Lexus LC 500 Convertible 2021 Review

A V8-powered 2+2 convertible with prestige pedigree for $214,000 plus on-road costs sounds like a bargain, when you look at what the market rivals are charging for something remotely similar. That’s the 2021 Lexus LC 500 Convertible for you, available in just one well-equipped variant, other than a Limited Edition model offered from launch and selling for $20,000 more ($234,000).

The test vehicle for this review was stock standard and finished in Carnelian, an orange/bronze metallic colour.

Features fitted comprised 21-inch forged alloy wheels, keyless entry/start, retracting door handles, puddle lights, 8.0-inch instrument cluster with ‘slide-out meter ring’, colour head-up display, 10.3-inch infotainment screen with touchpad interface, and a 13-speaker Mark Levinson audio system with Apple CarPlay/Android Auto integration, digital radio and satellite navigation.

The interior is trimmed in semi-aniline leather upholstery, and the front seats come with 10-way power adjustment (with position memory for the driver and power adjustment for the steering column) and heating/ventilation – with neck heating as well.

Dual-zone climate control keeps the occupants at the right personal temperature, and the steering wheel is heated too.

A four-year/100,000km warranty applies, with roadside assistance available for the first four years, plus six years of coverage against corrosion. Service intervals fall due every 12 months or 15,000km, whichever occurs first.

As an additional incentive to buy, Lexus offers the LC 500 Convertible with three years of membership to its Lexus Encore Platinum Owner Benefits program.

The 2021 Lexus LC 500 Convertible has not been tested for crash safety by either ANCAP or Euro NCAP.

Nor has the hard-top coupe, so the secondary safety characteristics of the Lexus LC 500 remain unassessed, although Lexus engineers have also specified additional under-body bracing for the convertible.

With a combination of aluminium and magnesium for the roof structure plus six airbags, it should be as safe as any convertible can be in a crash.

Among the safety package features of the LC 500 Convertible, there are front and rear parking sensors, a reversing camera, active cruise control, autonomous emergency braking (AEB), lane keep assist, blind spot monitoring and rear cross traffic alert.

Rain-sensing wipers, and auto-on LED headlights with high beam assist are also standard.

We found the auto-dipping facility to be over-reactive. Frequently opting for high beam in built-up areas, or when approaching intersections with vehicles halted on the side roads, the system was on one occasion raising and dipping the lights every few seconds because there was a car ahead right on the threshold at which the Lexus would dip the lights.

After about 50 minutes, I disabled the auto high beam assist. Fortunately, the LED headlights on low beam are very good anyway. They’re so good, in fact, that you could almost do without high beam unless you’re travelling at speeds above 100km/h on a dark country road.

The V8 under the bonnet of the 2021 Lexus LC 500 Convertible sounds wonderful, despite the car being fitted with what Lexus calls Active Noise Control.

At open-road speeds the engine is completely inaudible, ticking over at 1250rpm, but it starts up from cold with a wicked crackle.

It’s up for debate, but the LC 500’s powertrain may just be its best facet. Who could fault a large-displacement powerplant that will rev easily to a 7000rpm redline?

Although the V8 delivers torque across the rev range – enough to hold higher gears on hills at revs below 2000rpm – this is an engine that wants to rev. It pulls harder above 5000rpm and there’s no sign of fading performance all the way to the redline.

There are also multiple drive modes for performance, comfort or economy, and all of them provide the precise characteristics they promise.

The 10-speed auto transmission holds gears at the redline if in manual mode, also responding very quickly to shifting with the paddles. It also kicks down rapidly – possibly too rapidly, in fact – but the accelerator pedal travel feels long and soft in the comfort and economy modes, in a car as responsive as this.

Unfortunately, there is a price to pay, and it’s payable at the bowser. Fuel economy on a standard test run was 13.2L/100km, which is around half a litre worse than the combined-cycle test figure of 12.7L/100km.

That’s not a bad result for a car weighing over two tonnes (2035kg) and powered by a 5.0-litre V8.

Chassis engineers have calibrated the suspension of the 2021 Lexus LC 500 Convertible for a gentle but well-controlled ride, in the mould of a grand touring set-up.

That does have some impact on the LC 500’s roadholding though. The Lexus can’t match a Jaguar F-TYPE for speed out of a bend, let alone keep up with a Porsche.

While the LC 500 is a cruiser rather than a bruiser, don’t be mistaken; the grip available from the Michelin tyres (Pilot Supersport 275/35 R21 at the rear, 245/40 R21 at the front) places the Lexus on the same rung of the ladder as a Mercedes-Benz SL 400 tested a few years ago.

And the handling of the LC 500 is quite secure. Keep the boot into it and it will squat at the rear and power through in a steady arc. At some point the stability control will begin to interfere, but if it’s a little bit conservative in its calibration, the active safety system is not as much a killjoy as one might expect.

The steering is communicative and well weighted, turning in responsively but without undue nervousness. When it comes to stopping, the brakes are very strong, but with the right pedal feel for pulling up softly.

The weight of the Lexus has one saving grace: it makes for an exceptionally rigid structure. This 2+2 convertible, with its fabric roof, produced no scuttle shake, no squeaks or rattles. The LC 500 Convertible is as solid as the proverbial rock.

With the roof down but the side windows raised, the LC 500 cabrio is rather serene, even at highway speeds. However, on a 26-degree day in the midst of a La Nina summer in Melbourne, we were happy to retire to a roof-up/climate-controlled environment after about an hour.

Especially after drawing in the diesel fumes from the heavy commercial vehicles on all sides in a spectacularly bad traffic jam.

The driving position is without any sort of real flaw. Everything is where it should be, once you refamiliarise yourself with some of the design quirks common to Lexus models – like the finger pull for the parking brake on the dash to the lower left of the steering column.

There’s rarely any need to use it anyway. As soon as you select Park, the parking brake is automatically engaged. It also disengages without human intervention the moment you select Drive or Reverse.

The seats are fabulous. They wrap around you, but without squeezing your kidneys to mulch. The cushioning is soft, but the shape is highly supportive.

Some unique Lexus design features ‘hide’ stuff. Like the adjustment for brightness/contrast and height of the head-up display (HUD). There’s a button on the left spoke of the steering wheel to display the trip computer functions available – including the HUD settings – normally concealed by the ‘sliding meter’.

The sole major dial shifts across to the right at a press of the button, revealing the trip computer and settings functions.

Another hidden feature is the switch for the roof, placed under a lidded receptacle that is styled flush with the wrist rest for the infotainment touchpad and sitting between that and the sliding centre armrest. The lid of the armrest lifts to reveal a reasonably large storage bin underneath.

All in all, the centre console is a nice piece of design.

Both the instrument cluster and the infotainment display are your original ‘all-singing, all-dancing’ glittering affair on start-up. It’s a stunning visual show.

Spoiling all that good work is the haptic touchpad to control the infotainment systems. Thankfully, as we’ve found with other Lexus models in the past, the touchpad can be largely avoided.

The destination can be set in the satellite navigation system using the car’s very effective voice recognition. There are audio controls on the steering wheel too. And the dual-zone climate control relies on conventional toggles to adjust the temperature.

Rear seat accommodation is not only miserly for adults, it’s practically stadium seating. The passenger feels perched higher than the front seat occupants, which likely won’t be a problem for kids, but an adult sitting back there will feel rather vulnerable with one’s bonce out in the slipstream.

That’s assuming the roof is lowered, because you certainly won’t be able to sit up straight if the roof is raised.

I’m not normally a fan of convertibles, but I would make an exception for the 2021 Lexus LC 500 Convertible.

It’s a great-looking car – although the jury’s out where the rear flanks are concerned – and you will barely register that the LC 500 is a convertible once the roof is raised.

No problems with blind spots to the rear either, there’s very little road noise, and the vehicle dynamics are uncompromised.

The Lexus delivers reasonably practical everyday useability because it’s easy to enter and leave, and it won’t scrape its guts on the way out of the driveway.

One point that did have us scratching our heads: the boot. We couldn’t open it, for reasons that remain a complete mystery; pressing the button on the tail-light, the button on the dash or the button on the key fob failed to lift the bootlid, not that convertible fanciers will care too much – although some of them might like to pack their golf clubs in the boot for a game.

But that glitch aside, the Lexus LC 500 Convertible is a very promising machine. It’s a beautiful blend of style and ability for lovers of drop-top touring.

How much does the 2021 Lexus LC 500 Convertible cost?
Price: $214,000 (plus on-road costs)
Available: Now
Engine: 5.0-litre V8 petrol
Output: 351kW/540Nm
Transmission: 10-speed automatic
Fuel: 12.7L/100km (ADR Combined)
CO2: 290g/km (ADR Combined)
Safety rating: Not tested