Back this past July, i decided to cancel my deposit on a 2022 Corvette C8. Just because i've never been a American car guy. The only American car I would ever consider would be the 60's Corvette Stingray. I decided to place an order on a Atomic Silver with Red Interior LC500 Convertible instead. The dealer told me that i should expect a delivery date of End of September to maybe beginning of November. August rolls around and I believe Toyota announces they have cut production 40-60%, and rumours are there is a full production halt on the LC500. I email my dealer telling them, i expect to have this car in 2021, as I wasn't interested in paying the new luxury tax that is about to be implemented starting Jan 1 2022. Sept 9th rolls around, my dealer calls me and tells me out of the blue, they received a White with Tanned interior from Lexus Canada and that the car is sold if i do not want it and would rather wait for the 2022. Production date is July 2021 and the car has 10 km's on it. I go into the dealership, bring my plates (R1LEE) and sign off on it. I pick it up the next day - Friday Sept 10th.

Aesthetics - Exterior
what is there not to love (all relative of course). Side profile is the least spectacular, but every other angle, the car just looks amazing. Very little pictures online do it justice and once you take a look at front quarter panel and rear quarter panel angle, its just simply breath taking. I have gotten so many looks and compliments that it reminds me when i purchased the 2008 R8 when it was in its first year of production, especially with the sideblades. The long hood and the long rear deck with the ducktail is just simply very cool, you can literally serve a full meal on that back deck for a party of 2. The tail lights look way better in person then do they online. It just screams infinity!

Interior
I'm glad that i was finally able to get my burnt caramel interior. I preferred this over the red, and the all black wasn't even a consideration. My wife is not a fan, as she thinks its meant for old people (which i'm getting older) and its really my car,. If you've seen youtube channels, you know how luxurious the interior is, but i do find some gripes. Interior space is lacking, especially for a car this size. It's very tight to be honest, but my kids 12 and 10 fit ok. I'm a little bit tight with both of them sitting in the back, but its livable. But even as a 2 seater, its pretty damn tight. It's really meant as a 3 seater for us, since it allows the other person to take a car and we still have another vehicle at home to carry 3. BTW, the doors weight is way to heavy, i have issues opening it and closing it. the handle feels like its going to brake from having to pull such a heavy door. It also seems i'm weak, as closing the door is like pushing a 20kg bag of sand with my leg. You go to move it and it just doesn't' move. The seatbelt is cumbersome, especially if you have passengers.

Climate Controls - Infotainment
Not sure where to begin. This thing is horrible. Even when the system is shut off, i feel warm air blowing on my feet. My damn feet is warm/hot all the time. I have to turn on the climate control and lower the temp to blow some cold air to them. I have no clue how to use this system, even when everything is set to Auto under Lexus Concierge. I've resort back to just leaving the screen on the climate screen to make the adjustments. Aside from that, I have no issues with the rest of the system, cause once set, you forget. I can see why this is a turn off, but the car provides so much fun, that i can overlook this. Of course it will definitely get worst in the winter, as I like to make lots of adjustments all the time.

Driving - Exhaust
This is where everything shines. My kids have fallen in love with what a sports car should sound and feel like. My 12 yr old said the best "I didn't think i would love a car so much as i do". There is a certain RPM ( i think around 4-5000) at half throttle that the car just has this high pitch, screaming F1 inspired sound and its just so intoxicating to hear, especially if you drive by a bunch of cars or a wall. My R8 never did this and the AMG GT-C that i drove was more muscular sounding, which wasn't for me. When you get into WOT with high RPM's, it just sound great, like this car has some real *****. It is blistering loud and my girls scream like little girls do, haha. The gear changes, PAK PAK PAK, just sounds like a gun is being fired. Love it! Due to the nature of this exhaust, i have given myself and my wife a little bit of nauseousness as i hunt for gears to replicate all that is said above. That giddiness will go away one day, but until that day comes, i'm preparing myself for more motion sickness. I do prefer my 6 speed, gated shifter in my old R8. Maybe I should have never sold it to begin with. Hoping Porsche will continue to make manual, as i prepare to purchase a 911 C4S in the near future for the misses.

Driving Dynamics
no complaints here, but i'm wondering if this car is Steer by wire? So far this car, my parents 2022 MDX have very similar feed back, or lack of feedback. I somewhat feel disconnected from the road, moreso in the MDX (that’s expected) then here, but its there, even though it may be just a little hint of it. Of course there’s no comparison to feedback compared to the R8, a mid engine sports car is just so direct. The Audi just felt like you were sitting in a jet fighter about to launch. The LC does not provide a similar experience, but again, expected due to the long hood and the front engine layout. Overal, aside from the little hint of no feedback, there is no complaints here. She gives me more then I would ever care to use. Suspension soaks up everything that is in its way. I drive in Sport + all the time, and I have zero bottoming out issues as I did with my E400. Everything is just so smooth and to be honest, I can barely tell between the settings. When compared to the AMG GT, it was a horrible drive overall. A friend had told me to try it out before I decided to get the AMG. He told me he had his for 1 week and decided to trade it in (he has a collection of ferrari’s, Senna, SLR and others). Glad he communicated that to me, as I would have bought the AMG on the spot, vs requesting a a test drive. The AMG was rough, idled rough, steering was weird with the front mounted mid engine. Turning into corners just felt awkward. The seating position is so far back (not sure if its further back then the LC or not) but in the AMG you felt it. The LC has none of that feeling, probably due to the 50/50 weight distribution. I did not feel that the hood of the car was way to long (even though it is).

Conclusion
Totally worth what I paid and probably more. The exhaust note alone is worth every single penny this car is worth (I would have paid the asking price for the LFA, if i thought my wife would approve of that purchase when that car was launched, just for the exhaust note). Everything else is a bonus (except the climate control).

At the dealer, i got $4k off, 35% Ceramic Tints all around and a few Knick Knacks. 2 blankets for the girls and 3 very cool Thermos water bottles ( i actually like these ones).

I also installed the Tom's Air Filter (so far, i hear no difference) probably a good waste of $180 USD.
Suntek Reaction PPF is going on the entire car this Sunday. I will Ceramic Coat the wheels myself and the windshield once i get the car back and my winter tires/rims.

 

Great review and now I am more eager to get mine! Also great to hear you got $4K off, despite the demand and limited availability. I've waffled on getting a car this year due to the luxury tax, but ultimately will be waiting till the spring.

 

thanks for taking the time to do the write-up!

about the tom's air filter, yeah if it's just replacement filters, it won't make any difference i would imagine. if you replace the intakes, that will.

 

r1ee: I think that if you spend some time adjusting the climate controls (no easy task, it's a rather...complex...system), you will find settings that please you. There's no reason why you should be getting warm air on your feet regardless of the setting. FWIW, I don't use the Concierge. I just set the desired temps and let Auto do the rest.

 

Glad you said it screams "Infinity" and not "Infiniti" lol

 

Thanks for your write up, and adding your perspectives as someone with experience and history. Sounds like you are like me, that narrow demographic who can use and appreciate what an LC is, and the very good value it brings.

 

I look forward to being part of this very narrow demographic very very soon

 

Which one is going to wet your whistle? Vert? Coupe? Colors?

 

I liked the idea of a limited edition one, coupe and in a dark colour. In Canada there was an Inspiration model for 2021 in either black or white, with the fixed spoiler and black rims. Only 10 came to the country and they were spoken for. We'll see if they go ahead with bespoke orders and/or do another Inspiration model for 2022. I'm worried they'll not bother if they're going bespoke.

Ultimately my needs are:

1. Coupe
2. Dark colour (black or blue - wife has veto'd Nori Green)
3. Dark rims
4. Dark interior (black or red are all I've seen)
5. Non-hybrid (most of us would agree)

The "wants" that aren't needs:

1. Carbon fibre roof
2. Fixed spoiler (provided it's body coloured)
3. VGRS

EDIT: I forgot to include some key information. I already put a deposit down to be first in line for any 2022 announcements.

Here are some pics from the Canadian configurator. Sorry for the hasty copy/paste

 

Pretty sahweet...either way I think you will be happy. What you driving now? I really love my Caviar color with the Red interior. Had a lot of black exteriors and the Caviar is much better to look clean.

 

This model looks so much better than the odd looking chrome/black wheels on the original model. I saw one for the first time on the road last weekend... gorgeous car.

 

I actually love the chrome with the black insets. One of my fav wheels I have had. But its all in the eye of the beholder On my black Benz I did have a company repaint my wheels flat black and it looked nice. I just have had bad luck with buying after market wheels. Seems like they never balance quite right.

 

I am sure I'll be happy too! The caviar is gorgeous as well, I wouldn't turn it down if they had that as a special edition either! Right now I have a 2021 GX460, and up until this Spring I had a 2013 GS350 (red on red) that I miss every day. The LC will be a "third" car that I'll use for simple things like date nights or day/weekend trips with the wife when we can leave the kids and pets at home.

Yeah, I really feel like they nailed it with this one. I do want to see it in real life though to see if the fixed spoiler looks good or tacky. On the white version of the Inspiration Edition, the spoiler is still black which makes it stand out a bit.

 

Pretty sure your driving experience will be a tiny bit different from the GX to the LC lol. Smart man to leave the kids and pets at home. I used to make my kids wear hazmat suits before they got into my rides

 

Yeah generally my kids are pretty careful around cars. Slowly opening doors in parking spots, kicking their feet together to get snow off them, etc. But today, my 8 year old used his rainboots to kick the door open. He just lost LC privilege until he's 35.