A little bit of luxury: 4000 miles in the Lexus LBX

It seems odd in this day and age to launch a brand-new car - especially a smaller one - with no plans to launch plug-in hybrid or fully electric variants. Toyota and Lexus, having been trailblazers with hybrids, chose not to lead the way for electric cars, and given that Lexus expects the LBX to account for a third of its total UK sales, clearly this lack of choice isn't expected to be a barrier to success.

I like a compact car, especially because I live in London, but I was mildly concerned about the size of the LBX, knowing how bulky my son's car seat is and the impact that has on front passengers. I haven't tested it with any particularly tall passengers yet, and I strongly suspect that any such candidates wouldn't be comfortable on a long journey, but moderately sized adults have sat next to me and been comfortable.

Our photographer Jack has verified that there's a decent amount of head room in the back, though. The boot has also come as a pleasant surprise, at 402 litres - only three litres less than in the rival Audi Q2.

There is a loading lip, admittedly, but the boot seems well packaged to make the most of the space, and I can happily fill it up for a weekend, including my toddler's bike, without spilling over into the rear seats. Suitcases would be another matter, obviously. Now I just need to work out how to actually open the boot without a quizzical look and a second attempt...

The inside is very black in that safe way that so many cars are these days. It's practical, it's smart and it's (arguably) premium. The fact that it's uninspiring is a side note, and I've seen an alternative cream finish that looks swish. Nonetheless, this car does feel premium inside, with cosseting seats, a big touchscreen and nice turface finishes.

A few weeks in and I'm still getting the hang of reverse being a notch forward and drive being a notch back on the gearknob. It feels counterintuitive. I was wondering whether it was just me, but then a friend asked me to explain the exact same quirk on the BMW iX3. I had no answers but felt better at least.

As a Lexus model, the LBX uses the Toyota group's e-CVT, of which I've never been much of a fan. I'm intrigued by its execution in the LBX, though, because so far it's proving itself to be better than expected. There's still a noticeable moan when the engine is worked hard, but let's see how I adapt with more miles under my belt.

It has yet to be seen if the LBX will make a sales breakthrough for Lexus in the UK, so my goal for the coming months is to find out if it has the appeal to make that leap - and if it deserves that third letter in its title.

Update 2

Deep in the depths of a Suffolk forest, aka Center Parcs, I looked at all the vehicles parked around me, all too full of copious amounts of detritus being dropped off to cabins, and considered which I’d like most for this type of trip.

My three-hour journey from London in the LBX had been mostly without drama, although what irked me increasingly as it went on was the wind noise. I hadn’t noticed it particularly before, but on a long stint it really took its toll and didn’t seem befitting of the luxury car brief.

My colleagues who road tested this car back in May commented “noise refinement is fair”, noting that 68dBA at 70mph was good but not as good as they had hoped for such a car.

That seemed more generous than my assessment on this particular journey, but having done a good few more runs since, I’ve either adapted to it or that was an especially windy day. Blame the open countryside or something.

This was my inaugural trip to Center Parcs, so little did I know that after a long journey that involved keeping a toddler happy, I’d be greeted by a 45-minute queue to get in. The LBX’s seats are very comfortable, but between said toddler, a long journey and a propensity for impatience, I was desperate to get out of the car.

The dark interior and compact dimensions probably didn’t help, even though it doesn’t feel cramped in terms of physical space.

I didn’t need to fiddle with much on the way, but it remained (and remains) irritating and distracting that I needed to go through at least three screens to select the radio station.

That can happen quite a few times in a three-hour journey, especially when the latest family tradition is to take turns with song requests.

The LBX’s combination of a naturally aspirated 1.5-litre three-cylinder engine and a CVT is far from satisfying, as I’ve mentioned before, but the benefit is the fuel economy, which is very respectable on my typical short urban journeys but even more so on this type of trip.

It was averaging 62.5mpg (1.1mpg more than the official combined figure) with no effort on my part whatsoever.

Anyway, back to my quandary. There was a Ford Ranger (a fitting vehicle for an outdoor adventure life, I thought), a Volkswagen Tiguan (a trusty family car if ever there were one), a Land Rover Discovery Sport (the ultimate upper-middle-class Brit SUV) and me with my attractive little Lexus.

Why? Because it’s much easier to manoeuvre when the mad rush through the gates to get to your cabin arrives and much easier to park when you return to the car park to discover, for the millionth time in your life, that the majority of people can’t park sensibly.

Its compactness came in handy again a few weeks later when we took a brief sojourn to the Kent coast and were staying on an unpaved lane, down which many people fled when the sun came out. Parallel parking was easy and the relative narrowness of the LBX made me feel more comfortable about other cars bumbling past.

We’re a small family, but on both trips there was plenty of space with all the luggage. There’s even a small bike underneath all that stuff you can see in the boot (above).

Naturally, a car of this size is more targeted towards urban driving, but as I’m racking up the miles with some farther-flung exploits, the LBX is remaining a likeable proposition.

Update 3

In the early days of my LBX testing, I was frustrated by its advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) but not sure of how fair this reaction was.

Coincidentally, during this time I overheard a colleague berating the LBX’s systems. “Well, it’s not just me,” I thought and interjected to compare notes. He said the only brand worse in this regard was Kia.

I haven’t driven a Kia for a little while, but a previous Matt Prior column (29 May), which described an otherwise well-liked EV9 autonomously performing an emergency stop for no clear reason, makes that claim pretty credible.

I try to embrace ADAS and often coexist with the more common ones without comment. After all, they’re created not to irk us but to make us safer on the road. Of course, the argument is that they sometimes do quite the opposite.

The LBX uses what Lexus calls the Lexus Safety System Plus, which includes a Pre-Collision System with Intersection Turn Assist, Dynamic Radar Cruise Control, Lane Tracing Assist/Lane Keep Assist and Road Sign Assist.

There’s also Lexus’s E-Latch electric door-release system with Safe Exit Assist, a driver monitor, intelligent parking sensors with automatic emergency braking, Rear Cross Traffic Alert and a blindspot monitor.

I’ve heard from a couple of LBX owners recently on this matter.

Clive, who incidentally bought his LBX having been “taken in by the Autocar road test”, said of the various audible alerts: “There seems to be so many quiet bongs while you drive along. I just ignore them all and drive as I wish. I see their quietness as a positive.” Well, that’s one approach…

Ian said: “The beeps and bongs don’t annoy me, as they’re quite gentle, but they drive my partner nuts. I did have to turn the obstacle-anticipating system off, as it started to move the steering around, which was disconcerting.

The only time it has really surprised me was when I was negotiating a pothole with a pick-up parked ahead and it steered a full half-turn away, flinging the wheel out of my hands. But at least it steered back! Everything generally works well. It does, however, really hate a bollard in the middle of the road with a parked car on the left quite close to it.”

Thanks to Clive and Ian for getting in touch; it’s always great to hear readers’ experiences.

Now that I’m a few months in, I’ve mostly adjusted to the systems. There are two experiences that stand out, though.

First, when turning right out of a side road into a safe but fairly tight gap, I was a few metres into the main road when the brakes slammed on, presumably because the LBX had gauged there was a car coming towards its driver’s side. Slamming the brakes on to stop me moving out of the way of said car was incredibly dangerous.

Second, if I exceed the speed limit by just 1mph, high-pitched, highly irritating bongs start. I can turn off this system by going through multiple touchscreen menus, but this is a laborious process and it turns itself back on every time you get back into the car. Not that Lexus can be blamed: such irritations are now legal requirements...

Verdict

A few days before our long-term LBX was returned to Lexus HQ, I spotted another one on the motorway.

As far as I can recall, that was the only other example I’d seen during the entire time we’d had the Lexus Breakthrough Crossover.

It was the same colour as mine (and confusingly had a private number plate that read ‘PUG’). It was great to see an LBX in motion, one in which I wasn’t travelling, so I could ponder its design, its place on the road, its place in the melee of cars on sale today.

First of all, I think it’s a good-looking car. I feel the same about it now as when it first arrived, no more or less convinced. It has good proportions and is handsome. There’s maybe a bit too much going on, or it’s a little squashed around the C-pillar area, but what do I know? I’m no Ian Callum.

There are a lot of oversized cars around these days, and I understand that’s to meet demand. Now, I know I loved our recent Volvo V90 long-termer – estates are exempt, you see – but, broadly speaking, for anyone with a small family or living in a city, this size of car is just perfect.

I’m not someone who is desperate for the ride height of a pseudo-SUV but it makes getting my three-year-old into the car seat slightly easier and I have considered that, on faster roads, I feel (rightly or wrongly) a little less intimidated by not being in a small and low car.

It’s 4190mm long, so fractionally shorter than its 4208mm-long Audi Q2 rival. Our car didn’t have a 360deg parking camera, but it did have a rear camera and sensors and that’s more than enough for these dimensions.

I also found its width of 1825mm – little more than a Ford Fiesta – brilliant for car park spaces, particularly when opening the rear door to help my son exit the LBX from his car seat.

The interior was attractive, even if it was all a bit oppressive in overwhelming black leather. But it was well finished, functional and appropriately luxurious. Day to day, it was very easy to live with.

I always think black interiors don’t help to sell the available space but, as past reports have shown, it commendably housed plenty in the boot when required and did occasionally facilitate three adults and a bulky car seat, though front passengers didn’t fancy extensive journeys with that behind them.

Among its main foibles, some of which are listed in ‘Loathe it’ (right), were the ADAS-related bongs and, honestly, I don’t have the patience to go through multiple menus to turn things off every time I climb into a car.

I also struggled to ever find the right frequency for the windscreen wipers, which has happened sporadically in various cars over the years. Does anyone else have this issue? It seems absurd yet is genuinely irritating.

But on a daily basis, my biggest complaint was switching between Apple CarPlay and other, Lexus-led infotainment systems, the most common one I used being the radio. Too many touchscreen taps needed.

I found driving the Lexus a mixed bag. It was relaxing and undemanding at low speeds in electric mode around town, until I needed to set off at a roundabout quickly. At that point, the 1.5-litre three-cylinder hybrid powertrain—the only set-up available in the LBX—was found wanting.

It had to really exert itself towards 4000 rpm and the growl that followed wasn’t an enjoyable one, hardly helped by the e-CVT transmission. But by and large, this powertrain was smooth, calm, and economical, delivering an average of 59.9 mpg during our time with it.

It was certainly fast enough on motorways but felt like it had to work hard for it at times. The wind noise I’ve previously mentioned at higher speeds wasn’t noticeable during the car’s final weeks here, and LBX owners who have been in touch haven’t flagged it as an issue.