2024 Lexus UX 250h: Feels like fun, but the numbers would like a word

2024 Lexus UX 250h F Sport Handling: A nice little bit of Lexus?

Price: $45,955 as tested. Fancy paint added $595; parking assist, $565; power lift gate with kick sensor, $550; head steering wheel, $150; windshield deicer, $100.

Conventional wisdom: Motor Trend liked the “upscale, well-built cabin; thoughtful switchgear layout; quiet, comfortable ride” but not that it “lacks sportiness for the F Sport badge,” has “limited second-row leg- and knee room,” and is “pricier than most competitors.”

Marketer’s pitch: No cutesy slogan on the website. (Lexus hardly needs one.)

Reality: Quite nice, but there are better all-around hybrid choices.

What’s new: The small UX is the vehicle that brings up the bottom of the Lexus SUV lineup. It received some new features for the 2023 model year — going hybrid-only, adding an F Sport, and getting technology upgrades.

Competition: Toyota Venza, Toyota Prius, Kia Niro, Hyundai Kona, Honda CR-V

Up to speed: The small hybrid SUV features a 2.0-liter four-cylinder engine with a hybrid system, and together, they create 181 horsepower.

A Motor Trend test of a 2023 clocked the UX 250h time at a lethargic 8.2 seconds. I thought it seemed faster, and it’s not unusual that the overall experience doesn’t match 0-60 number.

I took the small thing all over, on a trip to D.C. and another to King of Prussia. Keeping up with traffic and climbing hills is no problem, as my usual approach onto 30 toward Coatesville showed.

I even performed a feat of derring-do — passing on a two-lane Maryland road where I could see a car approaching about half a mile away. The Lovely Mrs. Passenger Seat was not pleased, but the UX left me confident, and no shorts were sullied in the making of this episode. (“Wasn’t even close!” he said, flowers in hand at the apology dinner.)

Still, that 0-60 number is a full second slower than the likes of the Venza or RAV4 PHEV, and more than half a second shy of the Niro.

For 2025, all UXes will become UX 300hs, and get a 15-horsepower boost.

Shifty: A continuously variable transmission is not my favorite choice; some of the earliest models leave a golf cart feel and send the engine into high-rev mode.

Not the UX; I didn’t even think about the transmission for several days while driving it. It becomes more prominent when the car is cold, but quickly fades into the background.

On the road: I was surprised to learn that the test model was just front-wheel drive. It handled very nicely and never felt like there was a lot of oversteer on curves. Highway handling is a delight as well, as a couple hundred miles on I-95 made clear.

An all-wheel-drive version is just $1,400 more.

Driver’s Seat: The UX trimmed as it was is a great place to hang out, comfort-wise. The seat exudes all the comfort and suppleness as the best of Lexuses.

The problem lies in adjustments. The seat can be set nice and high, and I was delighted up here on my perch, until I realized the tilt steering wheel was not going to rise to the occasion. Back down I went, only slightly perturbed.

More annoying was the short distance the wheel telescopes. I felt like I was hunched over the wheel while driving it.

Worth noting that I developed a severe hip problem after the trip home from DC. I did at one point step hard off a curb, and that is likely the culprit, but keep that driving position in mind if you give this a try.

Friends and stuff: Sturgis College Roommate 1.0 and his son found the rear seat to be comfortable and plush, which I agreed with. But they also said it wasn’t tight, which surprised me, because legroom looked cramped.

But when I checked it out myself, I found that while legroom was snug, there was enough room to sit for 5′10′’ me behind my own seat. You’ll be stuck in place, but your knees and feet aren’t hitting anything. Headroom is not bad as well, and the middle passenger won’t suffer a tall floor hump.

Cargo space is 17.1 cubic feet, with no word about having the seat folded.

Play some tunes: The Roommate also was impressed by the stereo system, but I thought it was only an A-. It didn’t fix certain songs as well as some units could.

Operation was simple enough, with a lone volume knob and everything else going through the 12.3-inch touchscreen.

Keeping warm and cool: A row of toggles controls all the functions, and I’m impressed by it. The temperature knobs get their own display while fan speed changes flash onto the main screen.

Fuel economy: The vehicle averaged 37 mpg through my test and a few hundred miles prior; it also reported a previous high mpg of almost 40.

Where it’s built: Miyawaka, Japan

How it’s built: Consumer Reports gives the UX a 5 out of 5 for reliability.

In the end: It’s comfy and quite nice, but I’d be much happier in a Prius, as would any rear-seat passengers. Especially because it’s a comparative bargain. Or, if you’re looking for comfort, the Toyota Venza has that, with more space.

Perhaps 2025 will be the UX’s year. Finally.