Lexus NX300 F Sport

Have you ever heard of the Baader Meinhoff Effect?
It basically refers to the illusion of seeing something with regular frequency once you’ve become aware of it.
We see this a lot with certain makes of cars…. “Why don’t we see these more often on our roads?”

Well they are there, but your brain just doesn’t notice them. That often seems to be the case with Lexus: they are out there, but we just don’t notice them.
The Lexus NX200t has been on our roads for quite some time now, and at the end of last year, underwent its mid-life facelift. It also received a name change, to become this…. the NX300.

Lexus changed the naming convention so that it would be more in line with the power output of the engine and less with the engine size. The 2.0t engine in the NX produces 175kW and 350Nm. If you do the math, it works out to about 234hp, which is very close to the output of the 3.0-litre and hybrid models. Lexus simply renamed it to bring everything in line.

On the outside the styling is all creases and swooping lines. The model we have here is the F-Sport, which means that it gets a few styling tweaks of its own. Up front the F-Sport gets its own grille with a satin chrome surround, graphite styled bumper elements, and a brushed aluminium lip, and there are new headlights as well.

Down the side there’s a stylish new set of 18” wheels and round the back a few styling tweaks on the bumper, along with new LED taillights.
And, as the outside has been refreshed, the interior also came up for some major changes – more significant than the ones on the outside.

The NX has received quite an overhaul inside, with the biggest change being this new 10.3-inch screen. It really is an awesome piece of kit, which is sadly and completely let down by the interface.

I know automakers are trying to have the best tech in their cars, but a simple scroll wheel would have been way better than this tracking pad mouse pad thing, which is very fidgety and difficult to use. Another option that completely confused me is small vanity mirror, with a non-descript storage bay hidden underneath it. I would have preferred a simple stowage space for a wallet of something.

The interior is beautifully styled though, with just the right amounts of leather and brushed aluminium. There is also a lot of convenience tech packed into it: there are heated and ventilated, 8-way electrically adjustable seats among other items, and on the safety side, there’s blind spot detection and rear cross traffic alert.

The F Sport adds a new Drive mode selector which has Eco, Normal, Sport and Sport +, allowing you to almost completely customize your driving experience with the adaptive, variable suspension system.

One thing I am not too happy about is rear visibility: the rear seats are pretty high, crowding the small rear window to a point where the host of cameras giving a 360 degree view are absolutely needed when maneuvering.

While the driving characteristics were wonderful, we found Lexus’ claims of 7.1l/100km to be a little on the imaginative side. Making use of all the drive modes, and alternating between city and freeway usage, we were unable to get the 2.0l cylinder turbo engine to drop into the 10’s, making this a pretty thirsty and somewhat noisy drive. The exhaust note can also become a little bit clattery at high revs. The six speed automatic transmission has been flawless though, shifting with you barely noticing.

It was an exceptional drive otherwise. It’s safe, reliable, luxurious and packed with all kinds of tech that more than make up for the few shortcomings.

The F Sport goes up against some giants in this premium compact SUV segment, such as Audi’s Q5, BMW’s X3 and Range Rover’s Evoque and Mercedes Benz’s GLC to name a few.

Coming in at R797 900 it is actually very well priced, and when you include the 4 year / 100 000km warranty and service plan, it definitely becomes a very viable alternative to those other brands and absolutely should be on your shopping list.