2024 Lexus GX 550 Overtrail: Does the large luxury SUV get better with a redesign?

2024 Lexus GX 550 Overtrail 4WD: A new and improved GX?

Price: $71,620 as tested. The short options list featured head-up display: $900; traffic jam assist, $840; bi-tone paint for $350; cool box, $170; tonneau cover, $170.

Parent company Toyota net income: $27.6 billion in 2023.

Conventional wisdom: Motor Trend likes the “quiet and refined power train, new rear liftgate, compelling features as base trim,” but not that the “steel suspension can be too soft, unusable storage behind third row, fuel economy.”

Marketer’s pitch: “The all-new 2024 Lexus GX was designed to inspire customers to pursue their urge to travel, take an unpaved path, immerse themselves in nature and revel in the joy of driving.”

Reality: A much better behemoth.

What’s new: The GX 550 Overtrail caught my eye at the Philadelphia Auto Show this winter. It’s hard to miss, standing 6½ feet tall, with 33-inch tires; it appears to be ready to fight fires in California.

The GX comes to the 2024 model year completely redesigned. The Overtrail is a whole new, more offroad-y version of the SUV.

It’s telling that I completely forgot I’d driven a 2022 GX to the Shore a couple years back; this was like night and day.

Competition: Acura MDX, Audi Q7, Buick Enclave, Lexus TX, Range Rover Defender

Up to speed: The 349 horsepower from the 3.4-liter V-6 twin turbo seems like a lot, but not for a 5,700-pound machine. Think of it as your stubborn coworker, or a giant automotive dog of Flanders with a strong will. Stretch your right foot before driving.

Still, the effort pays off, as the GX 550 hit 60 mph in 6.3 seconds, according to Motor Trend, almost a second faster than the 2022. And the power train is fairly refined. There’s no jerkiness in the acceleration; it just moves forward nicely.

A hybrid power train is also in the works.

Shifty: The 10-speed transmission also feels smooth and subtle, with shiftability available from paddles or lever.

On the road: Here’s where the joy of the giant vehicle really falls fast, like a careless occupant exiting the GX’s ladder-worthy door. Sport mode, Sport+, Normal, Comfort, I tried them all and could never get the swing and sway out of the GX 550.

Bumpy roads were not a huge problem, and road seams were fine, but even the mildest washboard surface was game over; the GX 550 made Mr. Driver’s Seat’s eyes shake up and down and his teeth rattle. Even Jeep Wranglers, for all their other downsides, don’t enhance that particular problem this badly.

And even regular handling had a bit of a wobble. But consider, you’re riding on some real balloons; these are made to keep you from sinking in the mud. Perhaps another version (I suggest calling it the Undertrail, aimed at snarky people like me) is easier to live with.

Driver’s Seat: The NuLuxe faux-leather-trimmed seats are geared more toward a rugged feel and easier cleanup, but they still offer Lexus-level comfort.

The controls can be a bit daunting. Shutting off the lane-keeping is a long process, and a couple days later I can’t even recall how to go about it.

A video camera monitors your driving, and, like religious conviction and humility, it’s something Mr. Driver’s Seat thinks other people really should have. (I wish camera systems would alert us to nearby cars with inattentive drivers, so we know when to be on guard.) I tend to rest my hands at the top of the steering wheel for better stability, and I keep getting angry messages on the dashboard about having left the vehicle or something.

Friends and stuff: The second-row seat feels thin and slightly undersized for the price point. The seat back raises and lowers via a lever that’s equally inaccessible from both the seating area (a long reach over the seat) and the cargo area (a scramble across the cargo bay). At least there’s a lift gate now, and not a swing-open rear door.

Second-row passengers will feel plenty of room in the corners, but in the center, the console protrudes into the floor area worse than any I’d seen; I was surprised Lexus even put a seat belt there.

Without a third row to test, I looked at the space available and tight rear doors and wondered how well it might fit. But looking back at my 2022 review, these are all complaints I wrote about, and that vehicle had decent passenger space, so let’s say it still does.

Cargo space is 45.6 cubic feet behind the second row and 90.5 when the second row is folded.

Towing capacity maxes out for the GX with the Overtrail edition at 9,096 pounds.

Play some tunes: The 14-inch touchscreen handles most of the functions and it works as smoothly as Lexus infotainment systems do, now that the touchpad has been sent to the landfill.

The Lexus Premium Sound with 10 speakers provides good playback, about an A-.

Keeping warm and cool: The HVAC controls across the bottom of the touchscreen are good for finding fan speed, and dials control the temperature, but everything else can be a challenge. As if proving my point, the Big Brother video monitor system gave me a “driver inattention” warning when I tried to find the button to simply turn the AC on. Lexus, heal thyself.

Fuel economy: I averaged about 18 mpg in a mix of driving. Shockingly, this is fairly good among three-row SUVs. I just had an Acura MDX and Audi SQ7 that would do well to reach 18 mpg under my testing conditions.

Where it’s built: Tahara, Japan.

How it’s built: Consumer Reports predicts the vehicle’s reliability to be a 4 out of 5.

In the end: Perhaps not all the GX 550s are as bouncy and rugged as the Overtrail trim level. Either way it does a pretty good Lexus impression while being able to scale rocks and ford rivers, and it’s nice when “new and improved” really is.