Yes, you can take it off the beaten path. But would you? (I wouldn’t)

By Gary S. Vasilash

I will admit that I am sometimes—not all the times, but some—mystified by some vehicles that are engineered to be taken off-road.

Now let’s say that someone can afford more than one vehicle. One is for fun and the other function. The fun one could be an off-road vehicle.

But a question becomes how much that fun is going to cost relative to the amount of fun experienced through the use of that product.

That is: Say you buy a ticket for Cedar Point or Kings Island or some other place predicated on excitement and rather than going on a roller coaster you spend your time in the snack bar. The price of that ticket is largely based on the use of the rides. (You certainly don’t want anyone to skimp on the maintenance.) And there are plenty of snack bars on the other side of the turnstiles that don’t charge a fee to get in.

So if you buy the ticket but don’t take the ride you’re not going to have the thrill of someone who takes advantage of the venue.

Similarly, I suspect, someone who buys an off-road-capable vehicle could think “I can go anywhere and do anything” or “This will show Henry next door that I’ve really made it with my new set wheels” and that is enough to justify the buy. Apparently.

While the percentage of people who actually take off-road-capable vehicles off road is fairly small—I’ve found no numbers above 5%–that’s still a market for the OEMs to address.

Certainly some off-road vehicles are simply quintessential, like, say, the Jeep Wrangler or Ford Bronco. These are vehicles that almost beg to be taken off the tarmac—in part because when they are on the tarmac the ride experience isn’t particularly good (and even if an argument is made that the suspension setups can be adjusted for a non-rock-strewn surface, there’s no getting away from the semi-defining sound of the large, chunky tires and little in the way of noise-attenuating countermeasures).

But then there’s something like this, the Lexus LX700h Overtrail.

This is a large (200.59 inches long; 78.35 inches wide; 74.61 inches high; a 112.2-inch wheelbase; 8.07 inches of ground clearance—all of which is to say that (1) the various sensors and cameras are key for things like maneuvering in parking lots and (2) you’d probably pull a muscle were you to try to climb into the cabin without a running board) magnificent beast—with the word beast, of course, in the context of the Disney version of The Beauty and the Beast, with the Beast reverting back to an elegant prince).

The LX700h is based on the TNGA-F platform, which is also used for the Toyota Tundra pickup truck, a vehicle that is engineered anticipating that it will have the stuffings knocked out of it (and I suspect more pickup owners use the capabilities of their pickups than the owners of off-road vehicles do of their machines).

You may have noticed the “h” in the name of the SUV. Yes, that stands for hybrid. Which might lead you to think that the vehicle might be Prius-like in its performance. Which is not the case.

Rather, this hybrid setup, which supplements the V6 engine with a 48-hp electric motor so there are 457 hp produced as well as 583 lb-ft of torque at 2,400 rpm. A key point of the hybrid setup is to help generate that high torque at comparatively low rpms. Also, it aid the gasoline engine when the vehicle is towing (with an integrated tow hitch it has an 8,000-pound towing capacity) or going up a hill or the like.

The LX 700h Overtrail has front and rear locking differentials, 18-inch wheels and 33-inch all-terrain tires.

But it is a Lexus first and foremost.

As such it has semi-aniline leather seating, which is probably nicer than any furniture in your house. Plus, the front seats are heated and ventilated, which is likely not the case with any at-home furniture. It has open-pore wood trim. It is, in a word, luxe.

Yes, there are things like a 12.3-inch infotainment display and a 7-inch lower touchscreen because evidently more info is what’s needed. The audio system is sweet sounding.

The point is, this is a wonderful package that has a base MSRP of $119,550.

I don’t know about you, but I would worry about scratching the paint during an off-road excursion. So I guess the point is lost on me.

However, the people at Lexus are clever, so there are other variants of this vehicle: the LX 700h Luxury and the LX 700h Ultra Luxury.

And those, I think, are the sweet spot for a Lexus.