I think you made a mistake on the transmission. The UX200 has the physical first gear, and the UX250h has the planetary gear eCVT without a first gear. eCVT isn’t really a CVT but makes the car feel like it has a CVT. It is much less complex than a regular CVT, as it doesn’t have a belt and pulley. Great job on the review, as always!
You are correct. I even had a whole bit inside the car talking about the planetary gearset and then when writing the voice-over I managed to fact check the UX 200 and removed it. Anyhow.... it had a great-feeling transmission either way. ;)
Came here to say exactly the same thing. :-) The benefit of the Toyota Synergy Drive is that it's so dead reliable. No belts. No clutches. No bands. Just a planetary headset and two electric motors. Of course it doesn't even have a starter so that'll never fail either.
Consult the manual of the UX, it says clearly - do not use vehicle with AWD off-road, it may cause damage, it is designed only for support front wheels while driving.
I am an owner and I love it. However, I agree with you that it isn’t design for off-roading no matter if it is kiddy course or not. It is a Lexus. UX is for city drive. I am pretty sure no one will want to get their UX scratch in those dirty road. :) I don’t think it’s awd is bad. Just not design for that. Also, it has 1” more ground clearance than a Corolla. I think that’s the limiting factor in your review. Probably not good to damage the undercarriage of a press car.
You need to hold the talk button for Siri to work and then CarPlay maps and items all work perfect, if you just tap it than the Lexus software takes over
You literally had a sad excuse everytime you mentioned a negative about the car.... I honestly didn't expect an unbiased review of a Toyota product from you but this took it to the next level.
Level-1 should be named/called, "The Bowl." Great video, Ryan. That AWD system was not very confidence inspiring. Not for me but I am sure it will more than appeal to the masses.
5:25 .... its a DVD player !!! And we use it very often on a rest while relaxing, drinking coffee, eat and look some nice videos with superb surround which only DVD´s delivers sound from Mark LEvinson system !
Great video! Just got this as a commuter car - your third category of potential buyers. The other vehicle I own is an RX. This UX is just different. I mainly love it due to its fuel economy and what Lexus did inside. Even the trackpad is okay. Also, love the CD. All in all, it is a mini-RX IMHO.
Definitely getting one of these for my daily. I really dislike SUVS but comparing my mk7 jetta to this. It seems to be very close in size. The 2022 has the big 10.3 in screen and most of the complaints you had are fixed.
i think you dont like this vehicle at all. In real , i drove it, and i like it very much ! The driving, the suspension ! is very very good...fuel consumption is great !!
@@user-rd4hp4qi8q I still have a ton of CDs and unless you're converting your music to FLAC or some other uncompressed format from the source, most CDs will still sound better than your average MP3 or stream. I'm glad Lexus still provides a CD player and it would be nice if other manufacturers at least gave you the option
@@MissusDoge I download in FLAC and play FLAC in one car but my daily driver can only play MP3 so the only way to get high fidelity is to burn CDs for it. I wonder if Lexus will continue to offer disc players in the next generation.
nice review sir!! i believe all ux come with the same engine at the back, which gives just about 7hp only, enough for a mild snowy hill or rain...but most of the work is done by the front...in fact i believe that on the trail, what really got you out was traction control working the front, where the power is....probably the rear helped a tiny bit...i like to say this car comes with a person pushing from the back, that's what the awd is like... there are 2 things i'd like to point out, one is the TRC. i think being a toyota you CAN disable it completely, but you have to hold the button for 3 secs, pressing it once will only disable traction control, but will keep the ESP working. You'll still smoke the tyres... The other thing is that CVTs in toyotas or lexus DO emulate a transmission in sport mode, but ONLY downshifting, so it simulates the engine braking and the revving....like when you brake for a corner in a racetrack, but when accelerating there will be no difference, even no "shifting" up. just CVT whining. even at your launch you can see the car shift from 2nd to 3rd, but no difference on the engine noises or the rev counter. it shifts up underspeed not to "overload" when you are doing like 80 and you shift down to 2nd. A bit like in a manual car where you don't go into second going down hill or you'll blow it up. at least that's how our rx450h and now our rav4 hybrid work, i assume this one is similar. Hope i was helpful to anyone :D
@@drivingsports oops, nevermind then. Anyway i don't know if you agree but i've had the feeling that TRC and VSC are not very good....they are too soft when they kick in but for some reason they go haywire when you over some bumps...
Ryan, I am a bit surprised you have never reviewed the Rich Man's Corolla Cross® before. Like the new Cross, this $40,000 UX is crying out for an upgrade to the 219 hp 2.5 Hybrid system.
Toyota hinted the Cross was getting a “new” system (explaining why it wasn’t available at launch.) this, of course, could just be PR gymnastics. We’ll have to wait and see.
@@drivingsports Well, the 2.0 Hybrid would be 'new' to the Cross. What's more important is that the 2.5 has no fuel mileage penalty while adding so much capability. I am certain it could match the impressive 45 Highway mpg. An upstart channel recently did a 100 mile highway loop with the Avalon 2.5 Hybrid and got 48 mpg!
Can these car companies start using a 6 2 human as the standard for space in a vehicle. If you made your cars to fit comfortably a over 6ft human you'd sell alot more.
Just to let you know, my car lets me hold the voice button to summon Siri or google assistant, just pressing it with use the cars built in one. This is in a Hyundai Sonata
The ux200 is the one with Toyota “direct shift” which has cog for the first gear then switch to belt and pulley CVT after first gear. The ux250h has the common hybrid Toyota/Lexus eCVT which is a planetary gear power split device.
This car is not an off-road vehicle. It's made for highway and city driving. I use mine for mild off-road driving to get to a trailhead but that's about it. Yes it gets 45mpg on the highway and I've seen 55mpg mainly in the city. If I really wanted to do some serious off-road driving, I'll pull out the old lifted rubicon on 37's.
@@shariqmirzaa4742 refreshed in 2020 and we missed that one (not available in fleet right now.) Might not get one back until the 2023 model pops up next year. But who knows, if they send one before that we’ll film it.
Looking forward to the Bronco Sport vs the Crosstrek. I was on my way to test drive the Ford when the Subaru dealership called me. We love the Crosstrek Sport, but I wonder if we would have been happier with the Bronco Sport sometimes. Your test site looks awesome!
So it got you unstuck from the situation, yet you don't feel confident that it could get you unstuck? 😆 The system is there to get you unstuck which is exactly what it did... it's not a GX460
@@drivingsports in order to prove it can't get itself unstuck you have to SHOW it getting stuck. This is the second time you've reviewed am AWD Toyota that you "didn't feel confident in" yet the vehicle proceeds to move forward. We live on dirt roads in the desert... what you showed in this video is the difference between coming home after the car takes 10 seconds to figure it our, versus waiting 2 hours for a tow truck in 115f heat. Frankly, you are a bit too harsh on AWD systems. Off road they are designed to get you unstuck versus a 2wd only model... that's exactly what you show here in your video... that means your loved one comes home versus waiting for hours for a rescue
@@drivingsports also getting g stuck off road on an incline means you have enough momentum to roll backwards the way you came... so from an AWD engineering perspective it's a moot point to design this thing to power up and incline...
Another great review. I see no reason I would ever want this vehicle but maybe being an empty nester with disposable income is not the demographics for this Lexus. The question I have is who is this aimed at if not me or families.
I think the target market is people up north with long commutes that need decent mpg and AWD, but don’t want a Subaru, a sub compact SUV or an economy sedan.
Now that you can fearlessly talk about ‘CVT’ feel when driving a planetary based hybrid system, I wonder what else can viewers believe from your narration 😂
@@drivingsports Yeah totally understandable of mistakes. Why not add a post-correction to those places? It won’t hurt but makes your video more bulletproof!
I checked with many sites and both Toyota and Lexus hybrids use a ECVT not a cvt. NO BELTS. Dont feel bad alot of reviewers get it wrong. But being a car reviewer you should have this information. Its good for 200k in most caes. Check RU-vid for more info.
Yikes, perhaps not a very well researched review. IE: CarPlay does indeed accept Siri input through the VR button - it's a setting. The car does indeed use EV mode on the highway when cruising - not just at slow speeds. The 10" screen is an option at lower trip levels - you'd think it's just not available from this video. Improvised reviews... mkay.
Tommy Mica of TFL fame tested a similar AWD set up to this in his rollers. This AWD system sucks. My wife's RAV 4 with a drive shaft connecting front and rear is far superior in my opinion. The vehicle is nice other wise.
@@drivingsports didn’t know Toyota has one more type of hybrid transmission in addition to the e-cvt and that fancy one in LC500h. I personally like e-cvt very much.
@@andrewzhuk8713 Toyota has 2.5 type of hybrid transmission. The most common planetary gear power split as on RAV4 The rare planetary gear power split plus a second stage 4 speed auto on the LS and LC The latest addition being a pancake motor between engine and torque converter on the just released tundra
I believe since it is a small CUV, It may not have a pocket because this could be intended for kids/child seats, to sit in the back and not adults. If that makes any sense?
it's done so children don't disturb the driver by hitting or playing with the seat, passenger gets a pocket because lexus consides them not good enough for children not to give them a horrible ride...
C'mon Ryan you think Lexus owners are taking their vehicles off the road on those mucky, dirty, wet, rocky, unstable, rutty, snowy, COLD, CRAPPY, JAGGED, VERTICLE, GARBAGE roads you spend all you time on?
I definitely don't think the UX is a luxury offering. Its a fine Toyota, but not for a luxury brand. It should have been the new CR H in NA. Toyota really mailed it in with the LexuSUX. Seems like false advertising saying this has AWD. Once the front tires lose grip you are done
Actually, I dont see the market for this, unless one is willing to sacrifice pretty much everything else for fuel economy. It is small, too expensive, and there are much more appealing competitors (Crosstrek with 2.5L, CX-30, Kona, Bronco Sport, etc) available for less money. Only real selling point is that it is a hybrid, but even that is a trade off-- better fuel economy for a compromised AWD system. It it was 30K, I could see a case for it, but at 40k+, I just dont see it.
Lexus knows it’s market. Crosstrek and Kona lack reliability, Bronco Sport is too utilitarian. But the Mazda is beautiful. Might be a contender for some. It has reliability and beautiful interior and about 5k cheaper. You raise a point, however, Lexus is a powerful name in luxury and reliability that will definitely find some buyers.
@@haroldbeauchamp3770 Crosstrek is rated 4/5 and Kona 5/5 for reliability by Consumer Reports. They might not be up to Lexus levels, but I don't think it is accurate to say they "lack reliability".
@@edsmith9855 I’m not basing my statement on consumer reports. I’m basing my reviews on 30+ years of senior warranty claims experience. Subaru and Kia have the highest rates of warranty claims in the industry.
Pros: Standard safety features Lexus reliability Fuel economy Cons: Exterior and interior design Info system CVT Cargo/interior space Cameras CD player?
Probably one of the worst cars money can buy. People who buy this is most likely “upgrading” from Corolla/Prius. Demographic wise it should appeal to people who like to say “Oh I drive a Mercedes” and it’s an A class or so. If you want a Lexus, at least get a RX or LS. This is just higher trim CH-R with different powertrain.