2018 Lexus LC 500
seats; friends don’t put friends in the back of an LC — are luxurious and comfortable. the car as fresh and comfortable as I began. My car’s optional Alcantara seat inserts leg and shoulder room are expansive.
The interior eschews common trim materials like wood and metal for soft covers nearly everywhere you touch, a distinctive and appealing choice by Lexus’s design team.
The downside
The LC’s V8 produces competitive power hundreds of pounds heavier than most of its competitors. That leads to relatively leisurely acceleration, despite claiming a respectable 0-60 mph ( 96 kph) time of 4.4 seconds. Response to the accelerator pedal is not linear, initially responding slowly, then coming on in a rush that led me to swing back and forth between slow starts and inadvertent wheel spin at traf
The instrument displays are large and clear, but the control for many audio and navigation commands is poor. In lieu of a touch screen or even the awkward joy stick Lexus used to use, there’s a small touch pad in the center console that’s almost impossible to use in a moving vehicle. Automakers test new control systems exhaustively, so I have no idea how the touch pad passed Lexus’s inspection; it makes operations that should be
Facts and figures
and the result is the worst power to weight ratio in the bunch.
The LC’s smooth and precise new 10-speed automatic transmission helps offset that disadvantage, and its excellent programming makes for nearly imperceptible shifts and eliminates the hunting among gears that plagues some transmissions with lots of gears.
The LC’s EPA fuel economy rating of 16 mpg in the city, 26 on the highway and 19 combined falls roughly in the middle of its class, matching the Stingray, topping the Gran Turismo Sport and F-Type R AWD, The LC 500’s V8 engine producer 471 horsepower and 398 pound-feet (539 Newton-meters) of torque. The LC’s V8’s 471 horsepower and 398 pound- feet ( 539 Newton- meters) of torque rank in the middle of the car’s competitive set. Combined that with the LC’s 4,280-pound base curb weight, however, and trailing the SL 550 and base 911 Carrera.
The LC has a magical engine note, rumbling and promising endless acceleration and vast power. It’s certain to delight the car’s owners and make up for its unexceptional performance and fuel economy.
The 2018 Lexus LC 500 coupe is beautiful, luxurious and rare, and that will be enough for everybody who’s likely to buy it. The LC 500 doesn’t try to match other exclusive coupes’ power and performance, and thereby succeeds on its own terms. but the LC 500 team made plenty of good ones. The result is a car that raises the bar for the whole brand. It will delight its owners for years to come.