Lexus UX review - Practicality, comfort and boot space

The Lexus UX doesn’t present an entirely convincing case as a serious family car. There’s an overriding sense that the car was designed with front seat passengers in mind – it feels more like a raised hatchback you sit down into rather than a high-riding SUV that you have to climb up into. This will appeal to some, while others might prefer something with a little more versatility.

Size

At 4,495mm in length, 2,078mm wide with mirrors (but 1,840mm without them) and up to 1,540mm tall, the UX is slightly longer and taller than the BMW X2 but a touch narrower.

Compared to a Volvo XC40, the UX is narrower and shorter, but also longer. Volvo’s compact SUV measures in at 4,425mm long, 2,034mm wide including mirrors (1,910mm excluding them) and 1,658mm tall. The XC40 is also taller (1,658mm) which helps create a larger cabin and bigger boot. 

Leg room, head room & passenger space

Having said all of the above, the amount of space isn’t too bad, especially given the styling. The driver and front seat passenger get the best deal, with ample headroom and a pleasant feeling of being cocooned behind the wraparound dashboard.

In the back, headroom and legroom would be best described as adequate, with the low-set seats managing to offset the effects of the sloping roofline. Passengers might want to avoid the middle seat, mind, as it sits higher than the outer rear seats and space for feet and knees is compromised by the centre console.

It just never feels as spacious and airy as a more conventionally-styled SUV, with the narrow rear windows serving to create a claustrophobic feel.

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Boot

All-wheel-drive models have the smallest boot – rated at 401 litres with the rear seats up and 1,194 with them down. Front-wheel-drive hybrid models promise 438 litres with all seats up and 1,231 litres with the rearmost ones folded. 

Surprisingly, it's the fully electric UX 300e that has the largest boot with all seats in place – claimed to be able to swallow 486 litres of cargo. Lexus does not quote a boot size for 300e models with their rear seats folded, despite a 60:40 folding rear bench being included. 

In general, these figures lag behind cars such as the Ford Focus – which is rated at 443 litres with all seats in place and 1,320 litres with the rears folded. Also, the steeply raked rear window will limit the carrying potential of the UX. The BMW X2 is also more practical, offering 470 litres of boot capacity. 

Towing

Hybrid Lexus UX models have a braked and unbraked towing capacity of 750kg, which is only slightly more than a Ford Fiesta and less than some versions of the Vauxhall Corsa. Fine for transporting garden rubbish to the tip, but this isn’t an SUV for towing a caravan or boat. As for 300e variants, they are not rated to tow anything, which is a fairly common electric car trait.