I test drove one of these this morning.I understand now.
>>28775648That is one of THE most repulsive grills I have ever seen. In fact I am actively disgusted just looking at it through the thumbnail. I am very close just reporting that image as a criminal sight.
>>28775648What was it like? Probably the only car made in the last 20 years that would be a no-questions asked purchase if I won the lottery.
>>28775662It sounds even better in person in the cockpit than it does in videos. It really is that good.It is about as powerful as I would ever want a street car to be. If you want to drive like an asshole, it is possibly the best car to ever do it in. I'm usually a downright comatose grandma tier driver and this thing had me darting through traffic in a crowded freeway just because it felt so good to do so. I never even got to floor it and it didn't even matter. Just light taps on the pedal in sport+ and you jump from 55 to 75 in a second.The one I drove was a 2018, so it had the old shitty suspension and wasn't quite as nice in comfort mode as you would expect from a Lexus. But they fixed that in 2019+ years. It also didn't have the handling package, so no rear steer, but it still was pretty nimble overall. I can only imagine how much better it would handle with that handling package.The interior is as beautiful as you think. It feels like a glove, it's hard to explain but it felt like I was an extension of the car. This one had the red and black interior which I didn't think I would like at all but it was actually great in person, the red is more like a deep crimson than it looks in photos and wasn't as garish as I expected.It is VERY small. I'm not even 6', more like 5'11.95", but I could touch the roof with my head if I tilted to the left. Very, very small. And the back seats, I legit do not understand why they bothered, I don't think even a child could sit back there. The trunk, too, is even smaller than you'd think -- it's got good length, but the depth is extremely shallow.It took everything I had to not buy the car and drive it home. But for now I will wait, either for a 2019+ version with the handling package to hit the used market near me, or to say fuck it and order a new one if they announce the last model year of it.They did not say 2026 would be the last year, so surely there'll be at least 2027.
>>28775672Reading this it strikes me as a modern interpretation of an r129. Have you ever driven one, and if yes would you say its a fair comparison?
>>28775673I have not driven an r129, no. Reading about them, it does sound similar to that, yeah.
>>28775659
>>28775672>>28775662friend has one, he’s probably 6’3” and very fat, fits fine.It’s a 2 seater inside basically, despite the large exterior. Sounds great, is fast enough to have fun, expensive tires, amazing interior (design & quality), it’s fat and heavy though, so more of a GT. He prefers it to the GT-R he had before (that was too uncomfortable, suspension was jerky, etc)
>>28775686It might just be that I prefer a more upright seating position I guess. I didn't mess with the seat position too much, it's just a test drive, I got to the point to where I was comfortable and that was enough for me, it just surprised me that I could touch the ceiling with my head like that.When I eventually buy mine I will have to sit down and really calibrate it.
>>28775648>>28775672I have a 2018 with all the options (dynamic handling, torsen diff, etc etc), feel free to ask me any questions. I hated the red/black interior when I test drove one and absolutely had to have the caramel interior which is increasingly hard to find available. I don't think they are going to be taking orders or manufacturing 2027s. People have been having a hard time getting them to take orders for 2026s.Happy to answer any questions if you have any, I've put about 25k miles on mine since I bought it 2.5 years ago.
>>28775944Any exhaust mods? >https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eoyNER5Tkv4
>>28775968I'm sort of in the process of debating whether or not I want to put more money into the car or leave it stock and move on to something else and I haven't really made up my mind.My mechanic is a former lexus/toyota master mechanic who opened his own shop, I was talking to him a bit about the transmission oil coolers they have put in the parts catalog for 2026, as well as chassis bracing and weight reduction options. A titanium exhaust is one of the few real ways to save some meaningful weight.They also make a plug-in valve controller on etsy that you can program to one of the garage door buttons so you have control over the exhaust valves being opened or closed on the stock exhaust, which is kinda nice if you want more noise without swapping the exhaust completely.
>>28775944>I don't think they are going to be taking orders or manufacturing 2027s. People have been having a hard time getting them to take orders for 2026s.I do hope you're wrong. At the very least, I hope that they announce the that 2026 is the last model year before they stop taking orders on it. It would be pretty out of character for Lexus to sunset a model without allowing a final batch of orders. From what I've found searching the only time they've done that in the past decade was in 2015 with the Lexus IS Convertible -- every other model they've shut down they would announce that it is ending and then would allow 3-12 months of new orders before stopping completely. The HS, GS, CT and RC all got that kind of sendoff, with the GS, CT and RC getting special final editions as well. Given how iconic the LC 500 is I imagine if there isn't a 2027 year then there will be a 2026 final edition announced for that last ordering period.
>>28775968sounds like some crusty pogs first mustang
>>28776281It's possible, I know they converted a bunch of 2025 orders to 2026 MY deliveries and people have been having a semi-hard time getting dealers to put in orders.I think some (?) 2026 Inspiration series models have special parts like a transmission oil cooler, which might indicate they had a special or high performance edition planned and decided to can it and just put some of the parts on these final cars.
>>28776298The intercooler was for a JP-only special edition called the "Pinnacle" edition and is not available on any US market LC500s. It was not advertised as a final edition, but, with a name like that it does kinda sound pretty damn final.You might be right that 2026 does end up being the last model year and the Inspiration and Pinnacle editions are the final special editions for the car, but I just can't see them silently sunsetting the model without advanced notice. I feel like we'd see an announcement at around say February 2026 that it's the end and you have until July to order it or something like that. It just doesn't line up with Lexus's and Toyota's recent behavior with regards to ending models, especially iconic and well loved ones like the LC500.I know I'm coping hard here, I need to get some money and financing scraped together and just get the thing ordered and I'll sleep better at night know it's on the way. Even if there is a final edition it'll probably have fixed color choices I won't prefer anyways, so I'd be better off ordering a 2026 base model with my choices instead anyways.
Also, are you sure that the reports of people having difficulty ordering the 2026 version is for the base version? The Inspiration version is supposed to be limited to 200 coupes and 350 convertibles by lottery. That could be the issue, folks just not winning that lottery.
From what I've seen, it is exactly the type of car people have been sacrificing their children for cadillac to make for 50 years now
>>28776368It might just be for Bespoke requests, but I think that's effectively all customized orders from what I understand. There was a recent post on ClubLexus about it.A new LC is a tough value proposition to me. They are amazing cars, but you can get earlier mid-mileage ones with a sportier ride and higher equipment levels for half the price. The tablet dash was not an upgrade, and it got softer with time.>>28776361Yeah, this is what I was thinking about. I think the parts are in the part catalog, and I'm thinking about trying to get them ordered for my car, but it's a bit of a long shot. Supposedly they've always been ready-to-go for this stuff.
>>28775648It does a good job balancing performance and being street friendly.
>>28776386>A new LC is a tough value proposition to me. They are amazing cars, but you can get earlier mid-mileage ones with a sportier ride and higher equipment levels for half the price.I am not really seeing this, honestly. I'm only seeing the 2018 model with the worse suspension on sale, any 2019+ ones are almost current sticker price for a new one. And almost all of the 2018s I see for sale don't have the handling package, which is a gigantic performance hit even just for street driving. Tighter turning radii are really nice to have especially on long wheelbase cars like this.I agree with you on the infotainment, though. I actually did not hate the weird touch screen thingy in it when I test drove it. It's weird, sure, but it was actually quite functional and fast, and it was laid out in the dash much better than the touch tablet is.
>>28776394The 2018 packaging was different from the rest of the model years, if it's a 2018 and has the active rear wing it has the dynamic handling package. The limited slip differential was an additional and separate option. I would recommend the Mark Levinson system.
>>28775659There has been a trend in the last ten years of having repulsive grills on cars, and I do not understand it. Every Camry looked like an abomination after the 2012 models
>>28776402Actually, I'm not sure if the differential is a separate option or not. It seems like it is in the 2018 brochure, but it's included with the Sport Package in future years so I'm not totally sure.
