3 WORST And 8 BEST Things About the 2024 Lexus NX 350h

welcome to downshift my name is Matt and this thing's name is the Lexus NX 350h and it is Believe It or Not the Only normal hybrid that you can get in this segment so today what we're going to do is compare it to all its main Rivals hitting the best and the rest starting with the rest now the first thing is it's a little bit small the exterior Dimensions would suggest that it's more of a GLC and X3 fighter but you get into the interior and the cargo area and it's more X1 glb trunk space is actually less than an X1 and about the same as a glb and rear seat space is kind of the same story so it's kind of a tweener coupled with the fact that its price is also more closely comparable to an X1 and a GB than the X3 and the GLC and you'll kind of notice that as a trend throughout this video in terms of price and interior size and volumes and stuff like that it's more closely related to the subc compact SUVs but does kind of look and feel from the exterior more like a compact SUV and then number two it's just kind of the least sporty this isn't really a shock and personally I don't even truly feel this is a bad thing but the NX is probably the least sporty driving of the segment here the BMW the Mercedes the alpha and even the Acura all have more sporting Tendencies sure if you don't go for the 350h you can get the f- sport package with the Adaptive dampers but personally I like what this thing is it rides exactly how I want my Lexus Hybrid compact SUV to ride which we'll talk about more on the good side and then there's just a couple small things here and there that aren't really a big deal they're not deal breakers but just kind of mild annoyances that I noticed this week for one you have ambient lighting but it is very minimal in comparison to what You' get from something like a BMW or definitely a Mercedes and secondly is that the instrument cluster it's fully digital it's 7 in and it looks pretty good but it doesn't do nearly as much in terms of customizing ibility as something like the BMW or Mercedes again and then in terms of your steering wheel you have these touch sensitive pads on either side which are very cool and you can customize to different stuff and they function in a lot of different ways but if you just go to press the next track it sometimes doesn't register so you have to end up pressing it twice again small little annoyances probably not a big deal to you but just thought in the interest of being thorough I would mention them but let's talk about all the places that this NX is brilliant the first and possibly best thing is the efficiency the NX here in 350h form is the only traditional hybrid in the segment everything else is either a mild hybrid from Germany or a plug-in hybrid or an Acura RDX which has no hybrid in at all which of course makes it sit as the most efficient option here it's rated about 39 MPG combined which is really efficient and pretty accurate to what I've been seeing but remember when I said this thing was like the least sporty well this is why and personally this is more lexus' strong suit so I'm glad they're playing to their strength and not trying to sportify something that doesn't really need to be sporty so this is the most efficient but it also I feel like has the nicest interior we were in the Alpha Romeo tonal last week and this is a whole tier and a half above the materials here are nicer feeling than even some $100,000 BMW and Mercedes-Benz and Audi Interiors the Leathers here are real and really Supple and then you get great luxury amenities like heated and cooled seats even with an autoclimate concierge type function you get a heated steering wheel you get heated rear seats I mean you're just not getting some of these things in any other places in this segment and then back behind the wheel I just wanted to round out the whole Driving Experience because it's really great and it's really self-aware which I've really come to love does 0 to 60 in about 7 seconds and you have like 240 horsepower I don't really care to be honest the cabin is just it's so isolated and refined the damping the damping is soft and cushy without feeling sloppy and the autopilot works really well you know it makes your life a lot easier and I've said it a couple times already and this is exactly what I'm looking for from something like this it's not pretending to be sporty or making the ride too stiff and ruining the Lexus this is very self-aware and it's excellent for that and the Tex stack here isn't packing any super crazy gimmicks but it's got everything you need and it's a huge screen which people love it's kind of a lot like Audi in that way where it's not packed with any unnecessary Frills but you've got a 7-in digital instrument cluster which doesn't really do a whole lot except change color with your drive mode but then you have the massive 14-in Center screen and everything is touched now thank God you've got Wireless Apple carplay Android auto you've got dual Bluetooth connections overthe aair updates so it's constantly up to date and you've got 360 cameras which are pretty good but you get still have that useless egg view it doesn't hurt anything other brands will do more to like punch you in the face with crazy gimmicks and flashy ambient light like Mercedes But ultimately here in this NX it's got everything that I want everything works and it's easy to use so it's a win in my eyes and then just briefly mentioning the autopilot or the driver assist stuff here uh I know I touched on it a minute ago but it's really really good it definitely navigates construction and all the transitions near my house you can do the single kind of lane change and a lane change for you that's new I think I don't remember that being in the plugin that we tested about 2 years ago it's also got park assist that'll do parallel or perpendicular or angled parking it's it's great it's got all the stuff that I really need the only thing that I guess it could have is just more autonomous level two kind of hands-off driving for longer periods of time but I love it it's been a joy on the highway but then in the rear seats this point really comes down to what you're comparing this thing against if you're comparing rear seat space to a GLC or an X3 you're going to have a bad time but if you compare it to something like the X1 and the glb we've been comparing it to all video it'll be a lot more competitive plus you get really nice stuff back here like really rich Leathers that I'm not seeing anywhere else in the segment plus you get heated seats back here and Chargers I mean you don't even get Chargers in the back of the new GLC the step maybe above so not bad back here I also have headro too and finally price and again this comes down to just how you compare it and what you're comparing it to it's several thousand dollar cheaper to start than an X3 or a GLC and it's more in line with again the glb and the X1 the hybrid here starts at $45,000 and as tested it's optioned all the way up to 58k but it's packed with some things and you could probably shave off a couple thousand and still get a really nice spec but again it's the only true hybrid it's the most efficient it's got the most luxury and interior materials are the best but it's also incredibly smooth so let's grabb the key and go for a drive okay we are in sport mode and you can tell because the gauge cluster is the same except it's red foot down ooh traction lighting up okay hey that's not really where this thing is at home we're going to flick it back into Eco because that's that's really where this thing wants to be that's where it's at its best I mean you got 240 horsepower 0 to 60 is like 7ish seconds it's not like it's not slow but it's not exciting it's not fast uh if you want exciting and fast go for the X1 or the X2 you can get an m35i uh I believe for either of those but what you have here and what I love this thing so much for is it's just a Lexus it's not pretending to be a BMW it's not pretending to be you know a Porsche Macan it's not pretending to be sporty or anything other than it is it's just very very smooth very Lux and I hate to keep throwing the alpha under the bus but this just cuz we had it last week and it is a competitor to this but these Leathers are so much nicer the materials the build like it's there's no creeks and rattles everything just feels like like1 $20,000 more expensive in this cabin than in the alpha and it I I got to be honest I spent some time in the X1 and even you know the GLA glb and the materials and the build in here are better they're better I think than the Acura as well although it's been a couple years since I've been in the RDX so as far as a luxury thing goes you just want a luxury SUV this is it this is I think the thing that you want the Leathers are the nicest you get the auto Auto heated and cooled seat the auto heated and heated steering like it's just it's just nice stuff that you're not really getting anywhere else and then when it comes to the actual Driving Experience again everything is super smooth the steering is light but has a little bit of weight to it so it doesn't feel like completely unhinged or unconnected from the road um if you don't have any music on you might notice the transition between Gas and Electric but if you have music on which you probably do 90 plus% of the time you're not really going to notice it it's just smooth the way that it makes power the braking is nice and organic feeling which is not something that you always get from a hybrid so everything here has been tuned to be very Lexus and I think it's it's excellent for that if you're wanting it to be a sporty car don't get it but if you're wanting it to be a super comfy Hightech you know luxury compact SUV this is brilliant and I think that's a good time for the final thoughts so that is the best in the rest of the Lexus NX 350 Hybrid and I have to say I really like this thing it's not perfect it's a little small but the rest of it is very self-aware and it's so much better for it it is a brilliant luxury hybrid efficient Cruiser thank you to Toyota and Lexus for letting us have a go and we'll see you in the next one

Channel: Downshift

Views: 55,198

Keywords: lexus nx, 2024 lexus nx, 2024 lexus, lexus nx 350h, 2023 lexus nx 350h, hybrid lexus, nx350h, nx350 hybrid, hybrid nx, nx hybrid

Id: zZRRdDF-8FY

Length: 9min 52sec (592 seconds)

Published: Thu Dec 14 2023