Considering the Lexus GX460 is the most expensive vehicle I’ve ever had the pleasure of driving (although I did take the LX570 off-roading in Oregon a few weeks back), it’s safe to say it’s the most comfortable. Â My first reaction upon driving it around with Alfie (as he’s always my first passenger in any review vehicles), is that I felt like IÂ was literally in a nice comfortable lazy-boy chair, while I drove around.
Luckily I didn’t think it was too huge to manoeuvre around, as I was in large Lexus LUVs a few weeks prior and I was used to the size. Plus, those backup cameras help a ton when parking. In fact, I parallel parked this beastly when I drove to the second leg of Misters Ironman race. I was pretty pumped about the success of that in one go!
The main reason I got the GX460 to review the past week was because I wanted something large and in charge, not only to allow enough room for Alfie, my Husband and I to pack our belongings in for a weekend, but to comfortably fit his tri-bike in it as well. Oh, and so it did.
It was definitely a practical sized to drive 2-3 hours north (it took 3 hours driving up to Sonoma area due to traffic, gah!) up to wine country for my husbands 7th Ironman Race, I knew the GX460 would fit everything we needed, plus a little more. The thing is a beast! Although, I’m sure it’s built on an older platform, I did notice some semi out-of-date things when I had it for the week. In other Lexus vehicles I’ve had in the past, the nav system had a touch screen and one of mouse-like buttons to scroll (on the console area) but this one was touch screen only. The parking brake was also one of those stomp-on ones rather than the push of a button, again minor. Though, we did notice was that the cooling seats weren’t as aggressive as previous Lexus models we’ve reviewed. I didn’t even notice that they were on, and I was then driving for an hour already. Strange! Usually it’s too cold for me to have on for more than 5 minutes. That’s fine with me, because I hate being cold and more often than not, the warm air is blasting on my face haha.
Alfie guzzling down the water.
I find that whenever I hopped in and out of this LUV (luxury utility vehicle) I most definitely needed to take advantage of the foot-stool to properly hop into the car without doing the splits. It’s high up there, man. I felt like I was towering over the other vehicles on the road, it was awesome.
I even mentioned to my husband that I should literally chauffeur him around in the GX460, and for him to hop in the back seats, cause oh my lord – there are not one, but TWO TVs on the headrests in front of you. It also includes a remote control (lol), and over-the-ear head phones. Wild, right? Guess that’s what you call the definition of luxury right there given the $68.7k sticker price. Ah the life of luxury vehicles. Love ’em.
Okay so onto his 7th Ironman! We packed up the GX on Thursday morning, Ironman Vineman race day was Saturday and I drove us back Sunday afternoon. Friday afternoon Mr. Spiffykerms wanted me to drive him along the bike course so he could familiarize himself with it before he actually raced on the roads. It took over an hour due to the windy roads, narrow streets, and turns. He mentioned there weren’t too many straightaways, so he couldn’t tuck into aero position too often.
But what gorgeous views! We had the road to ourselves for the most part and driving through wine country was just as beautiful as you’d imagine.
Ah, sherpa life. Waking up at 3:30am on race morning to drive to the race start. It wasn’t too chilly but I did want an extra layer on during the early wee hours of the morning. Had my bell ready to ring!
This was the first year Vineman 140.6 was under the Ironman name. Although always 140.6 distance, in the previous years they’ve had 400 people enter the race, but this year they had 2500+ athletes sign up. It was huge.
Race start was gorgeous along Russian River. (The males wore green swim caps, females wore pink).
From there I waited for the first pro male swimmer to get out of the water, and shortly after I walked up to the main road and waited to cheer Mister Spiffykerms on the start of his bike.
I didn’t get a shot of him on the bike because the course was a little confusing and difficult to get around (due to some roads being limited or closed altogether). Plus, I wanted to get Alfie from the hotel, shower, and eat! :)
The running route was excellent for spectators, but a bit crowded for the runners since there were 3 out and backs, with a huge hill that they had to conquor multiple times due to the in-and-out laps. I stood here for the majority of the day watching out for my husband.
And there he is (orange hat)! I had to take a photo far away so I could ring my cow-bell, cheer him on, and get Alfie riled right up!! Go Go Go!
It’s definitely rewarding to the Mister to feast on a meal of McDonalds after a tough day on the Ironman course. So that’s exactly what we did once he finished (and post-nap). I’m never going to say “No” to a McDonalds meal.
It’s our tradition/routine whatever you want to call it, to drive back to the Ironman finishers chute after he’s done racing and all cleaned up and fed.
The spectator crowd is especially loud and supportive during the last hour or so with the final finishers running into the finish line to become an Ironman. It’s a feeling that gives me such chills — some are in complete agony, some are incredibly emotions, and others are sprinting to finish with huge grins on their face. It’s so amazing to watch.
Huge congrats to my husband for completing his 7th Ironman race!!! And thank you all for your congratulations to him, too. It was so nice to receive all those snapchats and tweets from you guys. 
Thanks to Lexus for providing me with the GX460 for the week to review! We had fun in it!