Lexus UX 300h – crossover class

COMPACT urban crossover models don’t come much more classy than the Lexus UX line-up.

Upmarket, luxurious, dynamically superior and reliable, they are among the most desirable contenders in a fast-expanding area of the new car market – even if some of the higher spec variants are on the expensive side.

As one of the Japanese brand’s best-selling models in Europe and rivalled by its newer and trendier stablemate the LBX, the UX has remained both fresh and relevant courtesy of the efficient UX 300h hybrid.

Our tested model, the £51,445 Lexus UX 300h F-Sport Takumi variant, was from the upper echelons of a range that starts at £35,245 and features four trim grades and various options packs.

Boasting the company’s latest self-charging hybrid tech, the UX 300h combines a 2.0-litre petrol engine with an electric motor for a total system output of a healthy 196bhp.

As a full hybrid, as opposed to a ‘mild’ version, the car can also run on electric power alone, meaning it can be driven at low speed over short distances with zero emissions and fuel consumption.

The upshot is you can return close to an average 50 miles per gallon, not far off the official figure of 54.3mpg – our own return over 365 miles of mixed suburban, rural and motorway driving was 48.9mpg.

Comfortable and smooth rather than sporty – even though there is a Sport setting among the selectable drive modes – the UX is ideal for families, feeling nicely balanced, refined and quiet, while F-Sport models also give you adaptive suspension.

Move inside and the fit and finish is a step up from most of Lexus’ rivals and space up front is plentiful with loads of legroom though things are a little less so in the back where an adult centre rear passenger in particular can feel short on shoulder room.

Entry and exit is also on the tight side, along with the 320-litre boot which, to its credit, is split level and sufficient to cope with a few shopping bags.

There’s plenty of oddment space though, with four cup holders (two in front and another pair located in the rear armrest), door bins incorporating bottle holders in the front doors, glovebox, magazine flap, a deep lidded central box plus a smartphone charging tray.

As for infotainment the car’s digital instrument cluster can be customised and can save the preferred multimedia, audio, and navigation settings of up to three people.

And the 12.3-inch touchscreen is also easy to use while the voice recognition system responds to voice commands to make it easier to connect to phone calls, operate audio and climate controls and search the internet. Cloud-based sat nav is included on all UX models.

Standard kit is comprehensive too, while shelling out for Takuma spec adds more luxury like leather upholstery, a 13-speaker Mark Levinson sound system, a head-up display, 360-degree monitor, driver’s seat memory function, sliding glass sunroof and an F-Sport steering wheel with paddle shifts.

We have long been fans of hybrid motoring and the Toyota/Lexus system is proven to be reliable and extremely efficient.

It works well in the UX 300h, a model that looks attractive – especially in the Azure Blue bi-tone paint – is well designed and makes genuine sense for anyone concerned about green issues but not yet ready for that switch to full electric, or even plug-in tech.