- CAR AND DRIVER. MAR/2017
gearbox, and we also experienced a few
low-speed shift bobbles, but gear swaps are
about as swift as they come for conven-
tional automatics, and the 10 -speed punc-
tuates upshifts with a satisfying pop from
the exhaust. Paddle-requested downshifts
are exceptionally swift, too.
The LC isn’t a track car, nor do we think
it should be, but Lexus seemed intent on
demonstrating the car’s inherent under-
steer by furnishing us with a track to drive
on. A variable-ratio rack and rear-wheel
steering are both available. We’d skip them,
however, as we found the transition from
understeer to power oversteer difficult to
read in the rear-steering car. Although we
suspect that this behavior is due to the additional steering gadg-
etry, we didn’t get the chance to drive a car without it on the track
to verify our theory. A car with the base setup did feel more com-
municative and confidence-inspiring during an impromptu drift
session on Andalusian roundabouts.
The opposed-piston brake calipers on both axles do an excellent
job of hauling the LC down from high speeds. Engineers focused
their weight-loss efforts on the extremities of the car; doing so
diminishes the polar moment of inertia, improving rotational
response while also keeping the center of gravity near the middle
of the car. This includes the use of aluminum for the hood, front
fenders, and door skins, with the inner panels of the doors and
trunk made from carbon-fiber-reinforced sheet-molding com-
pound (that’s the random-oriented fiber stuff, not the neatly
entwined weave). There’s also an optional carbon-fiber roof
made from the pretty weave. On the Lexus LC’s exterior,
only the deep-draw rear fenders are rendered in steel.
Still, the LC500 weighs roughly 4300 pounds, with the LC500h
hybrid adding an additional 150. That essentially matches the
slightly larger but more conventionally constructed BMW 650i,
which also has a V-8. In the Lexus, the mass is front-biased, with a
claimed 54/46 percent front-to-rear distribution for the V-8 and
52/48 for the hybrid. Both LCs wear the same 20 - or 21-inch wheels
with available top-shelf Michelin Pilot Super Sport or Bridgestone
Potenza S001 tires—no efficiency-oriented low-rolling-resistance
rubber here—and the hybrid retains the prominent tachometer
and the large magnesium shift paddles of the V-8–equipped car.
Substantial alterations to Toyota’s Hybrid Synerg y Drive hard-
ware allow it to mimic the conventional 10 -speed automatic in the
V-8. The new arrangement, called the Multi Stage Hybrid System,
starts with the basic building blocks fromthe GS450h, which has
an Atkinson-cycle 3.5-liter V- 6 connected to two electric motor/
generators through a planetary gearset to
produce a pseudo CVT. The V- 6 replaces
the 438-hp V-8 from the LS600h hybrid so
that, unlike the LS hybrid, the gas-electric
LC offers a meaningful fuel-economy ben-
efit. The new part is that a conventional
four-speed automatic gets tacked on to the
back of the CVT. This allows for more elec-
tric assist at lower speeds and enables the
system to operate with the engine off at
speeds up to 87 mph, though the only prac-
tical way to make this happen is to coast
and then allow the electric powertrain to
take over. And EV-only range, as is typical
with Toyota and Lexus hybrids, is still
minuscule, with the slightest prod of the[+] C o m e s
alive when
pushed,
communica-
tive steering,
booming
V-8, stunning
shape.
[–] Hybrid is
far less com-
pelling than
the V-8, small
trunk and
back seat.
AUTO OSSICONES
The two stumps
protruding from the
LC’s instrument
binnacle control
drive-mode and trac-
tion-control settings.