THE D_TRB REVIEW: Lexus LC500

Lexus is perhaps the strangest manufacturer known to mankind. It built its reputation creating some of the quietest and most luxurious saloon cars ever devised, yet out of the blue created the shrieking, wildly expensive and completely wonderful LFA. Completely wonderful save for the slightly clunky, fragile-feeling paddle shift gearbox. And by ‘out of the blue’ I mean ‘after the most painfully and inexplicably drawn out development’. Now it builds the dumpy, mean-spirited CT200h and the booming GS F super-saloon, the staid and imperial LS600h and the completely bizarre-looking NX and RX. You can take it as read that all Lexus models are built to withstand a nuclear winter, but everything else about each model seems to be fired out of a great randomiser somewhere in the bowels of its HQ in Nagoya, Aichi.

However, that’s all set to change. The bold/bizarre (delete as appropriate) styling cues like the ‘spindle’ grille and super-sharp lines are permeating every model (even the next LS saloon, which will be shown in a few days at the Detroit show) and the distinctive look is set to be backed-up by a more dynamic character, too. At least that’s what they tell us. The real statement piece of this new direction are the LC500 and LC500h twins. They’re based on a new chassis platform called Global Architecture – Luxury (or GA-L, if you want it be slightly more catchy), featuring lightweight materials, a low centre of gravity and all sorts of trick systems including a new rear-wheel steering system to further increase agility. The LC also unashamedly channels the LFA, which can only be a Very Good Thing.

You can make your own mind up on the way the LC looks. For me the complexity of the details is mitigated by the long, wide and pretty lean shape and the overall effect is slightly strange but definitely intriguing and could only be Japanese. This or the blobby old SC430? I’ll take the radical approach, please. Anyway, what’s beneath the skin is as intriguing as the strakes and slashes, flicks and tricks.

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You can have your LC two ways: The 500 is fitted with Lexus’ fabulously bellowy 5.0-litre V8 producing 471bhp at 7100rpm and 398lb ft at 4800rpm and features a new 10-speed (yes, ten) automatic gearbox. The 500h has a 3.5-litre V6 producing 295bhp at 6600rpm and 257lb ft at 4900rpm plus an electric motor for a combined output of 354bhp. It too has 10 ratios, but this time the hellishly complex transmission features a conventional four-speed automatic ‘box that drives through a CVT system. The latter divides the first three ratios of the former into three ‘virtual’ ratios (for nine) and the final ratio is an overdrive-type gear. The concept is to have the theoretical efficiency of a CVT ‘box but without the horrid real life mewing associated with them. Lexus hasn’t released prices for the LC just yet but the two models will be very similar and think just under $100,000 in the US and around £85,000 in the UK. Dynamically the Lexus engineers targeted the Porsche 911 at one end of the spectrum and the Mercedes S-Class Coupe at the other. That’s a seriously wide remit…

Initially at least, the Lexus feels closer in spirit to the 911. You sit low in the deliciously cool interior and the LC’s steering response is fast and the way it reacts suggests a really stiff, agile chassis. I’m in the 500h to start with and although the ‘augmented’ engine noise is a bit naff, it adds to the surprising feeling that the LC really is trying to be a sports car. There’s more road noise than you might expect, too. But that’s not a disappointment, it just seems to fit with the sense that driving fun is a higher priority than pure luxury. Even the ‘box feels pretty sharp and positive. Certainly the 500h doesn’t feel as heavy as it is. A good job as despite the largely aluminium chassis with sprinklings of high-strength steel and carbonfibre, plus aluminium bonnet, doors and a fibreglass boot lid it weighs a ridiculous 2011kg. Even the V8-powered 500 comes in at 1935kg.

As the roads get emptier (we’re in Spain, home to probably the world’s greatest road network that leads to nowhere in particular) the 911 does, however, start to look like a very ambitious target. The CVT ‘box is betrayed when the engine hits, say, 6000rpm and just hangs there for a few seconds. It just sounds horrible and detaches you from what’s going on. The drivetrain can’t really hit as hard as you might want and expect for around £80,000, either. Lexus claim 0-60mph in 4.7-seconds but more often than not the mass of the 500h feels like it’s winning the battle against the combined effort of the petrol and electric motors. You can cycle between Eco, Normal, Comfort, Sport S and Sport S+ modes, which adjusts the steering weight and the Adaptive Variable Suspension, and while the 500h has a nice agility and good body control, ultimately it feels too safe. There’s a bit too much understeer, the drivetrain has those soft, fuzzy edges because of the CVT ‘box and somehow it feels like the natural attributes of its new front-mid engined layout and low centre of gravity can’t really be capitalised upon.

Next up is the 500 and this time at a racetrack. That seems ambitious for a 1935kg GT-cum-sports car but this is the LC in ultimate Sport+ configuration. That means a limited-slip differential, carbonfibre roof, 21-inch wheels and Lexus Dynamic Handling – or rear-wheel steering. Immediately it feels like a different animal. The big V8 sounds wonderfully rorty and there’s no digital manipulation here, just a pipe to transmit the natural sounds into the cabin. It’s so much faster, too. It needs revs to really perform but that’s part of the joy of a normally aspirated engine, and the purity of the throttle response and the simple pleasure of hearing such a big motor wind out to over 7000rpm is tough to beat. The 10-speed ‘box is brilliant, too. It really thumps home the changes in Sport S+ mode and suddenly you’re so much more connected to the car.

Rear-wheel steering seems to be the technology of the moment and probably with good reason. So equipped the LC can start to live up to the promises of that new architecture. There’s very little body and the car turns with real conviction. The balance is good… there’s a bit of understeer, as you’d expect, but you can use the engine’s lovely consistent delivery to drive out of that and into a sweet zone where the car is driving hard and not slipping away from you at the front or back. Of course you can slide it about too, which is nice. Overall it’s a pretty fun 20 minutes or so. I love the engine and ‘box – which feels near-as-dammit as sharp as a dual-clutch unit – and the steering response and easy balance are really enjoyable, too.

Out on the road the 500 continues to relegate the 500h to nothing more than a sideshow. It feels more positive in everything it does, the sound really is inspirational in these turbocharged times and although the car clearly lacks the sheer control and ability of something like a 911 Carrera S, it’s a real feel-good car. Part of that comes from how different the LC is to something like a BMW, Audi or Porsche, but a lot of it is because it’s just an enjoyable, well-resolved machine. Of course it doesn’t hit the heights of the rarefied LFA supercar and ultimately it’s still a GT first and sports car second, but the LC500 is deeply appealing. Slightly mad, beautifully built, fantastic to be in and blessed with a gloriously executed 5.0-litre V8, this is a vision of Lexus that we can buy into wholeheartedly.

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