Triple Locked LX600 Offroad

[TonyP]

What do you think is so similar between the Japanese and US auto market?
From my experience, the Venn Diagram of similarities is barely overlapping.

 

[bjowett]

Toyota usually gives their own JDM vehicles all the bells and whistles. So not a fair comparison. Everyone wants factory triple locked LC but sometimes that means no ATRAC. So that would be a good question to ask. There are better aftermarket lockers than the OEM e-lockers but the advantage of OE is low cost.

The factory lockers are now the electromagnetic type, just like the 3rd Gen Tacoma. They are likely produced by GKN Driveline Japan, formerly Tochigi Fuji.

Info here thanks to @Onur

300 Series Technical Specifications: June 2021

forum.ih8mud.com

 

[Angelo1]

Triple locked? This thing has such poor overhangs, it will never make it to the terrain that difficult. G-Wagon looking better and better.

 

[hoser]

The factory lockers are now the electromagnetic type, just like the 3rd Gen Tacoma. They are likely produced by GKN Driveline Japan, formerly Tochigi Fuji.

Info here thanks to @Onur

300 Series Technical Specifications: June 2021

forum.ih8mud.com

Awesome! Thx for the info.

 

[bloc]

Awesome! Thx for the info.

The upside here is they should be much easier to retrofit..

 

[1world1love]

What do you think is so similar between the Japanese and US auto market?
From my experience, the Venn Diagram of similarities is barely overlapping.

In the context of this conversation, it is that the average car buyer in Japan is as likely to know what lockers are as the average car buyer in the US. Vehicles in Japan are largely bought for the same purposes as in the US. This is, as opposed to somewhere like Australia or somewhere in the middle east, or even in parts of Europe for that matter.

The main difference between Japan and the US is that large vehicles are generally hard to find in Japan. There are almost no dealers for American cars, so that excludes pretty much every large pickup and SUV made. Of course that makes it hard to compare as far as sales numbers go since the US market is dominated by trucks.

But driving through San Francisco and driving through Tokyo don't seem that different to me. Lots of monotonous colors of sedans and minivans, and lots of Prius. And lots modified sports cars.

 

[TonyP]

In the context of this conversation, it is that the average car buyer in Japan is as likely to know what lockers are as the average car buyer in the US. Vehicles in Japan are largely bought for the same purposes as in the US. This is, as opposed to somewhere like Australia or somewhere in the middle east, or even in parts of Europe for that matter.

The main difference between Japan and the US is that large vehicles are generally hard to find in Japan. There are almost no dealers for American cars, so that excludes pretty much every large pickup and SUV made. Of course that makes it hard to compare as far as sales numbers go since the US market is dominated by trucks.

But driving through San Francisco and driving through Tokyo don't seem that different to me. Lots of monotonous colors of sedans and minivans, and lots of Prius. And lots modified sports cars.

Interesting take, using that context they might be similar. That's a bit of a nuanced similarity though.
I lived there for four years. On the whole, the Japanese auto market is very unique for multiple reasons.
I'd go more in depth but the Prosecco is flowing nicely and it would be incoherent.

 

[eatSleepWoof]

Interesting take, using that context they might be similar. That's a bit of a nuanced similarity though.
I lived there for four years. On the whole, the Japanese auto market is very unique for multiple reasons.
I'd go more in depth but the Prosecco is flowing nicely and it would be incoherent.

We are used to reading YouTube comments from people that grew up with TikTok. I assure you, your version of incoherent would be a hundred-fold improvement. Get to writing, just don't spill the juice on the keyboard!

 

[1world1love]

Interesting take, using that context they might be similar. That's a bit of a nuanced similarity though.
I lived there for four years. On the whole, the Japanese auto market is very unique for multiple reasons.
I'd go more in depth but the Prosecco is flowing nicely and it would be incoherent.

Yeah, I only visit once a year or so (pre-pandemic), and then only to Tokyo, so my thoughts are based on that limited experience and talking with my colleagues there.

 

[Jurwin]

In the context of this conversation, it is that the average car buyer in Japan is as likely to know what lockers are as the average car buyer in the US. Vehicles in Japan are largely bought for the same purposes as in the US. This is, as opposed to somewhere like Australia or somewhere in the middle east, or even in parts of Europe for that matter.

The main difference between Japan and the US is that large vehicles are generally hard to find in Japan. There are almost no dealers for American cars, so that excludes pretty much every large pickup and SUV made. Of course that makes it hard to compare as far as sales numbers go since the US market is dominated by trucks.

But driving through San Francisco and driving through Tokyo don't seem that different to me. Lots of monotonous colors of sedans and minivans, and lots of Prius. And lots modified sports cars.

One thing you should consider though is that people actually buy the LC/LX in Japan unlike in the US. Lexus sells about 4000 LX per year in the US I believe.

It's not clear if these sales numbers in Japan are only for the 200-series LC or includes 200 series LC and LX or even 150 series prado (per 2018 the 70-series was not sold in Japan).
About 30K LC's were sold in Japan in 2018 compared to combined LC/LX of 7988 in 2018 in USA. The new 300-series LC was met with strong demand in Japan with over 20k pre orders apparently. We can safely assume they sell allot more LX's in Japan than in the US. More sales equals more catering and like what somebody else already mentioned here, Japan has a history of offering special editions for JDM only.

 

[1world1love]

One thing you should consider though is that people actually buy the LC/LX in Japan unlike in the US. Lexus sells about 4000 LX per year in the US I believe.
....It's not clear if these sales numbers in Japan are only for the 200-series LC or includes 200 series LC and LX or even 150 series prado (per 2018 the 70-series was not sold in Japan).

About 30K LC's were sold in Japan in 2018 compared to combined LC/LX of 7988 in 2018 in USA. The new 300-series LC was met with strong demand in Japan with over 20k pre orders apparently. We can safely assume they sell allot more LX's in Japan than in the US. More sales equals more catering and like what somebody else already mentioned here, Japan has a history of offering special editions for JDM only.

Yes, but again, it is not easy to just use sales as an indicator of consumer sentiment. In the US, the Luxury SUV market is huge and generally, if there is a large, luxury SUV produced in the world, it is sold in the US. This is not true for Japan. None of the big 3 US automakers sell in Japan. Sales of non-Japanese SUVs is almost non-existent.

But generally, luxury cars do well in the Japanese market. Obviously, like the US, the number of sales for any luxury car is minor relative to the Camry/Accord variety of vehicle. It is just that the options available are more limited than here, at least for SUVs.

Again, this is all IMO and anecdotal. I think I may have seen a couple of Mercedes SUVs in my trips there, but most that I saw were standard Rav-4/Rogue looking vehicles.

 

[1world1love]

But let me also say that I am convinced that unfortunately this is more likely a limited JDM offering and will not enter the US market. Hope springs eternal.

 

[trevorr90]

But primarily, it is because in the US 99.9% of actual buyers of new LX600s off the dealer lot don’t know or care about lockers, and toyota knows it.

100%. They know their customer base more than we do.

This is just anecdotal but I live in the DC suburbs and see LX's all the time, they're mostly driven by older gentlemen or soccer moms. I don't think I've even seen one with off-road tires.

A few months ago, I got bombarded by Lexus with numerous surveys after I purchased my LX. One survey asked me how often I drove off road if at all and a bunch of off road related questions. If I had to guess, the numbers that they see show that the vast majority do not drive off road at all why make a vehicle that only caters to the 5%?

 

[linuxgod]

I've not been to Japan but I thought I'd read the market there was highly unique, basically it's own automotive microcosm. Kei cars, for instance, only exist there (though Toyota, Honda, and Nissan tried to bring that style to the US as the xB, Element, and Cube).

 

[1world1love]

All of the nuances of the two markets aside, the point still stands that there is nothing about the Japanese market that makes it more or less receptive to the triple locked LX600. There is no more of an off-road or overloading market there as there is here. Is there a market there? Yes. Is there a market here? Yes. Neither are comparable to Australia, South Africa, or some of the Middle Eastern states.

My point is that maybe it is true that the 3x LX is only a local novelty and not going to make it to the states, but it is certainly not related to the fact that people in Japan are more likely to take their LXs offroading than here. It is not a market driven decision. A sentimental one? Maybe.

 

[bjowett]

The upside here is they should be much easier to retrofit..

Since it has an available Locker, maybe the 2022 Tundra rear axle will roll right under there. The links will bolt up, the ABS plugs in, etc. the width will be perfect with the front tundra arms.

 

[bloc]

Since it has an available Locker, maybe the 2022 Tundra rear axle will roll right under there. The links will bolt up, the ABS plugs in, etc. the width will be perfect with the front tundra arms.

I’m not so sure about a tundra arm swap on the 300. The pics of the TRD pro arms (all I can find) have the lower shock mount attached to a leg that sticks up from the arm. The 300 arms have the shock bolt going into the midline of the arm like the current 200.

 

[Jurwin]

All of the nuances of the two markets aside, the point still stands that there is nothing about the Japanese market that makes it more or less receptive to the triple locked LX600. There is no more of an off-road or overloading market there as there is here. Is there a market there? Yes. Is there a market here? Yes. Neither are comparable to Australia, South Africa, or some of the Middle Eastern states.

My point is that maybe it is true that the 3x LX is only a local novelty and not going to make it to the states, but it is certainly not related to the fact that people in Japan are more likely to take their LXs offroading than here. It is not a market driven decision. A sentimental one? Maybe.

I get where you're coming from but even so Japanese cars have a history of giving their home market cars special treatments. You can argue the same about sport cars, that japanese market is no more or less receptive to sportier cars yet pretty much all their JDM sport cars received special editions that are considered superior to the same models sold in the US. Take the JDM 80-series it got features that American FJ80 never got like the option between part-time 4wd and full-time 4wd, electric foldable mirrors, headlamp washers, integrated winch (optional), adjustable dampers, rear AC, coolbox etc.

Factory winch:

Headlamp washers:

Sweet manual locking hubs:

Coolbox since first model year 80-series. USA got coolbox in 2008 with the 200-series.

Adjustable dampers "norm/sport"

The list goes on

 

[flyfish4life]

Oh to get my hands on a brand new 80 series…

 

[AnyMal]

Don't forget Japan also has a wide variety of terrains and climate for a relatively tiny island nation. Not just urban hellscapes.