Lexus LC500 review

As car enthusiasts, a lot of us tend to sing our praises (and/or criticisms) of a new car with a self-centered perspective. To make it worse, we tend to be pretty hard-headed & adamant about it. And to make it even worse than that… most of us haven’t even 1st-hand driven the automobile that we’re criticizing. We really need to try and look at things with a broader lens sometimes. Not every car was made specifically for you.

And so far in my life, I’m just not into ‘gentlemanly’ sports cars. So this isn’t the car for me. Fine. But having said that, I like the Lexus LC500… A LOT!

I’m captivated by this thing. When you start really paying attention to the details of the LC… the way textures, lighting, & accent lines marry. It’s nothing less than modern art. The kind of art that your would expect to see in a gallery, over a parking lot. It’s as if they took The Cosmopolitan and/or Aria lobbies, and morphed them into a vehicle.

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Is it sexy? Yeah, go ahead and check that box.

Is it fast? Certainly. You can check that box too.

But is it the fastest car you can buy for the money? No.

The Lexus LC is a sophisticated, refined type of fast. Museum fast. High-class fast. Fast enough to raise the hair on the back of her neck, but not animalistic enough to scare her out of her skin.

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The traction control is a little too Big Brother for me. It’s like, Lexus knows their customer is buying more car than they’re ready for. And therefore, the traction control cuts too much power too darn quickly in my opinion… and it results in a massacred 1st gear. The rest of the gears are loooong. Super long. When you get into the throttle, you hear the power pour in & it sounds amazing. However – you’re lucky to paddle-shift it once before you’re just obliterating the speed limit. Shorter gears with somewhat less traction-control restriction, and more shifting, would make it more exhilarating from a driver’s perspective. However, it would also make it more abrasive, and more unsettled. And that’s not what the LC500 is about. The LC settles in as more of a cultured sports car… and less of a renegade sports car.

But to contradict myself… I felt awake, alive, refreshed, and successful behind the wheel. All while being simultaneously calmed by extremely well thought out textures, materials, luxuries, and conveniences. The LC engages your more mature senses.

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So going back to that ‘broader lens’ I spoke about at the beginning. Does the Lexus LC500 have the raw sports car appeal of a Z06 or 911. No, but it’s not supposed to. (And heck – does the newer 911 even have ‘raw’ sports car appeal anymore?! Just asking.)

As enthusiasts, we need to realize that we’re a big whiny pain in the ass, in terms of being ‘a customer’. We need to step aside & worry a little less about whether this car is perfect ‘for us’. And we need to be a little more supportive & vocal about Lexus having the heart/drive to make a high end 2-door GT car with a strong V8 in it – in 2018.

Because we all know that this probably should have been another 3rd-row SUV instead. We all know that would have been a sure thing. But as I preached with the IS350, Lexus is keeping SPORT alive. Maybe not for the people who are as deeply immersed in it as you & me. But for the people who want to touch it nonetheless. For people who want to feel more than another diluted SUV/CVT combo. As enthusiasts, we need to raise our glass to that.