Mercedes-Benz G-Class vs Lexus LX

What's the difference?

As per the 1979 original, the current G-Class is produced by Magna Steyr in Arnie’s home town of Graz in Austria. And many fundamental things haven’t changed since then. But clearly this EV monster’s exotic electric powertrain is a huge departure.

It retains impressive off-road ability and straight-line speed. But will it hit the mark with top-end luxury 4WDers? Short story, this thing is wild, and it will be irresistible for a likely narrow band of tech-focused ‘must have the latest and greatest’ buyers. Nothing like impressing friends and family with a tank turn.

Note: CarsGuide attended this event as a guest of the manufacturer, with travel, accommodation and meals provided.

Huge specification in terms of convenience and safety gear are matched by an equally huge range of abilities in this vehicle. As well as rock hopping with the best of them, this is also a phenomenal touring rig and a more-than-capable off-roader. Of course, whether you can see yourself clambering up the side of a muddy creek crossing in $202,000 worth of vehicle is a personal matter, but rest assured, the Lexus will do it if you ask it to.

In the case of the hybrid LX, however, the vehicle now has an extra dimension to cover off, and from what we can see, it does take the efficiency and running costs of the big wagon to a new, better place. Mind you, that may only be the case if diesel continues to cost a dollar-a-litre more than petrol at the bowser.

The shift to petrol power also brings with it a level of mechanical background noise that we’re not entirely sure fits the Lexus legend, while additions such as the camera-based rear-view mirror system seems to be a conversation starter rather than an actual improvement.

Okay, so Mercedes-Benz says, with a straight face, that “with the aim of optimising the vehicle’s aerodynamics” classic G-Class elements have been revised, including the reprofiled bonnet, ‘air curtain’ vents in the flares over the rear wheel arches, A-pillar cladding and the small spoiler on the edge of the roof.

At the same time, the 20-inch wheels are also claimed to be "aerodynamically optimised” and underneath, a 26mm underbody casing made from a mix of materials, including carbon-fibre (attached to the ladder frame with more than 50 steel screws), protects the battery from dust, dirt and rocks.

In ticking off the Edition One, car-spotters should look for black rims with blue brake callipers behind them, blue inserts in the exterior protective strips as well as black door handles and a new rectangular design box on the rear door for storing items such as charging cables, tools or snow chains. If you want a spare wheel, choose the standard model.

An optional black-panel radiator grille ($3800) features tinted lighting units as well as an animated LED light band and chrome surround. The light band can be activated as a running light or an animation when locking and unlocking the vehicle.

And it’s worth noting Mercedes-Benz and the car’s contracted manufacturer, Magna Steyr, have invested much time and many Euros in retaining the car’s classic handle and door lock design. G-Wagen owners will recognise its sound from several kilometres away.

Inside the G580 it’s clear this is one area where the G-Class has progressed enormously over the decades. It’s still quite upright in terms of the dash design, but you’re confronted by twin 12.3-inch screens, supporting the Mercedes-Benz user interface. 

All very high-tech, but that’s balanced by an old-school grab-handle for the front passenger to latch onto during off-road work. 

The signature turbine-style air vents are located within squared-off panels, and in the limited Edition One you have a blue fleck running through carbon-fibre inserts on the centre console, door cards and that front grab handle. In the standard car it’s a (very attractive) walnut open-pore wood rather than carbon.

A luxurious interior for sure.

In a styling sense, that big, bold, deep grille at the front won’t be to everybody’s liking, but we reckon it’s pretty well matched with the otherwise taut skin of the LX’s body.

Inside, the plush look and feel is the dominant factor, but if you look really closely, there’s a fair bit of generic Lexus stuff on show. Is that a criticism? Hardly. The leather looks and feels luxe and only some hard plastics (such as on the door cappings) belie the car’s LandCruiser origins.

For the record, the G63 is just over 4.6m long and a little more than 1.9m wide with a 2890mm wheelbase. So, not huge, but its close to 2.0m height is hard to ignore. 

In the front there’s lots of breathing space, and in terms of storage you have generous bins in the doors with plenty of room for big bottles. Then there’s a centre armrest, which doubles as the top of a deep storage box housing a USB-C port inside. 

A sliding roller cover in the centre console reveals two cupholders, another two USB-C sockets, a 12-volt outlet and a wireless charging pad. Add in a big glove box and you’ve got plenty of options in terms of storage, power and connectivity. 

In the back, sitting behind the driver’s seat set for my 183cm position I’ve got tons of foot and legroom and, no surprise, lots of headroom.

There’s a fair bit of sculpting in the rear seat, which is as nice as it is unusual (makers often avoid bolsters on the rear seat as it makes the backrest harder to fold flat). And in terms of three-abreast accommodation, a smaller adult will be okay in the centre spot for shorter journeys. Three up to mid-teenage kids will be swimming in it.

Then, for practicality you again have generous bins in the doors. And if you need even more capacity, fold down the centre armrest which houses two different size cupholders. 

In the rear of the centre console you’ve got two USB-Cs, a 12-volt power outlet, individual climate control and directional vents.

There are map rockets on the front seatbacks and more air vents in the B-pillar. So, when it comes to comfort, powering up devices and storing ‘things’ you’re well taken care of.

The side-opening tailgate door opens from right to left, which isn’t ideal when parallel parked on the left hand side of the road, but boot volume is over 600 litres (VDA) with all seats upright, expanding to nearly 2000 litres with the 60/40 split-folding rear seat lowered.

There are multiple tie-down hooks, a netted pocket, two lights, a 12-volt outlet as well as a ‘ski-port’ door and sliding cargo cover to enhance practicality and security.

As mentioned earlier, the full-size spare in the standard model, but the Design Box replaces it on the Edition One, although Mercedes-Benz says it’s aiming to make a spare available as an option later in the year.

Like many hybrids, cargo capacity takes a bit of a blow. In this case, placement of the battery under the cargo floor means a reduction in luggage capacity from 1109 litres to 899 litres. In the seven-seat variant, capacity is 883 litres with the rearmost row folded flat. The rear seat folds 60:40 and there are good, solid tie-down points in the rear. There’s no under-floor storage, however, apart from a small compartment just behind the rear seat which locates the tools and safety triangle.

The tailgate is powered (if a bit slow in its action) and there are cup-holders atop each suspension tower, clearly a hang-over from the seven-seat variant which is not available in F Sport trim. The cargo blind is a good addition, as is the 1500-Watt power socket in the cargo bay.

In the cabin, there are plenty of grab handles and the side steps give shorter folk a leg up when entering or leaving. Once you’re in, the front seats are terrifically comfortable as well as featuring a massage function on top of the heating and cooling functions. The steering wheel is also heated.

Paddle shifts might seem odd in a vehicle like this, but they are brilliant in off-road situations, although you need to first select manual mode on the shifter to have the paddles hold each gear for more than a few seconds in most of the on-road driving modes.

Speaking of the shifter, Lexus has seen fit to once again reinvent this simple control. You now need to pull the handle towards you and up for Reverse, across and down for Drive while Park remains a separate button even though it looks like just another icon on the lever.

A pair of cup holders live over to the passenger’s side of the centre console, and there are a pair of USB charge ports as well as an HDMI port in the dashboard. But the switches for the power windows are located almost directly under the driver’s interior door pull, forcing some unorthodox wrist geometry.

At least the buttons for the climate control and off-road functions such as diff locks and ride height are, indeed, buttons and not menu items. The simple knob to control the stereo on-off and volume is a great touch, too. So is the cooled centre console under a cover that opens from either side.

The rear seat is big and wide but the high floor dictated by the body-on-frame construction means those with long legs will have their knees bent while ever they’re in the back seat. The seat cushion itself is pretty flat, too, but the backrest does recline through a wide range of angles.

Reading lights, lots of air vents and a full set of climate controls ease the pain of riding in the back, but if you want cup holders, you need to keep the centre rear seat free so the armrest that houses the holders can be lowered and snapped open. Adding to the impression that plenty of thought has gone into the rear seat environment are the pull-up sun blinds on each window. Why don’t all cars have these?

While the LX line-up incorporates off-road oriented versions dubbed Overtrail, that specification is not available in the hybrid variety LX700h. Instead, the LX hybridised line-up kicks off with the Sport Luxury grades in either five or seven-seat layouts and a list price of $196,000 and $199,800 respectively. The F Sport is the new LX flagship model with its $202,000 price-tag (all prices are plus on-road costs) and is only available in five-seat configuration.

As you might imagine for a flagship badge for a maker like Lexus, there’s really nothing missing from the specification. In the case of the hybrid variants, that includes 22-inch alloy wheels, power sunroof, full leather trim and a hands-free tailgate. Those feature are part of the Enhancement Pack on lesser versions, but have been added to all hybrid LXs.

You also get four-zone climate-control, heated, cooled and massaging front seats, keyless entry and start, steering wheel-mounted controls, paddle shifters, automatic headlights and wipers, heated mirrors, soft-close doors, 12.3-inch touchscreen, digital radio, embedded sat-nav, wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, head-up display, premium audio system and pretty much everything else you’ve ever seen fitted to a car.

The F Sport variant we’ve tested here is the big daddy and adds four-way adjustable head rests in the front, a heated steering wheel, specific aluminium trim, aluminium pedals, F Sport-specific gear knob, ventilated and heated rear seats, and a digital rear-view mirror.

The G580 is powered by four permanently excited synchronous motors, each delivering around a CLA200’s worth of power and torque to each wheel for overall outputs in excess of 432kW/1164Nm.

Each motor has its own two-stage transmission and power electronics for almost infinite fine-tuning of the direction and amount of drive sent to individual wheels. Merc calls it ‘individual-wheel drive’.

The hybrid driveline of the vehicle we’re looking at here marks a further expansion of buyer choice when it comes to how their Lexus LX is powered. The twin-turbocharged petrol and diesel variants will continue alongside the newcomer, although you can bet Lexus (and Toyota) will be watching the sales charts closely to see where consumer tastes fall.

The hybrid set-up here starts with the twin-turbocharged 3.4-litre petrol V6 (a lot of people - Toyota included - are calling it a 3.5, but at 3445cc, it’s not) from the Lexus LX600.

But instead of bolting directly to the 10-speed transmission, in this case, there’s a single electric motor and clutch unit sandwiched between the engine and transmission. That means the Lexus retains mechanical four-wheel drive, while the electric motor can provide extra urge for acceleration or towing as well as offering EV-only operation when it’s required (mainly in stop-start traffic).

Crucially, it also means the vehicle retains those traditional off-road qualities of low-range gearing and permanent four-wheel drive. The electric motor also contributes torque to the equation when the driver selects either Rock, Dirt or Deep Snow modes to maintain a steady flow of Newton metres.

The petrol V6 contributes a healthy 305kW and 650Nm to the picture, while the electric motor adds a further 36kW and 250Nm. When all that’s harnessed up, there’s a total of 341kW of power and 790Nm of torque on tap, allowing for a braked towing capacity of 3500kg. It also makes this variant the torquiest Lexus LX ever.

Interestingly, Lexus says the conventional 12-volt starting system and alternator for the petrol engine, means that unit could continue to operate if any part of the EV system failed.

One of the big questions over hybrid drivelines in off-road conditions is what happens if the vehicle suddenly finds itself partly under water. In this case, says Lexus, there are additional waterproofing measures which should prevent any problems mid-creek.

The F Sport grade gets a Torsen (torque-sensing) rear differential and firmer dampers for an overall sportier feel.

At 2780kg, the LX hybrid is heavy, and is at least 100kg more than the LX600 due to the batteries and other hybrid gear.

Housed in a torsion-resistant casing and embedded low down in its ladder-frame chassis, the G580’s 116kWh two-tier, liquid-cooled lithium-ion battery pack delivers a WLTP-rated range of 473km, or 567km on the more lenient NEDC scale.

‘Eco Assistant’ and ‘Range Monitoring’ functions provide continuous information on battery status, energy consumption and estimated range.

Maximum system capacity is 400 volts which enables 200kW DC charging, meaning a 10 to 80 per cent fill in as little as 32 minutes. Maximum AC charging capacity is 11kW.

Claimed energy use is 23.1kWh/100km, and we saw an average of 28.6kWh across urban and highway running on the launch drive program.

Not exactly a ‘green’ EV choice, then, but it’s worth noting a one-year Chargefox subscription is included to off-set the car’s energy appetite.

Here’s where the hybrid driveline really comes into its own. On paper, at least.

Despite the added kiloWatts and Newton metres, the 700h manages an official fuel consumption figure of 10 litres per 100km. That compares with 11.9/100km for the 305kW LX600, although it’s still more than the 8.9L of the 227kW diesel-powered LX500d.

But the hybrid’s big advantage will come in city and suburban traffic where the stop-start nature of things will enable the driveline to harvest braking energy and turn that back into electricity for the battery.

Our testing showed an average of 11.2 litres per 100km in mixed conditions which blew out to 13.0 litres with more urban running. That’s pretty handy in the context of a vehicle like this and won’t be far from the real-world numbers of the diesel LX.

The Lexus carries 98 litres of petrol, split between one 68-litre tank and a 30-litre sub tank. That should give it a theoretical range of almost 800km, but again, that will depend largely on where and how it’s used.

So, with 432kW and around 1160Nm, even though the G580 weighs in at around three tonnes, you’re talking 0-100 km/h in 4.7 seconds. And this car gets up and goes… like a beast.

What you don’t get is that traditional Merc-AMG G63 V8 rumble, because, of course, no engine. 

But you do get what Mercedes calls ‘G-Roar’, essentially a sound bar at the front of the car also using the audio system inside to give it what is not exactly an engine noise but some sense of the car progressing. And you can turn it off for completely silent running.

‘Electric Dynamic Select’ changes the parameters of the motors, transmission, suspension, ESP and steering as required. On-road that means ‘Comfort’, ‘Sport’ and ‘Individual’ modes, with off-road comprising ‘Trail’ and ‘Rock’. In the Comfort setting drive flows primarily to one axle for optimum energy efficiency.

Suspension is by double wishbones at the front and a De Dion-style live (rigid) axle at the rear. You’ve got the same adaptive-type set-up as per other G-Class models, so ‘Comfort’ and ‘Sport’ modes and of the many traditional G-Class traits this car exhibits, ride quality is one of them.

Even in Comfort you’ll find even little bumps and thumps making their way up into the seat of the pants and the cabin. It is after all a body-on-frame, ladder-chassis type vehicle and that’s not unusual.  

In terms of steering, it’s accurate and road feel is good. You’ve got 275-wide Falken Azenis FK520 tyres that are more on- than off-road focused. The car feels stable and nicely planted on the road.

The physical brakes are by ventilated discs front and rear, and the big rotors are the same size (353mm) all around. They work nicely and feel like a conventional set-up.

Regenerative braking kicks in as soon as you lift off the accelerator pedal. The powertrain is harvesting energy as the car decelerates and there are four levels you can adjust with the steering wheel paddles up to a quite aggressive level - not quite, but close to a single-pedal set-up.

Off-road, the G580’s ‘G-Steering’ system allows the wheels to turn at different speeds to induce slight ‘drift-like’ oversteer and tighten the turning circle. It works beautifully and the car’s fording depth is 850mm, a full 150mm more than internal-combustion G-Class models.

A three-speed off-road crawl function is adjustable to speeds as low as 2.0km/h, and the car is claimed to remain stable on sideways slopes up to 35 degrees. 

Torque vectoring is used to create ‘virtual diff locks’ and there’s a ‘low-range’ setting. Switch to the ‘Offroad Cockpit’ and data including gradient, lateral inclination, compass readings, tyre pressures and the selected G-Mode appear.

A ‘Transparent Bonnet’ function creates a virtual view of what’s approaching and passing under the front wheels to help the driver pick their way through steep ascents or declines.

For the record, the G580’s approach angle is 32 degrees, departure is 30.7, breakover is 20.3 and ground-clearance is 250mm.

And of course, with the wheels independently powered, the G580’s signature move is what Mercedes-Benz calls a ‘G-Turn’ but the rest of the world calls a tank turn.

If you encounter an obstacle that makes forward progress impossible, the system spins the left- and right-hand wheels in opposite directions so this brute can turn on the spot like an M1 Abrams. You can’t help but crack up laughing when executing this extreme party trick!

In terms of miscellaneous observations around ergonomics and the car in general, it has a 13.6-metre conventional turning circle. So if you’re not using the G Turn function in the car park be ready for a sizeable turning arc.

Also, those aero tweaks here and there seem to have had an effect. Wind noise, especially for such an upright, squared-off design is surprisingly modest. And overall, from a build point of view, this car feels as though it’s been carved from a solid piece of metal. In every aspect it presents as a quality item.

At low speeds, threading your way through traffic or parking, the LX feels like it needs a lot of real estate. Which makes sense given the 5.1-metre overall length that puts it on par with a lot of dual-cab utes. The width of almost two metres plays into things, too, and reversing down the average driveway will often have the sensors chirping at you constantly.

What’s interesting, though, is the way the Lexus seems to shrink once you’re up and running in a more open setting. Even a winding road reveals a car that is easy to place in corners and seems to feed back lots of the right sort of information in terms of what the wheels are doing and where they’re placed. The result is that you can actually hustle the LX along quite smartly if you need to.

The ride remains composed yet there’s a level of control that helps keep the big, high LX relatively flat through corners and responding sharply to the helm. Even those huge wheels and tyres and their corresponding unsprung mass don’t intrude. It’s a great trick.

Less easy to appreciate, however, is the driveline, specifically the twin-turbo petrol V6. Frankly, it’s just not as refined as we were expecting. I wouldn’t mind betting Lexus has tuned the exhaust system to make the LX sound like there’s a petrol V8 under that heavily sculpted bonnet. And at low revs, it kind of works with a rhythmic, muted, yet guttural sort of bass coming through.

But rev it harder and the engine soon reveals itself to be a V6 with all the secondary vibration and resonance that implies. Simply, this vehicle is neither as smooth nor as quiet as the Lexus brand would suggest and the harder you rev it, the more it descends into NVH (noise, vibration and harshness) territory. The issue is made worse by the fact that the rest of the package is so darn quiet.

Even the stop-start - a technology that is now well understood - doesn’t seem quite as slick as it should be. Taking off from a green light with the petrol engine stopped, the Lexus often produces a small `sonic bump’ from the driveline as the V6 fires into life. It’s felt more than heard. But it’s still puzzling in the context of this make and model.

The transmission, meantime, is as silky as you’d imagine with upshifts and even downshifts that are barely perceptible. It would be nice, though, if the transmission obeyed the paddles a bit more faithfully. As it is, the chosen gear is only held for a few seconds unless you also pull the shift lever into manual mode.

I’ll also take issue with the rear-view mirror that includes a camera view as well as a conventional mirror option. I can see the point of having a camera-view mirror (when the cargo area is piled high, for instance) but I’ve never yet met one that works properly. The problem is that the camera view that pops up on the mirror’s screen is never as faithful as it should be. Also, if you wear glasses to read, you’ll also need them to focus on the image properly. While a conventional mirror has the same depth of field as looking through the windscreen, the camera-generated view does not. Also, when used through a wet rear window in low light, the camera view is borderline useless. This tech clearly has a ways to go.

It will come as no surprise to learn that the expensive LX range is well equipped safety wise, nor that the flagship version of that range features every driver aid ever dreamed up by engineers.

That includes autonomous emergency braking that incorporates pedestrian and cyclist recognition, intersection turn assist, lane-keeping assistance, lane-departure warning, blind-spot monitoring, road-sign recognition, hill-start assist, front and rear parking sensors, a reversing camera with 360-degree views, rear cross-traffic alert and braking and tyre-pressure monitoring.

On top of that, the LX gains the safety additions revealed at the 2025 facelift of the LX line-up, including emergency driving stop, safe-exit monitoring and a forward-facing camera.

There are no less than 10 airbags in the LX, including rear-seat cushion airbags and side-curtain airbags for every outboard seating position.

What’s perhaps even more impressive is that the driver aids are beautifully calibrated to the point where other carmakers should pay close attention when calibrating their own. Where some cars physically fight the driver for control of the wheel in the name of lane-keeping assistance, the Lexus instead offers a polite suggestion of a better course than the one the driver is currently on.

The Lexus LX series hasn’t been crash tested by ANCAP, but the 300-Series LandCruiser on which it’s based scored the full five safety stars when it was tested in 2022.

The G580 is covered by Mercedes-Benz Australia’s five-year/unlimited-km warranty, which remains the standard offering in the premium part of the market and an eight-year/160,000km drive battery warranty.

Service intervals are every 12 months or 20,000km with service plan pricing available over three ($2645), four ($3980) and five ($4670) years. In approximate terms, each workshop visit will cost ‘around’ $900. Not exactly cheap, especially for an EV, but this is no ordinary electric vehicle.

Lexus offers a five-year, unlimited-kilometre warranty on its vehicles and throws in three years’ worth of subscription to the Lexus Encore owner privileges and benefits program. Those extras include Lexus on Demand, valet parking, roadside assistance and even complimentary access to Qantas airport lounges.

There’s also five years of capped-price servicing available.

As well as the overall five-year/unlimited kilometre warranty, there’s eight years and 160,000km of cover for the hybrid battery. That can be extended to up to 10 years provided the battery is checked for degradation every year after the fifth year.

Servicing for the LX is every six months or 10,000km which is much more frequent than much of the competition, but reflects the heavy-duty nature of the vehicle.

Lexus has about 30 dealerships in Australia, primarily in urban locations, but for many servicing and repair jobs, a Toyota dealership or service centre should be able to handle things on the LandCruiser 300-Series-based LX.