2018 Lexus Nx Offers Adequate Fuel Economy Unless You Opt For The Hybrid REVIEW

The 2018 Lexus NX offers adequate fuel economy unless you opt for the hybrid, but some larger luxury SUVs now do almost as well.

While the hybrid version of the 2018 Lexus NX compact luxury crossover provides good fuel economy for a small SUV—33 mpg city, 30 highway, 31 combined—it’ll represent only a small percentage of overall sales. It comes standard with all-wheel drive.

On our standard rating scale, we give this year’s NX a rating of 6 out of 10 for its gas mileage. (Read more about how we rate cars.) Buyers should also note that premium gasoline is recommended for all versions of the NX except the hybrid, which these days adds significant expense.

The base gasoline version, with its 238-horsepower 2.0-liter turbocharged inline-4 and 6-speed automatic transmission, comes in at a less impressive 22/28/25 mpg in front-wheel-drive form, losing 1 mpg in its combined rating if you add all-wheel drive. The AWD F-Sport version gets the lowest fuel economy of all, at 22/27/24 mpg. That’s not that much higher than the best entries among larger mid-size crossovers.