At duPont REGISTRY, we don’t normally include crash testing as part of our luxury vehicle product reviews, but sometimes life throws you lemons – or, in my case, an 18-wheeled Amazon Prime semi-truck hurled a tire carcass straight into the nose of my Lexus LX 700h F SPORT at speed on the interstate.
I got no warning – not even the car’s Pre-Collision System had time to react – and I barely registered what was actually happening as I slipped in behind the truck to make an exit for fuel. But in a cruel twist of timing, during the three seconds I spent tucked in behind it on a four-hour journey, one of Jeff Bezos’s juggernauts blew a tire directly in front of me at 65 mph. The carcass flew off its wheel, slamming into the nose, hood and windshield of my Lexus with a terrifying B-A-N-G! – the force so violent it launched what was left of the tire over my roof and also over the Kia directly behind me (that motored serenely on).
Amazingly, the car was still operational, so I pulled into the gas station to survey the damage and what I thought would be an inevitable phone call to a wrecker truck. Imagine my surprise that the car was not only still in one piece, as you can see above, it had stood up incredibly well to the massive impact. According to the internet, even a truck tread can weigh 30 lbs, while a full carcass would be somewhere between ~50-80 lb. As I said, I only had a split-second view – and it sure looked like the whole thing just tore off and got flipped directly into my car’s front end and windshield.
Among the rash of impact evidence, there was one deep scrape across the hood that was down to the metal – remember truck tires aren’t just rubber, they include multiple steel belts – but the hood was completely intact, although its lovely paintwork was all scuffed to heck. The only component that was in any way wobbly was the ‘L’ in the middle of the front fascia – which proved it was a direct hit!
It’s not my first rodeo in terms of being hit by high-speed truck debris, but it is the first time that I simply checked the damage and gassed-up the car – as my heart rate got back to somewhere near normal – then drove on my way, rather than had to arrange that dreaded tow to the nearest dealer.
And, about a few miles later along the I-95, you can imagine my face as I came upon that same Amazon Prime truck that was limping along in a cloud of smoke from its blown tire. Of course, I took the correct course of action by slowing down next to this dude, opening my window and… greeted him with a cheery wave – or something. He was laying a huge trail of debris in his wake – these guys must have shares in auto repair shops!
Apart from these interstate wounds, and a tiny chip in the windscreen, the car was fully driveable – which was handy, because I was still about 150 miles from home when this happened. My trip had been to spend the weekend with Lexus Racing at the Daytona 24 Hours, and seeing their cool RC F race cars (below) in the pitlane after the grueling event – all scuffed-up with tiremarks from the ‘marbles’ that comes off racing tires – that must’ve been a portent of what was to come!
Before that, my experience of the LX 700h F SPORT had been just swell, and you can read a full review of its Overtrail sister variant here. Priced at $118,950, my F SPORT-trimmed version arrived in Manganese Luster exterior and a beautiful red/black leather interior, with an appearance package that featured color-keyed lower front and rear bumper accents, black outside mirror covers, black rear spoiler winglets, and color-keyed running board accents.
It also wore 22-inch forged aluminum wheels, and an F mesh design spindle grille with jet-black chrome grille frame, while inside you get F SPORT-crafted seats and embossed headrests, which retains the massage functionality – which came in useful after a stressful driving situation!
Assisted by a nickel-metal hydride battery, the LX 700h boasts a twin-turbocharged 3.4-liter V6 engine paired with a 10-speed Direct Shift Automatic Transmission. This combined hybrid system produces 457 horsepower, 583 lb.-ft of torque, and an EPA-estimated combined fuel economy rating of 20 MPG.
It packed plenty of power, while tuned front and rear performance dampers, plus a Torsen LSD and a rear stabilizer, brought some handling chops to this gigantic, three-row SUV. I found it handled much better when I’d put the Active Height Control to its lowest rideheight setting, which was the mere push of a button, as it arrived looking like it was about to embark on the Dakar Rally rather than a trip to Daytona.
The cockpit was typical Lexus, with lots of luxury features at your fingertips. Not quite sure why it needed two touchscreens, and the larger 12.3-inch display at the top was literally a stretch if you needed to select something on the right-hand side for the navigation system. The 7-inch lower touchscreen was much closer within reach, but is primarily for climate control.
Drive modes ranged from Normal, ECO, Comfort, Custom, Sport S, and Sport S+ – the latter in particular a lot of fun when you wanted to surge away at the lights, or around the bends after a rest stop, and that came in unison with a more performance-focused dashboard mode that just featured a long rev counter.
While the Lexus LX 700h F SPORT provides a luxury SUV that eats up the miles, the main gripe I had with it was the small size of its gas tank. Due to its hybrid battery requirement, you lose about three gallons from the capacity, and the biggest number I saw on the trip computer was 275 miles after a fill.
Even running in ECO mode, that turned my usual one-stop strategy for a run to Daytona from Miami into a two-stopper – and it was this second stop that led to my fateful meeting with the truck tire… The hybrid also reduces the trunk space, which becomes pretty small if you have the electrically operated third row seats up.
But I must end this review by saying I have Lexus to thank for keeping me safe; they sure build them strong in Japan, and there's not another car I'd rather place my trust in such a situation that I faced on that fateful drive back from Daytona.
Images: Charles Bradley, Lexus
