This is a review and road test of the 2019 Lexus UX small SUV. I'll also tell you how the 2019 Lexus UX stacks up against ket German prestige competitors.
To save thousands on any new car in Australia: autoexpert.com.au/contact
Superficially, the Lexus US has a bit of an identity crisis - but it’s actually an excellent entry-level prestige vehicle, from an easy-to-recommend luxury brand with excellent reliability and fantastic customer support.
Here’s a car with an edgy, distinctive, unique body, rolling on the Toyota C-HR platform and taking the fight to the German big three powered by the heart and soul (or at least engine and transmission) of a Corolla. Thankfully the big Corolla engine.
You can get a hybrid as well - it uses an Atkinson cycle internal combustion engine and the regenerative braking, electric motor combo tech that Toyota leveraged so successfully to make Prius the Coca-Cola of Hybrids. And this probably makes more sense for many city-based owners than a diesel.
It’s about $3500 extra for hybrid UXes but - bonus points - they also go better. The hybrid is almost a second faster to 100 as well as saving you fuel around town. All-wheel drive is an option as well - but frankly you don’t need it.
Lexus positions the UX within its own stable as an SUV, but it’s really just a hatch doffing its cap to SUV styling.
So - just so you can make the right purchasing decision here, there are three model grades: ‘Luxury’ is the base spec. I love it that the poverty pack is called luxury - it’s actually very well equipped, off the bat.
Then, instead of having a mid-spec and a top spec, the range hits a fork in the road and you can either go downs the ‘Sports Luxury’ track or the ‘F Sport’ track.
F Sport’s not exactly the top of the range - it adds a different features and spec package on top of Luxury, compared with Sports Luxury.
So, you should think about what you want - F Sport gets five different drive modes and some cool instrument cluster graphics to go with them and a lateral G monitor; Sports Luxury gets a 13-speaker stereo and heated/ventilated front seats.
So - horses for courses there. Most expensive variant is the Sport Luxury hybrid with all-wheel drive for about $67,000 on the road if you fail to negotiate like you mean it. The same thing in F Sport trim is a few hundred bucks cheaper, notionally.
Cheapest UX is the Luxury 2.0 non-hybrid 2WD version - and you’ll get that on the road under $50k.
Hybrid adds $3500 - so, I can justify that on the grounds of clean air and national energy security - but it’s going to take an awfully long time to pay the $3500 back in saved fuel.
‘Spend $3500 more to save a few cents a day on fuel’ is not a pitch that would work on me. Cleaner air, and energy security: I’m in.
The AWD system is about $5000 extra. That’s impossible for me to justify. It’s not like this thing is a wheel-spinning fire-breather, but I guess if you’re planning on living in the snow, and you’ve got the cash, OK.
UX hits all the benchmarks for ‘entry-level prestige’ - which is (kind of) a recent concept, and I think it’s still deciding what it really is.
It’s well equipped enough, looks polished enough, goes well enough, it’s safe enough, quiet enough, etc. You’re not a third-class citizen in a stripped-out special, paying through the neck just for a badge. That’s for sure. If you want that, I might suggest a base-model Audi Q2…
Row two is a bit squeezy for adults on long drives. Not much legroom there, but it’s OK for young kids. Good, dedicated air-con back here, too.
28 май 2019
