[Turbanator]

Originally Posted by androdev

letting us know that hybrid uses both ICE + battery power. Have you driven any of these cars? I have been driving a Camry Hybrid regularly. For all practical purposes and real world driving, the battery is too small and the charge available is too little and the programming is too conservative that it is utterly useless for spirited driving.

I know, where you are coming from (911-vroom), however when compared with a similar setup, additional torque from the motor indeed helps. The hybrid setup on the newer cars is in 4th Generation and the battery capacity and the way it gets charged from the engine power is all better optimised than previous generations.

eCVT is a very dull transmission with typical CVT rubber-band effect. Rubber band effect doesn't literally mean there is a rubber band inside the CVT box.

Originally Posted by hortons15

AI’ve driven the Camry a bit and the Lexus ES 300h more and I can tell you the new NX has a much much better drivetrain. I took a test drive of the new NX yesterday and was blown away by the instantaneous response.

Absolutely, only when you press the accelerator very hard does that engine sound gets intrusive but you will hardly feel the old rubber-band effect.

[ron178]

North American-market Lexus NX and NX PHEV achieve IIHS Top Safety Pick Plus awards. Press Release

[MAVERICK_BOSS]

Originally Posted by Turbanator

Despite running on 20" wheels, the ride quality is outstanding. Small bumps and potholes are not felt inside the cabin. Even medium sized ones were absorbed well.

Hi
Great review. Hybrids will be the way to go in India for the near future.

I have 2 questions:-
1. Your opinion on ride quality is for F-Sport with Adaptive Dampers. What about other variants?

2. Do you have a picture of someone sitting in the rear seat. This gives a great idea of the leg room, hip position and thigh support.

[RoadFiend]

Originally Posted by Turbanator

Exterior

F Sport variant gets 20" black alloy wheels with 235/50 section run flat tyres.

If one wants to change out of run-flats, what would be a good choice of tyre and alloy wheel (I assume current wheel is rather large, and smaller wheel will be appropriate if changing out of run-flats) ?

[Venkatesh]

The Lexus NX 350h Overtrail edition has been launched in India at Rs 71.17 Lakh.

- Moon Dessert paint
- Adaptive Variable Suspension
- 18 inch Matte Black Rims
- Blacked out exterior details







Link

[PrideRed]

When I had bought 3 series, I had enquired about ES300 and had dropped due to various reasons. Last year there were juicy discounts on various Lexus models and had checked NX and RX. NX350H was something that I liked on paper and wanted to check out. Last week sales representative mentioned about availability of 2024 model and said I can test drive and check . I had mentioned I may not buy as I had made other car purchase recently, sales rep told me to take a call after test drive. They agreed to get the car over to my place.




Positives

- Interior is fantastic. Quality of materials used, features(lot more than competition).

- Paint finish was excellent. Lexus offers a wide range of colours and variants.

- Noise insulation was brilliant.

- Looks can be polarizing especially the spindle grille. Overall I would mention the design as "Nice".

- 240 HP strong hybrid engine has good enough power and grunt.

- Suspension is very European. Adaptive dampers works well and in Sport+ mode is quite fun.

- Fantastic fuel efficiency. During my test drive, MID was hovering around 15-16KMPL in city.


Negatives

- Lexus has limited presence in India. NX is CBU, hence availability of some parts might be a challenge.

- Rear seat under thigh support isn't good and seat is a bit narrow too.

- While engine feels powerful, there is no kickback feel of punchy turbo petrol/diesels.

- Lack of spare tire can be problematic though car gets run flat tires.

- Smaller footprint compared to competition. Car feels a bit narrow and has a smaller boot space too.


The variant I liked is the Overtrail and coincidentally the variant that came for test drive was same too. This variant rides on 18inch India friendly tires instead of low profile 20 inch, gets black treatment to grille/alloys, ORVM, nice sporty seats(Synthetic leather though), Adaptive dampers like F Sport and nice Mark Levinson Audio.

Exteriors

Car isn't huge, may be as big a say Harrier. Front looks, many may not like, thanks to large spindle grille. From side, bonnet is disproportionately large and can look bit awkward. Rear looks great despite the new trend of wrap around tail lamps. Alloys have satin black finish and looks decent. Car has adaptive headlamps and gets foglamps too. Headlamps look a bit too busy for my liking and fog lamps are place quite low. As usual, Lexus logo has inbuilt radar for ADAS and gets front parking sensors and 360 camera.

The paint finish is very good and black contrast roof goes well with white car. Body panels feel heavy and doesnot flex as much like a typical Japanese car. Door handles are different, they have a switch inside and one need not pull out like traditional handle. Once you get used to, is quite easy to operate.

Interiors

Car has lot of features. You name it, car has it. Even cars like X5/GLE miss on equipment offered by NX. ADAS, heated/cooled seats, configurable HUD, heated steering, E latch door release, super Mark Levinson Audio, Large pano roof, reclining rear seats, Lumbar support, sporty seats, 4 driving modes, large digital display etc. Except for lower part of dash, most is soft touch plastic and quality feels at par with BMW/Mercedes or may be even a notch higher. Seats offer wide range of adjustment and was quite easy to find a comfortable driving position. Seats are big and have good under thigh support . The rear seat in comparison lacks under thigh support and you sit bit low. Width is good for 2 adults and a child. The seats can be electronically folded using a dedicated button or through display. Just like outside door handle, interior gets a latch and one can push it to open the door. This is more convenient than traditional door pull lever.

Audio sounds good, don't know how many speakers it has but had terrific bass and had good clarity. Gets wireless Apple carplay but android auto is wired. Head unit offers lot of options.

Driving the NX

Being strong hybrid, as expected car has no sound on start and continues so until for about speed of 20-30KM/Hr. Once the 2.5L Engine kicks in, you can hear the engine. Initially I tried in comfort mode, car has good power and suspension was absorbing bumps quite well. There is no sideway movement and cars stay planted at speeds upto 80-100KM/Hr. Switched to Sport+ mode which is exclusive to Overtrail and F Sport variant. The car is quite fun in this mode. Suspension stiffens quite a bit, steering weighs up and engine has good grunt. Yet the acceleration is linear and not much push back feel. The handling though was a revelation, takes corner quite well despite the height. In Sport+ handling feels very much European and one can really push the car through corners at higher speeds. The e CVT has a bit of lag but did not find it problematic especially in SPort+ mode. Not as quick as dual clutch but lets say at par with a traditional torque converter but smoother when driving sedately. Engine note for some reason was not to my liking and not the typical Japanese screamer.

Summary

At 90L OTR NX350H is now competitively priced against GLC/X3 and Q5. NX is a well rounded package and worth considering especially given how BMW have detuned the new X3. NX has segment best features, nice to drive , comparatively cheaper to maintain and cheaper to run too. That said, lacks the snob value of Germans and limited showrooms means you have limited options w.r.to dealers.

[splitinfinitive]

I last posted in 2016 about my impending mid-life crisis and how I tried to stave it off with the purchase of an Abarth Punto. And it worked!

Now, 9 years later, not much wiser, (and 26 kg lighter - inspired greatly by BHPian GRAAJA's amazing journey - thanks man!), with mid-life crisis safely past, decided I needed a bit of refinement in my life. So, after a few test drives of the XC60, X3 and Q5, brought home the Lexus NX350h Lux variant in Sonic Titanium this morning.

With all the good Lexus things in place, superb build quality, lovely sound system, hybrid mileage and hopefully reliability, looking forward to some relaxed mile munching.

As always thanks to all the good folks here who help with one of the most important life decisions with their knowledge, sagacity and wit.

[V.Narayan]

Originally Posted by splitinfinitive

So, after a few test drives of the XC60, X3 and Q5, brought home the Lexus NX350h Lux variant in Sonic Titanium this morning.

As always thanks to all the good folks here who help with one of the most important life decisions with their knowledge, sagacity and wit.

Happy congratulations. Wishing you many safe miles of motoring. Great car to buy. And that is their best colour.

[shashi792]

Wow, that's a good buy. Can you share us the OTR price comparison between XC60, Q5 and NX350 ?.

[splitinfinitive]

I didn't take quotes for XC60 & Q5 but sales guys said about 85 L for XC60, 89 L for Q5 (Tech). NX350h Lux was 88.5 all in.