[rangertrace]

My wife purchased a Lexus NX200 F-Sport about two weeks before I received my X4. So, now I've had the opportunity to drive them both quite a bit and thought I would share some general comparisons. Of course this is all just my opinion.

The ride. For me, it feels like you sit in and are surrounded by the Lexus while you sit on the X4. The Lexus is more luxurious and tech heavy, while the X4 is more sporty. Even with the F-Sport, the X4 is much more fun to drive.

Power. Even though the X4 is only rated at 10 more HP, it feels much more powerful and without a doubt is much quicker. With both cars in Sport mode, the X4 will dominate the Lexus. The one positive on the Lexus is that it does somehow sound more "throaty" in sport mode. If the published times are accurate, the X4 will go from 0 to 60 one second faster than the Lexus. I wish I had a place to test the X4 on the 0-60mph because it feels like it would come in under the 6.1 seconds.

Stereo. She went option heavy on her Lexus and got the premium stereo. My X4 just has the standard stereo with HIFI option speakers. With that said, at higher volume, the X4's stereo sounds just as good as the Lexus' premium sound system. At lower volume though, the Lexus sounds better to me. I'm not sure why the X4 requires more volume to bring out the base. It is equipped with subs under the front seats, while the Lexus has one large sub in the rear of the vehicle.

Interior. I prefer the clean look of the X4's interior even with the Sensatec. The Lexus has a really fancy red/black F-sport interior.

Just for grins, I took some comparison photos. I apologize up front for the cleanliness of the cars and the photo quality.

[Bimar]

Thanks for sharing, I would say the X4 is definitely the better car and will age better but not fair to compare interior and tech of a full loaded Lexus and lightly optioned X4. But still can't get over the front of the Lexus.

[rangertrace]

You're being nice. I don't like the front of the Lexus, but it was "her" decision to make.....I think the F-Sport grill looks worse than the non-F-Sport version too.

[cold_fusion]

A good comparison Rangertrace. Thanks!
Quite agree with X4guy about the Lexus grille. A little bit to big and aggressive!
The whole car by the way looks more agressive. Except for the big wheel wells.

In my opinion the X4 will win due to a more well balanced design and better engines all through the program.
I actually choose between NX200 and X4 . . .

[predator]

X4 all the way for me except…the red seats , love them a lot , when i chose my interior i took mokka because there was nothing that really had the x factor for me (X6 has far more options in store)

[Bimar]

Originally Posted by predator

X4 all the way for me except…the red seats , love them a lot , when i chose my interior i took mokka because there was nothing that really had the x factor for me (X6 has far more options in store)

Lexus Seats are nice that is where I would say is the X4/3 weakest department vs the competition, the new X6 interior is wow, still salivating if only the X6 wasn't so big!

[predator]

Seen the new X6 and experienced the inside , the new model is less big and muscular but at this moment to pricey for my wallet . But they could have done some more effort on the X4 because no cheap price neither .

[Jypsie]

Yep, Lexus front is not really my taste (would not even call it aggressive.... it just does not work).

I agree the X4 lacks choices in seat/interior colours and combinations, but the red/grey? in the Lexus is not going into the right direction neither..... Maybe it is better in reality...

[YMB-M3-J2]

nice review and comparison and i have to say the i agree that the X4 is a far better car in terms of quality. Looks are a matter of opinion and not a measurable factor...Lexus grill is horrible IMO...to big and overdone.

I feel like Lexus and some of the other Japanese luxury brands hype up their interior and tech options to make their cars look more "cool" but in doing that they cheap out on things in term of suspension, sound dampening and overall ride quality. BMW puts more money into things you cant actually see hence the sometimes lack of options and buttons. I prefer the "simpler" interior without all of the crap on my dashboard.
In regards to the X4 interior being a little "boring" i agree they could have done a leather dashboard as an option to dress it up a little more but overall I love our X4.

[woodchuck1]

The Lexus is just a rebadged Toyota RAV4. Not that there's anything wrong with that, but it's not at all in the same class as the X4 from an engineering standpoint.

[YMB-M3-J2]

Well said!!

[VMRWheels]

Nice comparison, thanks for sharing!

[kaywhy101]

Originally Posted by rangertrace

You're being nice. I don't like the front of the Lexus, but it was "her" decision to make.....I think the F-Sport grill looks worse than the non-F-Sport version too.

now that it's been almost 10 months since the purchase, how are both cars holding up? i am on the fence btwn the BMW x4 M Sport and lexus NX F Sport. both cars look sexy for sure tho

[exilio]

I'm curious too...not interested in the Lexus at all but would love some insight.

[djrobx]

Heh, I love that front grille of the NX!

I'm not a fan of the "pop-up" iPad-On-Dash look that you see on this NX and more recent BMWs. I'm kind of happy that my X4 hadn't yet been subject to an interior redesign. I understand that they're trying to get the screen higher up so its easier to look at while you're driving, but to me it looks like a tacky add-on instead of something that's supposed to be there.

Since you brought up the subject of audio, Lexus doesn't offer Mark Levinson audio on the NX in the US. Very disappointing, as the Levinson audio I heard in other models is much better than BMW's Harmon Kardon.