![\"Lexus](\"http:\/\/www.gannett-cdn.com\/-mm-\/9ba9bdf7e3b9e449316252151ffd1423ad5d1d3d\/c=288-0-1780-1122&r=x513&c=680x510\/local\/-\/media\/2014\/12\/10\/DetroitNews\/DetroitNews\/635538073641981934-200t-fr3-4.jpg\")
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Lexus has the most radical styling out there.<\/p>\n
Read that again. Say it out loud. Sounds weird, yes? How did Lexus and radical styling find their way into the same sentence? It’s like vanilla ice cream that makes your tongue burn. Or chic styles at the Dollar Store. Or sexy Rick Snyder.<\/p>\n
But there sits the Lexus NX. And it is one edgy cat. Or space ship. Or bug zapper. Or whatever it looks like.<\/p>\n
Lexus designers’ ears have been burning since 2009 when Toyota CEO \u2014 and certified motor-head \u2014 Akio Toyoda took the helm demanding more excitement from his cars. “Traditionally, Toyota’s design decisions have been driven by consensus among a large group of stakeholders,” read a Toyota press release at last winter’s Detroit auto show. “Under Akio Toyoda’s stated directive to invigorate Toyota products with energy, passion and “Waku-Doki” (translation: a palpable heart-pounding sense of excitement), the approval process has been streamlined.”<\/p>\n
That is, Toyota’s boss thinks his products are boring. A yawn-fest. An auto-sized NyQuil pill. Has there ever been a more candid moment in image-obsessed, self-flattering Autodom?<\/p>\n
And so we get the NX.<\/p>\n
If early, 1990s Lexi resembled Mercedes, and the 2000s looked like \u2014 um, what did they look like again? \u2014 then the current Lexus lineup has come into its own. Bold. Slashing. Dissonant. A safe brand pushing the envelope. I like that.<\/p>\n
Though I’m not sure history will judge it kindly. Sure, the NX is aimed at younger buyers. But will a SciFi design resonate? The NX looks like a Narn Cruiser from a Babylon 5 episode. And like all SciFi designs, its sharp, technical lines lack warmth. Most car faces are anthropomorphic, reflecting something human with eye-like headlights and mouth-like grilles.<\/p>\n
Not Lexus. The NX gains its design inspiration from a spear with long, shaft-like lines ending in two arrowheads at the front end. The grille gets caught awkwardly between the two points. Viewed head on, the grille looks variously like an hour glass (the base 200t) or a giant bug zapper (the sporty F trim). Whatever, the arrowhead (or L for Lexus) theme echoes throughout the vehicle from lights to center console. The obsession reminds of other LOOK AT ME! designs like the 2002 Caddy CTS or the Taurus’s oval period.<\/p>\n
As with those iris-burning designs, the NX will surely mellow over time. But for now it demands attention like a gorgeous model wearing a spiked mohawk. Will punk work on a luxury fashion runway that includes elegant models like the Lincoln MKC and BMW X3?<\/p>\n
The NX-men are hardly the most radical mutants in the Toyota-wide design experiment. Across the pond in Europe, the tiny Toyota Aygo city car, for example, sports an X-graphic on its animal-esque nose that makes it look like Wolverine with war paint.<\/p>\n
You wanted Waku-Doki, Akio-san? You got it.<\/p>\n
The design edginess is a conscious attempt to broaden Lexus’ appeal beyond reliability, the trademark of Toyota products. At a coffee shop in Nashville where I drove the NX \u2014 would you like your Lexus with a denim interior, Mr. McGraw? \u2014 a store manager told me of giving up his BMW 3-series for a Toyota Prius hybrid. Why? Because the BMW was gorgeous but high maintenance. If Toyota\/Lexus can deliver looks with practicality, why choose a Bimmer in the first place?<\/p>\n
Also in contrast to German luxe-makers, Lexus has never resisted Americans’ interior demands. This Japanese manufacturer gets it: American live in their cars.<\/p>\n
Have a car full of coffee quaffers? NX has a car full of cup holders. Have a ladies golf foursome every Saturday? Four golf bags will stack behind the second-row seat. Smart phone need juice? The center compartment sports a wireless charging tray.<\/p>\n
And FYI, Lexus boasts the NX is a model of NVH and HMI (that’s Noise Vibration Harshness and Human Machine Interface for those not fluent in industry-speak).<\/p>\n
Well … the NVH is A-OK. The HMI? AWOL.<\/p>\n
The little ute has been fussed over for quiet and comfort. Its slippery, car-like styling (sure, the C-pillars have blind spots the size of a Ndamukong Suh, but that’s what the affordable, blind spot assist feature is for), and laser spot-welded chassis make for a library-quiet interior.<\/p>\n
Which means you can contemplate the dashboard’s curiously poor HMI in silence. Lexus prefers German-like infotainment systems over superior American designs. Where Yankee consoles (think Jeep) centralize a touchscreen with redundant analog controls underneath, the NX sticks a non-touch screen high on the dash and then insists that you operate it with a touchpad waaaaay down here in front of the shift lever. Coordinating hand and eye works when stationary, but changing radio channels with your finger on a touch pad while driving is a challenge right out of a TV game show.<\/p>\n
“Congratulations, Julie, you’ve managed to change from AM to FM and select a new station in less than a minute! You win a trip to Nashville!”<\/i><\/p>\n
Lexus’s decision to mimic German handling is more understandable. The front- or all-wheel drive NX’s handling is\u00a0wunderbar<\/i>. It’s a crossover that looks like a car and aims to handle like one as well. The NX’s electric steering gives the pilot an immediate sense of security despite the ute’s high center of gravity. It’s firm, nicely-weighted, connected to the road.<\/p>\n
Owners will likely test the handling limits of their NX only when in trouble, and when it comes they will find a Toyota RAV4-based chassis that is predictable in a corner and refreshingly free of plowing understeer.<\/p>\n
While it strains to push the envelope outside, the NX is a reminder that Lexus has always been cutting edge under the hood.<\/p>\n
Two fuel-sippers are on offer. A turbocharged 2.0-liter four for the $35,405 base 200t. A gas-electric hybrid powertrain in the NX 300h begins at $40,645. Even the swaggering F Sport ($37.5k) is on a diet. It gets the same, 235-horsepower turbo mill as the base model. What the F? After all, F models are designed to attract males to a female-heavy brand. In a bid for testosterone, Lexus offers a gimmicky active sound control option in the F Sport that allows you to turn up the exhaust volume inside. It’s a turn-off.<\/p>\n
Best to enjoy the NX for what it is: A lush, efficient Lexus wrapped in a rad SciFi costume, dude.<\/p>\n
Henry Payne is auto critic for The Detroit News. Find him at hpayne@detroitnews.com or Twitter @HenryEPayne.<\/p>\n
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Vehicle type: Front-engine, front or all-wheel-drive, five-passenger sport ute<\/p>\n
Price: $35,405 base 200t ($42,235 for 300h hybrid model)<\/p>\n
Power plant: 2.0-liter, turbocharged inline-4 (200t and F Sport); 2.5-liter dual overhead-cam inline-4 with nickel-metal-hydride battery-powered, AC electric motor assist (300h)<\/p>\n
Power: 235 horsepower, 258 pound-feet of torque (200t, F Sport); 194 hp combined hybrid power rating (300h)<\/p>\n
Transmission: Six-speed automatic (200t, F Sport); Continuously variable automatic (300h)<\/p>\n
Performance: 0-60 mph, 7.0 seconds (200t AWD \u2014 manufacturer)<\/p>\n
Weight: 3,940 pounds (base FWD); 4,050 (AWD)<\/p>\n
Fuel economy: EPA 21 mpg city\/28 mpg highway\/24 mpg combined (200t FWD); 35 mpg city\/31 mpg highway\/33 mpg combined (300h); 22 mpg city\/27 mpg highway\/24 mpg combined (F Sport AWD)<\/p>\n
Report card<\/p>\n
Highs: Polarizing stylin’; Planted handling<\/p>\n
Lows: Polarizing styling; Glitchy touch pad<\/p>\n
Overall:\u00a0\u2605\u2605\u2605<\/p>\n
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Toyota’s CEO thinks his products are bland. So here comes the radically restyled, nimble-handling, SciFi NX SUV. Lexus has the most radical styling out there. Read that again. Say it out loud. Sounds weird, yes? How did Lexus and radical styling find their way into the same sentence? It’s like vanilla ice cream that makes […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7,87],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15758"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15758"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15758\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15759,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15758\/revisions\/15759"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15758"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15758"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15758"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}