2021 Lexus LC500 Convertible Video Review: MotorTrend Buyer's Guide

MotorTrend

The fan-favorite LC500 has had its top chopped off. Will this convertible be as lovable?

Transcript

00:00 (upbeat music)

00:02 This is the 2021 Lexus LC500 Convertible.

00:09 That's right, they took the Lexus that everybody loves

00:13 and chopped off the top.

00:15 Makes quite a statement, no?

00:17 It also costs a lot of money.

00:20 But is it any good?

00:21 Let's find out.

00:27 In 2012, Lexus released a concept car called the LF-LC

00:32 and it previewed this.

00:33 Sure, the concept was a little bigger, a little wilder,

00:36 but really it previewed what the LC500 would be all about.

00:40 Finally, a couple years ago, it came out.

00:43 Big V8 engine, rear wheel drive, everybody loved it.

00:47 I remember because I was there.

00:49 Now, they've got a convertible version of it.

00:51 So for the first time, you can choose either a hard top

00:55 or a soft top Lexus two-door.

00:58 What does the LC500 Convertible compete against?

01:01 Turns out not a lot as big, luxurious convertibles

01:05 are going the way of the Dodo

01:07 or the Mercedes-Benz S-Class Cabriolet.

01:10 The main competitor is the BMW M850i X-Drive Convertible.

01:15 However, this also competes nicely

01:19 against the Mercedes-Benz SL, the Jaguar F-Type Roadster,

01:23 the Bentley Continental GTC,

01:25 and either the Aston Martin Vantage or DB11.

01:29 One thing you can say about the Lexus

01:31 compared to all that competition,

01:34 it doesn't look like any of them.

01:36 For the design section, we have to make a distinction

01:40 between proportions and styling.

01:43 I love the LC500's proportions.

01:47 They are classic.

01:48 It's like a Jaguar E-Type on steroids.

01:51 Styling, I think it's a bit more problematic.

01:55 Let's get into it.

01:55 Look at this grill.

01:57 Lexus's spindle grill, although this one

01:59 is in three dimensions, it kind of bends

02:01 up to the big, wide hood.

02:03 Then there's this area, and like, what?

02:05 Like, what is this?

02:07 Well, this is either a fishhook or the Nike swoosh.

02:10 This is the McLaren swoosh.

02:12 That's a triangle, that's a boomerang,

02:14 that's dripping mascara.

02:16 It's a mess.

02:17 And then they've just done some fundamentally weird things

02:20 to the car.

02:21 So normally you want the power peak,

02:23 the highest point of the fender,

02:24 to be right over the center of the wheel.

02:27 Well, it's here.

02:28 Then you start taking in the proportions, right?

02:30 I mean, talk about classic Coke bottle.

02:33 Magnificent.

02:35 The curve of this fender here, just so much metal.

02:39 Also, the wheels are excellent.

02:41 Then my favorite part is, look at this,

02:43 the narrowest point of the car is right here.

02:45 So that means that it flares out for the rear wheels.

02:48 When you have a big, muscular, rear-wheel drive car,

02:51 that's what you want.

02:53 It just says like, ugh, aggression and power and everything.

02:57 Just, if you look at the big picture,

02:59 this is one of those rare, rare vehicles where,

03:02 going from a hardtop to a convertible,

03:05 I don't think it loses anything.

03:07 And so stylistically, it's not my favorite car,

03:11 but proportionally, the LC500 is a masterpiece.

03:17 This is how you design a car's interior.

03:21 It is exquisite.

03:22 It is gorgeous.

03:23 It is elegant.

03:24 I love sitting in this vehicle.

03:27 Is there anything wrong with it?

03:29 Sure, nothing's perfect,

03:31 but really all the stuff I can point out,

03:33 it's all nitpicking, and I'll do a little bit of that,

03:35 but let's start with what's so great about it.

03:37 Primarily the leather.

03:39 Look at this stuff.

03:40 It's gorgeous.

03:41 It's such a nice grade of leather.

03:43 These seats, Lexus, I remember on the launch,

03:46 it said they went through 50 iterations of seats

03:49 before they settled on this one,

03:50 and believe me, they chose wisely.

03:53 Rolls-Royce released an entire press release

03:56 about how on the new Phantom,

03:57 they put a bunch of stuff behind glass on the dashboard.

03:59 Well, guess what?

04:00 Lexus has done the same thing.

04:02 There's a little tiny piece of Alcantara right here.

04:05 Why?

04:06 Well, to prevent reflections.

04:08 There's some LFA design elements in here,

04:09 like these little stocks, these like, you know,

04:11 Shrek ears or Frankenstein neck bolts.

04:14 The LFA had something similar.

04:15 Here's the controls for the roof.

04:17 Nice and, you know, just hide 'em away

04:20 when you don't need 'em.

04:21 My biggest gripe is of course gonna be, you know,

04:24 it has this Lexus track pad,

04:25 which just doesn't work that well,

04:26 but pretend it's not there, right?

04:28 Just set your presets, take a few hours, do that,

04:31 then you can just scroll through 'em

04:32 with this tuning knob right here.

04:34 You're good to go.

04:36 Again, I mean, everything is just so wonderful

04:39 in this cabin that I just don't even care

04:42 about the negatives.

04:43 I mean, small back seat, who cares?

04:46 For the performance section,

04:49 I gotta put a little teeny asterisk on the LC500,

04:53 and that's because someone at Motor Trend

04:55 helped to tune this car.

04:57 No, not me.

04:57 It was Randy Post, our own professional race car driver.

05:01 Lexus hired him as a consultant

05:03 to help make the LC500 drive better.

05:06 Under the hood, there is a big, naturally aspirated

05:09 five liter V8 that makes 471 horsepower

05:12 and 398 pound feet of torque.

05:15 All that power goes into a 10 speed automatic transmission,

05:18 and it drives only the rear wheels.

05:22 Now, because this is a heavy car,

05:23 because it's only rear wheel drive,

05:25 if you look at the competition,

05:26 say that BMW convertible we were talking about,

05:29 that makes 523 horsepower,

05:32 and it hits 60 in 3.5 seconds

05:35 compared to 4.8 seconds for the Lexus.

05:38 Two things.

05:39 One is sort of a who cares?

05:41 I've driven both.

05:42 Trust me, this is the one you want.

05:44 Also, the BMW has two turbochargers.

05:47 This is naturally aspirated,

05:49 which means that the Lexus sounds about 500 times

05:53 as good as the BMW.

05:55 For such a heavy vehicle, it's shocking how much fun

05:59 and how rewarding it is to push this car hard,

06:02 and it's one of the rare vehicles in the industry

06:05 that everyone, and I mean everyone who's driven it,

06:08 falls in love with it.

06:10 They've just done a wonderful job.

06:12 Is there a downside?

06:14 Fuel economy.

06:15 And for something from the Toyota Motor Corporation,

06:19 it's no Prius.

06:20 15 miles per gallon in the city,

06:23 25 miles per gallon on the highway.

06:25 As far as safety goes,

06:28 no agency has crash tested one of these,

06:31 so I don't know what to tell you,

06:33 except for the fact that it comes standard

06:35 with all sorts of automatic safety features,

06:38 lane keeping assist, blind spot monitoring,

06:41 smart high beams, and this low speed parking assist,

06:45 which helps prevent accidents that happen

06:47 at nine miles per hour and below.

06:50 How much?

06:52 Okay, I said it cost a lot of money, and I wasn't kidding.

06:56 The Lexus LC500 Convertible begins at a smidge

07:00 over $102,000.

07:03 This one right here, the way it's been optioned,

07:05 costs over 113 grand.

07:09 But how does the Lexus stack up against the competition?

07:13 Quite well, it turns out.

07:14 That BMW is 110,000 plus to begin.

07:19 The Mercedes-Benz SL starts at over $115,000.

07:24 The Jaguar F-Type Roadster actually does match up

07:27 pretty well to the Lexus.

07:29 So in terms of value, it's hard to recommend

07:33 the LC500 Convertible here.

07:35 Just know that it is a vehicle for people

07:37 who either have or earn a lot of money.

07:41 If there's one thing I want you to know

07:44 about the 2021 Lexus LC500 Convertible, it's that

07:49 it's a dream boat.

07:51 I can't stress how lovely this thing is,

07:54 just to sit inside of, let alone drive.

07:57 I liked practically everything there was to like

08:00 about the hardtop version.

08:01 Who knew that by removing the roof,

08:03 the car got that much better?

08:06 Sure, some of the competition,

08:08 the quicker in a straight line,

08:09 the go around a racetrack faster, who cares?

08:12 Look at what a statement this thing makes.

08:15 Both the outside and the inside,

08:16 and then when that V8 soundtrack fills your ears,

08:20 there are certain cars that you lay awake at night

08:23 and you dream about.

08:24 Well, this Lexus right here, this is one of them.

08:29 To see vehicle rankings and a complete buyer's guide,

08:32 please visit motortrend.com/cars.

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