Full Review: ClubLexus 2015 Lexus NX200t F Sport

In the face of a burgeoning market for compact luxury crossovers–and encroaching competition from the Germans–Lexus has introduced what it hopes will be the company’s next smash hit. The NX slots neatly into the Lexus stable, just under the marque’s category-owning RX–you can read our full review of that here–and is expected to draw the lion’s share of its sales from first-time luxury buyers. 

There’s a lot of buzz around the NX–from in and outside the company–and it’s expected to capture a significant share of the market. So calling it important for the brand is quite an understatement. Fortunately, initial orders have been positive, to say the least. ClubLexus got to drive pre-production models during the press launch back in June, but this was our first chance to see how it handled a week in the real world. Read on to see how it held up.

Lexus has been long criticized for having exteriors that were politely called “conservative,” or more directly, “boring.” But the debut of the spindle ushered in a new aggressive design language which engineers fully embraced with the NX. Regardless of how you feel about the bold, angular face of the NX–complete with trick LED head and fog lights–you can’t call it boring. 

Perhaps most importantly, you can’t mistake it for anything else, and the NX captures a lot of attention on the road.   

With its relatively high belt line, dramatic lines along the door panel, and protruding tail lights, the profile of the NX maintains the bold presence of the front fascia, allowing to maintain road presence despite its relatively small size. 

 

Given its based off the RAV4, the NX is unsurprisingly smaller and lower than the RX in every dimension. But overall, the proportions are so well executed that it doesn’t look small, but especially with the 18″ F Sport wheels, radiates  sportiness and youth. 

 

One feature I noticed right away? Door lock sensors on all four handles. To reduce cost, neither the RX or the GX have them for rear passengers, and it’s nice to see these handy sensors on every door. 

  

 

Potential buyers impressed with the exterior will be blown away by the interior. While it might not be comparable to its high-end LX570 cousin, given the NX’s entry-level status, the design, materials, fit and finish, and technologies are extremely impressive.  

 

Yes, everything–including the seats and most of the dash–is covered in Nuluxe. But I don’t mind fake leather which feels this good. The materials in the cabin actually feel better than those used in the RX. The red contrasting stitching of our test car, along with the varying contours of the door panels provide a dynamic flair which makes the RX interior feel plain–even lazy–in comparison.  

But while it’s a huge step up from the RX, the NX interior isn’t perfect. 

Since the most of the buttons are placed along the center console, that area looks a little busy, and the brushed aluminum feels slightly out of place. Some gentle tweaks might make it blend better with the other layered surfaces. And the navigation screen feels like an afterthought compared to other Lexus models, where it’s more integrated into the dash. 

 

The latest Remote Touch technology replaces the mouse/joystick with a touchpad, though the operation is similar. Personally, I don’t have a preference for either one, but the touchpad design, provides a cleaner look. Besides pressing down on the touchpad–as you would with a standard button–to make a selection, now you can also tap twice. It’s a small, but noticeable, improvement. Another fun feature? Pop the palm rest piece off, flip it over, and voila–it’s a makeup mirror!

The 7″ navigation screen is placed at the top of the dash but it is not affected by any sun glare issues, its contrast stays very strong even when the sun is right above the car. The climate control display and buttons suffer though. With the way they are angled they can get completely washed out during the day. I am not able to see what temperature or modes I select. Yes you can go through the climate control section on the navigation screen but that’s not without bun of extra clicking.

On first glance the dash cluster area looks relatively simple but the TFT LCD display in the middle actually allows a lot of information to be displayed. You can select navigation route details, audio selections, vehicle log and information, among others. Lexus has come a long way on this. 

 

While the initial IS and GX with the latest navigation suffer from slow speed issues, the updated system in the NX shows significant improvement on performance, making it a much more pleasant system to use. 

The NX features a wireless phone charger inside the center console, with reasonable amount of room underneath it for storage. The glove box is also quite deep making it more usable than most cars. The front seats look similar to those on the IS F Sport, they are on the firm side but they feel great to sit in. There’s plenty of room and I didn’t feel hemmed in by the bolstering.

Below the wireless charger there is still about 6″ deep of storage space. The second row is on the narrow side but legroom is still ample. 

One of my passengers stands 6’2″ and he had no issue sitting in the second row, even with another two adults. 

That said, getting into the car is
a tougher job. With the lower roof line and the way the pillar is shaped, my passengers commented about this a few times. 

 

The rear cargo space is plenty for the size of the car. It only feels slightly smaller than the RX but sleek roof line does compromise the height of the cargo area, so it might prove difficult to fit taller boxes–even with the rear deck lid removed. 

But with the 60/40 seats flipped down, a pair of fixies will slide in without a hitch, and cargo space should prove plenty for the young, urban, upwardly mobile buyers Lexus is targeting with the NX. 

These are folks who probably eat out five times a week, and if they want to upgrade to a fancy Sub-Zero fridge, they’ll have it delivered. 

 

The NX200t F Sport features a turbocharged 2.0L inline-four, pushing 235 hp and 258lb-ft of torque, mated to a 6-speed automatic transmission with paddle shifters, and the engine performs surprisingly well. It’s not very fast by any standard; the car does weigh around 4000lbs after all. 

From dead stop to 40 mph you can feel that the engine is working hard, and when the car is loaded with five adults or when it’s very hot outside, I feel the little mill strain slightly. But after 40 mph, especially at highway speed, the character changes. Pick-up is relatively effortless, and makes for a pleasant driving experience. 

 

The 6-speed gearbox is a nice fit for the engine, in that I never felt any unnecessary shifting or gear hunting. It’s quite responsive as well, and in Sport mode the gearing is decidedly more aggressive. After some wheel time, I stopped comparing the NX less to the RX than I did the IS250. While the IS250 still handles better–the significantly lower ride height helps here–the NX200t F Sport isn’t far off. 

The suspension shines as well, with the rigidity of the chassis contributing greatly to flat cornering makes and an inspiring driving dynamic. Of course, the F Sport’s standard AWD on helps the handling tremendously. Obviously, if you’re going to go, you have to stop, and to be honest, I’ve never felt too confident in any Lexus SUVs in terms of braking. They NX F Sport’s stopper bite immediately, and decelerating feels closer to IS250 than than its larger stablemate.

Considering the weight of vehicle, gas mileage was pretty impressive. On pure highway driving the car averaged over 28 mpg, with 50/50 combined driving–including some idling and spirited driving–the I still achieved above 21 MPG. This is compared to the 18 MPG I got in the RX350 F Sport, 16 MPG in the GX460, and a somewhat depressing 14 mpg in the LX570.

The test car was equipped with the new ASC (Active Sound Control) system, which generates additional engine sound inside the cabin according to speed and engine RPM. There’s a knob by the steering column where you can adjust the volume of the added sound–or turn it off completely, which is what I did.  

For the safety conscious, there are some fantastic optional aids available on the NX, including Pre-Collision Alert, and BSM (Blind Spot Monitor) with RCTA (Rear Cross Traffic Alert) and active parking assist. 

The release of NX also relieves tons of pressure off the current RX, which has been busy fighting off tons of competitors, and allows it to potentially grow in size, feature list, and pricing. 

 

With a potential starting price of close to $30k, the NX200t is going to be one very competitive vehicle in this segment. Its styling is bold but not crazy. Space wise it is a compromise but it’s not high up on the list for younger audience. The car delivers reasonable amount of power, plenty of fun, and tons of latest technologies that might just make this a super-hot seller. 

We’ll know when the car hits dealership in November; that is if Lexus actually has enough supply!