- GX 550 looks good with a lift kit and bigger wheels and tires
- Arizona-based Westcott Designs put it together
- Current-generation GX reasserts its off-road chops
A Tougher-Looking Luxury SUV
When Lexus redesigned the GX for the 2024 model year, turning it into a plusher version of the current United States-market Toyota Land Cruiser, it fired a shot across Land Rover's bow. And like previous Lexus and Toyota SUVs, a healthy aftermarket is developing for the current-generation GX, further increasing its appeal in comparison to the British off-roaders.
Based in Phoenix, Arizona, Westcott Designs demonstrates the modification potential of the Lexus GX 550 with a recent build that combines the company's own lift kit with bigger wheels and tires. Westcott, which has also done a Toyota-commissioned SEMA build, offers the lift kit and other parts through its website so GX owners can replicate this look.
Plenty Of Room For Bigger Tires
Westcott claims its lift kit provides a 2.5-inch front and 0.75-inch rear lift, enough to accommodate tires up to 35 inches tall. This GX wears Nitto Ridge Grapplers in a slightly smaller size—285/55/22—with 22-inch Vossen HF6-3 wheels in a gloss black color that provides a bit of contrast to the plain silver exterior.
The big wheels and fairly low-profile tires give this GX plenty of visual attitude, but it's worth noting that Lexus offers 33-inch tires mounted on 18-inch wheels from the factory on Overtrail models (along with a 1.0-inch lift kit). The bigger tires and more generous sidewall should be perfect for serious off-roading, while providing a comfortable ride.
GX Glow-Up
Westcott Designs/Facebook
Considering the age of the previous-generation model, the GX's 2024-model-year redesign was one of the most dramatic in recent memory. The Lexus off-roader not only gained crisp styling and updated tech, but also a revised body-on-frame platform shared with the U.S.-spec Land Cruiser (known as the Land Cruiser Prado in other markets) and a twin-turbocharged 3.4-liter V6 rated at 349 horsepower and 479 pound-feet of torque.
The twin-turbo V6 is one of the main differentiators between the GX and Land Cruiser, which is only available with a turbo-four hybrid powertrain rated at 326 hp and 465 lb-ft of torque. And while the GX's $66,185 base price is a big step up from its Toyota sibling, it's pretty close to that of the four-door Land Rover Defender 110. And at that price, you're looking at a 2.0-liter turbo-four engine only.
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