Weighing a hefty 4,450 pounds in its aluminum and sheet-molded carbon enclosure, the Lexus LC (Luxury Coupe) 500h is right in line with the BMW 6 Series and a good deal below the Mercedes-Benz S-Class Coupe's 4,700 pounds. It is also 1,000 pounds more than the Porsche Carrera. Wanting to be a driver's car, the LC 500 went through more than 50 seat designs to arrive at the two available bucket versions.
Adjustment is limited to six directions with the addition of four-way lumber support. These are just a few simple movements that provide maximum comfort.
The 2018-model Lexus LC 500h is a V-8, two-door car to debut a new longitudinal hybrid transmission that Toyota dubbed the Multi-Stage Hybrid System. This system includes a CVT which incorporates two electric motors and adds a conventional four-speed automatic transmission to it. It may sound a lot like the GM/BMW/Daimler/Chrysler co-developed Two-Mode hybrid transmission from a decade ago.
It appears as though the Multi-Stage picks up where the Two-Mode has left off and adds more functionality in the process. According to Car and Driver, Lexus LC Chief Engineer Koji Sato said that one of the major goals was to eliminate the rubber band-feel of a traditional CVT and to make throttle inputs feel more directly related to what the car is actually doing.
According to Autoblog, meanwhile, the 10-speed automatic moves the lockup clutch inside the transmission house instead of packing it in the torque converter. This allows a stronger multi-plate design and faster shifts, but they are a little too fast and hard in the sportier drive processes.
The Lexus LC 500h is more of a gentleman's sports car; a vehicle which is best suited to speeding along a familiar road. It gets to 60mph from a standstill in 4.4 seconds and it has a linear acceleration feel well into triple-digit speeds.
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