When I got my first drive in the 2019 Lexus UX 200 last year at a launch event, I got caught up in the marketing classification of the compact luxury SUV. What makes the UX an SUV when it could easily be called a hatchback? I recently got a chance to spend a full week driving the new Lexus, and I’ve come up with more questions.
My test vehicle was a UX 200 F Sport with a base price of $34,000. It was loaded down with options, including Blind Spot Monitor ($500), wireless charger ($75), windshield deicer ($100), head up display ($500), navigation system with 10.3-inch color multimedia display, 8-speaker Lexus Premium Sound System, auto-dim interior mirror with HomeLink, and power tilt/telescopic steering wheel ($2,200), Parking Assist, Rear Cross-Traffic Alert with Braking ($565), power liftgate with kick sensor ($600), F Sport Premium package with moonroof, rain-sensing wipers, heated front seats ($975), and heated F Sport steering wheel with paddle shifters ($150). Add all that plus a $1,025 delivery, processing and handling fee, and you come up with an as-tested price of $40,260.
When I have a test vehicle for a week, I put it through its paces, making time to drive on a variety of roads and conditions. I listen for squeaks, rattles, and wind noise. I practice passing maneuvers, and I creep through urban traffic. Additionally, I use the test vehicle to run errands, shop for groceries, pick up dry cleaning (a rarity), and wait in line for drive through coffee. I try to get really familiar with the vehicle, and figure out what it would be like to live with.
This particular week was the week that serious planning started on a house project. We had just hired a contractor to demolish and re-build the front porch on our 100-year-old farm house. The old porch had seen better days, and a coat of paint wasn’t going to ease its woes. Of course, while we were at it, it was a good time to replace some of the siding on the house, too. So, we had to run from home center to home center to look at potential building and finishing materials.
We started with the structure of the porch. No matter what, that has be right, and it has to be engineered to support the weight of the materials above it, plus the people and things that it needs to carry. In same way, the platform of the Lexus UX has been engineered to handle the vehicle’s components, passengers and cargo. UX is the first Lexus to use the new Global Architecture Compact (GA-C) platform, a platform that is used across the aisle for several Toyota vehicles. This new platform has been highly praised for its light weight, rigidity, low center of gravity and refined suspension tuning.
Next, we had to decide on the decking material. The old deck used traditional wood planks, finished with outdoor paint mixed with sand for traction. I don’t know how long they had lasted, but they had definitely succumbed to the weather and neglect. We decided to go with composite decking, which would hold up better in the weather and never need painting. The compromise that we’d making would be a lack of authenticity. Even though the decking looks like wood from a few feet away, it isn’t wood – it’s molded composite with artificial wood grain. But it performs like wood, maybe better.
Lexus made an analogous decision with the UX transmission, a new unit they call a “10-speed Direct Shift Continuously Variable Transmission (DCVT).” The notable part of that name, CVT, describes the type of transmission. A traditional gearbox has a set of stepped gears and a clutch (either manual or automatic) to select the gear ratio that works best for the demand. You know the sound – the engine revs start low, then build to a crescendo. The transmission shifts, the revs drop, then build again as you pick up speed. This pattern repeats through the gears. With a CVT, there’s no clutch and no gears. There are pulleys and belts that can dynamically apply the gear ratio that keeps the engine in its powerband for maximum efficiency, no matter the demand. It’s a more efficient concept. In execution, though, it has its downsides for driving dynamics and driver engagement. Drivers can perceive the engine as droning, since it maintains a fairly consistent range of revolutions, and there’s also a potential for rubberbanding – the perception that acceleration lags throttle input as the transmission catches up with the engine’s action. Lexus battles these perceptions with its new DCVT by programming gear-like steps into the transmission’s performance. They even provide optional paddle shifters so that enthusiast drivers can “shift” between these steps to emulate a traditional transmission’s performance. It’s not bad – it’s just not authentic. Just like the composite molded material on my porch deck, it may be better than the authentic gearbox when it comes to efficiency, but it’s not quite the same.
Another choice we had to make was siding material. We found a winner in pre-finished cement board cladding. Not only will this material outperform wood or vinyl, it will also look better from day one and into the future. With its smooth surface and baked-on finish, cement board is not trying to look like anything else, so it has authenticity. It is a high-end, luxurious product – the best that money can buy for its purpose. You can choose more expensive materials, like stone or tile, but you can’t outperform cement board for the money.
Lexus made a similar decision with UX. Though it shares a platform with some Toyota models, UX ups the luxury quotient with great material choices throughout, with nice leather seating surfaces, soft touch plastics and quality veneers. The interior is intelligently arrayed, with ample storage throughout and high-tech features top to bottom, including trick LED interior lighting.
Even though I’ve got a garage full of power tools and a pretty good idea of how to use them, I hired a skilled professional to design and build our new porch. He’s a guy we’ve used before, on our bathroom renovation, and he’s a perfectionist who takes great pride in his work.
The same care and skill is evident all around the UX. From the Takumi clay modelers who worked on the exterior to the experienced line workers who assemble, align and tune every detail of the interior, UX is a quality product with high levels of fit and finish, just what I’ve come to expect from Lexus.
I had higher expectations for the F Sport model’s performance potential. The trim level turns out to be mostly cosmetic, with some cool features inspired by the LFA supercar, along with suspension upgrades. Active Sound Control acts to enhance the sound the driver hears as it “generates the aural effect of up- and down-shifts like those of a geared automatic transmission,” according to Lexus. Not exactly authentic.
The competition in the luxury compact crossover SUV space is intensifying, and now includes vehicles like the BMW X1, Audi Q3, Infiniti QX30, Volvo XC40 and Cadillac XT4. Each of these SUVs has its plusses and minuses, just like the UX.
My porch is still a work in progress, but my week with the 2019 Lexus UX F Sport is complete. I hope that my struggle to balance price, quality and authenticity results in a quality product that stands the test of time. I’m sure Lexus hopes for the same with the UX.
