2015 Lexus NX 300h Review

The F-117 Stealth Fighter meets Lexus’ latest hybrid.

Wayne Gerdes – CleanMPG – May 1 2015

2015 Lexus NX 300h earning a Top Safety Pick+ rating by the IIHS thanks in part to its excellent crash test result in the horrific small overlap.

$40,645 incl. the $925 D&H charge offers a 35/31 mpgUS city/highway rating. The AWD model we drove starts at $42,235 – also including the $925 D&H charge – while offering a lower 33/30 mpgUS city/highway rating.

After the 2015 Lexus NX 300h Preview in July of last year and a very short drive loop of the all-new 2015 NX 300h in prototype form at the MAMA Fall Rally last September, we finally received an opportunity to do an extensive drive of Lexus’ latest hybrid offering. After that 10 miles at the MAMA Fall Rally, it easily bested segment competitors in outright efficiency

After picking it up at Milwaukee's Mitchell Field, it was time to dive in.

First stop was a Shell on Layton and Howard to complete the prelims for the calibration drive. This fully loaded AWD hybrid CUV arrived with a base price of $42,235 incl. D&H as described above.

Lexus was one of the first to create CUV from its RX line, now in its 4th generation. To fill a hole in the compact CUV realm, they created the NX. A CUV that offers all of the amenities of its bigger brother but with a less thirsty 2.5L Camry Hybrid drivetrain - plus a more linear acceleration, different reduction gear and kick down feature - than the 3.5L in the RX. All variants are AWD but the rear is electric motor driven without the power transmission drag a std. AWD incurs. Meaning FWD efficiency until slip is felt and the rear wheels begin adding traction as needed.

2015 Lexus NX 300h Pricing Detail as Driven

Standard equipment included the 2.5L I4 and hybrid drivetrain, LED head lamps, DRLs, tail lamps and door handle puddle lamps.

An 8-speaker display audio system w/ HD, AM/FM/CD/XM incl. traffic and weather system is also standard.

Dual auto climate, a 10-way power driver and 8-way power passenger heated seats, 60/40 split fold down rear seats, proximity key, auto dimming rear view, security cargo cover and mats round out the base vehicle.

Where it gets interesting is the Qi wireless charging pad ($220) for up to 5.5" phones that works sometimes whereas the Avalon’s simply did not work at all. Expect a hit or miss and your phone to get to hot in some instances.

Lexus Home link in the rear view ($125), 60/40 power folding rear seats ($400), luxury pkg. ($4,665). This pkg. incl. 18" alloys, black wood interior trim, power liftgate, heated and ventilated memory front seats, leather interior, rain sensing wipers and a power moon roof. I would skip this as it is uber expensive and the moon roof is a bit small. The luxury package leather looks and feels great as does the upscale wood trim.

The Navi pkg. ($2,140) includes the latest Lexus Inform suite - the app is clunky and hard to configure, and a Lexus 10-speaker audio system that sounds pretty good.

Auto dimming, heated, memory and reverse tilt side mirrors with BSM, RCTA will set you back another ($660). Intuitive Park Assist ($500) and Pre-collision System with radar CC ($900) complete the major items. A $99 cargo mat and ($69) cargo net in its own little pouch - see pics - round out this week’s ride with a grand total of $52,013.

2015 Lexus NX 300h Exterior Design

It is the exterior design that sets the NX apart from just about every other CUV available today. Beginning up front is the pointy and faceted nose. Lexus' Black Widow Spindle grille is there as is an F-117 Stealth Fighter/Toyota Mirai FCV like look. Not sure how it will stand the test if time as I am still getting used to driving the spaceship myself.

Yes it is faceted and yes their is a lot of front overhang due to the nose.

Check mark shaped LED DRLs and LED low beams should provide superior night time illumination, especially when it is snowing, while making their own statement from a distance.

Minor feature lines in the hood work their way upward and outward disappearing into the A-pillar.

From the profile, an under hanging arch like character line begins in the front quarter, over the chrome handles and wraps into the rear above the lenses. It also forms haunches in the rear. Very different from Lexus previous design direction. Below a deeply accentuated will cutout along with small hybrid badging create a presence much different than that of its competitors. Aero tabbed corners front and back, tall wheel arch openings with hard protective cladding, and std. 17 or optional 18s complete the new look.

Out back the steeply raked rear window and long rear spoiler help the aero and are attractive. Arrow shaped wrap around rear tail lamps lenses look cool too. A thin chrome horizontal trim piece with the centered Lexus badge complete its back side.

NOt a bad looking rear end.

With a Cd of 0.34, it is not the most aerodynamically tuned CUV. Given the new front fascia, it is an exciting yet controversial design and I am not sure how it will be received by the general public just yet.

2015 Lexus NX 300h Interior Design

The pretty parts are inside.

Inside is where Lexus luxury resides. LED touch on/off map and general lighting is really great although the brand continues to provide vehicles with no damn sunglass holder!!!

A single stitched soft touch instrument hood and dash, wood with a pewter like inlay trim piece in the front passenger area and doors front and back, soft leather wrapped wheel with contrast single stitching, std. easy to read mimics on all the controls, pewter like surrounds of the tach/speedo, power button, vents, and central dash, and leather covered door and console arm rests. The console and door rests could use more padding.

The new third generation Remote Touch Interface (RTI) haptic touch control is a big step back from the second generation mouse systems currently equipped in other Lexus' on the market. I had a much harder time selecting a particular choice on the central display with the new setup.

The center stack brings the grille design inside with multiple layers of controls. Not confusing but the outward thrust of the stack leaves little room for hands to reach the manual audio control knobs.

The steering wheel diameter - not grip diameter - feels small. And like most Japanese offerings, the front seat lower cushions were designed by think small designers. The lower cushion only comes out to about 5/8 of my lower thigh with little thigh support. Taller drivers - 32+ inch inseam - will probably feel a little cramped. I wish the headrests were angle adjustable as they are not entirely comfortable tilted as far forward as they are.

The Lexus Enform infotainment continues to confound. Sounds ok but even with the Enform app setup and connected with the help of the concierge service, it still was only about 50 percent usable. Basic features like Bluetooth connectivity and music via the same was ok after selecting the BT source. NAVI via voice was also typical problematic. Requesting Navigation to the Cobo Center in Detroit, Michigan did not work despite 5-minutes of various combinations. One sentence into my smartphone and it figured it out. After a stop on the IN/MI border, 2 minutes of manual address entry got it working.

When you have one of the most popular smartphones on the planet, a Samsung Galaxy S5, and the advanced features do not work, there is a problem. Apple CarPlay or Android Auto is apparently not in Lexus’ future either?

16.8 cu. ft. seats up and a large 53.7 cu. ft. with the seats down can hold more than you think.

2015 Lexus NX 300h Drivetrain

THe NX 300h arrives with an atkinsonized 194 total system hp 2.5L and hybrid drivetrain right out of the Camry Hybrid. The NX 300h incorporates a unique new kick-down feature that is supposed to improve acceleration. It felt like any other Camry Hybrid, Avalon Hybrid and ES 300h Hybrid with more struggle to move the rather heavy 4,180 lbs. The larger, heavier 18” wheels did not help yet 9 seconds to 60 is plenty quick for most compact CUVs.

The AWD variant we drove uses Lexus E-Four AWD system with an electric motor to drive the rear axle just like the Highlander Hybrid we drove a few months back.

The front axle is propelled by gasoline, electric power, or a combination of both. The E-Four system varies torque distribution to the rear wheels and provides some rear-wheel torque at start-off to minimize chance of wheel-spin on slippery roads.

When the system detects loss of traction of the front wheels it reduces the electricity supply to the traction motor in the transaxle and increases supply to the rear-axle motor. The front MG2 traction motor and rear motor are both regenerative braking capable during any slowdown.

To help bring about a more linear acceleration, the hybrid engine speed is increased relative to the accelerator pedal angle. The NX 300h hybrid drivetrain adjusts to the target engine speed providing a more natural acceleration feel without excessive adjustment to the engine speed and gear ratio. In practice, the eCVT like action is still there and the 2.5L will ramp up on any incline when moving down the highway.

As mentioned above, Eco, Normal and Sport modes are available with the turn to Sport displays a tach in lieu of the power meter that was displayed in the all electronic cluster just ms earlier. Cool to see it swap before your very eyes.

The go go bits are good enough imho.

2015 Lexus NX 300h Chassis

Struts underpin the front end while a double wishbone handled undulations out back. All together it does not roll like most previous generation Lexus’ but is a long way from the ride and handling quality of the top of the line GS sports sedan.

On center feel is vague. It feels like the Toyota/Lexus team tuned steering with EPS tricks instead of geometry like Mazda or the Europeans do with their CUVs. Thinking of the CX-5 and Q5 in particular.

On the curb entry bump test, the NX 300h was well controlled, did not bottom, and handled the entry with little fanfare.

Braking continues to be non-linear although once beyond the regenerative and mixed mode braking, they come on strong.

2015 Lexus NX 300h Safety

Regarding passive and active safety features, the NX is loaded for bear. As the IIHS Small Overlap into vid shows, Lexus spent a lot more time in the design phase to do so well right out of the box. Remember it was just three years ago when Toyota/Lexus had some serious problems.

Front, side, side airbag and knee airbags are standard.

To keep from a collision in the first place the NX arrived with ABS, Brake Assist (BA), and Electronic Brake
Force Distribution (EBD), Traction Control (TRAC) and Vehicle Stability Control (VSC).

A rear back-up camera with dynamic grid lines, LED DRLs and TPMS are also all standard.

As described above, our NX 300h includes the optional Blind Spot Monitor (DSM) with Rear Cross Traffic Alert (RCTA) and Pre-Collision System (PCS) with radar cruise control.

The results? Excellent with an IIHS Top Safety Pick rating and 5-Stars on the NHTSA crash Test regimen. Only a 4-star rating in the frontal is the only small nick of the superb safety functionality and design.

2015 Lexus NX 300h IIHS Top Safety Pick+ Rating




NHTSA 5-Star Crash test Rating

2015 Lexus NX 300h Efficiency

Now time to top off and begin the efficiency data...

Initial top off at a Shell just outside of Milwaukee’s Mitchell Field.

From a top off near Milwaukee’s Mitchell Field, I finished off a short calibration drive with the 33/30 rated 15 Lexus NX 300h at a new Shell on Sheridan Road in Zion, IL.

Final calibration top off in Zion, IL.

The refuel aFCD display would not reset since last refuel a few hours before I picked it up with less than 3-miles on it before I picked it up. The central efficiency display works with a reset after refueling.

After 42.7 actual miles vs. Trip A/B of 41.9 miles, the NX 300h displayed 49.0 mpg. Actual (42.7 miles on 0.954 gallons) came in at 44.8 mpg. Typical big Toyota/Lexus over report and they should really stop doing this.

Over report is disconcerting but the overall result was pretty good actually.

With a 175 mile drive and refuel in Michigan I continued on to Detroit. I added approximately 180 miles of 18 mile commutes in the morning and evening from cold between a hotel in Warren across from the GM Tech Center and the Cobo Center in downtown Detroit each day plus the trip back to IL. The 15 Lexus NX 300h performed quite well over the period.

44.0 over 706.6 miles came in at 40.2 mpg with a large mix of both city and highway.

And the 2015 Lexus NX 300h Speed vs FE steady states in 45 degree F temps?

Temps during the data collection was from 45 to 47 degrees F. If temperature compensation to 70 degrees F were added, the above results would have increased by approximately 6 percent yielding an EPA highway crossover at ~ 69.5 mph. That is pretty good for a hybrid.

2015 Lexus NX 300h Final Thoughts

The NX 300h highlights include its fast warmup, great LED headlamps, touch LED map and interior lights, exterior puddle lamps, auto dimming side mirrors, soft center console armrest, city efficiency, power tailgate and a plethora of information displays.

Lowlights include the fuel consumption display over report, no Trip A/B FCDs, poor highway efficiency, to short lower driver seat cushion, angled forward headrests, poor touch integration system, no sunglass holder, the Qi inductive smartphone charger that created a lot of heat but not much charging within my S5, vague steering and non-linear braking feel.

Your take on the new frontal design will matter more than mine.

Up in the air? Still not sure I like the nose. Interesting faceted look with the modern black widow Lexus spindle grille but it may be a bit much for some.

2015 Lexus NX 300h Review