Those would be the BMW X1 / X2, Audi Q3 and Mercedes-Benz GLA / GLB, and the Lexus UX 250h doesn't offer the same driving experience focused primarily on driving pleasure as those models do. The problem is that on the road, it just doesn’t deliver the level of fun you know you'll get from the Germans in its segment. Visually, the UX 250h is a neat-looking little vehicle. The good news with this hatchback is that you can lower the rear seat partially or completely to load slightly larger items. As you can imagine, the second row is fairly cramped, as is the trunk behind it. The seats are comfortable and provide plenty of support when you push things a little. Thankfully, the designers thought better than to hide that function in one of the infotainment system's hidden menus.īeyond the usual controls like the gearshift lever, the climate controls and the display behind the steering wheel, there's the frankly infamous touchpad that serves as an access point via your fingers to the central screen - non-touch – the graphics quality of which has greatly improved in recent years. For example, you’ll recognize the two cylinders on either side of the information screen the one on the right allows the driver to select the desired drive mode, the one on the left turns traction control on or off. if, that is, you’re familiar with Toyota/Lexus products. Once you're in, though, you’re in a familiar world. The car feel is accentuated by the rather small door opening if you’re wearing a bulky winter coat, getting in to the UX is just not a graceful action. In fact, when you get in, you actually go down, in contrast with most crossovers that offer an easier straight horizontal entry direction, thanks to the seats sitting higher. Since the UX is a close cousin to the Corolla, it's only natural that you feel you're sitting in a compact car. Unsurprisingly, the build quality is on point, and that also applies to the materials chosen. The UX 250h we were provided with for our winter road test came with the optional F Sport package, which, in addition to a few exterior bits of bling, adds a tasteful two-tone blue and black colour scheme, F Sport seats in NuLuxe, a three-spoke F Sport steering wheel and some blue stitching here and there throughout the cabin. Certainly, instead of burying it, Lexus could decide to graft a purely electric variant onto the range. We'll see if that sad fate befalls the UX. In 2022, then, only the UX 250h remains in the lineup, but when you take a look at the pocket crossover's stuttering sales, you have to wonder if just maybe the more popular and newly refreshed Lexus NX will force its little brother into retirement once and for all. Although we can agree that with its 160-mm ground clearance, the UX is not exactly a direct rival to the Jeep Wrangler Rubicon.įor the new year, the model loses its basic UX 200 variant, cursed as it was by offering only two-wheel drive to customers. The wheelbase of the two models is identical, although the UX is taller, longer and wider. In any event, the smallest of the Japanese luxury brand's vehicles is based on the same skeleton as the Toyota Corolla Hatchback. The 2022 Lexus UX 250h is such a creature: a compact car dressed up as an SUV, and also a small SUV that comes close to replicating what you get from a compact car. with that almost obligatory more “rugged” vibe of course. Looked at from the opposite direction, it’s also amazing that as SUV segments multiply, including ones that comprise ever-smaller models, manufacturers are slowly returning to the compact-car universe. It's amazing what a sharp design, wider wheel arches and the designation as an SUV can do to a compact car.
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