Three Different NX Front Bumpers?
06-23-14, 08:44 AM
#16
For what it's worth, the configurator shows the top pic as the 200t, middle as F-Sport for either variant, and bottom as 300h.
Who knows...I'll believe anything at this point.
Who knows...I'll believe anything at this point.
07-18-14, 07:33 PM
#17
The pursuit of F
Official: CAFE - Reason for tapered "sharknose" front bumper in US
As some of you alleged, it's due to CAFE regulations. Basically, Lexus US classified the NX as a light truck and as such required the better approach and hence tapered "sharknose" front bumper.
http://www.topgear.com.ph/features/f...el=related-int
http://www.topgear.com.ph/features/f...el=related-int
What's the real story behind the Lexus NX's different US face?
So we were in Canada very recently for the media launch and test drive of the all-new Lexus NX compact crossover. During the presentation of the vehicle, the organizers clarified something for those of us who would be taking photos of the new Lexus. They said that some of the NXs in the test-drive rotation had a different face; these were US-spec NX units, they explained.
PowerPoint slides were shown depicting the difference between the US face and what everyone else is getting. Basically, the US version has a more sloping chin, altering the approach angle of the NX. If you look closely at the photo above, you will see that just below the license plate of this NX, the bumper tapers down. Compare that with the non-US face--the bumper our market is getting--depicted in the photo below, and you can see that our NX's bumper goes straight down well past the license plate. Another clue is the pair of foglights: The US NX has bullet-shaped foglights, while ours has sleeker ones.
We think the non-US NX has a more complete representation of Lexus's spindle grille design language. And it just looks more balanced.
So, because we're an inquisitive bunch, we asked Paul Williamsen, the global manager of technical education and training for Lexus, why there has to be a different NX face for the American market.
Paul-san (what people at Lexus call him) explained that it had to do with the Corporate Average Fuel Economy regulations in the US--popularly known as CAFE. The CAFE is more or less the average fuel economy of a carmaker's fleet being sold in the US market. If a manufacturer's CAFE falls below a certain figure, the carmaker is penalized.
So Lexus will classify the NX as a light truck in the US because this category has a lower fuel economy standard than the car/sedan segment. Thus, the impact on Toyota's overall CAFE (in CAFE terms, Toyota, Scion and Lexus count as one entity) will be minimized. How does this concern the altered NX nose? Well, there are several parameters for classifying a vehicle as a light truck. One is simply to have a certain approach angle. That's why the US NX has a slanted nose.
One might wonder: Is this cheating? You don't need a government rule to tell you that the NX is clearly a crossover. But rules are rules, and Lexus isn't breaking any. In a country where the rule of law is strictly followed, it goes both ways. If you're not in violation of the law, you're not doing anything illegal. Besides, some US motoring journalists have openly questioned the point of the CAFE.
We'll leave this argument to those whom it is relevant to. For us, it was all just a part of a very enlightening conversation with Paul-san on different car markets worldwide. In the end, we're just happy we'll be getting the full-on spindle grille treatment.
So we were in Canada very recently for the media launch and test drive of the all-new Lexus NX compact crossover. During the presentation of the vehicle, the organizers clarified something for those of us who would be taking photos of the new Lexus. They said that some of the NXs in the test-drive rotation had a different face; these were US-spec NX units, they explained.
PowerPoint slides were shown depicting the difference between the US face and what everyone else is getting. Basically, the US version has a more sloping chin, altering the approach angle of the NX. If you look closely at the photo above, you will see that just below the license plate of this NX, the bumper tapers down. Compare that with the non-US face--the bumper our market is getting--depicted in the photo below, and you can see that our NX's bumper goes straight down well past the license plate. Another clue is the pair of foglights: The US NX has bullet-shaped foglights, while ours has sleeker ones.
We think the non-US NX has a more complete representation of Lexus's spindle grille design language. And it just looks more balanced.
So, because we're an inquisitive bunch, we asked Paul Williamsen, the global manager of technical education and training for Lexus, why there has to be a different NX face for the American market.
Paul-san (what people at Lexus call him) explained that it had to do with the Corporate Average Fuel Economy regulations in the US--popularly known as CAFE. The CAFE is more or less the average fuel economy of a carmaker's fleet being sold in the US market. If a manufacturer's CAFE falls below a certain figure, the carmaker is penalized.
So Lexus will classify the NX as a light truck in the US because this category has a lower fuel economy standard than the car/sedan segment. Thus, the impact on Toyota's overall CAFE (in CAFE terms, Toyota, Scion and Lexus count as one entity) will be minimized. How does this concern the altered NX nose? Well, there are several parameters for classifying a vehicle as a light truck. One is simply to have a certain approach angle. That's why the US NX has a slanted nose.
One might wonder: Is this cheating? You don't need a government rule to tell you that the NX is clearly a crossover. But rules are rules, and Lexus isn't breaking any. In a country where the rule of law is strictly followed, it goes both ways. If you're not in violation of the law, you're not doing anything illegal. Besides, some US motoring journalists have openly questioned the point of the CAFE.
We'll leave this argument to those whom it is relevant to. For us, it was all just a part of a very enlightening conversation with Paul-san on different car markets worldwide. In the end, we're just happy we'll be getting the full-on spindle grille treatment.
07-18-14, 09:56 PM
#18
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This is SO annoying. How do they get away with this on an F Sport then? Is that categorized differently. The nose on the US version is the only thing holding me back potentially. Wonder if a guy could do a retrofit? Or order an F a Sport Grille separately and have it placed on the car.
07-19-14, 05:13 AM
#19
The pursuit of F
^^^Yes, I would guess F-Sports must be categorized as a passenger car (not light truck) and Toyota USA must have put in a projected sales number of the non-F-Sport NX to the EPA to reach that minimum light truck EPA requirement, which is probably a good chunk of the anticipated 3000 /month sales forecast.
Even though CAFE doesn't apply to Canada, we often follow suit with the US which is why we likely do not get the SportDesign bumper either. If we do, it's on the top "Executive" package which can easily be in the ~53-54K for a 200t and ~57-58K for the 300h. No chump change.
CAFE article: http://www.caranddriver.com/features...cafe-standards
For the retrofit, I can only imagine it can be done as I have seen a couple of folks in the RX forum retrofit the F-Sport bumper, but it's not cheap and the impact to the driver aid systems like parking sensors, radar cruise, etc are unknown, adding further to the cost/risk. With that said, the standard NX bumper is growing on me and I personally think it still is better looking than the standard RX's which as we know still sells 10 to 1 over the F-Sport version! Give it a chance since some of the pics tend to exaggerate the "sharknose" look when those shots are taken from bottom-up like the one above (that's a bad shot). If I was not a die-hard fan of the Lexus F-Sport line (or if it didn't exist), I would definitely still buy the NX.
More realistic shot of the NX at eye-level human height. It's the EXACT NX (license plates match) as above and look how much better it looks. Is it really that much different than the SportDesign bumper?
SportDesign bumper:
Even though CAFE doesn't apply to Canada, we often follow suit with the US which is why we likely do not get the SportDesign bumper either. If we do, it's on the top "Executive" package which can easily be in the ~53-54K for a 200t and ~57-58K for the 300h. No chump change.
CAFE article: http://www.caranddriver.com/features...cafe-standards
For the retrofit, I can only imagine it can be done as I have seen a couple of folks in the RX forum retrofit the F-Sport bumper, but it's not cheap and the impact to the driver aid systems like parking sensors, radar cruise, etc are unknown, adding further to the cost/risk. With that said, the standard NX bumper is growing on me and I personally think it still is better looking than the standard RX's which as we know still sells 10 to 1 over the F-Sport version! Give it a chance since some of the pics tend to exaggerate the "sharknose" look when those shots are taken from bottom-up like the one above (that's a bad shot). If I was not a die-hard fan of the Lexus F-Sport line (or if it didn't exist), I would definitely still buy the NX.
More realistic shot of the NX at eye-level human height. It's the EXACT NX (license plates match) as above and look how much better it looks. Is it really that much different than the SportDesign bumper?
SportDesign bumper:
Last edited by corradoMR2; 07-19-14 at 05:17 AM.
07-19-14, 01:16 PM
#20
Lexus Test Driver
As some of you alleged, it's due to CAFE regulations. Basically, Lexus US classified the NX as a light truck and as such required the better approach and hence tapered "sharknose" front bumper.
http://www.topgear.com.ph/features/f...el=related-int
http://www.topgear.com.ph/features/f...el=related-int
And interesting to see NX F-Sport is not treated as a SUV or light truck for CAFE reason - maybe this is the mentality of Lexus Canada when they designed the packages for F-Sport NX. No memory seats for the Cdn$50K+ SUV is a bad decision.
07-19-14, 01:51 PM
#21
Thanks for the great find. Now it solves the mystery of why this 3rd bumper exists. Still strange to see this 3rd bumper for the regular NX seems to appear in literature in Japanese. Things should be clearer when NX is officially launched in Japanese market the end of July.
And interesting to see NX F-Sport is not treated as a SUV or light truck for CAFE reason - maybe this is the mentality of Lexus Canada when they designed the packages for F-Sport NX. No memory seats for the Cdn$50K+ SUV is a bad decision.
And interesting to see NX F-Sport is not treated as a SUV or light truck for CAFE reason - maybe this is the mentality of Lexus Canada when they designed the packages for F-Sport NX. No memory seats for the Cdn$50K+ SUV is a bad decision.
07-23-14, 12:21 AM
#23
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You can clearly see it's a far more resolved design than the US spec bumper which was clearly a bit of a bandaid job to satisfy regulations.
07-25-14, 10:55 PM
#24
Lexus Test Driver
The grilles are different for the US and rest of the world
http://lexusenthusiast.com/2014/07/2...nd-difference/
http://lexusenthusiast.com/2014/07/2...nd-difference/
07-26-14, 04:58 AM
#25
Could be that Lexus is removing some of the 'luxury' items from the sport model to entice people to stick with the base configuration to keep F Sport sales lower (i.e. Deleting ventilated seats)?? That might sway more people, aka a higher percentage, to opt for the non-sport keeping the cafe numbers more in their favor?
Just a little conspiracy theory. Leave out some of the goodies and fewer diehards might select that configuration. . . .
Just a little conspiracy theory. Leave out some of the goodies and fewer diehards might select that configuration. . . .
07-26-14, 12:38 PM
#27
Could be that Lexus is removing some of the 'luxury' items from the sport model to entice people to stick with the base configuration to keep F Sport sales lower (i.e. Deleting ventilated seats)?? That might sway more people, aka a higher percentage, to opt for the non-sport keeping the cafe numbers more in their favor?
Just a little conspiracy theory. Leave out some of the goodies and fewer diehards might select that configuration. . . .
Just a little conspiracy theory. Leave out some of the goodies and fewer diehards might select that configuration. . . .
08-25-14, 09:17 PM
#28
This is SO annoying. How do they get away with this on an F Sport then? Is that categorized differently. The nose on the US version is the only thing holding me back potentially. Wonder if a guy could do a retrofit? Or order an F a Sport Grille separately and have it placed on the car.
08-28-14, 06:51 AM
#29
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If it weren't for the US spec bumper, I wouldn't even be considering the gas model F Sport. That's how much I dislike the "overbite." That being said I am waiting to see them in person before deciding. Best bet is I'll get the 300h because I also would like real leather over NuLuxe and cooled seats as well. These don't come on the F Sport. Maybe I can retrofit the grill and mirrors (for a pretty penny I'm sure).
09-09-14, 07:57 AM
#30
Lead Lap
Thread Starter
i love the f-sport front fascia, hell even my wife loves it too in the NX, as well as our current IS350 f-sport. but how having owned the 3IS for 8 months, my wife can't stand the f-sport seats. she's a bit petite and thin so the side bolsters make her arms really uncomfortable as she can't lay it down on her side naturally. i would forgo the f-sport in the NX but at least would enjoy a similar front fascia in the NX 300h (as the seats are less intrusive for my wife). but now knowing that the "flat nose" 300h is Euro spec and "pointy nose" 300h is US spec, this completely blows the eff out of everything including my to buy this car. i hate the pointy nose NX, reminds me of a pointy nose rav 4 or pointy nose highlander.. this effing sucks, it sucks so bad i'm almost even inclined to say at this point lexus just lost a repeat customer.