The LC500, Lexus’ top sports car, has always attracted devoted fans due to its distinct appearance and temperament. The 5.0L V8 engine version has not been introduced to domestic sales, adding to the car’s rare attributes and emitting a mysterious magic.
In terms of appearance, the new car has a symbolic design language on the front face. The spindle-shaped large mouth grille is not particularly very large in size, leaving large areas on both sides of the complex large light group modeling. Not only does the day running light belt have a unique curved hook on both sides of the triangular light group with additional downward extension of the teareye decoration, but it is also integrated with the fog lamp area inlet, displaying a completely different style from the European sports car.
In terms of the car’s side, the new car features Lexus’ symbolic styling of hardtop sports car, which is dynamic and smooth while incorporating Lexus’ distinct flavor. Despite being a front-facing model, the special C-pillar intersection, pop-up door handles, and rear wheel air intakes are all distinct features. In terms of the vehicle’s rear, another highlight is the design of taillight, which corresponds to the headlights of the car head, with the simple curved lamp belt on both sides of the extension of a forked shape. The entire tailbox line is rounded with a concave design, the part of rear bumper is a special trapezoidal stacked up and down, by trapezoidal license plate suspension position and trapezoidal rear guard plate combined with active tail, special double bilateral exhaust and other details, the sense of sports, fashion, and other organic combination.
In terms of its interior’s design, the new car also employs Lexus’ symbolic design concept, and the exaggerated dual screen design is unusual for a Japanese model like this. The embedded screen, on the other hand, adds a sense of unity, and the special dashboard design is also full of combat, with the enveloping center control table, red and black color interior color matching, hair machine turning fur-covered door and seat details, as well as the symbolic asymmetrical shift area and other elements combining American luxury with Oriental charm. It is stylistically and conceptually distinct from European sports cars.
However, in terms of its power, the new car cannot compete with European sports cars in its price range, particularly the Porsche 911. The 5.0L V8 with natural aspiration powertrain combined with the 10AT transmission provided the most raw and pure feel, but the maximum power of 463 HP and maximum torque of 530 nm were mediocre on their own, and its mediocre transmission’s efficiency and high weight combined to produce 4.7 seconds of 100km acceleration. This is clearly mediocre for a 2 million yuan sports car that is 1-2 seconds faster than the 911 model with similar positioning. Although the car does not have a strictly sporty orientation, the LED limited slip differential lock and pure rear drive architecture nonetheless provide adequate driving enjoyment. It will be interesting to watch how the car performs in the future.