LEXUSLBX

Can you shrink premium quality to fit an SUV this small? We now know

- RACHEL BURGESS

A few days before our long-term LBX was returned to Lexus HQ, I spotted another one on the motorway. As far as I can recall, that was the only other example I'd seen during the entire time we'd had the Lexus Breakthrough Crossover. It was the same colour as mine (and confusingly had a private numberplate that read 'PUG').

It was great to see an LBX in motion, one in which I wasn't travelling, so I could ponder its design, its place on the road, its place in the melee of cars on sale today. First of all, I think it's a good-looking car. I feel the same about it now as when it first arrived, no more or less convinced. It has good proportions and is handsome.

There's maybe a bit too much going on, or it's a little squashed around the C-pillar area, but what do I know? I'm no Ian Callum. There are a lot of oversized cars around these days, and I understand that's to meet demand. Now, I know I loved our recent Volvo V90 long-termer - estates are exempt, you see - but, broadly speaking, for anyone with a small family or living in a city, this size of car is just perfect.

I'm not someone who is desperate for the ride height of a pseudo-SUV, but it makes getting my three-year-old into the car seat slightly easier and I have considered that, on faster roads, I feel (rightly or wrongly) a little less intimidated by not being in a small and low car. It's 4190mm long, so fractionally shorter than its 4208mm-long Audi Q2 rival.