2024 Lexus GX 550 Road Trip Review: 1,000 Miles of Comfort and Annoying Driver Tech
Fuel economy was disappointing considering the amount of time spent on the highway. On this trip, we achieved the best average to date: 19.7 mpg. Remember, the GX is rated at 17 mpg combined (15 city/21 highway).
The turning radius was amazing. I could flip a U-turn on most residential streets in my area. This must help a lot with maneuvering off-road, but I kept on pavement this time. That said, our team will be sure to bring the Overtail off-road over the course of our yearlong test.
The pop-out cargo area window was a feature I didn't realize I needed until I had it. Three one-gallon jugs of water got pinned against the cargo hatch door when I wasn't looking. Had I not opened the window first for a peek, it could've been trouble when I opened the hatch door. I should add that at 6 feet tall, the window is a perfect height for me. I could see it being less useful for shorter humans.
Finally, two oddities. First, I was in a drive-thru and the front proximity sensor chimed an alert, then stopped, then repeated five or six times. The distance shouldn't have triggered the sensor to begin with, and considering that the car was stationary during the freakout left me scratching my head. Second, there was a water drainage quirk. The GX roof drainage rail lines up in such a way that, when I opened the rear door and reached inside, a stream of cold morning dew dripped down the back of my neck. When I wasn't blocking its path, the water flowed right onto the carpet. That shouldn't happen.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
25 minutes ago
- Yahoo
1986 Ford Ranger on Bring a Trailer Is the Definition of an Honest Pickup
Compact pickups used to be everywhere, but the survival rate of this hardworking breed is low. This Ford Ranger somehow escaped the fate of its brethren. Its combination of a manual transmission and a V-6 engine is desirable, even though you wouldn't call this a sport truck. A compact pickup truck is kind of like a lawn mower: It's a tool for a job, not something you expect to show up in a museum. It might not be subject to the same abuse as a full-size pickup on fleet duty, but it's expected to pull its weight. A few might have a gentle first owner with a penchant for around-the-house DIY, but after a decade or so, a second or third owner will beat the absolute tar out of them. Thus, an original-condition survivor is a bit of a rarity. Here's one such unicorn: a 1986 Ford Ranger regular cab with just 31K miles on the odometer, and it's up for sale on Bring a Trailer (which, like Car and Driver, is part of Hearst Autos). Ordered with a five-speed manual and a V6, it was an unusual spec from the factory and has only become rarer as its fellows have been used up and sent to the scrapyard. 1986 is a good year for a Ranger. It's the first generation of the truck but also the first year you could get it with fuel injection, making it a little more pleasant to drive. This example has only the basics: power steering and power brakes, but no air conditioning. It's a truck. Just roll down the window. Originally a mid-level trim for the F-Series, the Ranger was launched as a standalone compact pickup truck in the early 1980s. It replaced the Courier, a Mazda-built badge-engineered mini-pickup that was a response to the success of Toyota and Datsun small pickups. Ford will happily sell you a Ranger today, but it's a much larger, more sophisticated, and more expensive offering. Its humble progenitor was not built for off-road capability, like the high-flying Ranger Raptor, but rather to ferry home a load of bark mulch or lumber, or get loaded up with landscaping tools. Including, yes, a lawnmower or two. Under the hood is a 2.9-liter V-6 making 140 horsepower, which was also available in the contemporary Bronco II. The five-speed manual wakes things up a bit, but this is a pretty grunty little six, good for 170 pound-feet of torque below 3000 rpm. Disc brakes up front add a further level of daily drivability. This is not a potential off-road rig like a contemporary Marty McFly–style Toyota pickup, nor is it the basis for a minitruck-style showpiece like a Nissan/Datsun might be. It's an honest survivor, a relic from a time when genuinely compact pickup trucks were plentiful and cheap. Settle into that vinyl bench seat, load up the bed with a cooler and maybe a folding chair, and cruise on over to the lake with the windows rolled down. Most Rangers of this era were worked to death. This one deserves a bit of a summer vacation. The auction ends on August 6. You Might Also Like Car and Driver's 10 Best Cars through the Decades How to Buy or Lease a New Car Lightning Lap Legends: Chevrolet Camaro vs. Ford Mustang!
CNET
26 minutes ago
- CNET
We Love Bluetti Portable Power Stations and You Can Save Hundreds on Them Right Now
Between off-grid summer adventures and wanting to have a back-up in case the power goes out, a portable power station has almost become a household staple -- that is, if you can afford the high price tag. Bluetti makes some of our top choice back up power stations, generators and solar panels, and right now Amazon has markdowns that range from a $100 to $1,400 off. We've highlighted some of the best bargains below, but be sure to browse the entire sale to find the right fit for you. Keep in mind, too, that some of the prices are a straightforward discount when added to cart and other offers need you to clip an on-page coupon to save the most. One of the biggest discounts is on the Bluetti Solar Generator Apex 300 and the B300K expansion battery combo. This setup typically sets you back $4,100. Amazon has the price down by 34%, which means you can get it for $2,698. That saves you $1,402. Hey, did you know? CNET Deals texts are free, easy and save you money. If you're hoping to get your hands on another B300K expansion battery, you can save $600 with an on-page coupon, which drops the price down from $1,799 to $1,199. Grab the Bluetti Solar Generator Apex 300 and two, 200-watt solar panels for just $1,999, which is $1,300 less than the regular asking price for this off-grid combo. Why this deal matters A portable power station can be a great help whether you live in an area that suffers power cuts or you just want to take the power with you when camping. Bluetti offers some of our favorite power stations, and this is your chance to save hundreds of dollars off yours.
The Verge
27 minutes ago
- The Verge
The enforcer that could break up Apple and Google is facing upheaval
The sudden firing of two high-ranking antitrust officials this week is signaling upheaval at an agency responsible for arguing some of the biggest tech monopoly cases in decades. Two top deputies to Department of Justice Antitrust Division chief Gail Slater were fired earlier this week for what a DOJ official would only explain as 'insubordination' in an unattributed statement. Antitrust trade publication MLex reported that termination letters for Roger Alford and Bill Rinner, who also served in the first Trump administration, did not mention the reason for their firing. (Alford later posted a copy of his letter, which he said he framed and hung in his University of Notre Dame office.) But accounts from multiple publications including CBS News have detailed internal turmoil over a merger that Attorney General Pam Bondi's chief of staff Chad Mizelle reportedly helped usher through over objections from the Antitrust Division's leadership, after close allies of President Donald Trump's got involved. The ordeal fuels concerns that Trump's penchant for granting political favors to his allies will overrule any true bipartisan enthusiasm for antitrust crackdowns, including in some of the most consequential actions involving the tech industry. Slater, who worked for Vice President JD Vance in the Senate, is widely seen as a respected and serious figure in antitrust circles. She's been critical of Big Tech and has continued some of the Biden administration's most aggressive antitrust pushes, albeit with changes reflecting a distinct 'America First' flavor. But the firing of two close colleagues she relied on to carry out her vision — which Slater reportedly opposed — calls into question whether such policy ideals can survive an administration with a history of rooting out dissenters. Personnel decisions at the DOJ have always ultimately fallen to the president, but the Antitrust Division has traditionally operated with a degree of distance. 'There's no pretense that that custom exists anymore,' says Bill Kovacic, a former chair of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). 'To outsiders, an episode like this shows that political intervention works, and then if you can hire the right people to get to the White House or to the DOJ front office with the right arguments, you can override the preferences of the Antitrust Division.' 'An episode like this shows that political intervention works' The merger settlement involved Hewlett Packard Enterprise's $14 billion acquisition of Juniper Networks. The DOJ filed a lawsuit in January seeking to block the merger, which it alleged would reduce competition in the market for enterprise-grade wireless networking equipment. But this week, the parties said they 'reached a settlement that resolves the government's competitive concerns.' Unnamed Trump administration officials told Axios that national security aims were a big factor behind the ultimate settlement, including strengthening US competitiveness against China's Huawei. But other reports suggest political influence might have played a bigger role. HPE disclosed in a legal filing that Mike Davis, an influential Trump ally, was among the company's advisors who had met with DOJ representatives leading up to the settlement agreement. Though Davis has called Slater a friend, the antitrust chief did not engage with him during the settlement negotiations, The Wall Street Journal reported, and members of her team took issue with politically-connected lawyers like Davis being brought in to influence the talks. Slater resisted the HPE agreement, according to the WSJ, and in the DOJ press release, her statement simply thanked the 'hardworking men and women of the Antitrust Division for their work on this case,' without mention of the settlement itself. In a letter to the judge overseeing the merger case, four Senate Democrats charge that the proposed settlement actually wouldn't resolve the antitrust concerns with the deal, in part because it would require HPE to sell a business that the lawmakers say doesn't directly compete with Juniper's offerings anyway. Alongside reports about potential procedural issues in reaching the settlement, Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Cory Booker (D-NJ), and Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) wrote, 'These reports raise concerns regarding whether the settlement advances the interests of the public or a well-connected, well-paid group of insiders. At a minimum, it's unclear whether the settlement even addresses the Justice Department's original antitrust concerns.' 'This is a massive change from how the Justice Department has operated for the last 50 years,' Bill Baer, who previously led antitrust enforcement at both the DOJ and FTC, said about the reported events. 'Since Watergate, there has been something of a firewall between White House personnel and the Justice Department on how to handle individual investigations and cases. The events of the last two weeks suggest that that firewall no longer exists.' The Antitrust Division still has many major tech matters on its plate: a promised appeal of its Google search monopolization case and likely one for its Google ad tech case, an Apple monopolization trial, and a Live Nation-Ticketmaster monopoly case. The high-profile nature of many of these cases, and the fact that they align with other interests of the administration, makes it less likely they'll see a 'cheap settlement,' Kovacic says. Even so, he adds, 'this episode shows that it's a matter of coming up with a deal that would be pleasing.' 'If the court starts to think that something other than your professional judgment is guiding your decisions, there's nothing to respect' In the meantime, the loss of Alford and Rinner is a blow to the agency's tech expertise and external credibility. Alford advised the Texas attorney general's office on its monopolization investigation into Google and led international antitrust policy under the first Trump administration, while Rinner was a respected figure leading the agency's merger enforcement. 'Your ability to prevail in court depends a lot on persuading courts to trust you, and the main basis for trust is not just your technical legal arguments, but your demonstrated strong professional judgment,' Kovacic says. 'If the court starts to think that something other than your professional judgment is guiding your decisions, there's nothing to respect.' We might learn more about how the HPE-Juniper deal got approved and what occurred around Alford and Rinner's firings if the judge overseeing the case decides to probe further under a transparency law known as the Tunney Act. While experts say it would be difficult to reverse the DOJ decision, hearing from those involved in the negotiations may at least shed light on what kind of dealmaking occurred. 'This creates the image that everything that happens in the US is subject to a political fix,' Kovacic says. 'It's the kind of scenario that the US in the past has warned against and said countries ought not to allow themselves to succumb to this kind of decision-making.' Posts from this author will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed. See All by Lauren Feiner Posts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed. See All Analysis Posts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed. See All Antitrust Posts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed. See All Apple Posts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed. See All Features Posts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed. See All Google Posts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed. See All Policy Posts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed. See All Politics Posts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed. See All Tech
