2025 Lexus UX300h review: A compact SUV that punches above its weight
It might seem like just another luxury crossover, but the Lexus UX300h is a little cooler than that. Underneath its sharp lines and mildly aggressive demeanor, the UX300h is an excellent commuter that can get a little rowdy if pushed.
Lexus's luxury crossover comes in several different flavors, depending on what you're looking for. The one I was fortunate enough to test out for a week was the AWD F Sport Handling variant, which most notably adds F Sport-tuned adaptive variable suspension to improve handling and ride quality. The exterior and cabin also gain a few F Sport aesthetic touches, such as body-colored cladding, a black roof, a slightly redesigned front fascia, better-bolstered front seats, and a plethora of F Sport badging.Design-wise, the UX300h looks decidedly "Lexus." It's not very different from the previous generation UX250h, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. The sharp angles, creases, and massive grille give it a sporty look that's very IS350-like.
I can't say that you would be able to tell it apart from another Lexus SUV unless you're a diehard fan of the brand or you see the badge at the rear, but Lexus managed to sculpt a car that's both attractive and inoffensive. Please take notes, BMW.
View the 21 images of this gallery on the original article
Under the hood is the same Atkinson-cycle 2.0-liter inline-four, putting out 196 horsepower through a continuously variable transmission. Depending on whether you get the FWD or AWD variant, that engine is mated to either two or three electric motors. That third motor drops 0.1 seconds off of the 0 to 60 mph, reaching that benchmark in 7.9 seconds. EPA-estimated ratings hover at 44 mpg city, 40 mpg highway, and 42 mpg combined. The FWD variant adds one mpg in each category.
That powertrain is by no means a powerhouse, but it ain't boring either. The Drive Modes switch located next to the instrument cluster can change between Eco, Normal, Sport, or Sport+ modes, with "Custom" acting as your own bespoke mode that you can alter in the infotainment system.From my experience, the modes simply alter the transmission's "shift times," so if more frequent redlines are your cup of tea, then Sport+ will be your happy place. I've also read other reviewers denote the engine's "drone" under hard acceleration, but to me, it sounded more like an angry, growling four-cylinder. It made the car seem faster than it really is, and I found no reason to complain about that.
The brakes also felt a tad touchy at first, actuating a little too close to the top of the pedal. Once I got used to them, they were fine, but my insides protested after the first few sudden stops.
The UX300h felt tight and agile through turns, and the steering wasn't too light or heavy either. Even in the rainy week when I had the car, I encountered no slipups or situations where I felt like it was getting away from me. Call it the Goldilocks of handling or attribute it to the F Sport Handling dynamics, but I'd gladly hit the canyons in this after a grocery trip.
The interior of the Lexus UX300h F Sport Handling is an equally nice place to be. The heated/cooled seats, along with the heated steering wheel, made long-distance trips a breeze, and the adaptive cruise control does its job as it should. All of the surfaces feel appropriate to the price point, with soft-touch vinyl, a few brushed finishes, and plastic in places you don't touch as often.
The infotainment system is smooth and easy to operate, with the intermittent freezing issues likely being the fault of wireless Android Auto. If you're more of an iPhone aficionado, wireless Apple CarPlay has you covered, too. Big props to Lexus for extracting the essential AC functions to pleasant-feeling piano keys right below the vents.
While the wireless charging is a welcome feature, I found it to be rather ineffective. Even with my case off, my phone started discharging while I was driving with Spotify and Google Maps on. Perhaps an increase in wattage would be a good addition.The digital cluster was nothing to write home about, with various modes available depending on the information you care about most. The Drive Mode switch added a round tachometer in Sport and a more F1-style horizontal one in Sport+, but they didn't evoke more than an "oh, cool" reaction.
I also couldn't help but notice all of the wasted space in the center console. Other than the Qi charging pad, the shifter, two cupholders, and the heated/cooled seats and steering wheel controls, it was all a vast sea of gray. A third cup holder—or, heck, even a fancy F Sport badge—would not have gone amiss.
I was also infinitely annoyed by the map light toggles. In most cars I've seen, they're activated by some kind of button, regardless of whether it's a separate one off to the side or whether the whole light fixture acts as a button. In the UX300h, they're touch-sensitive, which would not normally be an issue had they not been so close to the sunroof controls. More often than not, I'd find myself inadvertently turning on the map light when opening the sunroof.
The mafia should stay away from the UX300h, as the cargo area isn't the biggest you'll ever see. At 17.1 cu. ft. behind the second row, it can get a little tight, and the load floor is fairly high, too.
My shopping trip to WinCo managed to fill up the cargo area pretty well, with the removable cargo cover adding a little bit of room below the actual floor. There was still some space left, but I wouldn't count on this car being the grocery hauler for your entire extended family.That brings us to the base price. In its AWD F Sport Handling guise, the UX300h has a base price of $47,750. Tack on the extra options, like the $945 Ultrasonic Blue Mica 2.0 paint job, the $75 wireless charger, and the $900 color HUD, and you're sitting at $49,670. For comparison, the Genesis GV70 starts at $47,050 with an AWD 2.5T four-cylinder. It's no hybrid, and you don't get a heated steering wheel, but it's arguably a much fancier choice.
As my week with the Lexus UX300h F Sport Handling came to an end, I found myself reluctant to give it back. It's not a car that will blow your mind with its otherworldly feature set or performance, but it does everything well.
It's an attractive little SUV with enough oomph to get around and have some fun when commuting gets boring. It can stay planted around hard corners, and the F Sport Handling version gives it a few extra points in that department. The cabin keeps it classy with nice surfaces in the places that get touched the most often and enough techy amenities to make daily driving a comfy breeze.
Overall, I'd take the UX300h back any day of the week, although if you're looking for something a little bigger with a little more luxury, perhaps shop around before deciding if this is the one for you.
Love reading Autoblog? Sign up for our weekly newsletter to get exclusive articles, insider insights, and the latest updates delivered right to your inbox. Click here to sign up now!

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles

The Drive
6 hours ago
- The Drive
BMW Supposedly Built 2 of These Little Pickups 60 Years Ago. One Is for Sale
The latest car news, reviews, and features. The sight of any BMW pickup is unusual enough to capture an enthusiast's attention, but how about this Neue Klasse rendition decked out in an M livery? The story goes that it was one of a pair that BMW actually built itself, and one's up for auction right now over at Car & Classic. Specifically, this is a 1965 BMW 1800 TI—one of the sportier models, whose M10 four-cylinder engine benefited from Alpina's tender care. Thanks to dual Solex PHH carburetors and higher compression pistons, it produced 110 horsepower, 20 more than the standard sedan. As the seller puts it, one creative dealership decided that was the perfect foundation for a service vehicle, so it specially ordered two TIs from BMW in pickup form. The listing doesn't name this dealer or its location, though the car on sale today is a left-hand drive vehicle out of France. If you look closely at one of the interior shots, you'll notice a badge on the glovebox door belonging to a BMW garage in Clermont-Ferrand. Car & Classic As far as pickups go, this one is pretty odd, even for its day. It still has the sedan's rear doors, but they open to a midsection of the bed. And the entirety of that bed is covered, accessible through a conventional trunk lid that lifts to allow access to the back half. Looking deeper in, it appears there's a removable partition that separates those two parts of the cargo area. The result is either a single-cab truck or a coupe with a really long trunk, depending on how you look at it. The dealer would've been able to load everything up in there, and then fix additional cargo to the racks that sit atop the bed, finished appropriately in a signature shade of BMW blue. Removing the false floor in the trunk reveals a spare tire, and there's also a hitch on the back, supporting the vehicle's purported dealership duties. Car & Classic Was this 1800 TI really converted to a truck at the factory in Munich? Without a peek at supporting documentation, it's hard to say. It does seem to be as 'official' as such a project would've looked 60 years ago, and the passage of time has surely taken its toll with tears in the seat upholstery, tattered carpets, cracked and inconsistent rubber trim around the rear glass, and a bit of underbody corrosion. It's safe to say this ute's work days are behind it, but there's no denying it would be the perfect conversation starter at a BMW or vintage car dealer today. No estimated price or reserve is listed, and bidding is set to end on June 22. Car & Classic Got tips? Send 'em to tips@
Yahoo
9 hours ago
- Yahoo
Nvidia to build first industrial AI cloud in Germany
PARIS (Reuters) -Nvidia will build its first artificial intelligence cloud platform for industrial applications in Germany, CEO Jensen Huang said on Wednesday at the VivaTech conference in Paris. The technology, which will combine AI with robotics, will help carmakers such as BMW and Mercedes-Benz with processes from simulating product design to managing logistics. In a series of Europe-focused announcements, Huang outlined plans to expand technology centres in seven countries, open up Nvidia's compute marketplace for European companies, help AI model makers in several languages become more advanced, and aid in drug discovery by firms such as Novo Nordisk. "In just two years, we will increase the amount of AI computing capacity in Europe by a factor of 10," said Huang, in a nearly two-hour-long presentation in front of a packed audience. "Europe has now awakened to the importance of AI factories and the importance of the AI infrastructure," he said, laying out plans for 20 AI factories - large-scale infrastructure designed for developing, training, and deploying AI models - in Europe. While Europe has lagged the U.S. and China in developing AI technologies, the European Commission said in March it planned to invest $20 billion to construct four AI factories. Nvidia is also partnering with European AI champion Mistral to create AI computing that runs on 18,000 of the latest Nvidia chips for European businesses. "Sovereign AI is an imperative - no company, industry, or nation can outsource its intelligence", Huang said. Huang has been trotting the globe to highlight the importance of businesses adopting AI and the dangers of falling behind. On Monday, he said in London that Britain lacked the computing infrastructure to deliver the full potential of its AI research base. Beyond AI, Huang reiterated his view quantum computing technology is at an inflection point. Quantum calculations could crack problems that currently would demand years of processing from Nvidia's most advanced AI systems. Quantum computing will solve "some interesting problems" in the coming years, Huang added. The CEO made similar comments in March at Nvidia's annual software developer conference when he spoke about the potential of quantum computing, walking back comments he made in January when he said useful quantum computers were 20 years away. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data


The Verge
12 hours ago
- The Verge
BMW iX3 prototype drive: your next-gen EV is nearly here
There's a fight for control going on inside the cockpits of many modern cars. Enable all the active safety systems in a Tesla, and it'll do most of the steering for you. But if it makes an errant turn or meanders a little too far this way or that in the lane (and trust me, it will), you're left wrestling the wheel out of Autopilot's virtual hands. Assistance systems from other manufacturers do better at ceding control whenever you feel like taking over, but BMW is about to take that to a new level with the first car built on its upcoming Neue Klasse platform. It includes an advanced driver assist system that the company says is a proper symbiosis, where the car's sensors and systems don't fight with or yell at you but instead work with you to make driving safer and less stressful. I sampled this suite in a prototype of BMW's iX3, the first electric SUV on the Neue Klasse platform, designed from the ground up to offer more range, better handling, and way more smarts. BMW is promising 400 miles of range from a new battery architecture that can charge at up to 400 kW. That means adding something like 200 miles of range in 10 minutes, but there's a lot more to it than that. Better brains At the core of the iX3's safety system is a computing platform that BMW calls a 'superbrain.' That's an evocative term for a Qualcomm Snapdragon Ride chip, but it does offer far more power than anything the company has put on the road before. That's paired with a more advanced sensor suite, with better cameras and higher-fidelity radar sensors, all combined to give a better view of the world around. One of those key sensors is the driver monitoring suite, which can detect where you're looking and whether you're paying attention while behind the wheel. Plenty of cars offer some degree of monitoring like this, usually nagging you with beeping and blinking unpleasantries when your eyes linger on a roadside distraction for too long. The iX3 goes beyond that by using eye-tracking technology to not just complain, but actually improve your experience. If you're driving down the highway and BMW's highway assistant is active, it'll steer itself and even change lanes. In some current BMWs, you can just look in the mirror to initiate a lane change. The iX3 takes that a step further by proactively putting on the turn signal for you should you take the wheel and change lanes yourself. Yes, finally, a BMW designed to tackle the most common preconception about BMW drivers: they never signal before changing lanes. Try to change lanes manually without checking the blind spot, the lane-keep assistance system will resist the change and try to keep you where you are. But, if you've looked first, the car won't resist your control at all, as you've proved to it that you're doing your part. The car will detect your attention in other ways, too. I had a chance to drive next to a dummy pedestrian standing partially in my lane. Without any input from me, the car came smoothly to a stop. But, when I tried again, steering slightly to the left and showing that I was paying attention, the car allowed me to move out of the lane without resistance. Smooth driving, smoother stopping I also got a chance to sample the other brain inside the new iX3, which the company has unfortunately labeled 'Heart of Joy.' This in-house developed processor aggregates all the traction, stability, and electric motor management functions that are typically handled by a dozen different processors sourced from a dozen different suppliers and scattered throughout the car. Unifying all that has some significant implications. The car can more quickly and seamlessly manage power to the dual motors that give it 400 horsepower and all-wheel drive, so when I was sliding the camouflaged prototype around a wet test track, it felt like the stability and traction control systems were working to help me, rather than just trying desperately to slow me down. But when it was time to pause the action, something almost magical happened. On a test track, I was told to close my eyes and let the iX3 bring itself to a stop. That process of deceleration was so smooth that I genuinely couldn't tell when the wheels had stopped rolling. The new systems controlling those electric motors allow more precise application of the regenerative braking function. That not only means smoother one-pedal driving, but the kind of perfectly controlled stop that'll keep your passengers from getting jostled at every red light. An irresistible EV? Ultra-smooth stopping is a small thing, but it really does increase the comfort of driving around in the iX3. By the end of the day, I was blown away by everything BMW's new EV brings to the table. And that's on top of the big, dashboard-spanning Panoramic Vision display, which runs from one pillar to another to provide a customizable and interactive information display. The big question, though, is whether any of this will be enough to convince the largely EV-skeptical luxury car buyers out there that all this is good enough to finally make the switch away from internal combustion. The company's gas-powered X3 is consistently one of its top sellers, and while that isn't going away, BMW clearly has high hopes that the iX3 will bring that kind of sales success to its battery-powered efforts. But it's just the first of multiple models planned on this Neue Klasse platform, all with the same combination of tech and finesse. If they're successful, maybe the world can finally put that BMW blinker stigma to bed for good.