I love my USA model 2025 Lexus UX 300h F-sport design AWD. With less than 4000 miles on it, I decided to take it to two HPDE lapping days. Here are my notes:

Tips and general notes for driving on track with the UX:

• Enabling Sport mode is essential to get responsive throttle - it doesn't actually make the car any faster overall compared to ECO mode per my lap time recorder, but it is easier to drive on track in this mode. Conversely, I find it easier to drive in the city with ECO mode so YMMV
• Disabling traction control is helpful - otherwise the engine tends to bog down coming out of some tight corners
• Disabling stability control by holding the traction control button for 5+ seconds while parked is not terribly helpful as the stability programming is not that intrusive - best to leave it at the factory setting unless you really want to go drifting or whatever
• Switching to the "B" engine mode allows for slightly better mid-corner yaw angle control by shifting the weight more over the front wheels when lifting off throttle thus mitigating understeer somewhat compared to the regular "D" mode.
• When the traction battery reaches 2-3 bars remaining, I noticed that accelerating out of tight corners became less predictable as it didn't seem to engage the rear electric motor every time. This may be a thermal or a power system limitation. Driving easy for a lap to allow the battery to charge a bit restored the rear motor function.
• The car uses fuel quicker than you can imagine - ~8.4-8.7 mpg average (~28-29 L/100km) so a full tank lasted ~70-75 miles (113-120km) before the secondary refueling warning message came on. You will need to bring a spare gas can if you plan to drive further
• Reaching 110mph (177kMph) is not difficult. GPS indicated 108.9mph so the factory speedometer is quite accurate with the OEM 225/50/18 tire size. I reckon 245/50/18 tires on 18x8" wheels could yield an additional 3mph (~5kMph). I'm not sure if the UX actually has a speed governor in the sense of a hard fuel cutoff, I think its just a limitation of the CVT.
• For taller individuals, the drivers-side headliner grab-handle can interfere with a crash helmet (I am 5'11" 180cm). I removed mine for the track day which takes ~2 minutes

How did the factory equipment hold up to repeated abuse?

• The OEM Bridgestone Turanza run-flat tires held up remarkably well which surprised me. I mean they don't have the best cornering grip, but braking was quite impressive once they warmed up, and tire wear was reasonable with just a small layer of melted tire buildup on certain tread blocks.
• Starting with the factory recommended tire pressures, a few laps of intense track driving caused the pressures to increase 4-5PSI PSI (0.3 bar) so I had to let some air out to ensure the central band of the tires did not overheat and that the full surface of the tire wore evenly. Once I did that, driving become very predictable at the limit
• The brake rotors seem to be sized well for the weight of the car, but some ducting could help the fronts perform better as they do get rather hot. Not enough to boil the brake fluid, but I did experience a little brake pad fade towards the end of a 20-minute session. The rear brakes don't seem to be working very hard at all so perhaps brake bias could be adjusted rearward? It didn't seem that the rears were locking up under heavy braking when testing ABS - the fronts always seemed to lock up well before the rears which is good for safety, but not ideal for performance. With the complex hybrid braking system, I reckon the only viable way to push bias rearward is to swap front calipers to something with slightly less piston area or switch to higher friction rear pads - not something I'm willing to experiment with for a daily driver. I don't think a standard adjustable bias valve is a good idea for these cars
• The front OEM brake pads only survived 2 HPDE lapping days before grinding down to metal and causing an awful screeching sound. Not safe. The rear pads were OK.
• The car understeers at the limit which is expected. I reckon it could benefit from a stiffer rear anti-swaybar with matching, end-links, and bushing retainers from some heavier TNGA-C Toyota platform vehicle. It doesn't appear that the UX F-sport handling model has a different rear swaybar, just different dampers.
• The factory wheel alignment is OK. The UX doesn't seem to need a lot of negative camber with the way the suspension is setup from the factory. I saw no excessive wear on the outer edges. Toyota/Lexus does have optional "crash bolts" that provide [-1 -> +1] camber adjustment which could be helpful for dialing in handling with certain tires I suppose, but I see no need with the OEM tires.

Must do before your first HPDE track day:

• Change the front brake pads!!!!! Porterfield R4-S (UK/USA/EU) or Project Mu (Japan) in the Toyota 2076 template
• Do not use sticky summer tires (3-season) - it is not clear to me whether the car can manage anything stickier than a "high-performance" all-season tire even with upgraded brake pads. Additional cooling for front brakes and possibly some driveline components may be necessary to maintain reliability under more strenuous conditions

Tools needed for front brake pad change:

• thin 17mm spanner/box-wrench - like the type used for bicycles - regular spanners won't fit the gap to loosen the caliper slide pins
• metric ratchet and sockets (21mm, 19mm, 17mm, 14mm, 13m, 12mm, etc. I forgot which exact sizes because I worked on an additional car on the same day)
• caliper compressor tool
• jack and jack-stands
• torque wrench
• breaker bar to loosen lug nuts

Some experiments I plan to do:

• TRD Door lock stabilizers - supposedly stiffens the chassis at the expense of added difficultly opening and closing doors
• High performance all-season tires

Photos:


GPS track stats


A little below the advertised 45-55mpg...




My UX cooling off




Nissan Silvia with massive FMIC



Fully prepped BMW



Aero modded NSX



Stock McLaren

 

Appreciate the detailed write up.

I used to track my cars in the past and seeing an "out of platform" at HPDE such as the UX is pretty neat.

Considering the 300h has a little more oomph over the 250h/200, I wonder how they'd compare even if it's a negligible difference.

Can't wait for the photos, thanks for sharing.

 

Really cool post! Thanks for sharing! Looking into a 3rd car to complement our UX 300h AWD and M340i xDrive, and it will definitely see some track time. What car do you take to HPDE events usually?

 

Hi if you want to keep your 3rd car in the Toyota/Lexus family and want something new-ish, look into the Scion FR-S/Subaru BRZ/Toyota GT86/GR86. The Supra is amazing, but costs twice as much, and you won't have as much fun as the less powerful 86.

If you're looking for something older, cheaper, and easily maintainable, do look into the Gen2 Mazda Miata/MX-5. Still the best sports car out there - that is if you're 5'10" (178cm) tall or less - otherwise you may have issues fitting comfortably unless significant modifications are done to seat/steering wheel. The Toyota MR-S (3rd gen MR2) is also a fantastic car with the same caveat about fitment.

I'm partial to the older 1990's Toyota MR2 but getting one is decent condition is expensive since they are all collector cars now. They are also considerably more difficult to learn how to drive fast than the Miata, 86, or even the MR-S.

But really, you can get any crappy front-wheel drive car with ~100hp and throw on upgraded brake pads and the sticker tires and have a blast. There used to be a Toyota Yaris race series (not the new GR Yaris) where that's all they did (besides a roll cage, limited slip differential, and fire suppression system). You don't have to pay a lot to have a lot of fun!

 

Thanks! The GR86 is definitely high on my list. I used to have an NA Miata, so an NB or ND or even NC interest me. The MkV Supra was my one of my favorite street cars when it came out, and the ones I’ve driven are fast, but I can see they are not as fun. My current lack of garage space (basic 20x20 2-car garage) makes me want a more turn key car, so a GR86 might be right for me right now!

 

OEM front pads with 4000 street miles and two HPDE lapping days (<150 miles on track)

 

i love that you managed to get 8 MPG on this car.