When you consider buying a mid-size SUV like the Mercedes-Benz Longshaft GLC, Audi Q5L, BMW X3 or Volvo XC60, do you also think that Lexus NX is also in the nearly same market positioning and price range?
In any case, you should be able to think of it by now. Although the wheelbase of Lexus' new generation NX is only 2690mm, there is also a certain gap between the 4660mm length and the medium-sized SUVs just mentioned, but its price range of 318,880 yuan to 548,800 yuan has put itself in the highly competitive domestic mid-size SUV market.
What's interesting is that the new generation of NX, which is not dominant in size and interior space, has a unique charm that belongs to Lexus, so that people who have come into contact with it will have to think about whether they should re-plan their car candidate list.
The distinctive shape is an important part of this. The importance of the new generation of NX to Lexus is that Lexus sees it as the beginning of the next chapter of the brand. Starting with this new car, Lexus products will use a new generation of design languages that emphasize a sense of proportion.
This may already explain why, at a time when many brands are getting bigger and bigger and the wheelbase is getting longer and longer, the new generation of NX is still sticking to its own design ideas – everything must be maintained because of the perfect shape and the best proportions.
The overall contour of the body is similar to that of the previous generation, but the new generation of NX has narrower eyebrows and polylines or curves that can divide the body surface into many light and shadow areas in the sun. No matter which way you look at it — the front, the side, the side tail, or just stare at the bonnet — the "skin" of the new car is more sculptural and three-dimensional.
The design of the taillights varies greatly, with the left and right taillights connected by a straight strip of light running through them, and the Lexus brand logo is spelled in English letters under the light bands. Numerous body design details and overlapping effects of light and shadow give the new car a future-oriented atmosphere, young and enterprising, vigorous.
In addition to the variety of proportional relationships such as wheelbase and front and rear overhang, front and passenger compartment, window height and body height, the design team's focus on proportion also penetrated into more details. For example, new cars use larger wheel hubs to improve the relationship between wheel hubs and tire sidewall thickness, while reducing the distance between the wheel edge and the wheel arch to lower the visual center of gravity of the body. The final result is just as these pages of pictures present, beautiful, coordinated, no more, no more. The negative impact is that it is absolutely sufficient, but it is not too luxurious to talk about the back legroom.
The interior design is completely subversive compared to the previous generation. Lexus has adopted a cockpit design concept called the "Rein Concept" on the new generation of NX – all information interaction interfaces are centered on the driver, and all controls are set within reach without the need to probe, as simple and straightforward as "riding a horse with the reins in hand" – this concept will also dominate the interior design of Lexus' future products.
As a result, you can see a 14-inch central touch screen that tilts slightly to the driver's side (9.8 inches on some low-end models). An S-shaped curve that cascades down a stream connects the large screen to the central storage compartment, the shift lever area, and up to the front central armrest box with considerable volume, and all the controls — the driving mode knob, the gear shift handle, the switch button — have a delicate and relatively small shape.
A 7-inch LCD instrument cluster and a dual-zone air conditioner with a nano-water ionizer are available as standard. However, according to the difference in model and price (in fact, the new generation of NX has launched a total of 10 models including fuel, hybrid and plug-in hybrid three powertrains this time), and the configuration of the new car is also very different, such as the NX400h+ plug-in hybrid model can only provide a standard sunroof, and the panoramic sunroof is exclusive to the NX260 and NX350h high-end models.
Regardless of the configuration, the interior of the car is the same as Lexus's as fine workmanship and high-quality materials as ever, as well as the warm driving atmosphere created by this. Several impressive features include smart electronically controlled doors as standard throughout the series – both inside and outside the car, which can be unlocked with the push of a switch (rather than the traditional mechanical handle).
"Touch tracer function" integrated with the full-color HUD equipped with high-end models - when the finger touches the multi-function button on the steering wheel, the HUD will project a schematic diagram of the corresponding steering wheel multi-function button in the front windshield, and the driver can know which button is on without looking down; the 64-color ambient light system and the Mark Levinson premium sound system, which is also only available for medium and high-end models , the former contains 14 preset themes and several low-saturation colors derived from nature. The latter has up to 17 speakers and excellent sound quality suitable for human voices.
At present, all models of new cars support the Carplay mobile phone interconnection function with wired connection, and according to Lexus' plan, this function will be fully upgraded to wireless connectivity through OTA upgrades in the future.
I spend most of my time driving a 400h+ model with a plug-in hybrid system. This plug-in hybrid system, which is mainly operated by a 2.5-liter gasoline engine, has been widely used in many Toyota products.
On the new generation NX, the complete plug-in hybrid system has a combined output power of 195 kW. The maximum power and maximum torque of the engine are 136kW and 228Nm, respectively, and the power and torque output of the electric motor are 134kW and 270Nm. The ternary lithium-ion battery with a volume of 18.12 kWh is installed under the passenger compartment floor (the hybrid 350h model with a smaller battery capacity is installed under the rear seat), which can be used for pure electric travel of 73 km at full power (the low-end 400h+ model is slightly more than 76km). If a gasoline engine is required to intervene in the feeder state, the comprehensive fuel consumption reference value of the NX400h+ model is 5.37L/100km (5.21L/100km for low-end 400h+ models).
Considering the power performance of competitors at similar price points, the 0-100km/h acceleration of this plug-in hybrid model 7.9s is really not outstanding.
But combining enough pure electric mileage for daily commutes, linear acceleration and braking with the participation of an electric motor is the most outstanding feature of Toyota's hybrid system, and Lexus adds an extremely quiet and comfortable driving experience to the new generation of NX400h+ models. The SUV also features a delicate chassis tuning — I mean the typical Lexusian sense of linearity and balance — and the chassis is just the right amount of toughness while smoothing out road bumps, maintaining a smooth body posture even when driving on multi-winding mountain roads.
The steering system feels pretty tight, and while the steering wheel is still choppy when driving through large potholes, you always know the front wheels are pointing, and the front of the car always gives a highly consistent feedback on your handling intent. In a flash of time, there is no doubt that driving confidence has been greatly improved. The beauty of Lexus is that it strikes the right balance between driving texture and excellent handling.
It's also an interesting topic about ride comfort. In addition to driving the 400h+ model, I also drove a 350h model with a hybrid system for a short distance. Leaving aside the small differences in power and handling, I found that the 350h model was significantly softer and more comfortable than the 400h+ model.
Similar differentiation is seen on the NX350h F SPORT. Lexus not only outfitted the most expensive model in the entire series ($548,800) with a full set of sporty exterior and interior kits, but also installed its own sports seats and a sport-tuned adaptive variable suspension system.
Lexus Intelligent Security System LSS+ 3.0 is available as standard on the new generation of NX. This is equivalent to a fully functional L2 level intelligent driver assistance system, with the advantage that functions such as lane keeping can be gently intervened in a nearly imperceptible way when they are in effect. The intelligent parking system with remote parking function provided by the high-end model is also worth a try - you can get off the car first after the system finds the parking space, and then stand next to the car and automatically park the vehicle through the mobile phone remote control and supervision, which is quite suitable for narrow parking spaces.
The new generation of NX400h+ is a good car with a distinct personality, beautiful, comfortable, smooth and fuel-efficient. Even if you open your eyes and open a circle, you can know that this is a Lexus, which is enough to reduce your attention to the back space. More importantly, on the new generation of NX400h+, the Lexus-style driving experience makes the electric age vehicles still full of temperature.
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