Lexus NX300h

Headnote

MODEL TESTED NX300h Premier

* Price £42,995 * Power 194bhp * Torque 1551b ft (petrol engine only) * 0-60mph 9.7sec

* Fuel economy 31.6mpg * CO2 emissions 121g/km * 70-0mph na * Skidpan 0.89g

A mid-size SUV. No premium manufacturer's range is complete without one. Audi has die Q5, BMW has the X3, Range Rover has the Evoque and now Lexus has this, the NX.

It arrives here first in 300h form, featuring Lexus's petrol-electric hybrid powertrain. And as we'll discover, it is, for better or worse, unafraid to look, feel and drive differently from the accepted segment norm.

Chief among those differences is that it's the only car in the sector not offered with a diesel engine. There is this hybrid, offered with a choice of front-wheel drive or fourwheel drive, and (from early next year) a new 2.0-litre turbo petrol NX200t model with standard all-wheel drive.

Just like other Lexus models, none is afraid to ask a premium price, either. The NX300h in the Premier specification of our test car costs no less than £42,995, which would buy you not just the more expensive models in the BMW X3 range but even a lower-spec X5.

Is the new Lexus worth such a premium? We'll find out over these eight pages.

DESIGN AND ENGINEERING

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Lexus may be slightly slow to this market segment, but the demand for mid-size SUVs is showing little sign of letting up. To capitalise, then, the NX follows traditional lines for the most part. It has an aluminium and steel monocoque shell, with a transversely mounted engine. You'll find MacPherson struts at the front and double wishbones at the rear.

It's 4.6m long and 1.85m wide, -> although Lexus has disguised both dimensions with intelligent chamfering around the car's corners, making it appear more agile and lithe - smaller - than it truly is.

Nonetheless, for all the neat design touches, what really stands out - in the 300h, at least - is the novel nature of the powertrain. It's Lexus's Hybrid Drive system - at once fiendishly clever yet brilliantly simple (see 'Under the Skin', p65). It's available in two-wheel drive or, as tested here, four-wheel drive, but in either case the total power output at...