So, took a trip in FL of about 260mi. each way, almost entirely interstate and turnpike (fortunately no I95). Some observations in no particular order...

no one drives the speed limit in florida, so going with the flow meant i was going uh, pretty quick. not that i care about fuel costs (buy a hybrid if you care), i was amazed that the trip MPG was 28. I guess the 10 speed keeping rpms very low (about 1600) even at high highway speed really helps. But i certainly didn't baby the car.

i LOVE the lc seats. Mine are the sporty ones with alcantara which i know isn't for everyone, but they're so comfortable. I did however, experience some ache in my leg calves, as a passenger moreso than as driver, but i think that's because my seat was at lowest position so my legs were basically straight out.

climate concierge works great... i typically don't like the feeling of cooled seats but the concierge turns them on very low if needed, and the cabin was very comfortable all the time. Related to climate control, when on auto, the car seems to be on recirculate all the time... i never saw it go to auto and fresh air. If i hit the button it can go to fresh air but then it's not on auto. ??

the car is pretty quiet at speed, unless the road surface is rough. Certain road surfaces cause a LOT of noise inside which was annoying. I know the run flats are a big factor here. I'm not ready to throw away pretty new tires though.

i've concluded the mark levinson sound system is pretty bad. I played a wide variety of music (from high quality mp3's stored on my phone over android auto connection, so no bluetooth loss) and even a cd, and it sounds 'ok' at best, no matter how i mess with the settings. I'm no expert, and the small cabin is a factor, but i just don't think the speakers are that great.

no surprise, the trackpad is pretty terrible, for the built in system as well as for android auto. Apple car play looks pretty with full screen map but is still terrible to operate with the trackpad. Thankfully i can use voice for a lot of things. And the built in infotainment screen is pretty terrible too. On the climate 'options' screen the "lexus" setting with the seat, which presumably is for concierge, shows it's turned off and when i click the pad with it selected, it never goes 'on'. ?

The nit pics aside, this is a great car. Being tall it's a challenge for me somewhat getting in and out, but that's not the car's fault. I still can't believe i own one when i walk to a parking lot and see it parked.

 

Good write up, almost exactly my experience.

Yes, traffic can get pretty fast nowadays, I’ve been told. I’ve heard that in packs of cars all running well over 90 the capabilities of the LC are well showcased. Manuverable with speed as needed getting around the zombie folk camped in left lanes. And getting as you say in the high 20s mpg all the while.

 

From my recollection, the recirculating and fresh air has no impact on auto. Auto is a temperature setting, sometimes its quicker to use recirculating air to get to a desired cooler temp quicker. It will be reversed during the winter (maybe not for you) but recirculation would never come on for heat.

Thanks for the write up. I'm patiently waiting for some info on mine.

 

Were you in comfort / ECO mode, using adaptive cruise most of the time?

 

i've never used Eco (why? lol). yes, in comfort as sport/sport+ only go to 8th gear, great for back roads, but not on an interstate/turnpike.
and yes, i always use adaptive cruise on highways.

 

the auto button on the dash on mine goes through 3 modes:
auto with recirculate (maybe under some circumstances it goes to auto with fresh air, but mine didn't this weekend that i saw)
recirculate (no auto)
circulate (no auto)

so i don't see a way to get auto and have it let in fresh air.

 

I will doublecheck, but my sense here in steamy North Florida is that mine always goes into auto and fresh air (after a brief cool-down with recirc air). FWIW, I do not use the Concierge feature.

 

wanted to add one more impression from the trip... the trunk isn't bad at all. can fit two full size rollaboard type bags pushed all the way to the back (rear seat back) of the trunk, and then still have quite a lot of room from the bags to the back of the car, for shoes, a cooler, duffle bag, etc. perfectly fine for a long weekend getaway, unless you want to bring a set or 2 of golf clubs!
we kept our cooler bag of water and soda bottles on the (otherwise useless) back seat. all worked fine.

 

Fuel economy is great, wow.

The road surfaces being loud, this is something you realize is an issue with Lexus when you get away from Lexus. They just don’t do as good a job of dampening the floor panels from road noise as other manufacturers

 

So when it's ok auto, you cannot turn of recirculating air without the auto dissapearing?

 

that's how it seems with mine, but maybe i need to crack that manual (or pdf) again.

 

Nice write-up. Appreciate the honesty.

The road noise is concerning. Laugh as you may, but my ranch truck--a 2011 F150 5.0--is actually really quiet and incredibly comfortable for long drives. It's currently just a few miles shy of 250,000. Love it. A few months ago I drove it back to California to go fetch my boat. Two days from Chicago to SF: 18 hours the first day and 17 the second. No soreness whatsoever. The new 2021 F150 is actually a much improved ride--and even quieter in the cabin than mine. Including the Limited trim with 22s.

 

in hot weather the Lexus system never leaves recirculate unless you force it to. It will stay in AUTO and fresh air mode, but you bump out of the auto smog sensor by doing that. As soon as you turn the recirculate back to AUTO it will go back inci recirc as long as the outside temp is over about 75 degrees,

 

Yup i know about ford seats and comfort having had an explorer ('06-'14) for over 100k mi., and an '04 F-150 for several years. Super comfortable for long trips. I never had any discomfort from the (similar) seats in either. The explorer was too stiff 'trucky' over small bumps but other than that, i really enjoyed my time with it.

Thanks. about bolded part, i see no way to get it in auto and fresh air mode (esp. since here in florida right now it's only below 75 in the middle of the night, maybe!).

 

There are two "AUTO" settings. There's AUTO for the climate control function, and AUTO for the recirculate to fresh air mode function. You can have the climate control system in AUTO and have it set to recirculate, fresh air mode, or AUTO, but it wont go to recirculate if the input mode is set to AUTO if the outside temp is over 75 degrees.

Here's a picture illustrating what I'm talking about