We’re unabashed followers of the Lexus LC. With its {smooth} and sonorous 471-horsepower V8 underneath the hood, idea automotive come-to-life styling, and opulent and detailed inside, there’s an argument to be made that it is the most interesting grand touring automotive in the marketplace right here in 2024. Notably as Lexus fastened it is greatest niggle – the one factor we complained about.
We managed to snag the keys to a V8 Lexus LC Convertible for blue-sky cruising on the good time of the yr right here in California. The important thing factor to recollect earlier than studying on, is that the Lexus LC does not exist as an outright efficiency automotive, so a convertible model ought to take the LC near perfection as a cruiser. However did it reside as much as expectations?
Exterior: Wanting As Good As With the Roof Up
Some automobiles want the roof for its general design to make sense, however the LC has the suitable proportions and components to drag off the conversion. A lot has been product of how the LC is, successfully, an idea automotive put into manufacturing that also seems contemporary seven years after it first went into manufacturing – with its lengthy hood and doorways, and low, huge stance.
It is attractive and timeless, in our books. The roof has a four-layer soft-top design, with the layers offering sound dampening whereas the gentle materials is fairly compact to retailer. That is essential because the trunk is already small, and you will be utilizing the rear seats for cargo storage anyway. The drop-top LC shares dimensions with its coupe sibling, though it is a fraction taller because of the retractable roof. It weighs round 200 kilos greater than the coupe.
Lexus LC Convertible Exterior Dimensions
Wheelbase
113 inches
Size
187.4 inches
Width
75.6 inches
Top
53.2 inches
Curb Weight
4,540 lbs
The LC Convertible is the kind of automotive that appears good in most paint colours, with Flare Yellow drawing the eye it deserves.Nevertheless, the Cloudburst Grey of our tester suited it completely, including to the elegant, elegant feeling the automaker constructed into the drop-top.
Inside: Fashionable Craftsmanship
Technically, the Lexus LC is a four-seater – as a result of you possibly can put 4 folks inside it. However, the whole lack of legroom makes the rear seats nearly pointless, besides in a pinch, and then you definitely’ll have to ensure somebody brief is sitting in entrance of one other brief particular person. The very best use for these again seats is to make up for the dearth of trunk house by dropping your purse or laptop computer bag there.
Lexus LC Convertible Inside Dimensions
Headroom Entrance | Rear
36.7 | 32.1 inches
Legroom Entrance | Rear
42.6 | 28 inches
Cargo Area
3.4 ft³
The coupe model of the Lexus LC is already tight on rear headroom and legroom, and the convertible has even much less. Cargo room additionally drops fm 5.4 cubic ft to underneath 3.5 cubes within the convertible, to place the figures down on paper for you.
Area points apart, the remainder of the LC’s inside is lush and comfy. The seats aren’t overpadded or excessively bolstered, and the general design and supplies used are next-level improbable. The lengthy doorways make it simple to climb aboard regardless of being so low. The air flow from the seats is robust, and the convertible model features a vent on the seat to blow heat air and hold your neck heat.
On-Board Tech and Options
The automotive Lexus despatched us is a Bespoke Construct; this can be a $5,500 improve over the common mannequin, and permits the shopper to dig in and specify wheels, spoiler, roof, and exterior, then inside trim and colours. As such, our tester got here with a blue and white inside, which provides one other $1,900 to the value. It is a matter of style, however we choose the LC’s inside to be delicate when it comes to colours, with the fashion and supplies talking for themselves. We additionally would not want a certification of authenticity that we spent $5,500 to pay for different choices.
Nonetheless, the LC 500 Convertible comes with the next essential tech as customary, overlaying infotainment:
Tech Overview: Lexus LC 500 Convertible
Display screen Measurement
12.3-inch
Apple Carplay & Android Auto
Wi-fi
SiriusXM
Subscription required, three month Platinum trial included
Wi-Fi Connectivity
AT&T Hotspot subscription required, 30 Day/3GB trial included
Navigation
Cloud based mostly 4G, paid subscription required after three years
Sound System
12-speker Lexus Premium Sound; rear-seat mounted audio system
That is the place Lexus fastened the LC’s greatest subject (discounting these ineffective again seats, that are a essential evil on this section). The awkward trackpad within the middle console to regulate the infotainment is gone and changed with a considerable metallic wheel and click on system. The 12.3-inch touchscreen can also be responsive and fast to make use of, and the menus aren’t the frustration they had been to dig into. If you wish to keep away from utilizing the wheel or touchscreen, Luxus’s voice management is competent sufficient to keep away from the distraction of taking fingers from the wheel to do the fundamentals.
Apple Carplay and Android are, rightfully, customary, and our tester arrived with the Mark Levinson sound system, which we’re nonetheless on the fence about as a $1,220 improve. Should you’re a music lover, you may have to listen to it to make the decision.
Associated
We have to get just a few issues off of our chests, so we have penned an open letter to producers about their greatest weak spot.
Underneath The Hood: A Jewel In A Crown
Lexus’s 5.0-liter V8 is just excellent. Should you’re searching for one thing very fiery, this is not it – however if you happen to’re searching for a wealth of {smooth}, persistently delivered energy and an exhaust notice that would encourage poetry, that is it. There’s 471 hp and 398 lb-ft of torque accessible, and 0-60 mph is available in 4.6 seconds – two-tenths slower than its coupe siblings.
Base MSRP $98,450
Engine 5.0L V8 Gasoline
Horsepower 471 hp
0-60 MPH 4.4 seconds
High Pace 168 mph
Let’s be clear right here: the LC won’t be fiery, but it surely’s quick, and the lively exhausts add an extremely satisfying throaty soundtrack to an overtaking maneuver. Dealing with the facility is a ten-speed computerized transmission with the choice of utilizing paddle shifters to regulate it. It is a seamlessly {smooth} transmission 99.9 % of the time, with agency, authoritative shifts when in Sport mode. After all, energy goes to rear wheels, and a high pace of 168 mph is feasible. Gasoline financial system is not nice – however what did you count on from a V8? The EPA charges the Japanese drop-top at 15/25/18 mpg on the town/freeway/mixed cycles.
On The Highway: A Lot Of Wind In Your Hair
We could not discern a distinction in inside noise ranges between the gentle high and the metallic roof. There’s completely no draw back when the roof is up on the LC convertible. However folding down the roof introduced some disappointment. It turned exhausting to have a dialog as a result of noise because the air pushed its manner round inside – sufficient to override the nice and cozy air vents within the seats.
After all, all convertibles are going to have air swirling round, however you possibly can maintain a dialog utilizing inside voices and never freeze to demise from wind chill in the midst of winter in a Mazda MX-5 with the highest down. We have been there and completed that. But, within the LC Convertible, we discovered ourselves placing the roof up earlier than the solar dropped on a balmy day. In comparison with a way more direct rival, the older Mercedes-Benz SL directs air round higher in the case of noise and buffeting – significantly noise.
We concluded that dropping the roof of the LC is for when cruising at decrease speeds, as in, round 45 mph and decrease. Or while you need to hear that exhaust sing. Like the inside, although, if you happen to can cope with it, as a result of the remainder of the expertise is excellent.
The experience consolation degree from the Adaptive Variable Suspension, regardless of being on 21-inch wheels summer season tires the thickness of two rubber bands, defies the physics. Sports activities automotive aficionados will proceed to complain a few lack of steering really feel, however in actuality, the steering is fast, direct, and never too mild or too heavy, even in Sport mode, the place it is artificially weighted up. It is relentlessly quick in a straight line, then cruises at any pace you want with a whole lack of effort.
Whereas it is not an outright sports activities automotive – and the LC has some weight on it earlier than including motors for the folding roof – it’s enjoyable to poke round on a again highway. Regardless of the suspension stiffening up in Sport mode, it is not as agile as a Porsche 911, and the brakes actually do not seize as exhausting, but it surely’s enjoyable to push by means of a nook and holds its personal by means of corners.
Conclusion: Hmmmm…
We had been anticipating a greater expertise from the convertible with the roof down, but it surely does not fee fairly as excessive as some rivals we have pushed. It is a grand tourer, so you have to be snug placing the roof down over a protracted distance with out asking your passenger if it bothers them – which is not the case right here.
If in case you have $105,950 to spare and desire a tourer, not an outright sports activities automotive, the LC Convertible is a contender for one of the best your cash can purchase. And it’s nonetheless cheaper than a lot of its competitors except you begin burning cash on the Bespoke Construct Bundle. Nevertheless, you might need to drive the coupe model first – it is cheaper, presents barely extra cargo house, and does not have the top-down frustrations at increased speeds.
That does not cease us from wanting a LC drop-top, although.
Sources:
Lexus
,
FuelEconomy.gov
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