The Lexus look

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This article was published 11/07/2014 (4117 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

WHISTLER, B. C. — What the bear made of it, we’ll never know. As insects buzzed in the long grass on either side of the quiet sideroad, the plump young bruin simply ambled across the road, glanced briefly at the shining grille of the Lexus crossover, then roll-shouldered along his way, off in search of ripe berries, fat grubs or unattended “pic-a-nic” baskets.

To be honest, I half expected him to leap six feet in the air and then sprint for the treeline in a panic. This might be the hybrid version of the latest addition to Lexus’ fleet, but it doesn’t look like it’s particularly interested in saving nature. It looks like it’s been designed to make shoestring french fries out of the local wildlife.

With a quarter-century of sales under its belt, Toyota’s luxury arm seems to have gone all bonkers in the past few years. First, there was the LFA supercar, which backed up its outlandish looks with a howling V-10 and the sort of price tag you’d find on a gold-plated Ferrari. Next, the spindle-grille migrated through the sedan range, changing the ordinarily reserved-looking Lexus fleet from subtlety to Cylon invasion.

Polarizing? You betcha. Both the public and the critical juries are still out as to whether Lexus’s gamble on a bleeding-edge futurism is a success or not. Sales are up, and cars like the IS350 F-Sport are winning accolades for performance chops to match their shouty looks.

But when it comes to sales volume, Lexus is a company that sells CUVs. About half of all Lexus’ sales year-to-date have been its mid-sized RX crossover, a vehicle that cuts a sizable chunk out of the market with a straightforward and easily palatable blend of reliability and polish. It, too, got the spindle-grille treatment, and now Lexus is entrenching the styling decision with an all-new compact crossover they expect to match the RX in terms of sales volume.

Sharing a platform with the hybrid Lexus CT and the Toyota RAV4, the NX has been styled from the ground up to embrace the new face of Lexus. While the giant grille and twin LED check-marks are the dominant features up front, angular fender flares and creased styling lines echo the hourglass theme. Out back, rear LED tail lights present an unbroken sideways-L in a clever touch, and the side profile is made even more angular by plastic trim around each wheel well.

When the NX starts arriving in dealerships later this year, it will be available with two engine choices and seven trim levels. The NX200t comes with Lexus’ first direct-injection turbocharged four-cylinder engine and will make up the bulk of sales, with the NX300h hybrid available only in a top-level trim.

The 2.0L four-cylinder turbo in the NX200t has a few interesting tricks up its sleeve. Producing 235 horsepower between 4,800 and 5,600 rpm, and churning out 256 pound-feet of torque over a broad 1,650 to 4,000 rpm range, it’s very close in output to both BMW and Cadillac offerings. An air-to-liquid intercooler is used for packaging reasons, and the engine has the ability to switch to the more-efficient Miller combustion cycle under light loads. Without going into the mechanics of what’s happening inside the combustion chamber, this briefly trades low-rpm power for greater efficiency, and then re-engages normal Otto cycle combustion when you get on the throttle. Clever stuff.

Power is shunted through a six-speed automatic transmission — while other manufacturers move toward eight-speed gearboxes, Lexus chooses to play it safe with a conventional offering.

All Canadian-spec NXes will come standard with Lexus’ all-wheel-drive system. A front wheel-biased setup, it’s relatively lightweight and can split power front to rear 50:50 — more often, power will be sent up front for efficient cruising. The hybrid version has a slightly more front-biased maximum torque split, at 60:40, but both vehicles should be able to handle moderate snow and ice, if not ford a three-foot-deep river.

While there aren’t any differences in performance by moving up to the F-Sport trim in the NX200t, you do get a much more aggressive front-end treatment, beefed-up sport suspension, paddle shifters and 18-inch alloys. Lexus additionally has a higher grade of F-Sport, which includes an adaptive variable front suspension, along with a host of luxury features.

The hybrid version, the NX300h, uses a 2.5-litre four-cylinder engine running the high-efficiency Miller cycle consistently, paired with an electric engine capable of running at up to 40km/h in electric-only mode. The total power output is 194 horsepower, with the electric engine making up for the relatively low torque output of the four-cylinder.

The NX300h comes only as the top-level Executive package, and is very well-equipped indeed. At the highest spec, unique features include radar-guided cruise control, a camera-based lane-keeping system, and a wireless phone charger set underneath the armrest. To use this last, you’re going to need a Qi wireless charging-capable smartphone, or a case set up to take advantage of wireless charging.

The NX200t can be fitted out at multiple option levels, but is very well equipped from standard, with a backup camera, push-button starter, eight-speaker audio, and eight-way adjustable heated front seats. Also new is a replacement for Lexus’ odd trackball control system. The new device, dubbed Remote Touch, has a slightly rough touchpad that can be “clicked” and uses standard smartphone pinching and swiping controls. It buzzes with haptic feedback, and is a major improvement over the old mouse controller, which tends to skip ahead a bit.

The F-Sport models have spectacular-looking seats, with gorgeous curved moulding for greater support, and all models have entirely reasonable rear head and legroom. The rear trunk is quite shallow, and has only two-thirds the volume that an Audi Q5 has — or about half the space of a RAV4.

Where the NX200t is concerned, power is certainly adequate, but it’s being pitted against a full 1,755 kilograms. In the default normal driving mode, a little enthusiasm is required with the throttle to execute an uphill pass, although sport mode is much peppier. Twisting the drive-control knob to the left selects Eco mode, best only for a very relaxed driving style, as it numbs the accelerator in the name of better fuel economy.

The hybrid’s lesser 194 horsepower has its work cut out for it on the long uphill climbs, but is perfectly capable of clipping along at a respectable rate when the road flattens out. Instead of the six-speed automatic, the NX300h uses a continuously variable transmission, and here Lexus has dialled in slightly more responsiveness than previously seen. Driving enthusiasts should stick to the turbo, especially on these winding roads, but the hybrid should handle the urban environment very well.

If not plumping for the tauter F-Sport, the NX handles in a way that won’t surprise RX owners. Body roll is relatively controlled, but there’s a focus here on ride quality over handling. There’s a lightness to the steering in the turbo models — though the hybrid is strangely heavy-feeling — but the non-sport NX200t doesn’t encourage you to push it.

The smooth, quiet drive, and probable strong scores for efficiency and reliability promise the exact same winning formula that has made the RX the backbone of Lexus sales for more than a decade.

Rather than going with handsome, Lexus has plumped for edgy. When we’re talking about that LFA or the upcoming V-8-powered RC-F with the gumption to back up the aggression, the LED war paint is justified.

The new NX range is a perfectly competent drive, and depending what Lexus does on pricing, might well represent good value. Just don’t expect to impress any bears with it.

Pricing for the 2015 Lexus NX hasn’t been announced, but it will be available in the last quarter of 2014.

 

–Postmedia Network Inc. 2014