Lexus LBX 2024 review | Goodwood Test

While it has a history of fielding models to face off against the big three German executive brands, Lexus, in its 35 years has never shifted the volumes. It’s always been the niche, often thinking-person’s choice. Over the last couple of years however, the marque has pivoted, still with a focus on premium, luxury, and sometimes sporting pretence but with more focus on building the cars it thinks will draw more customers to the brand. It was an endeavour that began as you’d expect, with an SUV – the NX in 2014, that’s continued with the UX and the RZ in more recent years. Now, we have the LBX, the ‘baby’ Lexus, that’s set to double Lexus sales in the UK. Underneath, it shares more than a little bit with – whisper it – a Toyota Yaris Cross. So, maintaining the Lexus-ness is surely the crucial job here.

It’s probably the proportions of this curious little car that give away the nature of its underpinning the most, in spite of the 20mm longer wheelbase and 60mm wider track. It’s a right little cube of a thing with a foursquare stance. 

The actual styling though, is pretty good. It looks a little generic, as all these crossovers do, but there’s definite bang-up-to-date Lexus design DNA in there (more than can be said for the UX) without it being over-styled. There’s a measured and premium look to it. The contrast black roof and stylish 18-inch alloys add to that too, as well as the slightly unimaginatively-named ‘Dark Blue Metallic’ paint, with its echoes of IS F, LFA and RC F.

I got into this car wielding a healthy amount of scepticism. How could a Yaris be made luxurious, refined, and composed in a way you expect a Lexus to be? The answer is with plenty of iterative development and a sound deadening budget that could surely shame some Marvel movie productions. Because the first thing you notice once you get underway is just how nicely refined it is, with impressively low wind and road noise. It builds to an extent when you’re at high cruising speeds, which frankly, are outside of this car’s optimum operating window.

Because realistically, it is still an urban runaround, or an inter-village cruiser. The kids have flown the nest so Mum and Dad don’t need the RX anymore. The LBX is the sub-in. Just as it is a new way into the brand for young urban families. It’s these less leggy situations where the LBX works best, rather than the long slog down the A1 and round the M25 I subjected it to. The job for which you would ordinarily buy an IS, GS, or LS made the LBX feel a bit like a tiny slightly unstable fish in a big four-laned 70mph pond.

In fact, I almost physically felt it re-enter its comfort zone, as I hopped off the motorway and onto leafy Surrey A and B roads on the way down to this year’s Festival of Speed presented by Mastercard. Because yes, it does actually handle itself quite well. There’s dignity and composure to it in spite of its slightly elevated ride height, even when you start hustling. It’s almost fun, with a balanced chassis feel to match its body control. And Lexus has managed this without sacrificing ride comfort. It’s compact, easy to place, and intuitive to steer. 

The powertrain doesn’t have quite the same feeling of composure, unfortunately, at least when you start asking a little too much of it. Trundling around town and bimbling along at 40-50mph, it’s a honey, with the self-charging hybrid system and E-CVT working a treat and the 1.5-litre three-pot thrummer barely making itself known. Pull up into a 60, however, and the LBX’s three-cylinder mill is yanked into life by the variable ratio as it asks for more shove. It’s not that initial punt that’s the problem – the electrified element handles that thanks to the new high-output battery – it’s the last five, to ten, to 15mph you ask for that it struggles with. And the more urgently you ask for it, the more fevered its brow gets. And that’s in spite of this powertrain getting an extra 20PS (15kW) by comparison to its Yaris Cross equivalent.

The braking could use some work, too, with a strange step in both the pedal feel and more unnervingly, in the rate of stoppage, as the regeneration hands over to the disc and pad. I was more impressed by what the LBX managed, than put off by what it struggled with, though. This is a confusingly refined and cosseting car for its size and segment. It doesn’t feel like a small car trying to be a Lexus. Rather, it is a Lexus that happens to be a small car.

That’s partly down to sound-deadening and refinements under the skin of course. But it’s also in part down to the cabin, which is rightly glazed in premium cream faux-leather and (largely) devoid of scratchy Toyota plastic. The screens are also pleasantly integrated, rather than dominating the feel of the cabin. The steering wheel has a waxy leather feel and there’s plenty of familiar Lexus switchgear including the marque’s new gear shift knub. The door handles are curious point, too, being thin, blade-like metal-effect items that are nice enough, but that you have to dig for. You soon realise however that they’re Lexus E-Latch handles and can be pushed like a button to open the doors.

Is it the last word in perfect premium appointment? No. But it is in another world compared to not only the lower-end cars with which it shares a platform, but many cars that it’s sharing market space with. What the platform and this car’s positioning does limit however, is interior space, particularly for rear occupants. This is a car for young families, with little ones in the back, not for shuttling around multiple fully-grown humans.

The 9.8-inch touch screen is pleasantly positioned and despite its size and place, doesn’t dominate the cabin aesthetic. The bottom part is often used for the climate controls, with the menu sliding up when you need it. The car also ‘remembers’ recently-used functions for quick access. Handy given how often you’ll be switching off speed warnings and the like…

CarPlay and Android Auto are present and correct and truthfully, you’ll want to get plugged in as soon as possible. The Lexus UI is responsive and intuitive enough, but it really could do with re-skinning as it looks a bit dated.

As a Premium Plus example, our LBX came with the 12.3-inch driver’s display with configurable head-up display. This is controlled from the haptic-enabled steering wheel controls. On first acquaintance, you really do feel a bit lost trying to find your way through the menus, work out the haptics, and the double-press button controls but you get there eventually.

In terms of features, you would hope the premium price point would mean plenty of gear. That is to an extent, true. Inside you get heated seats, multiple USB charging points, and ambient lighting. Other convenient toys include adaptive cruise, full LED lights and so on, though there are a few odd omissions. Our LBX Premium Plus – all £35,000 of it – didn’t have fully powered seats, for instance. Get too familiar with the options list and you could end up spending big money on this little car.

Cynics be damned, the LBX makes a convincing case for glazing small, cheap platforms in the kind of luxuries and engineering normally the preserve of much bigger cars. It’s refined and pleasant to drive, with an attractive design and an appealing cabin. 

But certain immovables that come along with that underpinning do betray the luxurious illusion sometimes, namely that powertrain once you ruffle its feathers and of course, the less than expansive cabin. The result is that at this price point, while the LBX is appealing in many ways, you might find yourself asking whether you could get more for your money. Ostensibly, we are in support of the idea that ‘bigger’ doesn’t always mean ‘better’. Hopefully, potential LBX buyers find as much to be true. We find the LBX to be exactly as Lexus describes it: a worthy leg up onto the brand’s ladder.