Lexus LBX vs Nissan Juke

What's the difference?

The Lexus LBX Luxury 2WD is the sort of car you get if you’re kids have flown nest or you’re wanting to get into a luxury brand for a relatively affordable price tag.

It earns its compact SUV size tenfold, so don’t expect to be ferrying your crew in this; a cat or small dog maybe but it’s not adult sized in the back seat. However, this grade sees some solid features, it looks great and it’s well suited for city dwelling.

The Juke is a fun little car. It looks cool, it packs most of the important features and safety equipment, but while it can be fun to drive, it’s also a little clunky around town.

It’s so frustrating, because there is a great car in there somewhere, and it would take only small tweaks and enhancements to bring it out.

Sitting smaller than any of its rivals at 4190mm long, 1825mm wide and 1560mm high, the LBX truly earns its compact tag and it shares some underpinnings with its cousin, the Toyota Yaris Cross. So, if you like that, you’ll love the LBX but Lexus has tuned the exterior to look more refined with softer edges and stylised LED lights.

The options for paintwork are all two-toned and that gives the LBX some cool-kid vibes. Add on the 18-inch alloy wheels and large Lexus badging at the rear and you won’t forget you’re getting into something nice.

As you’d expect, the cabin is far more refined than its Toyota cousin and there are a swathe of soft touchpoints and synthetic leather trims throughout the car that boost the luxury look. Doors close with a soft thump and all the joinery is flush and solid-looking.

The dashboard is accentuated by a 9.8-inch touchscreen multimedia system and 12.3-inch digital instrument cluster – both of which look great. There are some nice focal points too with the adjustable ambient lighting and contrasting red stitching upholstery.

Urban style is clearly what the Juke is about. It’s always been about this, but the original incarnation, while unusual, was a bit bulbous and awkward. The current version is a razor-sharp re-interpretation of the original.

Ugly duckling no more, the Juke blends the elements of Nissan’s current design language with its own unique take, in a clever way.

The roofline and bulbous face of the original car, complete with its ‘eye’ headlights are all maintained, but this time they look more contemporary with a splash of chrome and gunmetal plastic in the face, offset by gloss blacks running down the doorline.

The new light fittings look great and the curviness is also gently off-set with some sharp angles. The massive 19-inch wheels finished in a two-tone gloss black and aluminium brush keep this car looking like a concept come to life. Just don’t crash them into the curb. It would be very easy to.

The cool elements continue inside, with rotary air vents, a blend of textures, including a gloss grey for the vent claddings, with white stitching for the wheel, seat, and into the door cards, too.

There are touches of chrome about the place, and an ambient red LED light surrounding the shifter, which sits on its own little pedestal thing.

It’s quirky and punches above its weight when it comes to soft trims in the doors. Like most higher-grade Nissans the seats are pretty comfy, too, clad in a hard-wearing synthetic leather material.

But it won’t be for everyone, and it’s not without its downsides. The abundance of grey plastic down the centre console is a bit cheap, and the tech offering doesn’t match the youthful style.

The centre screen is adequate, but compared to many rivals it’s a bit small and dull, and the Juke is still missing a digital overhaul for its instrument cluster.

The black headlining, usually reserved for sportier cars, makes the cabin feel smaller than it is.

The size of the cabin well and truly establishes this as an urban dweller that's best suited to one or two occupants. While I have plenty of head and legroom for my 168cm height, I jostle for elbow room with my husband whenever we travel together.

Individual storage up front is what you would expect for the class with a shallow middle console, two cupholders, phone cradle and small storage bins in each door. The glovebox is filled by the manual (I'd toss it in the boot for more room) but one of the cupholders slides backwards and forwards for easier middle console access and you get a handy little shelf under the centre console.

The LBX takes a hit with the cabin's rear-seat practicality and its here that the word 'compact' takes on new meaning. I literally can’t sit behind my driving position without my knees pressing firmly into the back of the seat and I'm only 168cm (5ft6').

Amenities and storage in this row are bare by anyone's standards with a single map pocket and two USB-C ports on offer. That’s it. Not the best for a luxury entry, no matter if it is a base model.

For any families considering this car, my big harnessed booster seat barely fits through the small door aperture and once installed, it blocks part of the view out of the back window. To accommodate my seven-year-olds comfort (and legs), the front passenger seat has to shift forward a lot. It's 100 per cent doable to have a kid in the back but it's not what I'd call a family- or adult-friendly rear seat.

Technology is pretty well-rounded with a multimedia system that is easy to use and responsive to touch. The wireless connectivity for smart phones is great and the built-in satellite navigation proved itself simple to operate.

Charging options are great up front with three USB-C ports, a wireless charging pad and a 12-volt socket to choose from.

Head to the rear and the boot offers decent capacity at 402L. The deep well makes it easy to stack groceries or luggage and underneath the floor is a tyre puncture repair kit. A powered boot lit also comes standard on the base model.

The Juke is a small SUV in the true sense of the word, sitting below the Qashqai which is more like a mid-sizer these days in terms of dimensions.

However, it’s quite cleverly packaged on the inside and is more useful than it first appears.

The front seats, for example, offer heaps of headroom and a surprising amount of width, and while the seats are manual, they’re pretty adjustable. I was able to find a great seating position.

There are big pockets in the doors with an integrated bottle holder suitable for even the largest bottles, although the centre console area is a bit less versatile, choosing its funky design over additional storage.

It features two good bottle holders, but a tiny armrest box and a shallow tray with one 12V socket and a USB-A outlet, as well as an auxiliary audio input under the climate controls.

On the topic of climate controls, I love the fact the Juke maintains a dedicated ventilation panel complete with buttons and dials for all the core functions. No touchscreen nonsense here.

The media screen, as mentioned, is a tad small, and falls victim to glare easily.

The stock Nissan software is a massive upgrade on the brand’s previous-generation products, but while it’s functional it’s far from the prettiest or the fastest on the market.

The back seat offers more space than you might assume, but it’s not as well thought-out as the front of the cabin. At 182cm tall I fit behind my own driving position with just enough space for my knees and just enough headroom.

There are decent bottle holders in the doors, and a further two small ones in the drop-down armrest. The backs of the front seats are clad in that synthetic leather material, which is nice, and have soft pockets, too.

The back of the front centre console offers just a single USB-A outlet and a small cubby. There are no adjustable air vents for rear passengers. It also feels a little claustrophobic back there thanks to the black trim on everything and smaller windows.

Boot capacity for the Juke is impressive for an SUV in this class, with 422 litres on offer, which is close to the volume we’d expect from something a size-bracket up, and 1305L with the second row folded down. There is a space-saver spare under the boot floor.

The Juke range kicks off from just $28,390 which gets you into a base ST and reaches to $36,890 for the top-spec Ti.

We’re driving the $34,440 (before on-road costs) ST-L which is the upper mid-grade car.

It scores concept-style 19-inch alloy wheels, synthetic leather interior trim, an 8.0-inch multimedia touchscreen with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto connectivity, a 7.0-inch digital screen between the analog dials, a surround camera system, single-zone climate, keyless entry and push-start ignition, and LED headlights. 

The quite attractive ‘Magnetic Blue’ paint our car wears is a $700 option. For an additional $1133 you can also step up to the ST-L+ grade which adds alternate two-tone seat trim, chrome and black highlights and a 10-speaker Bose audio system.

While this ST-L grade gets the lion’s share of Juke equipment without the price-hike to the Ti (and is therefore the pick of the range) there are some notable items missing at this price.

For example, there’s no wireless phone charging, no head-up display, no fully digital instrument cluster, and no electrical adjustment for the seats. The 8.0-inch multimedia screen is starting to look a bit dated, too.

Still, it looks trendy and those massive wheels are well above the standard for a car at this size or price. So, if you’re going for style over equipment there is a choice to be made here.

Nissan also hasn’t cheaped out on safety equipment, with most active stuff coming standard, even on the base ST. More on this later.

Pricing is about line-ball with its most direct competitors. It’s a tad cheaper than some like the outgoing similarly-styled Toyota C-HR (Koba 2WD - $35,695), or slightly more expensive than others like the current equivalent Ford Puma (ST-Line - $33,190) or Mazda CX-3 (Touring SP - $34,300) although it is also ever so slightly larger than those last two by width, height, and wheelbase.

The Luxury 2WD is powered by a 1.5-litre three-cylinder hybrid-petrol setup with a continuously variable transmission (CVT), and it produces a combined power output of 100kW but Lexus hasn’t declared it’s torque figure. Based solely on the petrol engine, the torque figure is sitting at 185Nm.

To give you an idea of its power, the Luxury 2WD can do a 0-100km/h sprint in 9.2 seconds. So, it’s not a speedster but it's perfectly adequate for city journeys – just think of it as a little baby Lexus.

In the Juke’s messy engine bay lies a 1.0-litre, three-cylinder, turbo-petrol engine which sends 84kW/180Nm to the front wheels.

Nissan has its own 'HR10DET' engine code for this unit but it’s actually a Renault 'H5Dt' engine as evidenced by Renault logos all over the place.

Power is communicated by a seven-speed dual-clutch automatic which has been a source of strife for this car since it arrived. This very European engine and transmission combination is one which the Juke shares with its Renault Captur cousin.

I can’t believe I’m actually saying this, but I would prefer a continuously variable transmission (CVT) which Nissan uses elsewhere in its range. It would solve maybe the main issue with this car, which we’ll explore up next in the driving section of this review

The official combined fuel-cycle consumption figure is 3.8L/100km and my real-world usage is 5.2L/100km after doing a stack of open-roading and some city driving. My consumption sat closer to the 4.5L mark in the city but I think that’s excellent consumption.

Based on the official combined fuel cycle and the small 36L fuel tank, you should see a theoretical driving range of 947km but realistically expect between 550km and 600km.

One of the reasons this car comes equipped with a dual-clutch automatic is to chase fuel efficiency as well as emissions output. On paper DCT autos don’t suffer the inherent losses of a traditional torque converter transmission.

The official combined cycle fuel consumption figure is 5.8L/100km. My week of driving, weighted slightly more towards freeway conditions, produced a marginally higher average of 6.8L/100km. It’s not the claim, but it’s pretty good.

This little engine requires mid-shelf 95RON unleaded fuel, and the Juke has a 46-litre fuel tank, suggesting a driving range of 793km using the official fuel consumption number.

While the LBX isn't what you'd call a powerhouse on the open road, there is more than enough power to easily keep up with traffic and overtake when necessary. At times the engine can whine at you when you hit hills and sometimes it sounds like its stuck in the wrong gear for too long, which is attributed to that CVT.

It's in the urban environment where the hybrid powertrain shines and manages to make the performance feel almost spritely. Despite heavy torrential rain for most of my week with the LBX, it remained stable and solid on the road.

Steering is responsive and there are some go-kart vibes when you're in a small carpark. That's where those vibes end as the ride is rather refined, despite the occasional engine complaint, and suspension feels well-cushioned. The cabin is also ridiculously quiet for such a short wheelbase.

With my child seat installed, visibility out the back window is compromised but otherwise, the surrounding view is pretty good and you are confident being assertive in tight traffic.

The LBX's compact size really makes it a breeze to park. The clear 360-degree camera system is top-notch and the front and rear parking sensors are sensitive.

The Juke can be fun to drive, and I wanted to like it more, but the transmission its peppy little engine is paired with is frustrating.

Outputs of 84kW/180Nm doesn’t sound like a lot, but power isn’t the problem. The little engine has a fun turbo-surge which pairs with the Juke's light frame to make for a car which is quite athletic when you push it.

The issue is a mountain of turbo-lag conspires with the clunky dual-clutch automatic to make it far too sluggish off the line.

There’s a full second (or two, at times) to wait for any power to arrive, which simply isn’t good enough at T-junctions and roundabouts, the kind of situations a little urban SUV like this will constantly be encountering.

Nissan says the transmission software was even updated after the Juke’s launch, but it’s still not where it should be.

It has good traits, too. When you’re out on the open road, it has quick, snappy and well-defined shifts, and the engine is much better when it’s being properly pushed, too.

It has a gruff, entertaining tone, and the Juke’s light frame, firm ride, and comparatively heavy steering make it a joy to throw into some corners.

The long wheelbase for such a small SUV, paired with a decent set of tyres, also keeps it confident when its predecessor was a little clumsy.

Again, though, the reasonably hard ride, not helped by the very large wheels, isn't its best trait in an urban environment. The Juke is by no means uncomfortable, it just seems like the priorities for this little SUV aren’t in the right place.

I’ve said this before but there’s a great car in here somewhere. The Juke is fun to drive in the right environment, it’s just this environment is not where most prospective buyers will primarily be looking to use it.

What could fix this issue? A different transmission perhaps. Better yet, an e-Power hybrid powertrain.

The Juke's standard active safety features include freeway-speed auto emergency braking, lane departure warning with lane keep assist, blind-spot monitoring with rear cross-traffic alert, adaptive cruise control and traffic sign recognition.

Last time I reviewed this car I complained about the way it vibrates the steering wheel when the lane keep function decides you’re going out of your lane. But having since experienced so many more invasive lane keep systems, this one seems comparatively low-key.

Elsewhere, the Juke gets the standard array of six airbags (dual front, side, and curtain) and wears a maximum five-star ANCAP safety rating to the 2019 standards.

The Lexus LBX comes with a five-year/unlimited kilometre warranty and you get five years of capped-price servicing where services cost $595, which is great for the class.

You get three years of roadside assistance as a part of your servicing plan and servicing intervals are reasonable at every 12 months or 15,000km, whichever occurs first.

Nissan offers the Juke with a five-year, unlimited km warranty, with five-years of roadside assist included.

It requires servicing every 12 months or 20,000km and the cost is subject to a capped price servicing program for the first six years.

This averages $651.33 annually, which is not cheap for a small SUV in this class.

However, there is also the option of a pre-paid five-year service plan which brings the annual cost over five years down to a more reasonable $429.60.

But, notably, it does not include the pricy $1521 sixth-year interval. It’s worth asking yourself how long you’ll own the car for before splurging on it.