View Photos of the 2019 Lexus LC500
Lexus's updated two-door star is polished, quick, and seductive.
Introduced for 2018, Lexus's stunning LC500 coupe enters 2019 with a few key—if minor—changes. Lexus has tweaked the two-door's suspension and transmission tuning, but thankfully it has not messed with its show-car looks and sumptuous interior.
Yep, that's the good stuff Lexus didn't change. From every angle, the LC500 looks to be a concept car that somehow escaped from an auto show and ended up in Lexus dealerships.
Tuning work on the LC500's adaptive suspension has yielded a wider amplitude between its softest, most comfortable setting and its firmest, sportier mode. The result is a cushy ride that tightens up in the more aggressive drive modes to deliver decent handling and control. That said, the LC is clearly tuned more for comfort than outright speed.
The LC500 is certainly quick, if not exactly a sports car in disguise. Without turbocharging or supercharging, its 5.0-liter V-8 is low on off-the-line punch (although it does punt the LC500 to 60 mph in only 4.7 seconds) and big on wonderful intake and exhaust sounds.
Like it did with the LC500's suspension, Lexus retuned the transmission for added smoothness. The 10-speed automatic changes gears like a knife moving through warm butter. You'll only really know an up- or downshift has happened because the engine's sound changes and your speed is altered.
Don't let this big coupe fool you, it isn't hugely practical. The rear seats merely exist; they're small and, with normal-sized humans in the front seats, barely accommodate people with legs. Ditto the shallow trunk, which only holds 5.0 cubic feet of stuff.
The LC500's interior is as dramatic as its curvy body, although our test car's all-black color scheme doesn't play this up as much as the available two-tone arrangements.
As in many other modern Lexuses, the LC500's central display is manipulated via a fussy computer mouse–like touchpad controller, which moves a cursor to different on-screen buttons and belts out a funny sound each time it rolls over a selection.
The materials and design inside are otherwise first-rate.
Seriously, just look at that stitching on the seats!
The 2019 Lexus LC500 remains a slick, sexy coupe, albeit one made slicker by its minor mechanical updates. Top tip? Skip the available LC500h hybrid. Its turbocharged V-6 and electric motors can't match the LC500's glorious V-8. Plus, it doesn't get very good fuel economy, anyway.
2019 Lexus LC500
2019 Lexus LC500
2019 Lexus LC500
2019 Lexus LC500
2019 Lexus LC500
2019 Lexus LC500
2019 Lexus LC500
2019 Lexus LC500
2019 Lexus LC500
2019 Lexus LC500
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