itengineer

All, as the title says I went to the dealership and test drove the NX200T FWD.

I found it underpowered. I slammed on the gas numerous times but the car didn't seem to want to jolt forward. I mean it moved but kind of slowly. Not sure what the deal was.

i only had 10 minutes with the car and coming from a G37 I may have been slightly biased

I will get another shot at this (at the BMW team USA event) but how does everyone else feel about the engine power ?

Swacer

Its not really possible to compare the 2.

Was your G RWD or AWD?

Furthermore, you're coming from a V6 with moderate low end torque, to a 4 cylinder with very little torque until the boost comes in. Boost will come in more with Sport on, but still won't start coming around until 2k RPM.

If you're looking for comparable power, you're not going to get it. Totally different beasts there.

I feel the NX has "enough" power for a little SUV. I went into it with no expectations other than I just wanted th car to work and get me from Point A to Point B efficiently. The "power" need is met with my other car lol

D4V1D

I agree. My wife and I are MORE than happy with the engine as we came from from a '13 Mazda CX-5 with 155 HP...and felt more like 100!! As a result of living with such an underpowered vehicle, we feel this thing is more akin to a V6.

OP, you're comparing apples to oranges here. If you want something to compare to your G, hook up with the IS350 F and let us know how you feel.

I know exactly what you mean...only my speed fix is fed by my '11 Ninja 1000.

itengineer

Nice, mine is a G AWD. My daily driver is a Prius (LOL) so I do need a car with power. It looks like the NX may not work. Oh well

Swacer

Nah, you buy out the G. Then you dump that ugly prius and get the NX

D4V1D

Or dump them both and get an Audi SQ5 with the V6 and 354 HP and 347 lbft of torque!!

typocl

replace the Prius with the NX300h and keep the G37.

The NX200t has plenty of power for me...but I'm coming from a 2002 RAV4 =)

mrsinsyder

We own a Q60S and an NX. The Q60S definitely has lots of power when compared to the NX, but like someone posted above, it's apples to oranges. I find the ride on the Q60 to be well-powered but harsh, whereas the NX has more of a constant comfort feel.

There's quite a long thread in the car chat forum about the new Infiniti crossover - I don't remember which engine is in it, but it may better fit your needs?

rayzer57

I totally agree with your statement and expected it to be slower than a car with less weight and more HP/Torque. In addition, you have a SUV with a turbo that should have some delay in delivering full power. On the trade off, I can now transport five people comfortably, try that with the G37. I can drive in the winter snow with out getting stuck, again, try that with the G37. My gas mileage on the Lexus is phenomenal, I managed to achieve 32.5mpg on the highway from Kansas City, Missouri to Teaneck, New Jersey last week. I do believe my G was capable of ever exceeding 30mpg on the highway.
Best of luck on whatever you do decide to purchase.
Ray

Swacer

I don't exactly agree wit all of this. The AWD G and AWD NX are only about 200lbs apart. That's the removal of a set of seats. Heck, I removed 75lbs from swapping wheels on my Camaro.

The NX feels slower simply due to gearing and tuning. A 2.0T can make much more power than 235hp, look at Cadillac with theirs...its getting 273hp?

For snow, an AWD G should have no problem getting through snow on proper tires, the same can be said about the NX.

As for mpg, that is a factor of gearing, not weight or engine (well...predominately). Gearing is something that can always be changed to be optimized for what you want from the car. When I put my cam in next spring, I will be going from 3.45 gears to 3.91. On gears alone I will lose 4mpg in order to get a 15% gain on low end torque.

mrsinsyder

Weight differences aside, the G37 has almost 100 more HP. Although it's not everything, it's a significant difference.

Swacer

It may have 100 more hp, but they still put that terrible 6 speed in it with its crunching engagement point and ridiculous amounts of drive train slack. I looked at a G37 IPL couple years back, the transmission ruined it for me.

DigMyM35x

I have had a few G37's (AWD) and now have a Q50.

The NX is simply not a comparable car. If you are looking for performance out of an SUV then you will likely have to go with a German model built that way like an AMG Merc or the Audi S.

That being said, for an SUV, I find the power more than acceptable in the NX. I remember our first RX when they released the first body style change. We traded the car a year later for the next model year RX with the bigger engine because the first year engine was woefully weak for our needs - like merging onto a highway.

I have always been a little wary of driving my wife's RX's as I always felt that way on the 4 of them we have owned since then, however, they were much improved.

The NX, in my opinion is much better. It won't hold a candle to a sport sedan off a stop light but that's not what most people want out of an SUV(or if they do, they get the sport models like mentioned above). Every test drive will show a 1,5 to 2 second slower 0-60 time so that should come as no surprise to anyone doing a little research.

Driving dynamics expectations typically have to be lowered when the ride height is raised.

Now, in terms of comfort, etc. I feel the NX is head and shoulders above the G. I find it on par with my Q50 but actually really enjoy driving it. I never felt that way with the RX's we've had. It's hard to explain but it's just a comfortable car that feels good to sit in and drive.

For an SUV, it's a fun car to drive. It won't outperform, or even come close to the performance of your G.

I found my G to be ok in snow, the Q is much better. Haven't tried the NX in snow yet but would guess it's on par with he RX and that's been fine. Only issues were REALLY deep snow plowed into our driveway and I think any car would have those issues.

Hope that helps. There are more performance oriented SUV's out there but you'll pay much more for them.

Also, I don't think I've experienced a 'slow' NX so maybe there was something wrong with the one you test drove. Maybe give it another shot. And make sure you know the difference between the hybrid and turbo versions. The hybrid is much slower from what I understand but I haven't driven it.

EMSLEXUSRX

I have to say though that driving the CX-5 with the 184 hp engine is probably quite different from the 155 hp one. I've only driven the 184 hp engine one, and it felt pretty quick to me.

D4V1D

You're probably correct, but more than the engine is that Mazda redid the gearing. The 30 hp difference is a 16% increase, which is significant, but the real Achilles heal was the damn gearing in conjunction with the limited hp. For us coming from the original CX-5 to the NX, it feels like we are in a V6...no kidding.