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2019 Lexus UX 200 Luxury Review by David Colman +VIDEO


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2019 Lexus UX 200 Luxury

Graceful and composed performance meets affordable luxury

By David Colman
Special Correspondent to THE AUTO CHANNEL


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2019 Lexus UX 200 Luxury
Sometimes you discover luxury in unexpected places. Having the freedom to maneuver any vehicle in city traffic is an unexpected luxury these days. Recently, we needed to make an auto trip into San Francisco, a chore we normally avoid at all costs. We had a choice of test vehicles that day. One was an ultra-luxurious SUV from a famed European house of design. The other was the Lexus UX 200, a mini-crossover its maker created precisely for grappling with the urban driving environment. Lexus phrased the job description of the UX this way: “Crafted purposefully for the city. To nimbly handle corners with a best-in-class 17.1 ft. turning radius.” Guess which one went to market and which one stayed home? The UX is specifically designed for easing your way through the urban jungle. It’s so agile and easy to park that we both heaved a sigh of relief when we reached our destination in SF. The UX was the perfect choice for our urban foray.

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2019 Lexus UX 200 Luxury
But this all new for 2019 Lexus also proves that you don’t have to drive a Smart to look smart. Unlike the truncated and toy-like Smart, there’s nothing faintly ridiculous about the appearance of the UX. In fact, done up in a rather exotic shade of Nori Green Pearl, the UX slithered through traffic like a shiny pod of kelp. UX enjoys sprightly acceleration from its 2.0-liter, 4-cylinder engine connected to a CVT transmission that mimics 10 “gear” ratios. The M20A-FKS motor benefits from the magic wand of technology, with DOHC popping 16 valves which are in turn regulated by variable intake valve timing. Net effect is 169hp and 33MPG in overall combat. The pseudo-10-speed CVT allows you to chose Drive, or dial your own choice of rpm range in Manual Mode. Although no paddles are fitted the stick suffices to bump up and down changes. The only time the CVT becomes objectionable is when you floor the throttle on freeway merges. Then the rpm count immediately soars to a noisy crescendo as the CVT strives mightily to match engine rpm with your speed need.

For such a concise package, the UX is surprisingly comfortable. The front seats in particular match the best efforts from Lexus for comfort, support and range of features. After a long day on your city feet, you’ll breath a satisfying sigh of relief as you tumble into the cushions of the UX. Driver’s side offers 10-way power and double lumbar, while passenger gets 8-way power. Both fronts are heated and cooled. The steering wheel in the UX Luxury is exemplary. It’s soft to the touch, fat rimmed in just the right places, and so well designed it wouldn’t be out of place in a Porsche or a BMW. For an extra $150, it’s also heated.

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2019 Lexus UX 200 Luxury
The Luxury branding of the UX includes a slew of useful, comforting features such as a Moonroof with manual shade, blind spot monitor, power back door lift, auto dimming outside mirror, aluminum front door scuff plates, plus an easy access driver’s seat with memory. This latter device permits storage of your favorite seat, mirror and wheel position settings. A Navigation System with a 10.3-inch monitor is also standard fitment, as is Apple CarPlay compatibility. Two tiers of buttons stretch across the center of the dashboard, but since all of them are similarly sized, you have to look long and hard to differentiate which button does what. Unfortunately, none of them control the AC or heat. For that, you must enter the wonderful world of menu-driven manipulation. You’re familiar with cell phone zombies so immersed in their screens that they bump into others? Those miscreants are travelling a couple of feet a minute. Well imagine yourself trying to juggle the HVAC screen images in your UX while covering a mile a minute. Not a pretty picture.

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2019 Lexus UX 200 Luxury
While Lexus touts the UX as the consummate urban tool, this new transportation module also acquits itself with grace and composure in the freeway realm. Like its more expensive Lexus siblings, the UX is fitted with an Eco/Normal/Sport dial fitted to the right side of the instrument binnacle. In the Normal slot, steering effort is minimal, throttle response is lazy and ride quality is cushy. But dial up the Sport setting, and the calming blue digital instruments get all red in the face. The throttle responds with an alacrity that surprises you. And the steering feedback, which had offered no resistance to input, suddenly feels like you’re stirring a gallon of last year’s varnish. While the UX will never break into the top tier of joys to drive, it does manage respectable cornering force with its 18x7J alloys shod with run-flat Bridgestone EL 450 Turanza radials (225/50RF18).

In its first year on the market, the UX has already earned a coveted “Recommended” rating from Consumer Reports, thanks in large measure to the superlative quality control of the Lexus brand. But there’s substantially more to this new entry than solid reliability. The UX is blazing new trails in urban motoring. As Lexus puts it, “We no longer travel great distances in the name of exploration. Today our frontier is all around us.” Finally, there’s a small and nimble and affordable SUV ride that meshes luxury with practicality. About the only stumbling block to ownership is that rather clumsy new name. I mean, does anyone really want to admit that they drive an UX?




2019 LEXUS UX 200 LUXURY

    ENGINE: 2.0 liter inline 4, DOHC, 16 valves, VVT-i
    HORSEPOWER: 169hp
    TORQUE: 151lb.-ft.
    FUEL CONSUMPTION: 29MPG City/37MPG Highway
    PRICE AS TESTED: $39,615

HYPES: Nimble, Useful, Comfy

GRIPES: Cell Phone HVAC Interface

STAR RATING: 8.5 Stars out of 10