It’s always interesting to watch a company venture into new territory, like Lexus launching this compact SUV, the NX.
Sharing key dirty parts with the Toyota RAV4, the NX is available as
either the soft, fuel-sipping NX300h hybrid or the NX200t, the
first-ever turbocharged Lexus. After a brief first-drive experience in both, we finally got an NX300h (covered separately)
and this sportified F Sport version of the NX200t into our offices for
track testing. Where does the NX fit into the field of compact luxury
utes that has exploded this year, a class that now includes the Audi Q3, the BMW X1, and the Mercedes-Benz GLA?
We were particularly keen to see how this twin-scroll-turbocharged
2.0-liter four-cylinder would motivate 4021 pounds of crossover. It uses
two injectors per cylinder and an integrated four-into-two exhaust
manifold said to reduce lag, and it mates to a new six-speed automatic
transmission. The F Sport trim brings a higher-effort steering system
and sport-tuned suspension aimed at elevating the NX’s handling to the
level of Lexus’s performance bogeys, the Audi Q5 and BMW X3.
The numbers we got at the track won’t exactly light your hair on fire,
the NX accelerating from zero to 60 mph in 6.9 seconds and hitting the
quarter-mile in 15.3 seconds at 92 mph. That 60-mph time ties that of the last Q5 2.0T we tested
yet lags more than 0.7 second behind both the lighter BMW X1 xDrive28i
and the heavier X3 with the same engine. Despite Lexus’s work to reduce
turbo lag, lag is indeed present, evident in a rolling-start (5–60 mph)
acceleration time of 7.8 seconds, 0.8 and 0.2 second behind the X3 and
Q5, respectively. Not helping matters, the six-speed upshifts at
different rpm in each gear, at times shifting at 6000, other times at
6200 rpm or 6500 rpm, according to our tester. “Very odd,” he noted.
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On the plus side, the four is quiet, more so than even the hybrid by two
decibels at a 70-mph cruise (66 decibels versus 68). Activate the
“active sound control” system in Sport mode, however, and the cabin
fills with a pleasantly barky, if technically inauthentic, engine note.
When the road bends, the NX200t exhibits crisp turn-in, decent feel
through the steering wheel, and excellent high-speed stability on its
taut F Sport–specific suspenders—when driven tamely, anyway. But push it
even a little and it succumbs to understeer. There’s only so much a
tall crossover can do when 59 percent of its weight sits atop the front
wheels; even with all-wheel drive and summer tires, the front end washed
out at a modest 0.79 g on the skidpad, just 0.02 g more than the wimpy
hybrid model and far lower than the 0.86-g target set by the X3 and the
Q5. The F Sport stopped from 70 mph in just 167 feet (within two feet of
the X3), and its brakes exhibited zero fade even after many repeated
trials.
Say what you will about the styling, but Lexus certainly earns points
for bravery. The F Sport’s black mesh-filled spindle-shaped grille,
messy constellation of disjointed lighting elements (all LED, in the
case of our tester), dark head- and taillamps, black mirrors, and
18-inch wheels earned about as many admirers as detractors both in-house
and on the street. Opinions varied widely, but most of us agree that
the sculpted body works better than the nose, and that the F Sport looks
better than the standard NX200t. Indeed, this is one of those cars that
“has a great body, butter face . . . ”
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As with the exterior, the interior is busy, expressive, and compact.
Lexus says that “active racers” were involved in the design of the car,
including chief engineer Takeaki Kato, and their influence can be found
in the F Sport’s excellent seating position, terrific F Sport front
seats, aluminum pedals, and a highly contoured, small-diameter steering
wheel that feels superb. Other elements tailored to the F Sport include
gauge faces, scuff plates, and dashboard and door accents.
With such compact dimensions, nothing is too far away from the driver’s
hands. The center stack juts out toward the occupants, creating a shelf
into which the BMW-like stand-up screen is nestled and bringing HVAC
controls near to hand. Infotainment controls in our tester highlighted
the best iteration yet of Lexus’s Remote Touch controller (included in
the $2140 Navigation package), which has evolved into a haptic touch pad
and an ergonomic wrist rest on the console. The flip side is that
there’s no abundance of space, particularly for front-seat occupants,
who’ll find that everything sort of feels like it’s been shrunken around
them. The average-size driver could feel the cabin is tailor-fit (which
a racer might appreciate), although the low-ish roofline and narrow
body could prove too snug for larger folks.
At a base price of $38,905 for the all-wheel-drive model and an
as-tested price of $44,375 (which included a Premium package, parking
assist, a sunroof, and blind-spot monitors in addition to the
aforementioned navigation system), we’re not sure we would recommend the
NX200t F Sport over the all-wheel-drive $41,450 BMW X3 or the $39,825
Audi Q5, let alone the less expensive X1 and Q3, which we see as more
direct competitors. We would, however, recommend the F Sport over the
standard version, as it turns the NX200t into an appreciably more
sporting creature for a reasonable $2100. Just don’t push itSource : Topgear
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