Lexus NX300h 2018 first drive

The Lexus NX is the Japanese company's antidote to formulaic European design, face-lifted for a second time since its launch in 2014.

Sitting a rung below the BMW X5-rivalling Lexus RX, the NX has been a big seller for this relatively under-represented brand, accounting for almost a third of its European sales and Lexus in 2017 outselling the CT200h luxo-hatch at a ratio of three to one. A large part of its appeal has always been the acute, concept-car-esque geometry of its bodywork.

For 2018 the changes are subtle but prolong the impact of the head-turning looks that make it almost a caricature next to the more restrained likes of the Volvo XC60, Audi Q5 and Mercedes-Benz GLC. The gaping spindle grille is now more aggressive, and flanked by more deeply recessed air intakes. The bumpers have also been finessed and the LED headlights are not only sleeker in design but now incorporate Lexus’s Adaptive High-beam System. The indicators now illuminate in a ‘sequential’ fashion, in the style first seen on expensive Audis.

Lexus has also given the NX its Safety System Plus technology, which compromises a pre-collision warning and emergency braking system, adaptive cruise control, adaptive high-beam headlights (that is, headlights capable of selectively illuminating the road ahead in such a way that other drivers aren’t constantly dazzled), lane-departure warning and road-sign assist. The last of those reiterates speed limits and such on the infotainment display.

One more thing: Lexus has axed the 194bhp 2.0-litre turbocharged NX200t for 2018, leaving the hybrid 300h tested here as the only option. The grade-structure has been simplified, too, to SE, Luxury, F sport, F Sport Premier Pack (adds a head-up display, plus a 14-speaker Mark Levinson sound system) and, at the top of the pile, Premier.

The interior remains a highlight, even if the instrument dials still sit unusually low and the enlarged infotainment screen, now 10.3in, sits awkwardly atop of the dash. Lexus does cabins very differently to the German marques, with copious switchgear and the use of novel materials to clad an architecture that favours rigid strata over flowing curves. Build quality feels very high indeed, and the driving position is widely adjustable, with well-bolstered seats.

The driving experience is frustrating and effortless almost in equal measure. It’s characterised by a ride that’s satisfactory on good roads but brittle everywhere else, and a method of propulsion that’s laudably refined at a cruise but raucous under acceleration. As such the Lexus NX300h only really hits its luxurious brief a portion of the time, and never truly settles.