A new car, lots of information in short paragraphs.
What you need to know: Lexus is the luxury division of Toyota and this NX, which apparently stands for “Nimble Crossover” is a mild relation of the accomplished Toyota RAV-4 compact SUV. Starting out as the NX200t around 2014 (or 2015 in southern Africa), Lexus has now changed its name to NX300. No idea why.
More facts: Most NX models are power by a 238hp two-litre turbo-petrol four cylinder engine driving all wheels through a smooth six-speed automatic gearbox. You may choose between two grades (“E” and this “F-Sport”) or an NX300h EX hybrid model. As is customary with Lexus, all models feature the latest safety and convenience features.
Watch out for: For starters, the price. This F-Sport costs a whopping 800,000 bucks while the hybrid is 45 grand cheaper and the “E grade” model represents better value at just over 600 thousand bucks. That doesn’t mean it’s Spartan, I enjoyed my time with that car, but this range topping F-Sport provides quite a few extra goodies.
These include bigger wheels, full LED headlights, a glass roof, adaptive dampers, navigation, proper leather seats with front heaters, a full deck of parking sensors and a bird’s eye view camera. I’ll let you make up your own mind if that’s worth the price premium but I can vouch for the better headlights in this version.
Where we went: Oh, just about everywhere you would find a modern compact SUV. The mall, a few office car parks, suburbia, some dirt roads and so on. Some testers bemoaned the strange dashboard layout and everyone hated the infotainment operation. New Bluetooth connections are difficult.
Why you’ll want one: The fastidious Lexus customer care, this car’s unique looks, its modicum of versatility (500/1,545L boot) and the excellent spec levels. Ride and handling are excellent, performance is good (although off the maker’s claim) but like most turbo-charged petrols, it doesn’t achieve its maker’s average consumption claim.
Each Lexus NX300 is sold with a three-year / 100,000km warranty and four-year / 100,000km service plan.
FULL SPECLIST
Engine: 2L i-4 petrol
Transmission: 6-speed automatic, AWD
Max. Power: 175kW
Max. Torque: 350Nm
Avg cons.: 7.9L/100km (claimed)
0-100km/h: 7.64 seconds (claimed 7.1)
Top Speed: 200km/h (claimed)
List Price: Starting around N$ 800,000
Performance:
0-10km/h: 0,47 seconds
0-20km/h: 0,99 seconds
0-30km/h: 1,63 seconds
0-40km/h: 2,31 seconds
0-50km/h: 2,96 seconds
0-60km/h: 3,79 seconds
0-70km/h: 4,67 seconds
0-80km/h: 5,55 seconds
0-90km/h: 6,51 seconds
0-100km/h: 7,64 seconds
0-110km/h: 9,01 seconds
0-120km/h: 10,44 seconds
0-130km/h: 12,08 seconds
0-140km/h: 14,05 seconds
0-150km/h: 16,03 seconds
0-160km/h: 18,26 seconds
0-100m: 6,83 seconds @ 93,00km/h
0-200m: 10,22 seconds @ 118,50km/h
0-300m: 13,05 seconds @ 135,00km/h
0-400m: 15,60 seconds @ 147,82km/h
100-0km/h: 3,27 seconds @ 42,79 meters (once-off)
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0-10mph: 0,78 seconds
0-20mph: 1,78 seconds
0-30mph: 2,84 seconds
0-40mph: 4,17 seconds
0-50mph: 5,59 seconds
0-60mph: 7,22 seconds
0-70mph: 9,40 seconds
0-80mph: 11,87 seconds
0-90mph: 14,99 seconds
0-100mph: 18,52 seconds
1/4 mile: 15,65 seconds @ 92,01 mph
Maximum acceleration G-force: 0,59G
Altitude: 60m
All data captured by Racelogic® Performance Box