The upmarket Japanese marque’s latest model, the UX (‘U’ for Urban and ‘X’ for Crossover) will be sold in Australia from late November. However, the model range won’t be complete until the last week of January 2019.
Lexus UX joins Lexus LX, GX, RX and NX, but its name suggests it’s more suburban cruiser than bush-basher. Fair enough, that’s what many are looking for these days.
Styling is interesting in the increasingly popular high-riding coupe manner. But the shape isn’t only there to look good, the wheelarch mouldings use the airflow over their edges to reduce turbulence and lift to maximise stability. And aero-stabilising blade taillights guide the airflow around the rear to steady the UX in crosswinds.
Lexus UX is the marque’s first vehicle built on its new Global Architecture – Compact (GA C) platform with its lightweight yet rigid structure, low centre of gravity and refined suspension.
Lexus UX Luxury: Sits on 17-inch alloy wheels, has stylish roof rails, all its lights are energy saving LED and the door mirrors are heated. Inside are eight-way power-adjustable, heated front seats and a leather-accented steering wheel and shift lever. A 10.3-inch colour infotainment screen give access to satellite navigation and an eight-speaker DAB audio.
Lexus UX Sports Luxury: Upgraded to 18-inch wheels, uses leather-accented seats that are ventilated as well as heated. Audio comes from a 13-speaker Mark Levinson system high-grade finishes.
Lexus UX F Sport: Features sports styled bumpers, grille and 18-inch wheels. Inside, the sports theme continues onto the seats, steering wheel, transmission lever and pedals. Adaptive variable suspension and five driving modes give the driver added control, as also do rear performance dampers.
Active sound control in the F Sport cuts noise levels to the sort of level Lexus has long been famed for.
The Lexus UX 200 is powered by a 126kW 2.0-litre, four-cylinder engine mated to a new-design Direct Shift CVT automatic driving the front wheels. The Lexus UX 250h uses revised version of the 2.0-litre petrol engine paired with a fourth-generation hybrid drive system.
Lexus Safety Sense+ is standard, including a pre-collision system with pedestrian detection, all-speed active cruise control, lane trace assist, traffic sign recognition, automatic high beam, blind-spot monitor and rear cross-traffic alert.
We haven’t yet had a drive in the new Lexus UX but will so and get back to you to comment the impressive range of feature.
MODEL RANGE
UX 200 Luxury 2WD: $44,450
UX 200 Sports Luxury 2WD: $53,000
UX 200 F Sport 2WD: $53,450
UX 250h Luxury 2WD: $47,950
UX 250h Sports Luxury 2WD: $56,500
UX 250h F Sport 2WD: $56,950
UX 250h Sports Luxury AWD: $61,000
UX 250h F Sport AWD: $61,450
Note: These prices do not include government or dealer delivery charges. Contact your local Lexus dealer for drive-away prices.
