When you think of Lexus, everyone will think that it is luxurious and comfortable, but it is not the same as the BBA. It has always had its own unique small and beautiful temperament, and is a brand with a lonely and arrogant character. People who like it like it, and those who don't like it may be difficult to raise their interest. The NX, RX and ES that we want to talk about today, as the three key chess pieces of Lexus, have also contributed a lot of sales to the domestic market. Such an important model has finally been replaced after seven years. As the representative model of the new NX that opens the first year of Lexus China's electrification, what kind of changes have been changed after seven years of waiting? Will it usher in a new era? I believe that even if you are about to scratch the skin, this new NX is worth waiting for.
01
How serious is it to talk about driving a mine car?
Lexus from the Eastern Hemisphere, the way to talk about sports is not as direct as the European and American brands with speed and passion, but likes to use the "moisturizing and silent" introverted, with a little "feeling" blessing, offering their own driving philosophy "Lexus driving mark". How to understand it?
Put simply, the "comfortable" Lexus is starting to talk about driving and handling, rather than simply using the F SPORT logo. This sudden change in painting style may start from the concept of "using electrification technology as the cornerstone to fully explore the performance of automobiles". In fact, it is not difficult to understand that electrification allows Lexus to have stronger performance, and at the same time, on top of TNGA's good mechanical quality, to create a driving machine that is no longer greasy. It can be seen that lexus is both aggressive and conservative in the process of electrification, cautious and meticulous and taking into account performance.
Therefore, the power of NX can not be too weak, and even Lexus ruthlessly cut off the original entry of 2.0L, directly from 2.5L, high-end and then import today's test drive of plug-in hybrid 400h+ models, the maximum power covers the range of 151kW to 195kW, in the face of 2.0T Ashkenazi competitors can maintain confidence and confidence. However, it should be noted that the old series of power can add No. 92 gasoline, and now hybrid models and plug-in hybrid models need to use No. 95 gasoline.
At a glance, the power configuration of NX is quite complete, and none of the fuel, hybrids, and plugs and mixes are left behind. If you want to buy a four-wheel drive model, you can only choose 350h, and the new 400h+ only provides two-wheel drive. At the same time, due to the cancellation of the rear axle motor, the power performance of the 400h+ model has declined, and with the support of the ternary lithium battery with a capacity of 18.12kWh, the WLTC pure electric mileage is 73km or 76km, and the official acceleration time of 0-100km/h is 7.9 seconds. As for the high-performance gasoline engine, there are also 2.4T engine options overseas, and I hope to see it in The future, after all, the performance of the old NX 2.0T engine is also quite strong.
Having said all that, it's time to talk about the 400h+ specific driving experience. Don't think it's a gentle guy with a less rear axle motor than the 350h and dragging a heavier body. Yes, its 100-kilometer acceleration is indeed not as good as 350h, but the push back feeling is by no means weak, but in the electric drive part of the "bottom line" is more eye-catching, EV pure electric mode can actually "support" to 135km/h. Even if the acceleration ability is 100km/h later, the electric motor power reserve is also comfortable, and the key is quiet and quiet.
There is no doubt that this 2.5L plug-in hybrid system still has a strong affinity, the power response is relaxed, basically can be on call, no matter what speed range to step on the accelerator, you can get very direct feedback. The right foot is on the accelerator to step on a certain opening (slightly deeper than 350h), and the torque is released cheerfully, making people feel that the car is very "heeled". And NX 400h+ knows how to take into account both "fast" and "smooth", lightly step on the throttle, the motor and engine are always full of tacit understanding, and the intervention is basically ignored. Even in the feed state, it is still a conventional hybrid car, the fuel consumption and power are still excellent, making you forget the battery "load" on it.
It is worth saying that the NX 400h + brake foot feeling has made a lot of progress, with the PDA pre-judgment active driver assistance system, the release of the throttle is first slightly braked, and then the braking force is gradually enhanced, this first light and then heavy output mechanism, basically achieved linear matching, not as easy as the single pedal to make the passengers in the car motion sickness. It can even follow the distance in front of the car and the braking condition to judge the strength of kinetic energy recovery, such as the long downhill throttle braking force will not be very strong, helping to glide for a longer distance. Once encountering red, yellow and green lights, the brakes in front of the car slow down, and the NX 400h+ also increases the braking recovery intensity, and the experience is still smart.
As for the quietness of driving, Lexus has always been one of the best in its class, but the old NX can only be said to be soundproof. The hybrid system can still reduce the length of time the engine works from the root, coupled with a more solid sound insulation material (double-layer laminated glass), which further weakens the noise entering the car. However, under the big foot throttle, the engine noise is still more obvious to the car, including the steering wheel and the floor have slight vibrations, and in the control of noise, the front row experience is significantly better than the rear row.
In addition to power, the part related to the driving sense is inseparable from the chassis tuning. To this end, Toyota built the Shimoyama Technical Center in Aichi Prefecture in 2019 to develop next-generation models. With a drop of 75m and a length of 5.3km, this track is like the green hell of the East, with complex road conditions and weather, which poses an extremely high challenge to the performance of the vehicle. The new NX is the first Lexus model created here, and it is also the pioneer of the aforementioned LDS driving mark, so it is destined to have its own personality at the driving level.
In addition, the new NX also uses the TNGA-K architecture after the replacement, which is inherently lightweight and high rigidity, coupled with the independent suspension arrangement of the front McPherson and the rear multi-link, showing a solid and compact compared to the same platform and Willanda, with good toughness.
The suspension is particularly handy for some small bumps and vibrations on the road surface, which can be resolved more thoroughly, and the rebound speed is fast enough that there will be no excessive bounce. The larger battery adds a bit of heaviness to the chassis, which is impressive. But the 20-inch wheels and thinner tires deliver more fine vibrations into the car, which is especially noticeable and slightly disturbing when faced with dense road joints. In the case of individual large potholes, there is still a slight sense of jumping.
In addition, under the TNGA architecture, the direction finally has a sense of communication, through the steering wheel you can clearly understand the direction of the wheel, even if the Lexus NX 400h+ steering feel is more heavy, the number of turns than the NX 350h model is more, but the accuracy is remarkable, with the delicate and dynamic response of the front of the car, and strive to create a more stable handling texture.
02
It has the charm of the previous generation, but the details are re-polished
To understand the beauty of the Lexus brand, we must discover it from the details. In fact, when this new NX is in front of you, you may feel that it is just a small cosmetic surgery, and there is no innovation that is turned upside down. But in fact, almost every detail has been re-polished, because Lexus knows the scale of the change. The spindle grille is still sharp, but everything has become more refined, with a richer internal texture, and even three heat dissipation holes have been added to the lower part of the grille, and the lights on both sides are no longer in a split layout. The teeth and claws on the old NX have completely disappeared on the new NX, and it is a lot more pleasing to the eye at once.
The new NX has a length, width and height of 4660/1865/1670mm and a wheelbase of 2690mm. Compared with the old NX, the length and width have increased by 20mm, the height has increased by 25mm, and the wheelbase has increased by 30mm, which can be said to have grown up comprehensively, but it has not grown much "tall". Because even so, compared to the same level of BBA opponents, Lexus' new NX body is still "small".
However, it has a fairly harmonious sense of proportions, such as the new NX reduces the gap between the wheel arch and the tire, and increases the rear wheel track by 55mm, further expands the front and rear wheels, and uses a larger 18/20-inch wheel hub, which is much more atmospheric than the previous 17/18-inch wheels. Together, these detail adjustments shape the new NX's athletic posture.
As the first product in the first year of Lexus electrification, the new NX uses electronic door handles and is standard throughout the series. Gently press and hold to unlock without pulling open, but the interior is the same, just press and hold with your thumb to open the door. If you are new to this car, you may need to familiarize yourself with it, but it is really smooth after getting used to it. In fact, this is also a design of Lexus for safety reasons, in order to prevent misoperation.
The through-through taillights are finally on the new NX, but their design is also unique, consisting of a combination of left and right L-shaped taillights and strips in the central zone. Moreover, the Lexus factory logo below was replaced by the English logo of "LEXUS" for the first time, which is also in line with the current design trend, and such a change will also appear on the subsequent models of Lexus.
03
Actively embrace electrification and intelligence
The true core bone of measuring the essence of Lexus lies in the right grasp of the elegance and temperament of oriental luxury. So when you enter the interior, the elegant and rich interior atmosphere can deeply feel the unique oriental charm. Unlike in the past, a 14-inch touch screen occupies the most prominent position in the center control, and the number of physical buttons is greatly reduced. The rest of the operating buttons are intuitively displayed on the driver's side, all operations are more relaxed and insensitive, and various driving information can also be synchronized to the HUD, which is the "rein concept" that Lexus wants to express.
Lexus finally used the touch screen, and its built-in car machine was also updated synchronously, finally bidding farewell to the trackpad "mouse" era. This piece of screen resolution and clarity are extremely high, the operation logic is intuitive, and the voice control catches up with the mainstream, but the built-in functions are relatively simple, the response is not very followed, and even a little stuttered. I personally think the best use should be CarPlay, can make full use of the large-screen display area, and is the standard of the whole series, is simply conscience, with not used to the built-in car machine, you can use it to expand.
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In terms of safe driving assistance, the new Lexus NX series comes standard with the LSS+ 3.0 intelligent safety system. Its ACC+ lane keeping can keep the vehicle in the lane very well, and it can also turn on its own when encountering large curvature curves, which is still more practical. In addition, it is worth mentioning that the PDA pre-judgment active driver assistance system, when the front car decelerates, it will automatically decelerate, and control the strength of the brake according to the distance, a bit like the effect of ACC cruise braking, but it will not be completely braked. In the previous interview driving part, I have experienced it in detail, and I will not repeat it here.
In addition, the automatic parking of the new Lexus NX should also be emphasized, because its automatic parking can be selected to select the parking space that needs to be parked, and even without any hanging action, the follow-up process does not need you to operate and control, and the entire parking process can be handed over to the car machine. And support parking in and out, there are more distinctive remote parking, the actual experience is still more convenient and practical.
04
summary
In fact, Lexus is still very conservative about the future of "pure electricity", and the pace of development is also very slow, which also leads many people to think that Lexus will not engage in pure electricity. And this time from the new NX, Lexus's understanding of electrification is still unique. The original set of very strong perceptual strength, or with a certain mood to impress the user has changed, especially in today's young, sporty today, Lexus let the vehicle return to the essence of driving, and wrote "driving" in the motto. The new NX is just a new beginning, the addition of electrification, so that Lexus people and cars to communicate again sublimated, more look forward to the arrival of follow-up models.