Hi all,
I recently decided to pull the trigger and upgrade from my ‘02 RX300. I got that car from my in-laws, and it was well loved, but it got me hooked on Lexus, so I bought a ‘17 NX F Sport. Man, Lexus has ruined cars for me. There’s no going back after this.

Anyways, I’ve been lurking around here a bit trying to figure out the best place to start upgrading a couple things. I’ve definitely noticed the turbo lag, which I’ve seen mentioned here a couple times, so I’m considering a downpipe. I’m not sure if that’s worth it (especially considering the price) without tuning the ECU.
I wouldn’t consider myself a huge gearhead, plus I’m generally quite busy so I don’t want to put a ton of time into tinkering.
I’m hoping for recommendations on what the best way to go would be for getting the most out of my NX. Snappier response time would be nice. Faster acceleration would be awesome. I’m not as concerned with top speed as I’ll probably never take it to the track, and our highways up here in BC are usually too winding to really let it loose.
Any and all suggestions

welcome!

 

buy a porsche

 

I’ve seen very little on this forum about engine performance upgrades but I think there is one or two other Lexus models that use the same engine and turbo charger as this car. You might get more information searching those forums.

 

+2..lol

This is not a fast vehicle. If you want to swap a down pipe then you will want a tune. There is no point in getting a down pipe and not tuning the car for such mods. It's the same dudes on my STi group that go and get a complete catless turbo back exhaust then wonder why they are boost creeping like crazy... Just accept the NX for what it is and you'll be happier than trying to make it something it's not.

For faster acceleration the best thing to do is get lighter wheels which will shed lbs via rotational mass. I personally think Lexus/Toyota dropped the ball on the engine they put in the NX. It should have been a turbo charged 6 cylinder making at least 270-280hp at a minimum, with the F sport making more. That makes sense to me considering Toyota had an option for a 270hp RAV4 back in 2010 and some years prior/after that. Every time I turn on or hear the NX start up it sounds just awful. Very anemic to me. It's fine once you are going 60+mph and cruising at highway speeds but totally agree at the lower end I wish there was more get up and go.

-Nigel

 

I'm going to be buying apexi pedal tuner soon. I have pedal commander on my pickup truck and it's amazing. It gets rid of the lag that all modern cars have. Look into that maybe. It's ~$250 so not bad.

 

Thanks for the info... I’m not trying to make the NX anything it’s not, definitely not trying to turn it into a race car, just trying to make it a bit better. As far as buying another car goes, I shopped around a bit before deciding on this one, as it does everything I’m looking for in a vehicle. Other than my previous RX, I’m not coming from the world of fancy cars, so this is already a huge step up for me in all areas.

 

I'll just go ahead and paste my NX200t tune review from Page 284 of the IS200t tuning thread . Mods are TTi turbo muffler delete and FTP charge pipe. That's it. The meager peak AWHP gain might be deceiving, as big gains were found in the low/mid-range and top-end. While normal tunes simply replace table values, OV/OrangeVirus (a forum sponsor) was able to reprogram the ECU logic and remove a lot of redundant tables, greatly increasing response and drivability. It would be best to refer to the thread above to learn as much as you can about available 200t tunes. I have paid for and ran long-term both the OrangeVirus and TTi tunes, and OV's is the one to get.

================================================================================================

Now, onto the tune review.

Some folks here might recall that I've had the following issues in the past:

1. Flipped modes for 1.01G-C 02
2. Weak low/mid-range due to my FTP charge pipe for 1.02
3. Stock rev limiter for 1.02 despite 1.01G-C 02 having already bumped it up

With these in mind, I got into the remote tune session wishing for the following:

1. Restored low/mid-range power lost from installation of aftermarket charge pipe
2. Possibly increased top-end to take advantage of improved plumbing
3. Safety margin to allow for bad gas
4. Rev limiter raised back to 1.01G-C 02 levels

OV achieved all of the above and made the vehicle pull harder than even 1.01G-C 02. We got to hit 228 AWHP at some point, but I'm attaching below the chart that concluded our session, overlayed with the stock/factory tune's data in red.



While max figures are indicated, there are some things I wish to highlight that perhaps affect drivability more than the former:

• At least 200 AWHP, the former peak, is now available from roughly 3800 to 6000 rpm.
• The powerband widened a little towards the low-end and even more so towards the top-end. This makes staying in a lower gear longer before shifting into prime rev range possible, improving overall acceleration.
• Rev limit increase to 6600+ rpm eliminates double upshifts at 6000 rpm, which happens when the vehicle decides to auto-upshift at the same time I do. I understand that this is not an issue with ISs.
• I don't think dyno charts show this, but the vehicle seems to get to the top-end faster than before.
• Throttle response is faster than ever.

I'll just go ahead and quote Mat's post-tune breakdown here:
So, yeah. We pretty much saw gains everywhere. With this tune, my NX's the most fun to drive it's ever been. I'm also happy to have a perfect file to fall back to should future updates not work out for me - a "stable build" of sorts in software parlance.

Further notes and theories

It is without doubt that all of this wouldn't have been without Mat's skill. Having said this, a 50+ AWHP gain up top seems rather out of the ordinary, given the supposedly tiny stock turbo that comes with our 200ts. I theorize that the turbo muffler delete and aftermarket charge pipe played a role in this, since the factory part replaced by the latter had so much kinks and flow interruptions.

Now, don't get me wrong; I replaced the charge pipe as insurance, firmly believing that it will do nothing in the way of performance. I only started thinking about it when I noticed a decrease in low/mid-range in exchange for better top-end pull. Could it be that the increased total internal volume of the charge pipe, as a result of fewer kinks and despite having identical in/out diameters, delayed boost buildup, as there was a bigger space to pressurize? Did the smoother path work favorably up top, reducing compressor-side resistance - the compressor is connected to the turbine, after all - and increasing flow capacity?

I can't say for sure, but OV was definitely able to take advantage of my setup.
​​​​

 

The Sport+ driving mode gives me the impression of faster acceleration. I know it’s just different shifting points but it seems snappy. Not sure if your 2017 had that mode.

 

This is all huge, thank you!

My ‘17 only has sport mode, not sport+, but there is a noticeable difference in throttle response with that selected.

 

@chezgk would it be advisable to upgrade the exhaust type components before doing the OV tune, or would there be a significant performance improvement doing the tune even with the stock parts?
If tuning is the way to get the most out of my NX, then I’m definitely interested in doing one, I just want to know what the best order to go about doing things would be.

 

You're welcome! I have variable suspension (AVS) on my unit, and adjusting that is about the only thing S+ varies from S. Shift points and response have always been identical between the two modes in my vehicle, even with the factory tune.

I was told that we could have seen as high as 60-70 AWHP gains in certain rev ranges if I had a downpipe and full exhaust installed. Downpipe prices are unfortunately prohibitive for our vehicles. (Cheapest was at USD 1000. Please do let me know if you find anything for less.) A full exhaust, on the other hand, is something I wouldn't want to do on my NX - I have limits. Anyway, the gains you saw above were achieved with a stock exhaust system. Only 2 intake components were changed to yield such a result.

As the base tune file OV (and TTi, actually) will provide is for a stock vehicle, I suggest starting out unmodified and adding components one by one down the road to get a better appreciation of their individual contributions.

 

Dude you just gave me everything I was looking for! Thank you!

 

You're welcome!

I have to agree on this one. Stock versus stock, a Macan would always give the better drive than our NX. Sure, you could do performance mods to cover the gap - an ECU reflash to get some more power, some suspension work to improve handling, maybe even a peculiar quad rear spring setup like I did to completely eliminate mid-corner and exit understeer. Whatever we all do, the gap is going to widen again the moment the Macan owner starts modding.

Having said this, there's a reason we all chose the NX over other vehicles. It could have been price for some, space for others, or something else altogether. It did something we deemed more important than performance better at the time of purchase, and trying to improve its performance is simply trying to improve its deficiencies to make it an even better ute for us.

Loads of fun can be had as long as we keep an idea of how far we want to and the NX can go in mind to avoid a "never-enough" situation. At the end of the day, we're just trying to make a reliable ute faster, which is probably easier than making a fast ute reliable.

 

Couldn't have said it better. I just got an NX myself and was on the fence between some close competitors: Q5, X3, and RDX; but I am loyal to Lexyota and the car is everything I want it to be.

I'll be keeping tabs on you chezgk, really enjoying the performance content you are putting on the NX subforum. I'll get a tune on mine when the funds allow lol.

 

I'm impressed by these power gains - I think I know what I'm getting my wife for Christmas!