THE Australian motoring media has long lamented the lack of a diesel engine option in the huge and hugely opulent Lexus LX four-wheel-drive.

And now the brand has finally listened, transplanting the 4.5-litre twin-turbo diesel V8 from the Toyota LandCruiser 200 on which the big Lexus is based. Hooray!

However, the diesel donk’s extra weight has forced Lexus to remove a fair bit of standard equipment – including the third row of seats and extended-range fuel tank – and priced the LX450d to reflect this at $8650 less than the V8 petrol-powered LX570.

After a week living with the derv-devouring LX, we remained unconvinced that the diesel transition was particularly successful or worthwhile.