![]() In Princeton who work at Toyota Motor Manufacturing Indiana, where the new Highlander is assembled. The other 90-plus percent will get both a better deal and a better crossover.Who builds the best mainstream midsize seven-passenger crossover SUV available today? Hands down it’s the men and woman Lexus expects that less than 10 percent of NX customers will choose the hybrid. All in, our NX300h registered at nearly $46,000.Īs with its big brother, the RX450h, the NX300h is more about buffing up your carbon-footprint-related cocktail-party conversation than it is about making any real sacrifices. Our car came with optional LED headlights ($1160), exterior mirrors with memory and reverse tilt, which also adds blind-spot information and cross-traffic alert ($660), parking assist ($500), a built-in wireless phone-charging pad ($220), and finally, the $2670 Premium package (heated and ventilated front seats, a sunroof, nicer 18-inch wheels, as well as power tilt/telescope steering and three-position driver’s-seat memory). Most agree that the sculpted body looks fresh and modern, if a bit frenetic.īring More Money: It’s a Lexus and a HybridĪt $40,645, the front-wheel-drive NX300h starts at a hefty $5240 more than the NX200t. Similarly, the body mixes soft surfaces and Ginsu-sharp edges. The hybrid model’s take on Lexus’s spindle grille features thick horizontal slats, while the lighting elements look busy. The C/D jury is still out on the NX’s styling. Also like the X4, the sloping roofline restricts the usable cargo space. The high beltline and small windows give a bit of BMW X4–like intimacy back there. The front seats are excellent, the rears just shy of great. Overall, the interior design seems interesting and fresh, though we wish Lexus would upgrade its cheap, metallic patina–colored plastic trim on the doors, dash, and even the “L” on the steering wheel to something more, well, metal. The new Remote Touch Interface touchpad-style controller with haptic feedback handled secondary controls in our test vehicle it takes some getting used to but works better than the old Lexus toggle-mouse thing. The interior is a snug, personal space with its high center console and central dash jutting out toward the occupants, creating a platform for the stand-up center screen. ![]() Hushed as a prep-school library, the NX300h lets a mere 71 decibels of noise into the cabin at wide-open throttle and only 68 when cruising at 70 mph ( the 2014 Mercedes-Benz S550 measured 75 decibels wide open and 67 cruising). The NX300h achieved a modest 0.77 g on the skidpad, understeering heavily. The shocks, springs, and tires conspire to deliver a comfortable ride over most surfaces-but at the expense of body control, turn-in sharpness, and grip. ![]() Even with this example’s optional 18-inch wheels, handling feels limp. Bragging on your high fuel economy is the whole point of getting the hybrid over the more powerful NX200t, right? It’s efficient in the real world, at least, with our leadfoot drivers averaging 30 mpg, not too far from the 33-mpg EPA combined rating. Or maybe not: If Lexus added grunt, the NX300h probably wouldn’t see the aforementioned fuel-economy figures. Customers dropping more than 40 grand for an ostensibly luxurious vehicle expect better. It beat Lexus’s performance estimate by 0.8 second, hitting 60 mph in 8.3 ticks.Įven so, taking more than eight seconds to get to freeway speeds is demure for this class. Strapping our test gear to a front-wheel-drive NX300h, we received relatively good news at the track. The NX300h’s Atkinson-cycle 2.5-liter four-cylinder engine assisted by an electric motor is essentially the Lexus ES300h powertrain (unless you opt for all-wheel drive, which adds a second motor for the rear axle). Hybrid Performance: A Relative Expression The real question is, beyond blowing the top off the segment fuel-economy curve, does this hybrid measure up as a Lexus? Lexus cites the Audi, the BMW X3, and the Mercedes-Benz GLK as direct bogeys, but a closer match is the Lincoln MKC. So what exactly are those contenders? The NX scales in close to the Audi Q5, although its wheelbase, shared with the Toyota RAV4 platform, is much shorter. As such, the NX300h is the only contender to specifically target ardent greeniacs. Of the two, the NX300h is the least thrilling, but it’s also the sole hybrid among compact luxe-UVs, boasting EPA ratings of 35 mpg in the city and 31 mpg on the highway. ![]() Its new offering-sized and priced below the mid-size RX crossover-is the dramatically styled NX, in NX200t (turbocharged four-cylinder–powered) and NX300h (hybridized) versions. Lexus wades into the compact-luxury-utility waters just as the segment reaches flood stage.
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