Pretty cars that’ll set you back some pretty coin.
Lexus Australia has detailed the prices and specifications for its new flagship LC Coupé twins. Arriving in both LC500 and LC500h guises, the top-of-the-range grand tourers arrive bearing sticker prices of $190,000 before on-road costs.
The LC Coupé sports an evolution of the Lexus design language we’ve become familiar with over recent years, with a face dominated by a large spindle grille, flanked by triangular headlights. The long bonnet and cabin-rearward design harks back to grand tourers of old, while the pert rear features complex surface treatments that mimic the curvature of the spindle grille up front.
The LC sits at the top of the local Lexus range, and as such, feature serious firepower behind that shapely nose. The LC500 sees motivation from an atmo 5.0-litre V8 powerplant, delivering 351kW and 540Nm. All that power goes to the rear wheels via a 10-speed (yes, ten) automatic gearbox, capable of catapulting the LC500 from rest to 100km/h in just 4.7-seconds. Despite that, the LC500 can return a respectable 11.6L/100km.
For outright efficiency, the LC500h is far more impressive. It utilities a 3.5-litre V6 powerplant (that runs on the Atkinson cycle for improved efficiency) that produces 220kW/348Nm, mated to an electric powertrain good for 44kW/300Nm. This complex hybrid system is then paired to a “next-generation” gearbox, that melds a four-speed automatic gearbox to a continually-variable transmission to offer ten ‘ratios’ in total, capable of maximising the twist from the LC500h’s drivetrain. And with fuel economy rated at 6.1L/100km, the hybrid system clearly pays dividends.
The two models look identical, so neither will be outdoing the other out on the road. All cars get things like a 10.3-inch infotainment display with SUNA Live Traffic and satellite navigation, a Mark Levinson audio system, Lexus Safety System+ (which throws in things like intelligent cruise control, lane keep assistance, blind spot monitoring, and rear cross-traffic alert), LED lighting front and rear, a panoramic glass roof, dual-zone climate control, full-colour heads-up display, heated and ventilated and power-adjustable front seats, and six selectable drive modes.
The LC500’s V8 has been tuned to provide an exhaust note not too dissimilar to that of the Lexus LFA halo hypercar, something that Lexus is particularly proud of. They said that one of the reasons why it stuck with a naturally-aspirated, large-capacity V8 is to maintain the aural experience of it all, which flies in the face of the forced-induction convention of today.
Sales of the Lexus LC Coupés commence today, with the brand expecting a bulk of sales to come from the V8 LC500.
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