Item: Lexus UX
Rating: 3.5

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Lexus could hardly be happier right now. Its UK sales volume is at an all-time high and the Lexus LBX has received thousands of expressions of interest, with the majority of those customers ‘conquered’.

Slight issue: the Japanese premium brand already had a hybrid small SUV priced from around £30,000. Easy fix: it has updated the six-year-old UX to create more points of difference than just size (it’s 4495mm long, while the LBX is 4190mm), namely increased power, drivability and refinement.

A quick refresher on the UX: introduced back in 2018, this is Lexus's rival to the likes of the Audi Q3, BMW X1 and Volvo XC40, although it's surprisingly hatchbacky for what is meant as a crossover, with a very low-slung seating position within a fairly squat body. The payoff for that, of course, is that the UX doesn’t have the teetering centre of gravity of a more conventional small SUV, which means it has always handled with impressive poise and agility.

The 2024 update doesn't really concern the busily creased exterior design, rather the interior and the hybrid powertrain (there's no plug-in hybrid, while the fully electric UX 300e is reviewed separately here).

The coinciding name change from UX 250h to UX 300h signifies that it has advanced to Lexus's fifth-generation hybrid technology. More on that later.

Verdict

lexus ux300h review 2024 23 front tracking

Model tested:

Rating: 7

Lexus UX

Alternatively quiet and comfortable or quick and fun on the road but hampered by poor practicality

Good

Composed chassis allows you to have some fun

Updated infotainment system works really well

Bad

Boot is very small for a car this size

Rear passengers could have more space

DESIGN & STYLING

Pros

Not as tall and bulky as many rivals

Cons

Won't appeal to fans of aesthetic restraint

The UX has what Lexus calls a ‘brave' exterior design, but others might describe it as overwrought, there being sharp angles and creases wherever you look. At least it makes the UX stand out from the countless other small premium SUVs.

Lexus’s engineers worked especially hard to make the car’s structure as rigid as it could be, while the use of composites for the bootlid and aluminium for the door skins helps to keep the weight down.

There's an unusually wide variety of trim levels: six in total. They include two F Sport models, although anyone hoping for more aggressive styling from these will be disappointed. You'll want an M Sport BMW for that.

There's a variety of 17in and 18in alloy wheels available, along with 12 colour choices, some of which offer the option of a black roof for a bi-tone appearances. We're particular fans of the Sonic Copper finish.

INTERIOR

Pros

Touchscreen system works really well

Materials are generally of high quality

Cons

Rear passengers are short of head and leg room

Boot should be bigger for a car of this size

The UX originally had an infotainment screen controlled by a laptop-style trackpad beside the gearlever. This arrangement was unique to Lexus – and we're glad that it's now consigned to history, as it wasn't the easiest thing to use.

The touchscreen system is one of the better ones on the market today. Measuring 8.0in or 12in across, depending on trim level, it has more computing powers and additional connected functions than what went before – including, most crucially for many would-be buyers, wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto smartphone mirroring.

It’s pleasing to the eye and to the mind, having crisp graphics, a sensible menu structure, large icons and a shortcut that makes it unusually easy to deactivate the new BEEP! BEEP! STOP DOING 31MPH IN A 30 ZONE! active safety features.

And if you still struggle with that sort of thing, you can now say "Hey, Lexus" and ask the voice assistant to do things for you – and using conversational English, too, rather than the rigid computer commands of old.

There's also a 8.0in digital instrument display behind the steering wheel, the appearance of which changes according to your selected driving mode or indeed your own personal preferences.

Three upholstery options are offered: fabric, synthetic leather and leather. The latter two have finishes inspired by traditional Japanese craftsmanship, which is a nice touch.

Despite the new touchscreen, there's still a lot of physical buttons on the dashboard, including for the air conditioning, which will always get an enthusiastic thumbs up from us.

The materials generally make the grade, too, although there is a conspicuously unpleasant bit of plastic ahead of the gear selector.

There are no practicality problems for the driver or front passenger, whether in terms of head room or seat adjustment, but two adults would feel a bit squeezed in the back – certainly more so than in the X1 or XC40.

However, the UX’s real big flaw is its boot: it’s only slightly bigger than the LBX’s, at 438 litres, and inconveniently shaped, with prominent side humps – or even worse if you go for a dual-motor E-Four model.

You can expect to get only three suitcases in there, which might make receiving airport run requests a little, shall we say, awkward.

ENGINES & PERFORMANCE

Pros

Plenty of power for any situation

Cons

e-CVT, though much improved, may still annoy some

lexus ux300h review 2024 04 front panning

The upgrade to Lexus's fifth-generation hybrid technology means the same highly efficient 2.0-litre four-cylinder petrol engine as before is now teamed with a new inverter, a new transaxle and a new battery (of lithium ion instead of nickel-hydride), taking the total from 181bhp to 196bhp.

On more expensive E-Four versions, there’s also a 40bhp permanent magnet electric motor at the rear, instead of a 7bhp induction unit.

Not only have these changes magnified the UX's performance, they've also improved its fuel economy (by around 5mpg, depending on the version) and in turn reduced CO2 emissions (by around 10g/km, ditto).

Certainly the UX has more than enough power for town duties and gives you no bother at all on the motorway, and it seems to relish B-road blasts when put into its sportier driving modes.

We've criticised previously CVT and e-CVT hybrids for holding revs and screeching away, but this transmission doesn't suffer anything like as badly from those problems, to Lexus's credit.

In any case, the UX will keep totally quiet around town, because it spends a lot of time running on electricity alone.

We returned from a 63-mile test route that included all kinds of roads to find that the car had spent 57% of its time in EV mode, helping it to achieve an impressive 45.1mpg.

We haven't yet had the chance to try an E-Four model, but it's hard to imagine anyone really needing the extra electric motor at the rear.

RIDE & HANDLING

Pros

Genuinely agile through quick corners

Comfortable ride over broken surfaces

Cons

Steering is too light and reactive for our tastes

lexus ux300h review 2024 01 front cornering

As part of the 2024 update, the UX's rigidity was enhanced slightly by two new braces, while body movement was said to have been reduced through revised stability control and cornering stability likewise through adjusted rear power distribution.

And it lives up to its promises, riding very comfortably around town, relatively immune to Britain's endless pockmarked surfaces, and then willingly flying through corners on country roads, gripping strongly and keeping its body upright.

You can certainly have more cheeky fun than you might have assumed from the 'moneyed older people' image that the brand's crossovers and SUVs have in this country.

We found it was best with the powertrain in Normal and the steering in Sport for extra heft (it’s otherwise too light and reactive for full confidence).

F-Sport trim adds adaptive dampers, but we found that their enhancements are only slight in terms of both agility and comfort.

MPG & RUNNING COSTS

Pros

Very efficient in the real world

Lexus is famed for its cars' reliability

Cons

Electric UX 300e will be considerably cheaper if you can charge at home

MPG should be high: it scores 54mpg on the WLTP laboratory test and, as mentioned previously, achieved 45mpg even when we gave it a bit of a workout.

Lexus has a supreme reliability record, so you shouldn't have to make use of the three-year/60,000-mile warranty.

That warranty that can be extended to 10 years/100,000 miles if you always get your car serviced at a franchised Lexus dealer – which won't be cheap but will probably be worth it for the extra peace of mind.

VERDICT

lexus ux300h review 2024 26 front static

Verdict

Model tested:

Rating: 7

Lexus UX

Alternatively quiet and comfortable or quick and fun on the road but hampered by poor practicality

Good

Composed chassis allows you to have some fun

Updated infotainment system works really well

Bad

Boot is very small for a car this size

Rear passengers could have more space

The UX has always been an appealing car in the way that it can both cosset and entertain you, and even more so following the latest update.

It's the same story at the front of the cabin, where the touchscreen takes its usability up another notch.

However, the rear will prove disappointingly impractical for anyone who carries adult passengers, while the boot really should be larger for a car in this class.

Pricing is a bit of a problem too: the UX now starts at £35k and rises to £52k, and for £40-something, would most people not prefer a comparable German PHEV instead?

Probably – with us among them. If you're not one of them, though, we're sure you could get a lot of pleasure out of owning a UX.