Despite some manufacturers shifting away from smaller fashions looking for larger income, Lexus is leaping into the upmarket compact SUV sector with its new LBX.
Designed for European prospects, the Lexus LBX sits on father or mother agency Toyota’s GA-B platform, which underpins the Yaris Cross. However, Lexus says the LBX has been re-engineered to ship the refinement and the driving expertise vital for one in every of its vehicles. There’s additionally a giant concentrate on design, high quality and personalisation, with a brand new Lexus Bespoke Build programme.
The LBX’s design reinterprets the agency’s ‘Spindle grille’, with a brand new mesh part. Above this can be a slender strip, which incorporates a trim piece linking the headlights. At the rear, the full-width LED gentle bar features a raised centre part throughout the boot lid to assist visually give the automobile a decrease centre of gravity, based on the brand’s design crew.
Underneath the pores and skin is a 1.5-litre three-cylinder petrol engine with a CVT computerized gearbox. They’re supported by a brand new bi-polar Nickel Metal Hydride battery, which chief engineer Kunihiko Endoh says is lighter and extra compact than a daily NiMH battery and permits quicker charging and discharging.
Speaking to Auto Express, Endoh-san stated that this implies the battery output might be larger to capitalise on a bigger e-motor than within the Yaris Cross. In the LBX that ought to translate into sharp acceleration from a standstill (it’s clear the automobile is designed for city use) and provides a larger connection to the powertrain, lowering the rubber-band really feel you may get with a CVT. “It’s about delivering linear acceleration,” he informed us. “The faster response of the e-motor means the ICE and electric are working in balance. It should run more than 50 per cent of the time in electric mode in city driving.”
The engine additionally incorporates a balancer shaft for larger refinement, whereas the powertrain develops a complete of 134bhp and 185Nm of torque to ship a 0-62mph time of 9.2 seconds within the front-wheel-drive automobile. Lexus may also provide an E-Four all-wheel-drive automobile with a motor on the rear axle.
Tweaks to the suspension have resulted in an agile, secure drive, Lexus says. The automobile makes use of MacPherson struts on the entrance and a torsion beam on the rear on two-wheel-drive vehicles, with a double wishbone again axle for all-wheel-drive fashions. To assist physique management and stability, Lexus has additionally fitted Vehicle Braking Posture Control, which robotically makes use of the brakes to cut back pitching. The automobile’s wheelbase is 20mm longer and its monitor is wider than the Yaris Cross’s, too.
Inside, the LBX boasts a 12.3-inch digital sprint and a nine-inch touchscreen, whereas a head-up show will probably be one in every of few choices. The concentrate on premium design is strengthened by loads of leather-based and super-soft plastics on the sprint high. However, we sat contained in the automobile on the launch and materials high quality was extra of a difficulty decrease down. On preliminary impressions, although, rivals such as Audi’s Q2 nonetheless don’t match as much as the LBX.
The tech is a identified amount, with the essential infotainment system much like that within the brand’s NX, which has been an enormous step ahead for Lexus lately.
However, the LBX’s packaging might be higher. The rear seats are cramped and small rear doorways imply getting out and in isn’t the best. At 332 litres within the front-wheel-drive automobile, boot house is honest, however this drops to 255 litres within the E-Four model as a consequence of its additional motor below the ground. Storage inside is okay, with one cup-holder in entrance of the intelligent gear selector that’s shared with the NX, and one behind, below an armrest that slides and tilts to additionally reveal one other storage space. However, there are not any seat pockets or cup-holders within the rear.
The LBX will are available in 4 ‘atmospheres’. In impact, these are trim packs that change the appear and feel of the automobile, however don’t differentiate a lot when it comes to equipment.
Elegant presents a leather-free inside and comes with 18-inch alloy wheels, whereas Relax focuses on “luxurious elements and premium style”. Emotion is the sportiest possibility within the line-up, that includes a bi-tone roof, whereas Cool balances Emotion’s city, sporty attraction with a bit of extra luxurious.
However, the exact particulars are nonetheless to be outlined for the UK market and though Lexus is utilizing the LBX to launch the agency’s Bespoke Build possibility – which permits prospects to personalise their vehicles by customisation of the seatbelts, stitching color and sample, and completely different colors and textures of supplies – it’s thought that the UK received’t provide the complete service. Buyers can even go for an upgraded Mark Levinson stereo, distant parking, Lexus’s digital key, a head-up show and air-purification tech.
One function that comes fitted as customary to all LBX fashions, nevertheless, is Lexus’s Safety System+. This contains adaptive cruise, lane help, collision warning with autonomous braking, blind-spot monitoring and cross-traffic alert, plus Lexus’s e-latch door launch and Safe Exit Assist tech that can cease occupants opening the door into the trail of an approaching automobile or bicycle owner.
However, all of this big-car tech means this small, premium SUV may command a critical price ticket (see Q&A, beneath) when it goes on sale later this 12 months, forward of deliveries ranging from March subsequent 12 months.
Q&A with Dimitris Tripospitis
Head of Lexus Europe
Lexus’s European boss outlines how vital the brand new small, luxurious SUV is for the model.
Q: What does the LBX imply for Lexus?
A: “It’s for the city and usage here. It’s relevant. It opens up Lexus to a new segment.”
Q: Is one of many objectives for this automobile to decrease the typical age of Lexus’s European patrons?
A: “There is no age category. We are targeting three categories: Lexus Loyals, Aware of Lexus, and New to Lexus. It’s more about conquesting non-Lexus drivers rather than saying we are going for younger, because the LBX is also for existing Lexus owners who want a smaller car for the city. It’s about utilisation, not age.”
Q: Are you seeking to mop up some gross sales that have been taken by the outdated CT? What does LBX imply for UX?
A: “Hopefully we will retake some of those sales. LBX is smaller than UX, even though the feeling of the interior space is a sector up. UX serves a different purpose.”
Q: There’s loads of big-car tech on the LBX – what does this imply for value? The sector is so aggressive.
A: “You’re telling me! It’s work in progress, but it’s not an entry car; it’s a full premium car that’s four metres long. It’s an expensive car to build, but it can’t have an expensive price. We’re working on a competitive price.”
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