2022 Lexus NX 350: All new but very much the same

2022 Genesis GV70 AWD 2.5T Advanced vs. 2022 Lexus NX 350 F Sport AWD: Small luxury SUVs.

This week: Lexus NX 350.

Price: $54,250 as tested (including about $6,000 worth of options, but no breakdown was supplied).

Conventional wisdom: Car and Driver liked the “wide range of available powertrains, new interior is more luxurious, generous standard driver assistance features,” but not that the “handling isn’t as thrilling as some rivals, most powerful PHEV powertrain carries a substantial cost, cabin could be quieter.”

Marketer’s pitch: No tagline from Lexus.

Reality: A redesign, but still quirky.

Catching up: When last we were driving, the Genesis GV70 midsize SUV was impressing Mr. Driver’s Seat, an unusual position for him on a Genesis.

This week we try the NX 350, which Lexus claims is redesigned inside and out. The vehicles visited during back-to-back weeks, so the comparison became even easier than usual.

Competition: In addition to the GV70, there’s the Mercedes GLC, Acura RDX, BMW X3, Audi Q5, among others.

Driver’s Seat: The NX has long held a place of contempt in Mr. Driver’s Seat’s black little heart. The disastrous — and since mostly phased-out — Lexus touchpad first appeared in an NX, which reduced him to an explosion of swear words and a puddle of tears in trying to control the infotainment system.

The NX has given up the touchpad for a simple touchscreen, but now the steering-wheel controls are too clever for their own good. Rather than arrow buttons that simply toggle through choices, touching the arrow buttons brings up a tiny onscreen menu that lets you choose between even more functions. If you spend a long time looking at it. I think the point of driving is to spend a long time looking at the road, not a one-inch-square dashboard icon in four parts.

“Well, then, why don’t you practice while the vehicle is parked?” you may ask. Fair question, but the cruise control buttons operate in the same manner. Setting cruise has its own button but other adjustments involve the icon scroll dance, and the vehicle must be moving 40-plus mph at that point. Smash.

Furthermore, Lexii often feature soft seat material, making the ride a cuddly and joyful experience, but not the NX. The Driver’s Seat is on the firm side, with bolsters jutting out from the sides that alternated between annoying and acceptable.

The tiny bit of trouble with the GV70′s double dials on the console now seem minor in retrospect. Advantage, Genesis.

Up to speed: The NX 350 F Sport is definitely quick, if sub-rocket territory. The 2.4-liter turbo creates 275 horsepower. It gets the mid-size SUV to 60 mph in 6.6 seconds, according to Car and Driver. Advantage, Genesis. (The smaller-engined NX 250 gets to 60 in 8.2 seconds, according to Lexus, and the NX 450h+ plug-in hybrid takes just 6.)

Shifty: The shifter follows the old Prius pattern — left and up for Reverse, left and down or Drive, pull straight back for shifting, and a button for Park. It requires enough concentration to make people pay attention.

Paddle shifters allow for 8-speed transmission operate in shift driving, and they work fine. Advantage, Lexus.

On the road: For a smallish SUV, the NX feels wide. The GV70 could breeze down narrow streets right from the start, but the NX took me some time to get comfortable.

Handling, though, was sporty, and I could really let the NX loose on country roads. Highway driving was comfortable and nice. Still, this area is a tie, as the GV70 offered a very un-Genesislike frolic through the twists and turns.

Normal, Sport, and Sport+ are all nice modes for driving. Eco mode could be a dog, and hitting it by mistake can compromise acceleration unexpectedly.

Friends and stuff: The rear seat provides good space all around. The seat itself feels un-Lexuslike, with the seatback at an odd angle and without adjustment angle-wise or front-to-back wise. The center seat has a high floor hump and deep console penetration.

The doors have nice buttons to open them instead of pulls, but can be confusing for the uninitiated.

Cargo space is 22.7 cubic feet behind the rear seat; 46.9 with the seat folded. Advantage, Genesis.

Play some tunes: With the touchpad safely cast aside, operating the 10-speaker Lexus premium sound system is far less tricky. The giant 14-inch touchscreen makes navigation fairly simple, but a complete lack of tuning dial doesn’t help. (The volume dial was lost on Mr. Driver’s Seat until the last day.)

The system produces high-quality sound, about an A-, but that’s not quite up to Lexus standards. This is not a winning system, but it still beats the Genesis tune master.

Keeping warm and cool: The temperature is controlled by too-clever twisty rings featuring the temperature readout inside them. It’s unclear that these twist for operation at the start, but they do.

Other functions require a visit to Mr. Touchscreen, which is not inherently bad, except then there are visits through multiple menus, which is. Considering Genesis’ two-stage seat heater controls, it’s a draw.

Fuel economy: The NX averaged 23 mpg in a mix of driving.

Where it’s built: Cambridge, Ontario

How it’s built: Consumer Reports predicts the NX reliability to be a 4 out of 5.

In the end: Of the two, I guess I’d pick the Genesis, though neither of these offerings thrilled me.

Looking through my notes, the Acura RDX seemed great in 2019. If nothing’s changed there, it might be a place to look. The X3 from BMW also impressed in 2020.