fitted with a towbar ($1545). The total price of this vehicle as tested is $160,136 (excluding on-road costs).

Exterior paint colours include the no-extra-cost 'Onyx' or any of these – 'Liquid Metal', 'White Nova' (F Sport models only), 'Sonic Quartz' (not available on F Sport models), 'Titanium', 'Graphite Black', and 'Khaki Metal' (on our test vehicle) – all of which incur an extra cost.

The 4.4-litre twin-turbo petrol V8 is a perfect match for the Range Rover Autobiography.

There’s enormous power at 390kW and a colossal 750Nm of torque, but it’s delivered so smoothly and without sounding like Armageddon is beginning.

You might here the engine referred to as the P530. That signifies it’s petrol and makes about 530 horsepower. 

All that grunt means that despite weighing more than 2.7 tonnes, this SUV can hurl itself from a stand still to 100km/h in 4.8 seconds. 

An eight-speed automatic sends the drive to all four wheels. And making this SUV incredibly capable off-road is an excellent four-wheel drive system with a low range gear, plus a maximum ground clearance (thanks to the adjustable air suspension) of 283mm and a wading depth of up to 900mm.

There is a six-cylinder diesel, but if you decide on that instead of the V8 then it's all over between you and me. That’s how good this V8 is.

The Lexus LX500d has a 3.3L V6 twin turbo-diesel engine, producing 227kW at 4000rpm and 700Nm between 1600-2600rpm.

It has a 10-speed automatic transmission with manual shift mode, a full-time all-wheel-drive system, low-range transfer case and locking diffs. 

The V6 is impressive and this is a smooth-shifting beast, but there’s a real lazy – not lively – feel to how the engine and auto work.

It’s pretty hefty as well – with a listed 2690kg kerb weight – so the Lexus takes a bit of a wind-up to get going off the mark and during overtaking moves.

Now, you’re going to use a lot of fuel. But that’s okay because this will probably be your last petrol car and the next one will be electric so let’s go out with a bang - last drinks at the petrol bar! Land Rover says you’ll use 11.8L/100km.

After a week of punishing my Range Rover with school drop offs, shopping centre car parks, hilly suburbs, motorways and rural roads the petrol pump told me we’d used 19.8L/100km.

I’m not shocked by that consumption. This is a 2.7 tonne all-wheel drive twin-turbo V8 SUV that was almost always ferrying around four people with a pram, garden supplies and shopping in bumper to bumper traffic. A real world fuel test. 

There is that six-cylinder diesel and a hybrid version of the Range Rover, but this V8 engine suits the character of the SUV perfectly - anything else and it’s like eating reduced fat ice cream.

The Lexus LX500d seven-seater has a listed fuel consumption of 8.9L/100km on a combined cycle.

Our actual fuel consumption on this test, from pump to pump, was 13.2L/100km. Note: our test included a lot of low-range 4WDing. 

The LX500d has an 80-litre fuel tank – so, going by that on-test fuel consumption figure, you should be able to get a driving range of about 606km or so. Take off a 30km safe-distance buffer and you have 576km.

Driving the V8-powered, long-wheelbase, 2.7-tonne, Range Rover Autobiography is a lot easier than it sounds. Really, it’s the Range Rover’s height above sea level which will strike you first.

You’ll lord it over other cars. The length doesn’t come into it - even for parking because the visibility is so good, the steering is so light and the engine is civilised and smooth.  

This is truly an easy and enjoyable SUV to drive, with power and performance whenever you need it. 

There are several drive modes from a 'Dynamic' sporty one, which makes the engine more responsive and suspension firmer, to off-road settings.

Most of the time I left the Range Rover in 'Comfort' mode for the softest ride, but with 530 horsepower lurking in the background ready to jump out and eat up hills and overtaking.

The front seats are wide, comfortable and supportive even after hours of driving. 

The Lexus is a refined and comfortable vehicle on sealed surfaces.

It’s 5100mm long (with a 2850mm wheelbase), 1990mm wide (with a 1675mm wheel track, front and back), 1895mm high, and it has a 2690kg kerb weight.

The woodgrain steering wheel feels nice in the hands but even though the Lexus feels tighter and more controlled than the previous-gen – its body-on-frame structure has shed some kegs – this is a hefty rig so it’s no real surprise that body roll remains pronounced – it always tends to wallow even at optimal ride height. 

The suspension set-up – adjustable dampers, double wishbones at the front, a four-linkage rigid axle at the rear, stabiliser bars front and rear – is aimed at keeping things under control, and it certainly irons out any major issues, but it’s not perfect, even ably supported by adaptive variable suspension.

The brake pedals feel spongy, taking some time to ‘bite’, but the ventilated disc brakes front and rear did pull the Lexus to a controlled stop when I did a “watch out for that roo!” emergency-braking move.

And while, by its very nature, it may not be a very dynamic SUV to drive, its low-key composure makes up for that.

The gutsy V6 and auto work well, if lazily, together, and while that transmission is enough of a smooth shifter, 10 gear ratios seems like overkill to me.

Driving modes include normal, eco, sport and each adjusts throttle response, engine outputs, and gearshifts to suit the driver and the driving conditions.

It’s quiet inside – very quiet – and there’s no issues with vibration or harshness levels either.

Among its many tech-based attractions, the digital rear-view mirror is a handy touch.

This is a great open-road touring vehicle but with some flaws when it comes to adventuring off-road.

Our test vehicle is shod with Dunlop Grandtrek 265/50R22 112V tyres and these all-season tyres are fine for sealed surfaces, but they’re not up to low-range 4WDing in tough conditions, even more so on these 22-inch rims, as we found out during a few hours at our 4WD testing ground.

The Lexus has Cruiser-like off-road-capable underpinnings with top-layer dirt-focussed tech as well. 

There’s plenty of glass around so visibility is fine, steering generally feels light but takes on a clinical precision during low-speed, low-range 4WDing.

And ‘clinical’ is how the Lexus feels off-road – not always in a good way either. Like many contemporary tech-heavy off-roaders nowadays, it’s almost so good that you’re in danger of feeling entirely removed from the actual process of driving.

With multi-terrain select driving modes offering auto, dirt, sand, mud, deep snow, and rock options; with a multi-terrain monitor and panoramic view helping you ‘see’ everywhere that you usually wouldn’t be able to see on the track; with active height control helping you to lift the vehicle’s body in order to improve off-road angles at the push of a button; and the list goes on. 

That’s not forgetting downhill assist control, hill-start assist, crawl control, and off-road traction control.

Don’t get me wrong: high-tech is great because anything that helps maintain safe forward progress out bush or while beach driving is awesome but, Great Odin’s raven, it’d be great if the tech onslaught stops now. As if that’s going to happen.

If you’re looking to tow with your Lexus, listen up: unbraked towing capacity is 750kg, braked towing capacity is 3500kg. It has a gross vehicle mass of 3280kg and a gross combination mass of 6780kg. There you go.

It has a full-size spare tyre and that’s mounted under the rear cargo area.

The Lexus does not have an ANCAP safety ratings as it has not been tested yet.

Safety features include 10 airbags (driver and front passenger: front, knee, side; rear: side), AEB with pedestrian detection and daytime cyclist detection, front and rear parking sensors, reversing camera with rear camera washer, adaptive cruise control, road sign assist, blind spot monitor with rear cross traffic alert, tyre pressure warning system, and more.

Buying a Lexus gives you three-year access to Lexus Connected Services including (SOS) emergency calls, automatic collision notification, and stolen vehicle tracking.

The warranty is good with five-years and unlimited kilometre coverage.

There’s also five years roadside assistance and a complimentary five-year/130,000km service plan.

Yep, that's complimentary, as in free servicing for five years. I didn’t believe it myself and called Land Rover to check and was told that it does indeed mean free-of-charge.

The Lexus LX500d has a five-year/unlimited-kilometre warranty.

Capped-price servicing applies for three years. Servicing is set at six month/10,000km intervals with each appointment costing $595 over that period.

Lexus Encore Platinum benefits – including valet parking and on-demand vehicle loans – are standard for new Lexus owners.