Lexus LX450D vs Toyota Prado

What's the difference?

The price of fuel probably doesn't feature too highly on a 'Things to Worry About' list for people who can afford a luxury SUV. If you're spending more than $130,000 on a vehicle then, chances are, you glide on through service station forecourts with nary a concern about the cost of go-juice, but nevertheless Lexus has introduced its diesel-sipping LX 450d to the ever-growing arena of upmarket wagons. It has a claimed fuel consumption of 9.5L/100km – using just under five litres per 100km less than the eight-seater LX 570, its petrol stablemate.

But does this five-seater up-scale offering deliver much in the way of anything different to any other pricey people-mover, other than the fact it's an oil-burner? Read on.

They call it the Toyota LandCruiser (two words) but to Australian eyes it looks like what we affectionately call a Prado. But it’s what’s underneath the surface, beyond the name, that makes this car so interesting.

We recently had the opportunity to drive the Toyota LandCruiser in the US, where the engine isn’t the usual turbo diesel found in the Prado, but rather a petrol-electric hybrid that Australian buyers are denied.

So we wanted to know if we were missing out on something special or if Toyota Australia made the right call to stick with a diesel-only option. Aside from the engine the LandCruiser is very similar to the Prado, so we’ll focus on the key difference rather than detailing the minor changes across the pair.

We spent time behind the wheel of the US LandCruiser to find out, spending a few days driving it around Los Angeles to get a feel for it.