Test: Lexus NX 450h+ is expensive, but plug and high-tech systems give this SUV pluses | Autotest

Lexus NX 450h+ (309 hp/227 kW), from €72,485

Just wait, a cyclist is coming! As long as the sensors of the Lexus NX 450h+ detect traffic coming from behind, the car briefly prevents you from getting out. The button in the door simply does not respond. Has the danger passed? Then you can leave the cabin.

This is one of the countless examples of systems with which this Lexus makes life just that little bit safer. Are you going to maneuver? Press the camera button and the NX literally lets you look around the car, making sure there are no pets or children around. Smart and sensible.

The plus sign in the name indicates that this is the plug-in hybrid version, which literally offers something extra compared to the ‘regular’ hybrids. In addition to two electric motors and a petrol power source, there is a larger battery pack (18.1 kilowatt hours) and a charging port, so that you can drive more electrically. Lexus claims an electric range of 63 kilometers. That is less far than various competitors, in practice you only get it with extremely quiet throttle.

That turns out to be the best advice anyway, because at full throttle, the engine in the normally admirably quiet Lexus roars unpleasantly. It’s momentary under acceleration, but that roar doesn’t match the refined impression the car otherwise creates. Quiet driving also provides a neat test consumption: depending on how often you charge, an average of 4 liters per 100 kilometers (1 in 25) is easily achievable.

Lexus has brought the NX to a high level: the high-tech (safety) systems, the finish and the travel comfort are above average. This applies to a lesser extent to the space, handling and affordability of this Lexus. Compared to an Audi Q5 or Mercedes-Benz GLC, it is cheaper (and you get a ten-year warranty!), but a Toyota RAV4 is bigger, cheaper and at least as good.

Plus
+ Smart safety systems.
+ Low consumption possible.
+ Comfortable.
+ Ten year warranty.

min
– Space in the back.
– High purchase price.
– Roaring powertrain.
– Added value compared to Toyota.

Conclusion
This Lexus is a rock solid car, but its biggest challenger may well come from home. The equally excellent plug-in hybrid RAV4 from parent brand Toyota is a larger, more spacious choice with a lower price and a fairly comparable level of comfort. The added value of the NX is mainly in the finish, the use of materials and the smarter safety systems, but these also provide a significant plus in the price.

Lexus supplies the new NX in three variants: in addition to the 450h+, there is also a choice of two versions of the 350h, where the h stands for hybrid. The difference between the two versions lies in the number of driven wheels: the cheapest version (from 60,390 euros) has only front-wheel drive, while the 4WD (from 65,890 euros) has four-wheel drive. Both versions also use the same 2.5-liter four-cylinder petrol engine as the 450 (which is therefore for sale from 72,000 euros).

The lack of the + in their designations indicates that the other NX’s do not have a plug. Lexus calls these ‘self-charging hybrids’, but that is a term that promises a little too much. In these lighter motorisations, the electric motor does help to store energy in the (much smaller) battery pack, but you can drive much less far electrically on that energy than in the 450h+. All versions are approved for towing a braked trailer of up to 1500 kilograms.

Thanks to the more powerful electric motor, the 450h+ delivers significantly more power: instead of 244 horsepower (179 kilowatts), you have 309 hp (227 kW) at your disposal. Remarkably enough, the more expensive version has less pulling power (227 Newton meters instead of 239), but in the + it is available at lower revs.

As a result, the engines in theory have to work less hard to help you smoothly forward, and although the NX has enough power, it doesn’t always sound that way. As long as you drive on electricity, this is of course an above-average quiet car – also thanks to the excellent sound insulation – but as soon as the fuel engine comes into action, the peace is disturbed in a somewhat unpleasant way.

During acceleration, the standard CVT automatic transmission (a continuously variable transmission) selects the most effective speed, which the powertrain maintains until you have reached the desired speed. Meanwhile, the NX puts a big throat on, and that sound is quite in contrast to the silence that prevails in the car for the rest. The bellow is momentary, but in those moments you wish this Lexus was all electric.

In the interior, in addition to the neat materials used and the neat build quality, it is noticeable that Lexus has equipped the NX with various smart systems that help the driver to understand everything. You will find multifunctional buttons on the steering wheel, which can operate different functions depending on the menu in which you are sitting. Because this can be confusing, the car shows on the projected screen in the windshield (the head-up display) which function is associated with which button. As soon as you touch a button with your finger, it appears on the screen.

Furthermore, the controls of the car are clear and well thought out: the screen on the dashboard is a touch screen, giving the classic Lexus operation (with a controller that resembled a computer mouse) the field. That’s a good choice, because the screen and the icons on it are large enough to find your way flawlessly. The whole also looks neat, although the Lexus system is very similar to that of parent company Toyota in terms of design and digital graphics. It would have been nicer if Lexus had given it a slightly more chic or luxurious ‘look & feel’. That fits the extra price you pay for a Lexus.

The Lexus NX is not a cheap car: its price is simply close to what you pay for a mid-sized SUV from other luxury car brands. The starting price of an Audi Q5 50 TFSI-e is 69,952 euros, which is fairly comparable to the NX 450h+. The tested F-Sport version of the NX costs at least 81,990 and that is approximately comparable to the 81,619 euros that you have to pay at Audi for a Q5 in the sportier S Edition. However, the Lexus is richer in details. For example, with the F-Sport you do not have to pay for heated seats at the front and rear, electrically adjustable front seats are available and you have, for example, an electrically operated tailgate.

As far as the safety systems are concerned, Lexus does good business: there is, among other things, an active lane assistant, but also adaptive cruise control, blind spot recognition, an emergency braking system, eight airbags and traffic sign recognition.

The main problem with the Lexus NX is that parent company Toyota also makes such damn good cars. A Toyota RAV4, for example, may look less slick and has a less attractive interior with less good speakers and slightly harder materials, but in fact that car does almost everything just as well as its more expensive cousin. After all, the NX does not drive very differently, is not significantly quieter, more dynamic or more comfortable and even gives you a bit of the same feeling as the Toyota on the road.

This is partly due to the appearance and design of both the interior and the exterior – which clearly bear Toyota genes – but also in the finesse of the technology. With such a RAV4, which is also available as a plug-in hybrid, it is already so good that the Lexus does not significantly surpass it. The ‘real Lexus feeling’ is in very small details, such as the subtle way in which you open the doors with a button instead of a lever that you pull out. Even the manufacturer’s warranty (up to 10 years or no less than 200,000 kilometers, if you have it serviced at an authorized Lexus dealer) is comparable. So although the Lexus NX is a damn good car with a lot of qualities, it’s not that much better or nicer that it can prove the added value – and extra cost – compared to its cheaper relative without a fight.

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