Let’s get ready to rumble

IS THAT THUNDER? NO, IT’S THE THROATY ROAR OF A LEXUS LC500

GARETH BUTTERFIELD spends a week in a Lexus LC500 DAY ONE

IS that a rumble of thunder I hear? Ah, no, it’s just a press car arriving at my house. Something with a throaty, burbling monster of an engine has just rumbled on to my driveway and I’ve got one week to get the measure of Lexus’s halo car, the LC500.

There are two versions of this gorgeous grand tourer. There’s a hybrid version with a V6 and a V8 version with a 457bhp naturally aspirated engine which is so old-school it doesn’t even have stop/start. Have a guess which one I picked.

It’s a bit of a grotty day today, so unfortunately the pearlescent “blazing carnelian” colour looks a bit subdued, but there’s no way to dumb down the gorgeous lines of the LC500. The body looks like it’s been poured over its massive 21” wheels. A huge bonnet just melts into its curved flanks and its wide rear end tails off sharply to a fussy but likeable splitter at the rear. It’s as gorgeous as it is distinctive. And it’s going to be a fun week.

DAY TWO

I ONLY really managed a trip up the road to pick my wife up from work yesterday, but it’s the weekend today, so I’ve got some time to properly get to know the LC500. You slip into the cabin and are cossetted by tightfitting Alcantara seats, which electrically manoeuvre you into position as the steering wheel glides down to fall into your hands. It’s a gorgeous interior, which blends its modern touches with an elegant but purposeful console layout. At 5ft 8in, I fit really well, and it takes no time at all to find a comfortable driving position.

Starting the LC500 up, you’re treated to the usual trendy bark from its four exhausts. My neighbours are going to love me. The revs soon settle down to a calm rumble, and as you pull away, it’s all very quiet and civilised inside. But there’s a beast waiting to wake up.

Today, because I’ve been an adult for quite a while now, the most exciting trip I’ll be doing is to the supermarket. But even that’s a joy. My first impression of the engine is that it’s as responsive as it is tuneful. The accelerator pedal has a long throw, which is ideal for tempering its potential on wet roads and, in “eco” mode, it’s very comfortable and easy to drive. But there’s clearly a big beast lying within.

DAY THREE

IT’S Sunday, and I’ve been up early to get some chores out of the way. It would be rude not to pop out in the Peak District for a play in the LC500. The roads are still a bit greasy, so I’m having to be a bit careful, but thankfully the traction control system is effective. Don’t ask me how I know that, just take my word for it.

This won’t come as any surprise, but the LC500 is rapid. For some reason, there are 10 gears and, in sport+ mode you get a proper thump in the back as each ratio shifts, but it’s dawned on me today how much I miss normally aspirated engines. Turbochargers are the new in-thing as we all try to reign in our emissions, but here’s an old-fashioned muscle car which will pull away from any part of the rev range, and carry on surging you forward all the way up to the 7,300rpm rev limit. Peak torque, incidentally, is at 7,100, so it likes to rev. And it sounds absolutely jawdropping all the way through. It is a simply magnificent engine.

DAY FOUR

I’M having an office day today, so I’m not going anywhere in the LC500. But during a quiet moment in my lunch break I take a look through the car’s spec sheet. My test car, which has the Sport Pack Plus and its smattering of carbon fibre, costs £87,925. Lexus usually throws in plenty of goodies as part of the package, and this is no exception. The only options this topspec car has is a £500 paintjob and a £1,000 booming stereo system.

I grant you, that’s Porsche 911 money, so there are more dynamically capable cars, but you won’t find many these days with such an incredible engine. And it looks every bit the sixfigure supercar. I’ve lost count of the number of people who have walked past it and stopped to admire it. Or even taken a photo.

DAY FIVE

TODAY I’ve got a rather mundane journey to do, to move some things from one place to another. The LC500’S boot isn’t bad. It’s quite shallow, but what it lacks in depth it makes up for in size. It goes back a long way. And then there are some reasonably good rear seats to take a bit more stuff in.

These seats are beneath a very low roofline, so adults will struggle to fit, but it’s fine for kids, and there are child-seat fixing points. If only the catches to move the front seats forward weren’t so hard to reach. At least they automatically slide forward once you’ve contorted yourself though.

Despite its bonkers engine, it’s very good at doing mundane runs. It’s comfortable, the suspension can be made fairly soft, and visibility is pretty good. I just wish Lexus would do away with the awful trackpad they use to navigate the infotainment screen with. Turning on the heated seats, for example, is a messy, clumsy affair, hidden as it is in sub-menu after sub-menu. We want buttons, not a science degree, when we need to warm our buttocks. This track-pad, incidentally, has now disappeared from more up-to-date Lexus cars, so hopefully this is its last hoorah.

DAY SIX

BEFORE the LC500 goes back, I return a favour for a photographer friend of mine and offer to spend a morning with him in the Staffordshire Moorlands parking it up in pretty places so he can get some pictures for his portfolio. I’m reminded, as I gaze at it with the Weaver Hills in the background, just how gorgeous it is. From just about every angle, it’s one of the prettiest cars on the road right now. The fact it has a stonking great V8 in it just endears me to it even more.

On the way back, my pal jumps out and asks me to “give it some beans” up a twisty hill while he takes a few more pictures. “Oh, go on then,” I tell him.

Even on dry roads, it’s remarkably easy to light up the rear tyres. And while the steering is a bit lacking in feel, there’s a beautiful balance about the thing, and it’s far more predictable than I expected. Hurling it around a twisty lane is an absolute joy, and I’m reminded that Lexus really does know how to make a car handle well.

DAY SEVEN

THE LC500 goes back today and I’m sad. Not just because I have to wave goodbye to such a fun toy, but because it’s dawned on me this will probably be the last car with a big naturally aspirated V8 engine I’m sent. Manufacturers are desperate to lop off cylinders to keep their carbon footprints down, and turbos help further with emissions.

The automotive world is downsizing and electrifying just about every car it offers, and the V8 is being stretchered off to life support. I’ll miss them.

But, having said that, what a great car to serve up a swansong in. The LC500 is not without its flaws, but it brings an unforgettable mix of oldschool muscle car, luxury grand tourer, and drop-dead gorgeous sports car.

It makes me feel glad I was around to be part of this glorious era of automotive joy, before we lose it forever.