A great read by EVO magazine for anyone interested:

https://drives.today/articles/226/co...ston-mart.html

It's a long test, but if you just want the LC500 related stuff, read below:

"And so to the Lexus LC 500. With a starting price of a little over £80k, it is punching well beyond its pay grade in this test. Yet parked with the other three cars it is arguably the star. Admittedly this depends on whether you see the LC as the son of LFA, but even if you don’t there’s no denying this rakish and unflinchingly bold coupe is a beacon of individuality.The interior is even better. Think Bang & Olufsen crossed with 1970s futurism. What’s more, there’s exceptional substance to support the style. Everything feels and works with an oiled, engineered precision that’s a joy to use. And, thanks to the Toyota DNA, you know it will be impervious to wear and tear.

Beneath the bonnet is a naturally aspirated V8. Displacing 5 litres and developing 470bhp at 7100rpm, it is comfortably the peakiest and least powerful engine in the test. This deficit is amplified by the torque peak of 398lb ft at 4800rpm, but a ten-speed (count ’em!) torque converter automatic does its best to keep it on the boil.

Much as with its interior and exterior styling, the LC is a curious creature dynamically. There’s not much connection to the steering, but the chassis has excellent balance. Traction isn’t as strong as in the Ferrari (or Bentley), but it’s very driveable, and because there isn’t a big slug of torque you can chase the throttle.

You can feel the mass – 1935kg of it – but more in the damping, which lacks ultimate body control. On a fast, undulating road the LC is the most likely to bruise its bump-stops, so you soon feel the need to bring in some more support through the dynamic driving modes. This helps, but there’s an inherent softness of suspension and steering response that makes the LC’s position clear – more exciting and up-for-it than the Bentley, but some way from the sporting capabilities of the Aston or Ferrari.

Odd – and brilliantly Japanese, then – to have this svelte machine powered by a snarling, race-car-like V8. It loves to rev and has a real howl to it when extended that’s fabulous but quite contradictory to the ultra-cool styling and soft-edged damping. Working with ten speeds takes some getting used to, too, almost to the point where you divide whatever number appears on the display by two to judge what gear is appropriate for any given corner. The paddles have by far the nicest feel, but if you leave the auto to do its own thing, when you kickdown there’s the occasional sense it doesn’t know quite how many gears to drop.

Perversely, while swapping from, say, the Roma into the LC leaves you wondering if a few of the plug leads have been disconnected, once you’ve had a chance to readjust your expectations there’s a lot to be said for having to work the Lexus harder. For not only can you enjoy more time with the throttle wide open, but the chassis balance and generally lower limits mean you’re having more fun more of the time.

It all combines to make for a truly, madly, deeply individual driving experience. One that’s enriched by the genuinely sensational interior and a sense that the LC 500 is very much its own car. It takes a certain sort of person to buy this car, which would explain why they are such a rarity on UK roads, but to those who have taken the plunge, evo salutes you."

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Conclusion:
This leaves the Lexus, which slots neatly between the DB11 and Conti GT in our finishing order. Yes, it was a leftfield choice, but the fact it made such a lasting and positive impression vindicates its inclusion. Tomalin wasn’t sure what to expect, but was convincingly won over: ‘I’ve warmed to the looks over the course of these two days. It’s not beautiful or handsome, but it is different and interesting, very much its own thing. The interior is just brilliant: so original, so special. In the context of a GT, which needs to make you feel good about life when you’re not at eight or nine-tenths, it’s the best here.’

 

Thanks for posting.

 

"In the context of a GT, which needs to make you feel good about life when you’re not at eight or nine-tenths, it’s the best here." This is amazingly high praise for a car half the price of of the other renowned marques. I am very happy with my LC 500 choice.

 

We traded our GT Speed at 35,000 miles for our first LC. Very analog to very digital at one go. I had never really thought about my “sense of well being” until I experienced Bentley. Best car on the road, so very intelligently done.

But at less than half the price, an LC can make me feel very glad to be alive today.

 

There was a Roma in the shop getting PPF at the same time I did. It was badass. Love my LC, but if I had the extra cash sitting around. That would be a good reason to blow it.

 

even if you could contemplate taking the initial hit of owning a Roma, i fear the long term ownership costs of one of these babies truly terrifying; that's what's great about the LC : its a Toyota

 

Never really understood this mentality, although its your opinion.

If we're going by logic and not what culture tells us to think, the LC is as much a Toyota as the Phantom is a BMW or the Continental GT is a VW.

LC uses unique parts, is essentially a production concept car, and is not built on a standard Toyota production line, but the highest level LFA production line.

 

Actually LC is built on a regular Toyota production (Motomatchi plant) along with the Crown, Mark X, Estima, Mirai, GR Yaris.

 

Actually you are mistaken. The LC is built on the same production line that the LFA was produced.Maybe same plant, but the exclusive LFA production line.


WE'RE SPECIAL!

 

I NEVER said line! Guess people read what they want to read.. LOL

 

if its that alarming, you could carbon fiber over the metal nameplate ...

 

I quite literally said line, so not sure why it matters who owns the land that the LC/LFA was built on. Its a Lexus production line.

I don't think your comment really changes my original point, either. But thanks for adding on.

 

going nowhere. closed.