Is this new premium hybrid as sharp as it looks?

Quite late to the premium compact SUV party, but what an entrance it makes!  The Lexus NX is styled to get noticed, so does the go match the show?

Seemingly the NX was styled by a samurai sword, with creases and sharp angles wherever you look.  Running alongside the Striking Angles campaign with musician, innovator and global entrepreneur will.i.am, the Lexus NX certainly arrives to flaunt its striking angles.

The plug was pulled to let any mundane-ness or conservatism drain out.  With other premium brands already having established their compact SUVs in varying sizes and shapes, the similar offering from Lexus was designed to make a bold and confident first impression.  Sharp lines with contrasting angles give crisp styling.  The LF-NX concept car unveiled at the 2013 Frankfurt Motor Show made it to production with most styling distinctions intact, thankfully.  The L-shaped LED driving lights are a striking feature.  Front fog lights nestle low in a deep-surfaced front bumper, next to an un-missable angular grille.  The paint name of the test car is Sonic Titanium, and is a very glossy deep grey, presenting the angles and prestige very well.

A first for Lexus is the implementation of a turbocharged petrol engine in the NX200t model.  For long the company held out by building only V6 and V8 engines, but in its more compact cars it started had to eventually start using 4 cylinders, though had its focus on strongly aligning Lexus with hybrid technology, but no turbo. 

The car tested here is the 300h, which indicates this is the hybrid.  Before the 300 part gets you too excited, thinking this is another sonorous Lexus V6 hybrid, it is in fact a 4-cylinder (more economical and smaller than a six, you see) of 2.5-litre capacity, which is similar to the engine used in the Lexus ES300h.  Unlike BMW who builds the ActiveHybrid cars with turbo petrol hybrid power, the Lexus 300h is not based on the 200t turbo engine, which would have been nice.  Power delivery of the NX 300h is quoted at 114kW for the engine, combining with the electric motor to output a combined 145kW, and engine torque of 210Nm but strangely none quoted for the electric motor.  On the road this translates to adequate performance… though if you want a sporty drive, go for the 200t.  The 300h has a claimed combined consumption of 6.0 l/100km, which is optimistic, though better than the turbo petrol’s 7.9 number.

Switching on the hybrid is still an eerily silent experience – put your foot on the brake pedal and press the large Start button… and the left-side instrument needle moves to a horizontal position, but absolute silence.  We are conditioned to get an aural and physical confirmation that the engine has started and we are good to set off.  But in a hybrid, one pauses in doubt – is the car on?  Especially odd for those of us who are first experiencees of the hybrid phenomenon.  One can still creep around silently in parking lots, getting right into a pedestrian’s shadow before s/he realises a quiet electric SUV approaches one’s heels.  The NX is 4-Wheel-Drive, so in quiet EV mode makes it ideal for adventurous outings off-road, such as stalking lions in the lion park.

Lexus has, except for the F1-sounding LFA supercar, engineered their engines to be very quiet.  Add the stealth-mode electric-drive soundless drive, and it is even more quiet.  Press the EV Mode console switch, and you’ll drive it as an electric vehicle, if the battery pack has enough power left – if not, it will start the engine to generate drive and to recharge the battery pack.  To give it some drivetrain sound, Lexus has added Active Sound Control – with the NX300h Normal or Sport driving mode, an engine sound is played through the car’s speakers, though not the actual engine’s sound amplified, but an artificial humming sound that seems more 6-cylinder than 4.  The unfortunate use of CVT gearing instead of a proper automatic gearbox means there are no gear shifts – having received lots of criticism for the stuck-on-one-rev straining unpleasant sound of a CVT, the Active Sound Control emulates “gear changes” which works really well at low to medium engine speeds, but as soon as you use heavier throttle the engine CVT will get the engine spinning to higher revs, and then the actual engine sound becomes heard – it is not a pleasant sound, especially when sitting at 5000 revs all the way up an uphill road.  Don’t bother with the big metal-look paddles – these make absolutely no difference to gears.

They didn’t think it through properly, because the engine sound at high revs dominates, though occupants can still hear the “engine” sound through the speakers, so you have 2 sounds contradicting each other!  Also, when in Sport mode the instrument power gauge changes to a rev counter – when driving, the speakers hum their engine sound, which don't match the revs… and even when the hybrid switches off the engine with the rev counter showing 0 revs, the engine sound keeps playing.  Weird.  In EV or Eco modes, this sound generator is de-activated. 

The interior is a pleasant place to be.  The efforts to make the Lexus NX a premium and upmarket place for driver and passengers are serious – the finishes and detailing are well executed, with high-grade leather on several panels including the door inserts and dashboard top, titanium grey and dark-brownish carbon-fibre trim strips, plus a plushness that exudes a peaceful yet high-tech ambience.  The 2-tone caramel and black seating option adds character and looks sweet, though the leather surfaces are baby-skin soft, which feel and look good, but are very prone to scratches and marks unintentionally left by keys, trouser studs, zipped pockets and pen ink.  The materials used are top class, with perfect fit&finish throughout, and nice stitching details abound.  While it looks and feels luxurious when new, the black velvet lined front centre under-armrest storage needs utmost care to keep clean and undamaged.  An interesting and unique item is the tabbed lift-out pad on the centre console, which on its underside is also a surprise hand-held mirror.

The carpets are also high quality and deep black even for the load area, but strangely the overlay mats are tagged NX 200t and NX 300h, side-by-side.  The load area has a clever cover which folds in the middle, meaning only the rear-most part (nearest you) lifts up with the tailgate, so you can store something small on the flat surface of the cover without seeing it slide down when you open the tailgate.  Nice finish in the boot area, but the tailgate doesn’t open high enough, so if you’re 1.8m+ tall, watch out not to bump your head on the tailgate.  No electric tailgate operation here.

The centre console is stacked almost horizontally, which is a move away from the traditional vertical layouts.  This works well in practice, by being presented with a tray of buttons to press, close at hand.  The gear selector has a good look and grip, but is placed too far to the left, and rather than a modern electronic selector, the driver has to work it through a shaped gate, which is just out-fashioned and totally at odds with the high-tech modern design.  The Lexus Remote Touch Interface is a touchpad used to control functions on the monitor, which works by moving a cursor across the screen to select menu items, just as on a laptop computer.  Good idea, and it works well in some cases, but frequently the driver needs to look at the monitor to see where the cursor is – not good, nor safe!

Lexus NX comes in E, EX or F-Sport trim.  The 300h is linked to only the top EX.  The F-Sport is reserved for the 200t.  Standard equipment is properly generous, extending to items not expected in its segment such as LED low-beam headlights, heated front seats, 3D satnav with Route Trace Recognition (so the car leaves bread crumbs like Hansel&Gretel to find your way back)… but lacking modern convenience items like park assist or surround view cameras.  Lexus still offers no options to customise.  Rivals mostly offer these choices, and they are Audi Q5, Range Rover Evoque, BMW X4, Infiniti QX50, Volvo XC60 and Jeep Cherokee.  The NX 300h EX price of R 633 000 sits right in this park, offering spec and finishes and feel that some of these cannot match.

Is this new premium hybrid as sharp as it looks?  With striking angles and a plush interior using a hybrid drivetrain in a premium package, the Lexus NX300h EX is a mostly pleasant-to-drive and individualistic cross-over SUV, and despite its few oddities, is a striking machine to look at and a luxurious car to live with.

 

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