This is a review and road test of the 2019 Lexus UX small SUV. I'll also tell you how the 2019 Lexus UX stacks up against ket German prestige competitors.

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Superficially, the Lexus US has a bit of an identity crisis - but it’s actually an excellent entry-level prestige vehicle, from an easy-to-recommend luxury brand with excellent reliability and fantastic customer support.

Here’s a car with an edgy, distinctive, unique body, rolling on the Toyota C-HR platform and taking the fight to the German big three powered by the heart and soul (or at least engine and transmission) of a Corolla. Thankfully the big Corolla engine.

You can get a hybrid as well - it uses an Atkinson cycle internal combustion engine and the regenerative braking, electric motor combo tech that Toyota leveraged so successfully to make Prius the Coca-Cola of Hybrids. And this probably makes more sense for many city-based owners than a diesel.

It’s about $3500 extra for hybrid UXes but - bonus points - they also go better. The hybrid is almost a second faster to 100 as well as saving you fuel around town. All-wheel drive is an option as well - but frankly you don’t need it.

Lexus positions the UX within its own stable as an SUV, but it’s really just a hatch doffing its cap to SUV styling.

So - just so you can make the right purchasing decision here, there are three model grades: ‘Luxury’ is the base spec. I love it that the poverty pack is called luxury - it’s actually very well equipped, off the bat.

Then, instead of having a mid-spec and a top spec, the range hits a fork in the road and you can either go downs the ‘Sports Luxury’ track or the ‘F Sport’ track.

F Sport’s not exactly the top of the range - it adds a different features and spec package on top of Luxury, compared with Sports Luxury.

So, you should think about what you want - F Sport gets five different drive modes and some cool instrument cluster graphics to go with them and a lateral G monitor; Sports Luxury gets a 13-speaker stereo and heated/ventilated front seats.

So - horses for courses there. Most expensive variant is the Sport Luxury hybrid with all-wheel drive for about $67,000 on the road if you fail to negotiate like you mean it. The same thing in F Sport trim is a few hundred bucks cheaper, notionally.

Cheapest UX is the Luxury 2.0 non-hybrid 2WD version - and you’ll get that on the road under $50k.

Hybrid adds $3500 - so, I can justify that on the grounds of clean air and national energy security - but it’s going to take an awfully long time to pay the $3500 back in saved fuel.

‘Spend $3500 more to save a few cents a day on fuel’ is not a pitch that would work on me. Cleaner air, and energy security: I’m in.

The AWD system is about $5000 extra. That’s impossible for me to justify. It’s not like this thing is a wheel-spinning fire-breather, but I guess if you’re planning on living in the snow, and you’ve got the cash, OK.

UX hits all the benchmarks for ‘entry-level prestige’ - which is (kind of) a recent concept, and I think it’s still deciding what it really is.

It’s well equipped enough, looks polished enough, goes well enough, it’s safe enough, quiet enough, etc. You’re not a third-class citizen in a stripped-out special, paying through the neck just for a badge. That’s for sure. If you want that, I might suggest a base-model Audi Q2…

Row two is a bit squeezy for adults on long drives. Not much legroom there, but it’s OK for young kids. Good, dedicated air-con back here, too.