The NX300h did surprisingly well considering it's main purpose is not to go off-road and it's a hybrid. Add to that the eye opening fuel efficiency and it looks like Lexus really did their homework on powertrain and chassis.
Yeah, my mom has the NX 200. It's a good daily driver and good at hauling big screen TV's and what not but it is no offroad truck. The entire reason for this category is that almost nobody was taking their SUV's offroading.
Not quite right, remember a lot of people lives in regions with all 4 seasons. We bought it because of snow in the winter and here in the Black Forest GER there are still a lot of dirt roads, so its necessary a car with some off-road capabilities. We wanted this time, also a little bit of luxury, love the interior and exterior design of the Lexus. And off course, the brand is well know of durability. Honda is also a good choice, no argue.
i would bet that its the absence of electronic locking differential imitation and not the tires primarily. its common Toyota problem with the current small platform which should be in line for revision in few years.
It looked like a traction control issue, not tire issue. It was spinning one front and one rear. If the traction control is working, it'll apply breaks on the spinning wheels to get torque to the wheels that are actually carrying some weight. Traction control should have been on, not off.
It seems to be the case with all these car based crossovers that off-road performance is hugely dependent on the tires. Throw on some tires with good snow performance and this Lexus would do anything its owners would be likely to ask of it. I'm actually fairly impressed that it did as well as it did on this trail.
Why did you say that you don't blame the traction control. Traction control would ideally use the brake on the spinning tire and therefore giving power to the opposite wheel of the axle, which in this case didn't happen at all, and the vehicle couldn't move forward. I mean ok it is not the kind of vehicle that is going to see a trail ever but still if we are talking traction control it is kind of a fail as the same situation could arise on an icy road. Plus the fact that it is a hybrid I think kind of helps its case as it hasn't got to deal with the same problem on a center diff, when the electric motor is used power goes to the front and the rear period, so I think if the TC would be just a bit better it would do quite well just by having to manage the side to side movements of the power, but it doesn't... PS I really really like the nx300h and would definitely own one, not hating here.
TC isnt replacement for limited slip it cuts the power first then pulses brakes which wont help in this case. Lexus FWD based SUVs have pathetic AWD systems, transfer case doesnt lock, it maybe sens 25% of TQ to the rear
NIGHTMAREuki there are traction control systems that use the brakes not only to cut the power to the spinning wheel, but to send power to the other wheel as well (systems exactly like the ones used in modern jeeps with no lockers, such as the base wrangler, and SUVs like the Range Rover), that is the problem here that the system only tries (and fails at that too) to stop a wheel from spinning, not to transfer any power.
EBD is during braking only, based on the load of the car will apply more brakes to the rear if there is more weight in the car. has nothing to do with AWD or slipping or traction control
Rafael, what you're talking about is torque vectoring. and brake based systems generally suck. because ABS modules can only pulsate and not apply variable pressure to spinning wheels
Personally I'm not sure Hybrids are really meant for much more than light to moderate snow. I would like to be wrong on that though. I've been wondering why not a hybrid with a driveshaft fixed to where when needed both the gas and electric can power all wheels?Or at least whatever wheel needs the power. While Nathan is probably right about the tires,I wonder if more power to one of the other wheel's would have helped.
I suspect the RAV4 hybrid would perform slightly better if fitted with the same tires since its lighter with the same powertrain? And the RAV4 gas only AWD might do even better with the diff lock? Wonder if you could do that comparison on gold mine hill sometime :)
those are the right tires, regardless the AWD is horrible. you want a Wrangle tires on a crossover? the Tiguan, the X3 passed this test instantly, Toyota rav4, Mazda CX3, Honda hrv,Lexus Nx and Hyundai all failed even with multiple tries.
6:25 Wrong Nathan. Traction control is the only one to blame. No tire will have grip when it's in the air. Traction control should kick in and brake the wheel that's spinning.
+The Fast Lane Car Got to disagree with you Nathan. It's obvious that the tires weren't the issue. The LF and RR tires were off the ground and the car didn't send power to the other tires properly. If a system isn't working just say it.
kerem have you driven a 2019 RAV4 yet. I was decided between the same two vehicles. There are no 2019 RAV4 hybrids available to drive yet but I was seriously disappointed with the limited model I drove. It was super buzzy and noisy inside to me. I have a 2018 Camry XSE V6 and was rooting for the RAV4 to be a good replacement for my wife’s 2016 Sienna SE. But after driving both we just ordered a 2019 Ultrasonic Blue Mica NX300 F-sport. It just drove so much nicer, yes it’s more expensive but it so much more car in my opinion.
Problems with electric vehicles are that they don't offer or incorporate low-range into design which is possible, but won't do it for weight and over-complication issues. All electric wheel ration is oriented for hard surface, but for off-road, even for electric driven wheels, needs to lower gears for smooth-torque movements.
at this price range, it is a shame that the RX does not have a proper LSD or similar system. Its all about marketing. The cost of adding off-road capability is very small compared with the Lexus price range, they just do not do it, because the market does not want people to have on-road and off-road abilities at the same time at a reasonable cost. If you have a wife, both have full-time job, then you will need three cars to enjoy everyday driving and weekender adventures.
The reason the lexus NX300H is not going up the traction control system is off so the vehicle can't get traction. I go in worst places the that with my electric vehicle all i do i turn on the traction control system
really confused to why you turned off traction control as that assists the driver when loosing traction. try again with traction control and it should brake the spinning wheels. I find this video very misleading as I wanted to see how the traction control would keep up
Richie Ho Traction control in loose dirt like that is useless. It cuts power so fast that you have no propulsive force. You can sit there with your foot to the floor as it revs to a staggering 1500 rpm and tries to find a little traction at each wheel. With it off you can at least get a some power by spinning wheels.
Christina that is exactly what I wanted to see. the first run you can see traction control kick in without cutting all power. he made it further than the second run when the traction control is turned off. I wanted to see if it does cut all power like Honda crv's do but from the first run it doesn't with only minor interference with wheel slipping. I can't assume that it doesn't or does cut power as this video only covers traction control off. I guess the main point of the video is to see if the batteries do power the rear separately which it does really well but without traction control you are mimicking 90s 4x4 systems with centre diff.
Electrically powered rear wheels SHOULD work well. Electrical engines are king in terms of control and power. So them Toyota engineers need to reconsider the design.
As expected another Japanese car with bad AWD(except Subaru). No one can deny that fuel economy and reliability are the high points of the Lexus, AWd is not.
@@SirtubalotTX I am tired of people like your lying to people. They do not do well on snow. They do only when in flat terrains while they struggle on small snow hills
The so called Toyota hybrid AWD is totally a joke. We have seen many of them stuck in light snow condition looking for help. For Toyota off road: 4Runner, Tacoma, Tundra, and FJcruiser.
sdushdiu They have their uses, higher driving position, more cargo space & headroom for rear passengers + it can do as much offroad as any crossover & owner like this will do..
... really?... It's not just about being able to see over other cars. Gives you a better view over hedges etc on country roads for example. I would never buy something like this but I can see why people do. Also you are forgetting one thing.. Not EVERYONE has an suv. So the visibility over 60% or whatever of traffic is still better
+Barbecuedpossum - yup, they are really nice to cruise around in. Plus they are really easy to get in and out of, especially compared to my GTI. :) But to be honest I prefer zippy to comfort.
so you're basically covering lexus' ass by saying there's not enough grip where in reality 2 wheels are perfectly planted on the ground and ready to go and just awd system sucks and that's why you're not going anywhere. can you guys be clear and unbiased towards your audience, I watch your videos to get an honest idea and review of a car not get fed up with tales. do you care about your reputation? then start speaking truth.
that's why i will not buy a toyota of lexus, even though i work at toyota. pathetic that such an expensive luxury brand suv cant bother to put in a limited slip diff in the rear..... talk about cost cutting and maximize profit from lexus, how is that perfection like their motto says?