The All-New Lexus LC: First Drive in Spain

[mikeavelli]

Can you fit people behind yourself in S class coupe? I know you are big guy.

There is more room than most coupes but really just good for a lunch run or kids not much else. Its funny to me these huge coupes barely have any more usable room than a tiny 911!

 

[CIF]

There is more room than most coupes but really just good for a lunch run or kids not much else. Its funny to me these huge coupes barely have any more usable room than a tiny 911!

Lol, that's surprising for the S Class coupe. Some of the reviews ragging on the LC are comparing it to the S Coupe, and claim there is S Class sedan or LS-like rear seat legroom in the S Coupe. Lol.

 

[spwolf]

There is more room than most coupes but really just good for a lunch run or kids not much else. Its funny to me these huge coupes barely have any more usable room than a tiny 911!

thats what I figured... these big MB coupes never made sense for me (that they are so big on the outisde and tiny on the inside)

 

[spwolf]

i have read 8-9 reviews, probably all of them pubished... this is likely the best reviewed Lexus ever. Amazing vehicle.

 

[mikeavelli]

KREW, I just took the time to re-read your entire post and nothing comes close to what you presented. Amazing work again. I look forward to your personal opinion next!

 

[Faisal Sheikh]

i have read 8-9 reviews, probably all of them pubished... this is likely the best reviewed Lexus ever. Amazing vehicle.

No, that would be the Lexus LFA. That thing beat the Porsche Carrera GT in a European magazine comparo.

 

[mikeavelli]

http://www.carsguide.com.au/car-new...latform-pushes-flexibility-to-the-limit-47933

A bit of info from our good friend Paul Williamson from Lexus International regarding the new platform...

 

[LexusTechSA]

http://www.drive.com.au/new-car-reviews/2017-lexus-lc-500-first-drive-review-20161205-gt4i4s.html

 

[spwolf]

No, that would be the Lexus LFA. That thing beat the Porsche Carrera GT in a European magazine comparo.

LFA is hardly a regular Lexus production car

 

[LexusTechSA]

http://www.caradvice.com.au/506124/2017-lexus-lc500-review/

 

[Levi]

There is more room than most coupes but really just good for a lunch run or kids not much else. Its funny to me these huge coupes barely have any more usable room than a tiny 911!

What is really funny is that all German coupes that look more like two door sedans have less rear space than the GranTurismo that is a real coupe as the 911.

 

[spwolf]

What is really funny is that all German coupes that look more like two door sedans have less rear space than the GranTurismo that is a real coupe as the 911.

yeah, it is tradition.. size is to say it is luxurious, not that it is spacious.

 

[LexusTechSA]

http://www.topgear.com/car-reviews/lexus/lc

 

[Tragic Bronson]

Lexus gives halo car another try with LC

Sharing of components will make coupe accessible

SEVILLE, Spain -- Lexus' new LC coupe is the halo car that almost never happened.

When the concept version of the car -- dubbed the LF-LC -- debuted at the 2012 Detroit auto show, Lexus had no intention of building it as a production model. It was a design study and a marketing exercise to gin up attention for the emotion-driven rebirth the Lexus brand had begun.

At the time, a new halo car wasn't anywhere near the top of Lexus' priority list. The LFA V-10 supercar was in the last year of its two-year run, and while it generated some marketing mileage and magazine covers, its near-$400,000 price tag and limited run made the car's halo too faint to see.

"The LFA was way too limited in volume, too expensive," Brian Smith, Lexus' vice president for marketing, told Automotive News at the press launch here for the LC. "When was the last time you saw an LFA driving down the road?"

Yet the reaction to the LF-LC by consumers, the media and dealers in 2012 jump-started Lexus into action to see whether the car could make it into production.

For that to work, Lexus had to keep the LC's cost in check -- both for the automaker and for consumers.

Lexus kept its own costs down with a reliance on sharing. The LC rides on a new rear-wheel-drive platform called GA-L that eventually will underpin every sedan in the Lexus lineup. The LC 500's 5.0-liter V-8 engine is pulled from the GS F and the RC F. Its new 10-speed automatic transmission, sourced from Aisin, also will land in future Lexus models, as will the new hybrid V-6 powertrain in the LC 500h.

Final pricing won't be announced until close to its on-sale date next May or June, but Lexus expects it will run between $80,000 and $120,000.

The V-8 LC 500 will be the base model, and the LC 500h hybrid will be the top trim level, with Lexus positioning it as the more optioned-up grand touring version of the two. Nevertheless, Lexus expects 85 to 90 percent of U.S. buyers will opt for the LC 500 while the hybrid will see much better take rates abroad.

Additional variants of the LC are likely. A convertible version would be the first to come to market, giving dealers their long-sought Lexus droptop and an answer to the LC's competitors, all of which offer a convertible iteration.

The platform is structurally able to accommodate a convertible, Koji Sato, the chief engineer of the LC and platform engineer for the GA-L, told Automotive News. The LC also has the packaging space for all-wheel drive.

A high-performance LC F model is also likely, but this could take some time. A turbocharged version of the 5.0-liter V-8 wouldn't be possible in the LC, according to another engineer at the press launch. This means the brand would have to wait until a new generation of turbocharged V-8 bows, likely in a midcycle update of the LC.

This more approachable halo has Lexus cautiously optimistic about LC sales. It expects monthly U.S. sales of around 400 for the LC coupe, numbers that seem reasonable compared with the core competitors Lexus cites: Jaguar's F-Type, BMW's 6 series and Mercedes' SL and S-class coupe.

"This is really just a matter of taking that same sort of halo approach as the LFA and saying we're going to make sure that people can drive it," Smith said. "The LC has the chance now to really get enough owners; you'll actually see them on the road."

 

[CIF]

Well the fact that the platform is structurally able to handle a convertible makes sense, given the weight of the LC. It also makes sense when you consider that the GA-L platform the LC is using was in fact first developed for the coming 5LS; the LC is simply using a shortened version of it.

 

[mikeavelli]

What is really funny is that all German coupes that look more like two door sedans have less rear space than the GranTurismo that is a real coupe as the 911.

Honestly they all stink no matter how big or small...rarely am I surprised like "hey this is great"..mind you I am a bit tall and I like to eat lol. That said as one now with a 2 1/2 year old, a backseat in a coupe is hugely appealing compared to a two seater.

Well the fact that the platform is structurally able to handle a convertible makes sense, given the weight of the LC. It also makes sense when you consider that the GA-L platform the LC is using was in fact first developed for the coming 5LS; the LC is simply using a shortened version of it.

Well what Paul Williamson is stating is Lexus platform sharing is actually different. It's not necessarily one platform that is lengthened or shortened. They may share parts but its more complicated.

 

[CIF]

Yeah I know, I mean the underlying building blocks of the platform, so to speak, were developed initially for the 5LS. I get it that it's a very flexible and modular platform. That's one of the main points of TNGA/GA-L. Even so, the LC chassis itself is not completely different than the 5LS chassis will be. In the 5LS teaser for example, we can see that the LS will have the same sort of front and rear suspension design as the LC (excluding the air suspension struts).

 

[spwolf]

Yeah I know, I mean the underlying building blocks of the platform, so to speak, were developed initially for the 5LS. I get it that it's a very flexible and modular platform. That's one of the main points of TNGA/GA-L. Even so, the LC chassis itself is not completely different than the 5LS chassis will be. In the 5LS teaser for example, we can see that the LS will have the same sort of front and rear suspension design as the LC (excluding the air suspension struts).

they will certainly use similar type suspensions and development... but unlike most other manufacturers, it does not have to be the same... Others are quite limited in differences they can use.

For instance, Lexus can use completely different interior for LS and LC if need be. They are not limited by having to share parts. When TNGA was just introduced, one of the main points was that parts sharting in the interior is could be limited to steering wheel and shift knob.

So end result is that two first TNGA vehicles share same engine but are otherwise nothing alike. That helps when targetting different audience and having different goals.

 

[mikeavelli]

^^^ We haven't even discussed if the LC will get the new LS engine for its MMC or even before then....

 

[Levi]

Honestly they all stink no matter how big or small...rarely am I surprised like "hey this is great"..mind you I am a bit tall and I like to eat lol. That said as one now with a 2 1/2 year old, a backseat in a coupe is hugely appealing compared to a two seater.

The Maserati GranTursimo and Ferrari FF have 2 really spacey back seats. More space than a Lexus IS, yet do not look like 2 door sedans. I personally prefer one door per seat, that means 2 doors = 2 seats. But 'emergency' seats, 2nd row for 2 doors ad 3rd row for 4 doors are fine.