LEXUS LC 500 COUPE
AT FIRST GLANCE, IT STRIKES ME that the Lexus LC 500 is clearly a beast waiting to be unleashed upon the road.
One thing that sets the LC 500 apart from any other car is its almost surreal connection to the driver. I don’t sit in an LC 500; I get immersed in it. I’m impressed beyond words by how this exquisite machine has been engineered for – somehow tailored to – the driver. I feel as close to this engine as a jockey to a thoroughbred. Just more comfortably so. Deep, lush leather seats, contoured shifter, an elliptical steering wheel… this keeps getting better.
One of the most surprising and memorable aspects of the LC 500 driving experience is the sound – the beautiful noise, the car’s roar. One touch of the engine-start button and a symphony begins – its engine note sounds part Beethoven, part Hendrix. This is not digitally filtered amplification. It’s organic. I’ve heard overenthusiastic enthusiasts talk about being behind the wheel of a high-performance car as being in the cockpit of a fighter jet but so far, as I know, there isn’t an aircraft on Earth that is this wild, this elegant, this much pure, unadulterated fun to drive.
I flash out onto the road and conduct the direct-drive V8 orchestra into its next 10 movements – I mean gears. You heard it right, the LC 500 has 10 gears. The action is conducive to musical rhythm. Each transition is smooth, resonant and perfectly natural. I’m still new to this sports car but it doesn’t require the usual learning curve. Second is as easy to attain as third, as is fourth, as is… hey, I’d better watch my speed ’til I’m on the open highway.
The widescreen visibility and my sense of the car’s snug position on the road continues this unique experience of driving an LC 500. As I make my way down the state road, I execute some deft – if I do say so – passing manoeuvres but I have zero worries about the LC 500’s ability to shoot a gap.
On the interstate access road, I bank sharply left, avoiding a delivery truck that somehow forgot to signal that it wanted to turn in front of me. I marvel at how effortlessly the LC 500 sidesteps potential danger or even inconvenience. Also, how so many drivers turn their heads and gawk as I pass. Seriously, nearly everyone stares at this dream masquerading as a car. It’s an adrenaline rush watching the rest of life trying to keep up in the rear-view mirror.
On the ramp to Interstate 95, I punch the accelerator and seamlessly transition into seventh. As I slide right for the airport exit, I note the driver I just passed, apparently mesmerised by my afterburner-inspired infinity tail-lights.
Suddenly, I realise I am so not looking forward to this plane ride. A seductive notion occurs. I was going to write on the plane but I’m ahead on all my work. What’s it to Miami? Seven hours in a conventional automobile? But the LC 500 is no conventional automobile. I might even take the scenic route. Maybe I can find some tunnels to further amplify the engine’s growl. What an astonishing ride, what a sports car, how intoxicating life becomes when you’re behind the wheel of an LC 500. I think I’ve just experienced amazing.
“I was recently asked to write a review. Surprisingly, not for a book but for a car: the much-admired Lexus LC 500. Lexus delivered the supercar right to my front door, ow! At first I wondered why they chose me to review it… but after one drive, I realised a car like no other needs a review like no other. So buckle up and let me take you on an amazing test-drive. I hope it’s as breathtaking as my bestselling thrillers, because the LC 500 deserves all that and more.”