SW17LS

On a car like this you get to a point where you can't cut weight without cutting into equipment or dramatically driving up cost by using really super exotic materials.

Its a big luxury coupe, it doesn't need to be lighter.

G Star

iTrader: (2)

Right on, Lexus has shown that when there is a will there is a way and made the LFA much lighter but there is a point where it all needs to make sense for the spreadsheets. Lexus has already admitted they had to use spare parts to make the LC more affordable. They can't just start replacing luxury with weight savings, its a luxury coupe.

Reviews have said that the LC is on good behavior when in comfort mode and really livens up with Sport+. They must be doing something right.

AJT123

Anyone notice there are only 3 air vents? Wonder if that would be an issue in the heat with a passenger.

I can't get over how nice that interior looks. At first I was like "No woodgrain?" but now I can't see where it would go.

Absolutely stunning car, insde and out. Black looks reallllllllly sharp, especially with the light brown interior.

I think this car will be worth the price, and I always have thought Lexus (while not MB status) has plenty of brand cachet. If people buy $95k 10-year-old-platform LX570s in decent numbers I would imagine this will sell in the right market, as well.

Toys4RJill

If you look ever so closely, there is a set of air vents above the glove compartment. They are thin and small, it is hard to see.

Duck05

Not that you can compare a design from over 25 years ago, but being an original buyer of a '92 SC300 and easily classified as a "luxury coupe" (with actually "functional" back seats) the car came in a bit under 4000 lbs. It was and is a heavy car and rides as such. I was taken back by the announced weight of the LC500 but it may make sense given the engine is larger (although, I really could not tell you the weight of the older engines versus newer designs with modern materials so that could be a bad assumption/opinion on my part).

The original SCs were designed to be comfort touring coupes and it is only after suspension changes, lowering the car, and going to wider tires does this frame start to perform. Looks to me that the LC500 has attempted to challenge most of those issues but added on a few pounds (which may be masked by the tech added to this car).

Won't know until we (regular people) get a chance to drive one......

SW17LS

Cars have gotten heavier in general. The SC lacked a lot of the equipment, safety features, additional bracing, etc the LC has.

mmarshall

The general hardware, though, and body-construction, of typical Lexus products of that era seemed to have a heavier, more solid feel than it does today. Shut the door on a Lexus from back then, and shut the door on one today (especially the ES350) and, though still precise, it feels and sounds tinny in comparison Same for some of the materials used in the door-panels, dash, and console.

As others have pointed out earlier, the main reason cars have gotten heavier is because they stick so much more standard and optional equipment on them....sometimes by government edict, sometimes by simple customer demand.

dseag2

But it had those fancy, double-hinged doors!

AJT123

You're not kidding. I had a '14 ES350 as a loaner once and the second I shut the door getting out, it was so tinny and unsubstantial sounding that I did a visual double take. It literally made me turn around and double check. Coming from an LS430 which is a tank, I don't expect every other car to feel like a bank vault, but I could not believe how cheap feeling the doors shutting sounded. Might as well have been a Corolla.

G Star

iTrader: (2)

Personally I think recent cars close better today than the older Lexus era. The feel and sound of a door closing should only get better and not worse in the Luxury space. Then again, as the cars age and the more they're used, the tight quality feeling loses its touch.

SW17LS

The ES isn't representative of the whole line though. The doors still close in my LS with the same solidity they always did. My GS was the same way.

Toys4RJill

I agree. The current Lexus doors shut fine. The LS460 needs no thud as it has those soft closers that pull the doors in. I have always noticed different brands have different styles of closing. Lexus has a nice sealing feel to their closing. I bet those who are complaining about the new models of Lexus doors would not be able to tell which model is new vs which is old if they were blindfolded.

mmarshall

That's true....but more of a factor because of good weatherstripping and weather-sealing (something Lexus has always been good at) rather than necessarily the door solidness themselves.

If you want to feel a solid bank-vault door, probably nothing else in the industry, at least in the American market, can compare to the Mercedes G-Wagon (Gelandewagen). That is simply in a class by itself.

Don't put any money on that bet, because you'd lose. On the ES, at least, I can easily tell the difference between the 4th, 5th, and 6th-Generation door-closings, even blindfolded. But not necessarily on other Lexus models, though, as Steve (correctly) pointed out that the ES doors are not representative of the entire Lexus line.

AJT123

The ES350 doors don't.

If you blindfolded me and shut the door in that ES350 I would think I was in cheap, not necessarily new Honda. None of the other Lexus models feel so cheap... Our '11 IS350 has nice, thunky doors. I'm sure to 90% of ES buyers it doesn't matter (and Lexus knows this), but for me it was absolutely unacceptable. Another glaring cheap touch was the lower door panels. Just wow. Like I've seen someone post on here, a '92 Camry DX has better plastic in the lower doors.

imrankh24

I agre with sw15ls. You have to realize the es is a entry level luxury sedan. And no joke my 16 es usually take me and my passengers at least 2 times to completely close the door. So I'm guessing they made it more solid.