The beauty of the Lexus NX is mainly skin deep

27 April 2015 - 18:26 By Thomas Falkiner
subscribe Just R20 for the first month. Support independent journalism by subscribing to our digital news package.
Subscribe now
The Lexus NX.
The Lexus NX.
Image: Supplied

The Lexus NX looks like a sexy punk-samurai collaboration, but looks can be deceiving, writes Thomas Falkiner.

A few nights ago I was perched behind the bar of my local. On any other night I'd indulge myself with an overpriced craft beer but this time I decided to splurge on a glass of Japanese whisky. And for no reason other than that the packaging was so out of the ordinary. The stout little bottle - with its square shoulders and thick-set stopper - was dwarfed by the usual single malt suspects.

The label looked like it had been cut from antique parchment while the logo, an artful scribbling of calligraphy, spoke of a simpler time: an era in which honesty and integrity ruled the day. So I sipped on a double and waited for something remarkable to happen.

Nothing did. In fact it was a pretty average experience - a bit like my latest test car.

To take on the Range Rover Evoque, Lexus knew it had to build something that would pique people's interest. An SUV that would make the young and trendy stop in their tracks and think, "Hmm, I'd really like to get behind the wheel of that."

Not an easy task for a company whose products - the bonkers LFA aside, of course - are generally about as exciting as a large box of Tylenol. And yet somehow Lexus managed to get it right.

One part Buck Rogers, two parts crumpled origami, the new NX is definitely something of a retina magnet. It has an outrageously oversized front grille shaped like an industrial bug-zapper, and headlamps that look like they were cut by the sword of a cubism-obsessed samurai. Ditto the shoulders, flanks and derriere.

Basically the NX is the mohawked punk rocker of its segment: a geometricised anti-fashion statement that makes the Teutonic BMW X3 and Audi Q5 seem embarrassingly conservative in comparison.

All this steel-creased excitement builds expectation. Even this slightly jaded scribe couldn't wait to saddle up and hit the highway.

Unfortunately, when I did, I felt a bit cheated - especially with the engine. The ubiquitous four-cylinder turbocharged motor is the default darling of the industry these days. And in most cases it works darn well across a broad range of applications, even in a lardy crossover.

Sadly, this Lexus mill (their first foray into the land of forced induction) didn't prickle my neck hairs. Sure, it was smooth enough, but its power delivery was disappointedly lacklustre. It felt lethargic, a quality heightened by the old-school auto box which, even when set to sport mode, never seemed to be in any great rush. It was thirsty too, throwing back fuel like a drunk throws back cheap happy-hour lager.

So what about the actual driving experience? Well, I've got to say that being built atop the Toyota Rav4 platform, the NX is nothing to get excited about - especially the F-Sport version that I piloted.

For in this guise - and despite benefiting from a trick adaptive suspension system - it kind of straddles a strange vehicular no-man's-land between overt sportiness and bottom-soothing comfort.

It suffers from a bit of an identity crisis. "Hang on," you can hear it mumbling to itself down in the garage at night, "am I supposed to be competing with BMWs through the bends or smoothing over bumps like a Volvo or Range Rover?"

Needless to say it doesn't quite know, and neither did I for that matter.

One area Lexus managed to nail down is the interior. Fashioned with the help of racing drivers, it merges sharp architectural hooks with the rock-solid build quality that has become synonymous with Lexus over the years. It's also generously appointed with pretty much every gadget and gizmo shipping as standard equipment. It's a nice middle-fingered salute to the tight-fisted Teutons.

Yet despite these luxurious innards and that daringly extrovert sheet metal, there's simply no escaping the fact that this Lexus remains a somewhat underwhelming proposition.

Especially when you consider that an Evoque can be had for similar money. Much like that whisky you and I shared at the beginning of this story, the NX is one of those products that flatters to deceive.

sub_head_start FAST FACTS sub_head_end

Engine: 1998cc four-cylinder turbo

Power: 175kW at 4800rpm

Torque: 350Nm at 1650rpm

Transmission: six-speed automatic

0-100km/h: 7.1 seconds (claimed)

Top speed: 200km/h (claimed)

Fuel: 14.2l/100km (achieved)

CO2: 184g/km (claimed)

Price: From R659,900

subscribe Just R20 for the first month. Support independent journalism by subscribing to our digital news package.
Subscribe now