Lexus LC has bang for bucks
Luxury brand pulls out all the stops for new sports coupe, writes David Linklater.
Take one look at the Lexus LC and you might assume it’s a genuine exotic. Successor to the acclaimed Lexus LFA supercar perhaps, or at the very least a rival to something like an Aston Martin DB11.
Not so. The LC is still serious money at $215,000, but it’s more in line with an entry-level Porsche 911 or one of the gruntier Jaguar F-Type models. Good company, but the intricate, outrageous LC punches far above its pricetag in terms of visual impact. It’s not pretty to all eyes, but it’s still pretty amazing-looking.
This is the new face of Lexus you’ve been hearing about: the company that wants to make exciting, relevant and rewarding cars. Especially that first thing. The company decided the quickest route to that end was to put 2012’s LF-LC concept into production with the styling virtually unchanged, using a new rear-drive platform (GA-L, or Global Architecture for Luxury) destined for a range of future high-end models.
That $215k gets you a choice of two LC models: the naturally aspirated 500 V8 or the 500h V6 petrol-electric hybrid. It’s the latter that’s featured here and rightly so: hybrid technology is a Lexus thing and that’s what powered the original LF-LC concept.
The 500h is also the most technologically interesting of the two. It’s the first Lexus hybrid to employ lithium-ion batteries and the first to employ a new ‘‘multistage’’ transmission. While the V8 has a 10-speed automatic gearbox, the hybrid combines the inevitable electronic-continuously variable transmission (e-CVT) with a fourstage automatic, in a clever but incredibly complex arrangement.
Basically, the e-CVT and conventional automatic are mixedand-matched via a flux capacitor (okay, this is where I get a bit lost) that simulates a 10-speed shifter and avoids CVT-flaring. It learns your driving style and can change modes automatically to suit, although can also select your own.
So some gearchanges are ‘‘real’’ via the four-speeder, some are simulated steps from the e-CVT and there are so many happening in such a seamless manner that it’s often difficult to tell which is which.
You can still detect some of that slippy feel if you really try. It’s most prominent when you override the brainy management computer and attempt to paddleshift the gears yourself. Note to self: don’t. Instead, trust the engineering and enjoy a few choice distractions.
Like the enhanced sound of the 3.5-litre V6 petrol engine, which has an urgent shriek that’s similar to a Jaguar F-Type V6. It’s a lot more contrived (by which I mean fake) of course, but in such a techy car I’ll take it and you can’t argue with the performance: 0-100kmh in 5.0 seconds.
Indeed, one of the great things about the 500h is its ability to blend heroic-feeling acceleration with the potential for near-silent EV driving. Despite the Li-ion batteries, it still doesn’t have plugin capability, which seems like a missed opportunity. But it’s adept at crawling along on battery power little-and-often in urban driving, and even on the motorway it’ll often switch into EV mode and ‘‘sail’’ for as long as it can.
The LC is not a highly focused driving machine like a Porsche 911. It’s more a grand tourer, but far from unweildy. You won’t find this two-tonne coupe dancing all over the road or eating up track days, but there’s plenty of entertainment to be had. The steering is particularly impressive and the 500h flows beautifully over winding roads.
The 500h does lack something compared with the V8 version and that’s a mechanical limited-slip differential. You can have one by adding the $5000 Carbon Fibre Roof package, which includes the Lexus Dynamic Handling system with Variable Gear Ratio Steering, Dynamic Rear Steering and that limited-slip differential. You also get Alcantara upholstery over power-adjustable seats, retractable rear spoiler... oh, and a carbonfibre roof.
Haven’t driven such a version (or indeed the V8 at all), so I’m not sure whether any of the above turns the LC into a road warrior. I still love the car as it stands in 500h form: supremely refined, nicely balanced (51/49 front-torear) and very rapid when you want it to be.
Gorgeous and sightly weird interiors are textbook Lexus. In the LC you sit low, surrounded by an expanse of dashboard and a choice of materials/build quality that’s hard to fault. It’s real ooh-and-aah stuff. Ergonomically it’s not too different from other Lexus models, which means some frustration to go with the fascination.
The brand still hasn’t decided between its joystick-type controller or haptic-feedback touchpad for new models, or admitted that neither work very well. The LC has the latter, so you have to perfect a kind of ‘‘flick’’ on the pad to get the on-screen cursor to move between menus.
Lexus has made things slightly worse touchpad-wise in the LC by removing some switchgear and burying those functions deep in the operating system; like the seat heaters for example, which require four flicky steps from the home screen.
Nor can your passenger input a sat-nav destination while you’re driving, because that function is locked while the car is moving. It’s exhausting.
But put aside the expected Lexus foibles and the LC is a car that proves this brand is on the way to somewhere pretty special. Indeed, if you have an LC you’ll probably feel like you’ve arrived.
It’s very difficult treading the line between genuine luxury credentials and an engaging driving experience. The LC 500h does it brilliantly.