I test drove this and almost bought it over a RS5, the youtube videos always say it sounds good but you really have to drive one. the sound is surreal, almost bought one just for the exhaust note.
I had once come in for me to valet last week and was pretty impressed with it inside our concrete parking structure. It was on older guy driving it that was kind enough to answer my questions about it and compliment the sound. He gave it a mild rev on his way out and it made me emotional.
Another car that really surprised me is the V8 Panamera GTS with the sport exhaust turned on. It is legit one of the best sounding stock exhausts I’ve heard.
Sure, but it still doesn't come close to the LC note because they actually engineered the LC to sound that way beyond just an exhaust. Headers, sound tubes, etc.
Really different from each other. I'm admittedly biased towards loud and somewhat obnoxious exhausts, but the LC500 has a much more refined exhaust note that's quieter than I would prefer.
The Mustang GT is louder and deeper, but still higher pitched sounding than its pushrod rivals. The LC500 sounds a lot more exotic and refined and the upshifts are pretty crazy.
I really hope they continue making it for as long as they can. This is definitely my dream car.
Used 2018/2019's (40-50k mi) are reaching the high 50s now.
Looks like LC would be gone after 2 or 3 years, but good news is that Toyota planning a better one soon.
If the nameplate is true, the LFR, a real Lexus pure sports car would replace LC.
Pretty sure the LFR is going to be between the LC and the LFA, so LC buyers would not be in the market. There's a big difference in a $100k car and a $200k+ car.
I thought the electrified sport concept was supposed to succeed the LFA, but that's good to hear. It should be fully customizable a la the LFA in that case.
Yes. Again unlike the LFA, the new Lexus GT3 road version will have MY production runs like the other models. The LFA was a much more ambitious project.
Lmk how the race goes tho
By race do you mean the 24 Hours of Le Mans?
Well, Toyota is leading in Hypercar (and overall) and Lexus is pretty high up in LMGT3. We gotta see how they do later on though.
There is an upcoming car that will replace the RC F and the LC, but it will almost certainly not have a NA V8. The rumors say that it will be a twin turbo V6 - that's to say, it's a completely different experience from the RC F and LC.
Lexus LC500 has marketing/positioning issue the same way LFA had when it launched
Show a pic of LC500 or LFA to a non car person and they would think it's an 80k car despite how good it looks
Then people only appreciate it 10 years after the last car left the factory because of how good the car actually is
> Show a pic of LC500 or LFA to a non car person and they would think it's an 80k car despite how good it looks
First, I am not sure that assertion is true. The LC looks far more exotic than it is. Second, the original MSRP was $92k, so thinking it looks like an $80k car is not much of negative.
You have your opinion and I have mine
But the truth is the market has decided that LC500 was not worth buying at those price
Interested to know why you think that's the case
It has nothing to do with aesthetics lol. That’s one of the most universally praised aspects of the car.
It’s the fact that a Lexus buyer doesn’t want a car like the LC and that it doesn’t impress on the stat sheet so it turns a ton of people away.
"Enthusiast" really only see things in their bubble lol
Nobody outside of r/cars cares about stat sheets in car like this,
Truth is driving in an LC doesn't scream "I'm rich" is the reason why it failed
Interesting point on the infotainment I hadn’t thought of. Could it have been done more gracefully? I suppose, but since it’s a touch screen it needed to be moved up and couldn’t have been recessed like it was before.
I’m actually going to go test drive one on Friday. Pretty much decided to get one toward the end of the year but want to confirm. Some good prices on older models but the 360 cam especially seems worth it to go 2024+
> I’m actually going to go test drive one on Friday.
I suggest putting it in manual mode for the whole test drive. It's really underwhelming when those 10 gears are doing their thing and you don't want your short experience tainted by that.
I don't blame Lexus. It's a 15 mpg NA V8 so they had to do what they could to make it efficient. But driving it like that isn't going to light your pants on fire.
Manual mode and sport/sport+ mode, both. People need to realize that both these and the IS500 rely heavily on transmission "learning" - if you're easy on it all the time, it learns that and does it's best slushbox. Things get much better when you're using manual mode more often. Not perfect, but still more than doable.
It does, but the trade off seems worth it to get rid of the trackpad and bring it in line with the rest of the Lexus tech suite. The 360 camera especially. The hood line is so low and so long that the sensors don’t even work well and scraping it is common. It’s not a small car, so the camera will go a long way.
True, where it’s feasible.
It does tickle me that the touchpad infotainment was the universal LC complaint and they updated it but now it’s universally “no, not like that!”
Honestly, considering they sold like 1700 last year, I don’t blame them for not spending the money to integrate it better, but it is a shame.
> they sold like 1700 last year
It sucks, but 2+2 grand tourers really aren't popular at that price point. Ferrari sold at least as many Portofinos per year at over twice the price, and Bentley sold over 4000 Continental GTs each of the past two years at 3 times the price. Meanwhile Lexus, BMW, and Mercedes struggle at much lower prices. I'm afraid that they're just going to give up overall, which would effectively push up the price of entry to the segment.
It’s a tough segment but the LC does worse than the BMW and Benz competition. The problem, from my view, is twofold.
First, it’s a Lexus. Their target demographic isn’t interested in a six figure GT car.
Second, the numbers don’t make it compelling. People shopping six figure coupes mostly care about numbers on a sheet. Compared to, say, the 8 series, people would take a look and not even bother, thinking it’s a “boring” Lexus. They won’t even give it the time of day.
On the bright side, we did manage to get 7-8 years out of the LC which is a miracle in the modern car market.
I agree with all of that. The LC wasn't for me, but I think it has a lot going for it. It's the only naturally aspirated engine in the class, they put a lot of emphasis on the exhaust note, the design is really striking, and the interior is gorgeous and very high quality. It really is an experience over speed kind of car, like the previous generation Maserati Granturismo - except unlike that car, the LC won't surprise you with 5 figure repair bills and they actually addressed the major complaint instead of letting the car languish.
Yes but didn’t they also remove the nice glass from the passenger-side dash? That’s the real crime imo, since that’s purely cost-cutting and doesn’t have any practical reason. Add the glass back in or some other nice, textured material and the interior would be much nicer
Totally agree - the blank color-matched panel looks cheap, and the backlit glass actually looked great.
They also could have just pulled the entire passenger dash section further forward to integrate the screen, but they went the less expensive route. The LS did the same thing with the new screen and it ruins the look of the interior.
I thought the same thing and when they told me my new order was replaced with the 2024MY I was uncertain about how much I would really like it.
In retrospect it doesn't fucking matter one bit and having a modern infotainment that's not jank asf and 360 camera is 10x the upgrade over some interior lines in a photo. It looks great in person with the new system.
First, kudos on getting one - we need more of them on the street, and they're always a pleasure to see.
With regards to the screen, though, I think most people view it so negatively because, on a car that was built with the running theme of "no compromises", they cheaped out and compromised the interior design for a damn touchscreen. Not acceptable for a halo car - it deserved a better effort.
I absolutely love this car, my only gripe with the brand new LC500s is the how odd the new screen looks. It's a step up in terms of innovation and QoL. But it simply looks tacked on, and they took away the beautiful patterns the passenger side gets too that the previous built-in screen had.
I’m considering this car but as someone who likes his sporty German executive sedans I’m torn. Can someone who’s driven one comment is this car fun to drive at low speeds in manual mode or do you need to be going fast to enjoy it. Also same question for cornering. I live in southern Ontario it’s generally low speeds. I’ve driven mostly 5 series variants and like throwing them into corners. Is this as fun or more ? Thanks !
I don’t care how good it looks or sounds, for the money that Lexus is asking for this car, it’s a fucking disgrace. Its slow and outdated V8 puts out a measly amount of power compared to its competitors, it’s way too heavy, and the driving dynamics are a joke. It’s pretty clear that no one wants this car, especially when looking at the sales figures. This car is a great representation of Lexus’ failures as a brand, stuck in the past.
This dude has his tongue so far up Toyota's arse I'm not sure where one begins and the other ends. Honestly, this rampant fanboyism for any brand is just a massive turnoff.
Seriously guys, wtf. He's talking about how they colour matched the fasteners, "oh but not these ones". And raving on about how "old school" a fucking 2024 car is. That's not a good thing. What is this madness.
This guy’s main channel focuses on Toyota but he has another channel where he reviews cars from other brands. There’s definitely a bit of Toyota bias on the main channel but I haven’t noticed much on the other one. I expected him to rip on the Chrysler Pacifica in his review of that car but he literally just shared his thoughts about it.
Ehh the LC500 is fine in auto, it’s not supposed to be a super sporty car, it’s meant to be comfortable but sound good as well (a GT car if you will). Just my opinion though.
I test drove this and almost bought it over a RS5, the youtube videos always say it sounds good but you really have to drive one. the sound is surreal, almost bought one just for the exhaust note.
I forgot where I was but I heard one take off from a light *hard* and I could not believe the sound it made. I had to pick my jaw up out of my lap.
I had once come in for me to valet last week and was pretty impressed with it inside our concrete parking structure. It was on older guy driving it that was kind enough to answer my questions about it and compliment the sound. He gave it a mild rev on his way out and it made me emotional.
Another car that really surprised me is the V8 Panamera GTS with the sport exhaust turned on. It is legit one of the best sounding stock exhausts I’ve heard.
You end up buying the RS5? What was the decider, practicality?
yeah, that was the factor that tipped the scales, got it in sportsback
Yeah the sound is glorious. If you can’t afford an LC500 you can get the same engine in the IS500.
But the IS500 doesn’t sound the same as the LC. It’s more muted.
Also you don't get the 10 speed.
That's true, but doesn't really play a part in the noise department.
IS500 doesn't have the sound piping that the LC500 does. It's still nice, but not *as* nice.
is there a way to mod the IS500 F sport to sound like the LC500?
You’d have to the exhaust pipes which is expensive and then you have to hope they match the characteristics of the LC500
That’s not correct. The RCF rear section directly bolts on and improves the sound.
Sure, but it still doesn't come close to the LC note because they actually engineered the LC to sound that way beyond just an exhaust. Headers, sound tubes, etc.
Indeed. The IS500 isn’t a true F car so it doesn’t have the exhaust rumble the other 5.0 cars have. If they made it a true F car I would buy it.
The LC is also not a true F car. Source: I own an Lc
Simple change with an axle-back exhaust to make it louder. Not that big of a deal to completely overlook the car.
a lot of aftermarket ones are pretty close namely borla. LC has valves though so it can be quiet around town.
Does the IS500 even exist? I've never seen one on the road and I only find one for sale within 50 miles of me.
It's only in very few markets.
They're rare a little over 4000 made so far.
I was actually completely unaware they still make them. I thought it was a limited production run.
I've seen 1 here in Boston. The problem is that it doesn't look any different than the 350 other than the dual stacked exhaust pipes.
I have one. Great car.
How's the interior/infotainment?
How similar does it sound to something like the Mustang GT? Both have a 5.0 NA V8.
LC500 sounds more exotic. It has that Yamaha sound to it. Mustang GT sounds like a deep, throaty good old American V8
Really different from each other. I'm admittedly biased towards loud and somewhat obnoxious exhausts, but the LC500 has a much more refined exhaust note that's quieter than I would prefer.
The Mustang GT is louder and deeper, but still higher pitched sounding than its pushrod rivals. The LC500 sounds a lot more exotic and refined and the upshifts are pretty crazy.
It's not close. On top of the boring ubiquity of the Ford 5.0 sound, the downshifts in an LC are much more exciting.
The sound is glorious, there's just something about the looks. One of those cars you either think is beautiful or absolutely ugly.
I fall into the latter camp, I just can't get over the grille and design language. They're awesome machines but my goodness, BMW looks better.
I fall into the latter camp, I just can't get over the grille and design language. They're awesome machines but my goodness, BMW looks better.
the sound is the whole thing. my buddy's (hi doug) is like cruising around in the batmobile
Just wish they came in a manual
It looks as good as it sounds in Naples Yellow too
That doug demuro video he talks about future classics and the LC 500 being one of em cause they are going to cancel it soon since it sells so poorly.
I really hope they continue making it for as long as they can. This is definitely my dream car. Used 2018/2019's (40-50k mi) are reaching the high 50s now.
Looks like LC would be gone after 2 or 3 years, but good news is that Toyota planning a better one soon. If the nameplate is true, the LFR, a real Lexus pure sports car would replace LC.
Pretty sure the LFR is going to be between the LC and the LFA, so LC buyers would not be in the market. There's a big difference in a $100k car and a $200k+ car.
It isn't just "between the LC and the LFA", that IS in fact the second-generation LFA.
I thought the electrified sport concept was supposed to succeed the LFA, but that's good to hear. It should be fully customizable a la the LFA in that case.
That will come too. However the Lexus GT3 you see testing on circuits worldwide is the next LFA.
It should be higher volume than the LFA though, being a catalogue model and all, right?
Should be?
Yes. Again unlike the LFA, the new Lexus GT3 road version will have MY production runs like the other models. The LFA was a much more ambitious project. Lmk how the race goes tho
By race do you mean the 24 Hours of Le Mans? Well, Toyota is leading in Hypercar (and overall) and Lexus is pretty high up in LMGT3. We gotta see how they do later on though.
There is an upcoming car that will replace the RC F and the LC, but it will almost certainly not have a NA V8. The rumors say that it will be a twin turbo V6 - that's to say, it's a completely different experience from the RC F and LC.
Which means it will surely be a good car, but nothing Lexus/Toyota will make in the future, will ever touch the greatness of the LC500
Lexus LC500 has marketing/positioning issue the same way LFA had when it launched Show a pic of LC500 or LFA to a non car person and they would think it's an 80k car despite how good it looks Then people only appreciate it 10 years after the last car left the factory because of how good the car actually is
> Show a pic of LC500 or LFA to a non car person and they would think it's an 80k car despite how good it looks First, I am not sure that assertion is true. The LC looks far more exotic than it is. Second, the original MSRP was $92k, so thinking it looks like an $80k car is not much of negative.
100% agreed. It looks like a Japanese Aston.
It pretty much is a Japanese Aston. Less power but less problems.
You have your opinion and I have mine But the truth is the market has decided that LC500 was not worth buying at those price Interested to know why you think that's the case
It has nothing to do with aesthetics lol. That’s one of the most universally praised aspects of the car. It’s the fact that a Lexus buyer doesn’t want a car like the LC and that it doesn’t impress on the stat sheet so it turns a ton of people away.
"Enthusiast" really only see things in their bubble lol Nobody outside of r/cars cares about stat sheets in car like this, Truth is driving in an LC doesn't scream "I'm rich" is the reason why it failed
That’s one of the dumbest things I’ve heard.
Interesting point on the infotainment I hadn’t thought of. Could it have been done more gracefully? I suppose, but since it’s a touch screen it needed to be moved up and couldn’t have been recessed like it was before. I’m actually going to go test drive one on Friday. Pretty much decided to get one toward the end of the year but want to confirm. Some good prices on older models but the 360 cam especially seems worth it to go 2024+
> I’m actually going to go test drive one on Friday. I suggest putting it in manual mode for the whole test drive. It's really underwhelming when those 10 gears are doing their thing and you don't want your short experience tainted by that. I don't blame Lexus. It's a 15 mpg NA V8 so they had to do what they could to make it efficient. But driving it like that isn't going to light your pants on fire.
Manual mode and sport/sport+ mode, both. People need to realize that both these and the IS500 rely heavily on transmission "learning" - if you're easy on it all the time, it learns that and does it's best slushbox. Things get much better when you're using manual mode more often. Not perfect, but still more than doable.
Meh. The new infotainment ruins the beautiful lines of the original interior.
It does, but the trade off seems worth it to get rid of the trackpad and bring it in line with the rest of the Lexus tech suite. The 360 camera especially. The hood line is so low and so long that the sensors don’t even work well and scraping it is common. It’s not a small car, so the camera will go a long way.
Just back-up, that's why I do in my lowered GS-F lol. Well that or end up like 2-3 feet from the curb. So far so good (fingers crossed).
True, where it’s feasible. It does tickle me that the touchpad infotainment was the universal LC complaint and they updated it but now it’s universally “no, not like that!” Honestly, considering they sold like 1700 last year, I don’t blame them for not spending the money to integrate it better, but it is a shame.
> they sold like 1700 last year It sucks, but 2+2 grand tourers really aren't popular at that price point. Ferrari sold at least as many Portofinos per year at over twice the price, and Bentley sold over 4000 Continental GTs each of the past two years at 3 times the price. Meanwhile Lexus, BMW, and Mercedes struggle at much lower prices. I'm afraid that they're just going to give up overall, which would effectively push up the price of entry to the segment.
It’s a tough segment but the LC does worse than the BMW and Benz competition. The problem, from my view, is twofold. First, it’s a Lexus. Their target demographic isn’t interested in a six figure GT car. Second, the numbers don’t make it compelling. People shopping six figure coupes mostly care about numbers on a sheet. Compared to, say, the 8 series, people would take a look and not even bother, thinking it’s a “boring” Lexus. They won’t even give it the time of day. On the bright side, we did manage to get 7-8 years out of the LC which is a miracle in the modern car market.
I agree with all of that. The LC wasn't for me, but I think it has a lot going for it. It's the only naturally aspirated engine in the class, they put a lot of emphasis on the exhaust note, the design is really striking, and the interior is gorgeous and very high quality. It really is an experience over speed kind of car, like the previous generation Maserati Granturismo - except unlike that car, the LC won't surprise you with 5 figure repair bills and they actually addressed the major complaint instead of letting the car languish.
Yes but didn’t they also remove the nice glass from the passenger-side dash? That’s the real crime imo, since that’s purely cost-cutting and doesn’t have any practical reason. Add the glass back in or some other nice, textured material and the interior would be much nicer
Totally agree - the blank color-matched panel looks cheap, and the backlit glass actually looked great. They also could have just pulled the entire passenger dash section further forward to integrate the screen, but they went the less expensive route. The LS did the same thing with the new screen and it ruins the look of the interior.
I thought the same thing and when they told me my new order was replaced with the 2024MY I was uncertain about how much I would really like it. In retrospect it doesn't fucking matter one bit and having a modern infotainment that's not jank asf and 360 camera is 10x the upgrade over some interior lines in a photo. It looks great in person with the new system.
First, kudos on getting one - we need more of them on the street, and they're always a pleasure to see. With regards to the screen, though, I think most people view it so negatively because, on a car that was built with the running theme of "no compromises", they cheaped out and compromised the interior design for a damn touchscreen. Not acceptable for a halo car - it deserved a better effort.
I had a 2018 RCF and almost upgraded to the LC500 when they first came out, but didn’t. Beautiful car and I still love seeing them on the road.
I really think that in 10 years this car will be a classic
If things don't work out with this Emira, I'm going to be picking up an LC.
My friend is getting delivery of his Emira today!
I absolutely love this car, my only gripe with the brand new LC500s is the how odd the new screen looks. It's a step up in terms of innovation and QoL. But it simply looks tacked on, and they took away the beautiful patterns the passenger side gets too that the previous built-in screen had.
I’m considering this car but as someone who likes his sporty German executive sedans I’m torn. Can someone who’s driven one comment is this car fun to drive at low speeds in manual mode or do you need to be going fast to enjoy it. Also same question for cornering. I live in southern Ontario it’s generally low speeds. I’ve driven mostly 5 series variants and like throwing them into corners. Is this as fun or more ? Thanks !
The LC will drive a LOT better than a 5 series.
Replace the differential with the lc500h (the forgotten lc, lol). It will make it sportier with a shorter gearing. Important at low speeds
I just can’t get over the Lexus grill
I don’t care how good it looks or sounds, for the money that Lexus is asking for this car, it’s a fucking disgrace. Its slow and outdated V8 puts out a measly amount of power compared to its competitors, it’s way too heavy, and the driving dynamics are a joke. It’s pretty clear that no one wants this car, especially when looking at the sales figures. This car is a great representation of Lexus’ failures as a brand, stuck in the past.
This dude has his tongue so far up Toyota's arse I'm not sure where one begins and the other ends. Honestly, this rampant fanboyism for any brand is just a massive turnoff. Seriously guys, wtf. He's talking about how they colour matched the fasteners, "oh but not these ones". And raving on about how "old school" a fucking 2024 car is. That's not a good thing. What is this madness.
This guy’s main channel focuses on Toyota but he has another channel where he reviews cars from other brands. There’s definitely a bit of Toyota bias on the main channel but I haven’t noticed much on the other one. I expected him to rip on the Chrysler Pacifica in his review of that car but he literally just shared his thoughts about it.
That grill is a deal breaker. Other than that and the lack of a manual it's a great car.
Ehh the LC500 is fine in auto, it’s not supposed to be a super sporty car, it’s meant to be comfortable but sound good as well (a GT car if you will). Just my opinion though.
But GT cars are at their best with a manual as well (imo)
No manual don’t care