NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - As SUVs go, the Lexus GX 470 is the equivalent of a hot dog with everything. That is, if the condiment choices included black truffles and caviar.

If you like your trucks plain, the GX -- and its $54,230 tested price -- will strike you as luxury overkill. Check out the terrific Toyota 4Runner instead. It's a close mechanical cousin to the Lexus, including its 235-horsepower, 4.7-liter V-8. Yet the 4Runner Sport I recently tested started $13,000 below the GX's $44,925 base price, and cost nearly $20,000 less out-the-door.

That kind of premium raises the question: How much luxury and technology do you need, and how much are you willing to pay? The glass-half-full crowd may judge the GX a relative bargain compared to the $70,000-plus Range Rover. No doubt, this Lexus is a superior STV -- Sport Tranquility Vehicle -- with all the performance, comfort and luxury anyone might wish for. It crams in so many whiz-bang features I'm surprised there's room for passengers:

• Stray from suburbia, and the downhill assist control lets the GX tiptoe down steep slopes with no need to touch the gas or brakes. When it's time to climb, the hill start assist control keeps the GX from rolling backwards until you're underway.
• Full-time four-wheel-drive features a trusty Torsen limited-slip differential – similar to the Audi Quattro system – to manage power and limit wheelspin. A low-range setting and lockable four-wheel-drive give the GX serious off-road skills.
• An adaptive suspension lets you flip a switch to soften the ride or choose a sportier feel. (Though the firmer two of the four settings seemed to harshen the ride without doing much for handling). Air springs can adjust the ride height over a 2.8-inch range, higher for off-roading, lower for easier loading and passenger step-up.

• The full Lexus roster of electronic braking, traction and stability control systems, along with front, side and head-curtain airbags, are standard.

Optional goodies include a 14-speaker Mark Levinson audio system and first-rate Lexus navigation system that accepts voice commands. And some technological help for back-seat drivers: A separate rear seat CD/DVD entertainment system -- complete with a pair of wireless headphones -- also lets passengers manage the navigation system via remote control and monitor the display on a 7-inch flip-down screen.

One extra to avoid is the third-row seat with its separate air conditioner ($2,030), which lets the GX carry a purely theoretical eight passengers. I've argued that midsize utes are just too small to force in a useful third row, and the Lexus is a particularly cramped example. (Some critics dubbed the Ford Explorer's third row the "dog seat," but even Fido might feel he was being punished in the GX's hindquarters). Compared to the Ford's back bench (which carves out space through its clever independent rear suspension) the Lexus offers 10 inches less legroom and three inches less headroom, though the Lexus' seat is wider.

The undersized chairs rest mere inches off the floor, pushing your knees skyward. Erecting or folding the seats is a Rube Goldberg operation that involves extending legs, pulling knobs and fiddling with straps.

No such complaints from the front or second rows, where the Lexus impresses with its wood-and-leather-clad comfort, spacious cabin and generous sightlines. The ride is plush, the five-speed transmission so smooth you'd swear it was lubed with hollandaise.

Lexus GX 470 • Vehicle type: Front-engine, 4wd, midsize SUV • Engine: 4.7-liter V-8, 235 horsepower, 320 pound-feet torque • Fuel economy: 15 mpg city, 18 mpg hwy • Base price: $44,925 • Price as tested: $54,230

With a prodigious 320 pound-feet of torque, the silky V-8 pulls the GX from 0-60 mph in about 8.5 seconds, quick for a nearly 4,700-pound SUV. As you'd expect, the GX develops quite a thirst, at 15 mpg city/18 mpg highway; I managed 16 mpg overall.

Like its Toyota sibling, the GX handles with surprising precision for a hefty truck built on a traditional truck-style steel frame. Manhattan streets proved an ideal playground for the big Lexus, with cabbies giving it a wide berth and drivers of lesser SUVs shooting envious looks. A tight turning circle makes the GX easy to maneuver and park in close quarters.

The GX was equally at home in the nighttime wilds of northern Westchester County, utterly secure and planted despite a sudden coating of sleet on narrow, wooded lanes. And my off-road excursions in the similar 4Runner left no doubt that the Lexus can roll up its linen sleeves and take on genuinely rugged chores.

That dual nature is exactly what the purveyors, and buyers, of luxury trucks have in mind. For the rest of us, the GX's price may be steep -- but for SUV social climbers, likely worth the exertions.

Lawrence Ulrich writes about cars for Money Magazine and CNN/Money.