2018 Lexus LC 500 Design and Test Drive - Video
12-10-16, 10:40 PM
#2
Lexus Test Driver
http://www.topgear.com/car-reviews/lexus/lc
Bold and beautiful: the Lexus LC is the maddest Lexus since the LFA, and backs it up with impressive dynamics for a heavy car… so long as you buy the V8, not the hybrid.
FOR:
The design might be a bit Marmite, but you can’t fault Lexus’ bravery. The V8 model with a full suite of chassis aids is wonderful – a real brute in a suit.
AGAINST:
The hybrid powertrain still suffers from CVT-induced disconnect between your right foot and the engine revs – good at fast cruising, not so good in corners.
1. Overview 2. Driving 3. On the inside 4. Owning 5. Our verdict
Overview
What is it?
A large, fast, luxurious coupe, designed to rival the BMW 6 Series and sprinkle some fairy dust on the rest of Lexus’ range. Quite simply, it’s the boldest, most outrageous thing to come from the maker of posh Toyotas since they turned our knees to jelly with the LFA supercar in 2010. There are no screaming V10s here and the experience is tailored more to rapid grand touring than hot laps, but the LC is still a force to be reckoned with.
Spawned from the 2012 LF-LC concept and based on a new lighter, stiffer ‘GAL’ rear-drive platform (that will also underpin the next-generation LS limo), you can have your LC in two distinct flavours - identical twins, if you like, but with polar opposite approaches to the same task: hurling you down a road and making you look sexy while you’re at it. One - the LC500h - is a spectacularly complicated hybrid harnessing V6 petrol and electrical power for devilish performance and virtuous fuel economy, the other – the LC500 - is a tasty bit of old school muscle with a naturally-aspirated V8 intent on bullying the rear tyres.
The LC isn’t a beautiful car, not in the same way a DB9 flows so effortlessly from nose to tail, but it’s as striking as anything under £100,000 gets. That sprawling spindle front grille is an acquired taste, especially with a number plate plastered across the middle of it, as is the jumble of design cues around the cut-off C-pillar, but thanks to an unfeasibly low bonnet and a pinched waist followed by a brutally-wide rear track the overall stance is epic. Even better, dare we say, than the more exotic LFA it picks up the mad-Lexus mantle from.
Here we must take one model at a time, because never before have we driven two variants of one car that are more different in character. We begin with the LC500h, because it wields a new, highly-complicated Multi Stage Hybrid System – basically a CVT gearbox that’s actually worth driving, says Lexus, as opposed to hitting repeatedly with a large stick. Total output from the 295bhp 3.5-litre V6 and 177bhp electric motor (fed by Lexus’ first lithium-ion battery, found behind the rear seats) is, confusingly, 354bhp. That’s sent to the rear wheels through a CVT gearbox and propels you from 0-60mph in 4.7 seconds and on to 155mph.
The clever bit is that Lexus has bolted a four-speed auto onto the back of the CVT. In manual mode the driver has ten steps to select from, using paddles behind the wheel. The first three gears in the new auto ‘box are combined with three artificially chosen ratios in the CVT (that’s nine gears right there), while the fourth gear is an overdrive – taking the total to ten. Lexus claims it dispenses with the infuriating rubber band feeling, where revs don’t match speed or throttle position, making the whole thing sound like a badly dubbed movie.
Sadly, it doesn’t. Well not entirely. Seize the paddles and the shifts themselves are laborious, and while the revs do rise and fall more closely with your right foot, it’s still a far from linear relationship, with flairs and dips when the sound should be constant. Really gun it and even it manual mode the V6 whines away at the top of its rev range, constantly searching for a minutely more efficient ratio.
Drive flat out and the whole things feels indirect and rather unsatisfying – it’s quick, but there’s little satisfaction in going fast. However, it’s not all bad news. With the electric motor chiming in, acceleration from a standstill, and sub-40mph, is punchy – useful if you spend your time stop-start driving around town. Leave the gearbox in auto and it does at better job at staying in the torque band than our ham fists could manage, perfect for a brisk cruise.
It’s worth noting that the LC500h we tried was in Luxury spec, so without the carbon-fibre roof and sportier seats you get if you stump up for a Sport or Sport+ model (all trim levels are available with both powertrains). It also does without the mechanical diff and rear-steering you get exclusively with the Sport+. Even so, on a series of twisty back roads, it feels every one of its 1,985kg.
On one tightening right-hander we carried a fraction too much speed in and the nose washed wide. We gathered it back up in time to mount a crest and felt the wheels go light before hitting a wet patch on the other side causing the rear to slew out of line. And before you blame a lack of talent, we weren’t at full tilt - our test car simply felt too big, too heavy and too lacking in electronic trickery to be able to throw around. Lucky then, that on the motorway it proved extremely good at being a Lexus – quiet as doctor’s waiting room and with a sumptuous floaty ride quality that makes long journeys a joy.
LC500 review
Right from the off it’s clear the LC500 is a different proposition entirely. Although down on power next to the 552bhp BMW M6, we know this non-turbo 470bhp 5.0-litre V8 well from the GS-F, and what it lacks in grunt it makes up for in character – delivering its maximum power at a shrill 7,100rpm, just 200rpm short of the red line. Then there’s the gearbox, a brand-new ten-speed torque-converter auto that’s comparable in size and weight to the GS-F’s eight-speed ‘box, but with the benefits of shorter gearing and more even spacing between the ratios. And it’s a triumph.
Kick back in Comfort and Eco driving modes and it shuffles around in the background like a Michelin-star maître-d’, but crank it up to sport+ and it slams home full-bore upshifts instantly and with a slap on the back. We found ourselves shifting down when it wasn’t required, just to hear a crack from the exhausts and flourish of revs.
There’s a woofly spike of revs on start up and immediately a better feeling of connectivity between your right foot and the rear tyres. Even below 30mph you can feel the rear-wheel steer sprinkling its magic, tightening the turning circle and giving the front end more positive bite.
Wind up the V8, feel it kick a bit harder past 4,000rpm, then hold your nerve as it charges with building intensity all the way to the 7,300rpm limiter. It doesn’t bludgeon you with its performance, this engine, it has to be tweezered out with patience and well timed shifts. Keep it in sport+ mode, though, (firmer suspension, sharper throttle response, sportier gearing for the variable ratio electromechanical steering), turn the ESP off completely and there’s a thug waiting to get out.
Turn in at speed and there’s body roll, sure, this is a 1,935kg coupe after all, but the rear-steer system finds agility where the hybrid felt flat-footed. And then, if physics does decides to step in and nudge the front end wide, you can always deploy the power to bring the diff into play and the back swinging around into an easily controllable slide. A proper muscle car mentality is required – the power isn’t just there to sling you down the straight, it’s there to help steer.
The steering wheel itself has that modern trait of lacking in feel, but makes up for it with a super-quick rack. It’s nicely judged – linear enough to gauge the amount of lock you need first time, with just enough information on where you stand relative to the limits of the front tyres.
The interior is typical Lexus, all three-dimensional dash architecture and granite build quality. The seating position, especially with the grippier alcantara sports seats you get on Sport and Sport+ models, is low, legs out in front, perfect. There’s even a nod to the LFA with the moving instrument binnacle on top of a digital display behind the wheel.
Yes, there’s a splurge of buttons and touchpads, screens and stalks sprouting from every surface that require a PhD to operate, but it’s executed with flair and attention to detail. Tricky to explain this one, but its mish-mash of layers and angles manages to make the inside an event, even if you go for a sombre colour scheme. And for a car that’s destined to become a protest vote against German stalwarts like the BMW 6 Series and new Mercedes E-Class Coupe (due early 2017), or as a half-price alternative to Brits like the Aston Martin DB11 and Bentley Continental GT, being wilfully different is surely the way to go.
There are back seats, if you can call them that. Best to think of them as additional luggage space, rather than an opportunity to take an extra human with you. Even a sub-6ft tall driver will leave approximately zero legroom behind them. The boot offers 197-litres of space in the LC500 – less than half what you get in a BMW 6 Series – and that shrinks to 172-litres in the LC500h thanks to the battery pack behind the seats.
Lexus are yet to confirm UK prices, or any prices for that matter, for the LC range. However, we do have a steer: expect the LC500h to cost from around £80,000 and the LC500 from £85,000. To that you can add around £5,000 if you want the Sport+ model (you definitely do) that adds the rear-wheel steer, mechanical limited slip differential, carbonfibre roof and sports seats. That positions the LC in an interesting space – less-powerful, but better value than a BMW M6, on a par price-wise with a 911 Carrera S but with two more cylinders, or a half-price Aston Martin DB11.
Final fuel economy figures are also TBC, but we do have “target” figures. If your wallet has a fear of petrol stations, the hybrid unsurprisingly fares better then the V8 returning around 44mpg and spewing out a mere 149g/km of CO2. The 5.0-litre manages just 24mpg and 273g/km, but then it does 0-60mph in 4.4 seconds, 168mph flat out, and is infinitely more fun to drive.
When it comes to reliability, Lexus has an impeccable track record and has a habit of topping customer surveys for customer service and ownership experience. Even with the frighteningly complicated Multi Stage Hybrid Drive system, there’s no reason to suggest it’s going to go all TVR on us now.
Verdict
Final thoughts and pick of the range
Lexus LC review: the LFA proved there was a mad streak buried deep in the company. LC proves it wasn’t a flash in the pan.
Ever since Alan Partridge proudly drove a Lexus, the company has been trying to shake a certain beige slacks and sensible cardigan image, so a product that’s genuinely hilarious, no caveats, is big. Everything about the LC is bold - the design, the technology, the price point – and it backs it all up with a genuinely-engaging driving experience. On one condition…
That you ignore the hybrid and buy the LC500, because the difference in powertrain response, overall performance and general driving satisfaction is night and day. Make no mistake, the hybrid is a clever piece of technology, but trying to improve a flawed piece of technology (the CVT ‘box) by throwing more technology at it just doesn’t wash. You can Tipp-Ex out a stain on your white shirt, but it’s never going to solve the problem entirely.
The LC500, then, is resounding proof that until the combustion engine is carried off on a stretcher for good, the old way is still the way forward. The LFA proved there was a mad streak buried deep in the company, this proves it wasn’t a flash in the pan.
Bold and beautiful: the Lexus LC is the maddest Lexus since the LFA, and backs it up with impressive dynamics for a heavy car… so long as you buy the V8, not the hybrid.
FOR:
The design might be a bit Marmite, but you can’t fault Lexus’ bravery. The V8 model with a full suite of chassis aids is wonderful – a real brute in a suit.
AGAINST:
The hybrid powertrain still suffers from CVT-induced disconnect between your right foot and the engine revs – good at fast cruising, not so good in corners.
1. Overview 2. Driving 3. On the inside 4. Owning 5. Our verdict
Overview
What is it?
A large, fast, luxurious coupe, designed to rival the BMW 6 Series and sprinkle some fairy dust on the rest of Lexus’ range. Quite simply, it’s the boldest, most outrageous thing to come from the maker of posh Toyotas since they turned our knees to jelly with the LFA supercar in 2010. There are no screaming V10s here and the experience is tailored more to rapid grand touring than hot laps, but the LC is still a force to be reckoned with.
Spawned from the 2012 LF-LC concept and based on a new lighter, stiffer ‘GAL’ rear-drive platform (that will also underpin the next-generation LS limo), you can have your LC in two distinct flavours - identical twins, if you like, but with polar opposite approaches to the same task: hurling you down a road and making you look sexy while you’re at it. One - the LC500h - is a spectacularly complicated hybrid harnessing V6 petrol and electrical power for devilish performance and virtuous fuel economy, the other – the LC500 - is a tasty bit of old school muscle with a naturally-aspirated V8 intent on bullying the rear tyres.
The LC isn’t a beautiful car, not in the same way a DB9 flows so effortlessly from nose to tail, but it’s as striking as anything under £100,000 gets. That sprawling spindle front grille is an acquired taste, especially with a number plate plastered across the middle of it, as is the jumble of design cues around the cut-off C-pillar, but thanks to an unfeasibly low bonnet and a pinched waist followed by a brutally-wide rear track the overall stance is epic. Even better, dare we say, than the more exotic LFA it picks up the mad-Lexus mantle from.
Here we must take one model at a time, because never before have we driven two variants of one car that are more different in character. We begin with the LC500h, because it wields a new, highly-complicated Multi Stage Hybrid System – basically a CVT gearbox that’s actually worth driving, says Lexus, as opposed to hitting repeatedly with a large stick. Total output from the 295bhp 3.5-litre V6 and 177bhp electric motor (fed by Lexus’ first lithium-ion battery, found behind the rear seats) is, confusingly, 354bhp. That’s sent to the rear wheels through a CVT gearbox and propels you from 0-60mph in 4.7 seconds and on to 155mph.
The clever bit is that Lexus has bolted a four-speed auto onto the back of the CVT. In manual mode the driver has ten steps to select from, using paddles behind the wheel. The first three gears in the new auto ‘box are combined with three artificially chosen ratios in the CVT (that’s nine gears right there), while the fourth gear is an overdrive – taking the total to ten. Lexus claims it dispenses with the infuriating rubber band feeling, where revs don’t match speed or throttle position, making the whole thing sound like a badly dubbed movie.
Sadly, it doesn’t. Well not entirely. Seize the paddles and the shifts themselves are laborious, and while the revs do rise and fall more closely with your right foot, it’s still a far from linear relationship, with flairs and dips when the sound should be constant. Really gun it and even it manual mode the V6 whines away at the top of its rev range, constantly searching for a minutely more efficient ratio.
Drive flat out and the whole things feels indirect and rather unsatisfying – it’s quick, but there’s little satisfaction in going fast. However, it’s not all bad news. With the electric motor chiming in, acceleration from a standstill, and sub-40mph, is punchy – useful if you spend your time stop-start driving around town. Leave the gearbox in auto and it does at better job at staying in the torque band than our ham fists could manage, perfect for a brisk cruise.
It’s worth noting that the LC500h we tried was in Luxury spec, so without the carbon-fibre roof and sportier seats you get if you stump up for a Sport or Sport+ model (all trim levels are available with both powertrains). It also does without the mechanical diff and rear-steering you get exclusively with the Sport+. Even so, on a series of twisty back roads, it feels every one of its 1,985kg.
On one tightening right-hander we carried a fraction too much speed in and the nose washed wide. We gathered it back up in time to mount a crest and felt the wheels go light before hitting a wet patch on the other side causing the rear to slew out of line. And before you blame a lack of talent, we weren’t at full tilt - our test car simply felt too big, too heavy and too lacking in electronic trickery to be able to throw around. Lucky then, that on the motorway it proved extremely good at being a Lexus – quiet as doctor’s waiting room and with a sumptuous floaty ride quality that makes long journeys a joy.
LC500 review
Right from the off it’s clear the LC500 is a different proposition entirely. Although down on power next to the 552bhp BMW M6, we know this non-turbo 470bhp 5.0-litre V8 well from the GS-F, and what it lacks in grunt it makes up for in character – delivering its maximum power at a shrill 7,100rpm, just 200rpm short of the red line. Then there’s the gearbox, a brand-new ten-speed torque-converter auto that’s comparable in size and weight to the GS-F’s eight-speed ‘box, but with the benefits of shorter gearing and more even spacing between the ratios. And it’s a triumph.
Kick back in Comfort and Eco driving modes and it shuffles around in the background like a Michelin-star maître-d’, but crank it up to sport+ and it slams home full-bore upshifts instantly and with a slap on the back. We found ourselves shifting down when it wasn’t required, just to hear a crack from the exhausts and flourish of revs.
There’s a woofly spike of revs on start up and immediately a better feeling of connectivity between your right foot and the rear tyres. Even below 30mph you can feel the rear-wheel steer sprinkling its magic, tightening the turning circle and giving the front end more positive bite.
Wind up the V8, feel it kick a bit harder past 4,000rpm, then hold your nerve as it charges with building intensity all the way to the 7,300rpm limiter. It doesn’t bludgeon you with its performance, this engine, it has to be tweezered out with patience and well timed shifts. Keep it in sport+ mode, though, (firmer suspension, sharper throttle response, sportier gearing for the variable ratio electromechanical steering), turn the ESP off completely and there’s a thug waiting to get out.
Turn in at speed and there’s body roll, sure, this is a 1,935kg coupe after all, but the rear-steer system finds agility where the hybrid felt flat-footed. And then, if physics does decides to step in and nudge the front end wide, you can always deploy the power to bring the diff into play and the back swinging around into an easily controllable slide. A proper muscle car mentality is required – the power isn’t just there to sling you down the straight, it’s there to help steer.
The steering wheel itself has that modern trait of lacking in feel, but makes up for it with a super-quick rack. It’s nicely judged – linear enough to gauge the amount of lock you need first time, with just enough information on where you stand relative to the limits of the front tyres.
The interior is typical Lexus, all three-dimensional dash architecture and granite build quality. The seating position, especially with the grippier alcantara sports seats you get on Sport and Sport+ models, is low, legs out in front, perfect. There’s even a nod to the LFA with the moving instrument binnacle on top of a digital display behind the wheel.
Yes, there’s a splurge of buttons and touchpads, screens and stalks sprouting from every surface that require a PhD to operate, but it’s executed with flair and attention to detail. Tricky to explain this one, but its mish-mash of layers and angles manages to make the inside an event, even if you go for a sombre colour scheme. And for a car that’s destined to become a protest vote against German stalwarts like the BMW 6 Series and new Mercedes E-Class Coupe (due early 2017), or as a half-price alternative to Brits like the Aston Martin DB11 and Bentley Continental GT, being wilfully different is surely the way to go.
There are back seats, if you can call them that. Best to think of them as additional luggage space, rather than an opportunity to take an extra human with you. Even a sub-6ft tall driver will leave approximately zero legroom behind them. The boot offers 197-litres of space in the LC500 – less than half what you get in a BMW 6 Series – and that shrinks to 172-litres in the LC500h thanks to the battery pack behind the seats.
Lexus are yet to confirm UK prices, or any prices for that matter, for the LC range. However, we do have a steer: expect the LC500h to cost from around £80,000 and the LC500 from £85,000. To that you can add around £5,000 if you want the Sport+ model (you definitely do) that adds the rear-wheel steer, mechanical limited slip differential, carbonfibre roof and sports seats. That positions the LC in an interesting space – less-powerful, but better value than a BMW M6, on a par price-wise with a 911 Carrera S but with two more cylinders, or a half-price Aston Martin DB11.
Final fuel economy figures are also TBC, but we do have “target” figures. If your wallet has a fear of petrol stations, the hybrid unsurprisingly fares better then the V8 returning around 44mpg and spewing out a mere 149g/km of CO2. The 5.0-litre manages just 24mpg and 273g/km, but then it does 0-60mph in 4.4 seconds, 168mph flat out, and is infinitely more fun to drive.
When it comes to reliability, Lexus has an impeccable track record and has a habit of topping customer surveys for customer service and ownership experience. Even with the frighteningly complicated Multi Stage Hybrid Drive system, there’s no reason to suggest it’s going to go all TVR on us now.
Verdict
Final thoughts and pick of the range
Lexus LC review: the LFA proved there was a mad streak buried deep in the company. LC proves it wasn’t a flash in the pan.
Ever since Alan Partridge proudly drove a Lexus, the company has been trying to shake a certain beige slacks and sensible cardigan image, so a product that’s genuinely hilarious, no caveats, is big. Everything about the LC is bold - the design, the technology, the price point – and it backs it all up with a genuinely-engaging driving experience. On one condition…
That you ignore the hybrid and buy the LC500, because the difference in powertrain response, overall performance and general driving satisfaction is night and day. Make no mistake, the hybrid is a clever piece of technology, but trying to improve a flawed piece of technology (the CVT ‘box) by throwing more technology at it just doesn’t wash. You can Tipp-Ex out a stain on your white shirt, but it’s never going to solve the problem entirely.
The LC500, then, is resounding proof that until the combustion engine is carried off on a stretcher for good, the old way is still the way forward. The LFA proved there was a mad streak buried deep in the company, this proves it wasn’t a flash in the pan.
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