Yahoo Autos 2024 Lexus GX 550 Premium+ gear hauling test in Oregon
BEND, Oregon – “I hope it’s worth the noise!” I kept hearing Richard Lewis announcing that, with grand horns blaring inches from his head, in that cinematic classic, “Robin Hood: Men in Tights.” For more than 13 hours, I drove the 2024 Lexus GX 550 Premium+ along California and Oregon highways at a steady 70 mph. Any faster, and the wind noise would elevate from a steady roar to booming. Not because of the GX, mind you – it’s surprisingly quiet for a box on wheels with mirrors shaped like a hardcover book – but because of the full-roof accessory roof rack I requested be installed for my journey from Agoura Hills outside Los Angeles to Bend in central Oregon.
As I described in Part 1 of my GX outdoor adventure road trip story, the accessory rack was necessary because the Premium and Luxury trim levels do not come with the Overtrail’s raised roof rails that let you install your own crossbars or other racks (such as the Yakima crossbars I own). While I could’ve requested Lexus install the $440 cross bar official accessory, I opted for the $1,580 accessory “Roof Rack.” It would look a lot cooler, for starters, which I have to imagine is why I so frequently see such full-roof racks on Land Rover Defenders, Mercedes G 550s and other luxury off-roaders. Relatedly, it seems like the sort of thing someone would be likely to fit to their GX; trying it out therefore seemed useful for reporting purposes. I was also on a mission to use it for transporting a rented kayak once in Bend, and it sure seemed like it would be more useful than plain-old crossbars.
But to know for sure, I asked the expert opinion of Danielle, the friendly employee of Bend Kayak School and Rentals (pictured above left) that set me up with a lovely yellow tandem kayak and the straps needed to make sure it stayed atop the GX.
“So, I’m borrowing this car. I was wondering if that big rack up there actually makes a difference for transporting and securing kayaks?” I asked as she secured the front strap onto the little tow hook that’s apparently just underneath the right side of the bumper. She knew it was probably there, I didn’t.
“Oh yeah. All that extra surface area is going to make it a lot more stable, and make it easier to get up there,” Danielle reported to my relief. It was worth the noise, it was!
Obviously, the GX is quite a tall vehicle; in fact, it’s exactly as tall as me at 6-foot-3. My father is 6-foot-even, so we’re as close to a best-case scenario apart from some former basketball players. Still, it was quite a hoist to get the big tandem kayak off and later up there again. Danielle is barely cracking 5-feet, however, so she expertly used the door sills and doors to hoist herself and the kayak up. Not her first rodeo. Personally, if I were going to be routinely transporting a kayak places, I’d probably get a wagon because of the lower roof. I wonder if Audi sells a full-length platform roof rack for the RS 6 Avant? (Strokes chin.)
The rack wasn’t the only gear-hauling accessory I brought along on the trip – the Yakima StageTwo heavy-duty bike rack that made its debut last year when I made a similar trip with a Honda Pilot TrailSport also made the journey. Every GX comes standard with a 2-inch trailer hitch, which is “hidden” behind a curiously conspicuous panel. It pops off easily — I used a flat-head screw driver to pull out a pair of plastic pins, which pop back in just as easily enough.
There were no issues installing or uninstalling the rack, which is more a credit to the Yakima, but the Lexus GX gets a pretty big shout-out, too, as it proved to be perfectly set up for carrying a bike back there. You see, the rack folds up when not in use and folds down when you need access to the liftgate; when loaded with a bike, it tilts down to let the liftgate swing up. However, that functionality was often not needed at all thanks to the GX’s pop-up rear window. I could just walk up, pop open the window, and easily drop in or pick out items in the cargo area without touching the bike rack. I had known the pop-up rear window could be useful, but I didn’t know about this. By contrast, the Land Rover Defender and specifically its jumbo, door-mounted tire made using my bike rack difficult (I couldn’t use the inboard platform).
