Stop sneering ...
Just enjoy the SUV’s elevation.
I’ve been enjoying a preview drive of the new baby Lexus, the UX. There’s a more comprehensive media launch experience coming up, so we’ll tell you more about the car then but, basically, it’s a very-2019 premium model.
An urban SUV that will be a little brother to the NX and new gateway to the Lexus brand, with prices starting at $59,990. Being a Lexus, you get the choice of petrol or petrol-electric hybrid powertrains.
The UX is also an easy car to make fun of, because it’s hard to call it an SUV and keep a straight face. It has mildly raised ride height, but the proportions and roof height are very much that of a conventional hatchback. Only the very top ($76k) model is AWD; the other six variants are FWD only.
None have much hope of going anywhere off-road and very few owners would ever even think about doing that.
But still, it’s an ‘‘SUV’’.
Once you stop sneering, it all makes perfect sense. If you’re an SUV person and like the style and ‘‘command’’ driving position that’s expected of the genre, then this might not be the baby-SUV for you.
The UX driving position is higher than your average family car, but still very much like a car: reclined, with cockpit-like controls.
But if you still like the look and feel of a conventional hatchback, but appreciate the value in having that extra bit of ground clearance (it’s 160mm, for the record) and visibility, then something like the UX works really well.
You don’t feel like you’re driving an SUV at all.
Yet you can also drive directly over vehicle entrances or anglepark the nose against the kerb and never give a thought to scraping that precious paint. For a city vehicle, being higher but not-anSUV is a great idea. You get the benefit of a higher H-point for getting in and out, but don’t have to feel like you’re behind the wheel of a baby truck when you’re in the driver’s seat.
In fact, you can divide compactSUVs like the UX neatly into two groups: raised hatchbacks, or crossovers that aim to be much more like a smaller version of genuine off-road vehicles (higher bonnets and roof lines, upright driving position, the impression of size – whether that’s real or not).
Among the UX’s immediate rivals, the Mercedes-Benz GLA fits into that high-hatchback mould, while the Jaguar E-Pace and Volvo XC40 seem to be much more like traditional SUVs, just scaled down.
Audi and BMW take a bet each way: the hatchy Q2 and X2 respectively for the former group, or the Q3 and X1 for the latter.
There’s a similar dichotomy among mainstream compact SUVs.
The Hyundai Kona, Kia Niro, Mazda CX-3 and Toyota CH-R seem much more like high hatches than the likes of the Holden Trax, Honda HR-V or Seat Arona.
Perhaps the ultimate highhatch is the (also rather excellent) Subaru XV – because it’s literally an Impreza with extra ride height and plastic bits on the exterior.
Standard AWD gives it a bit more crossover-cred, although the lower-set Impreza has that too.