Review of my first 1000 miles.

[Simon Gibbs]

Picked up my Sport Coupe from Lexus Cheltenham in April and having just passed 1000 miles wanted to share my thoughts. I’ve owned a lot of cars, It’s my thing. Some people do golf or spend £10k on push bikes, I’ve never judged anyone, you do you. I say this to put my next comment in to perspective, I have never said the following about any other car I’ve owned. I can’t decide if my 1000 and a bit mile, 73 plate LC500 Sport is the best or worst (relatively speaking) car I’ve ever owned. Why do I say this? Plus points, engine, sounds amazing, feels like it has zero inertia. Negatives, engine/bodyweight, slowest car I’ve owned for some time. Positives, fantastic interior and driving position, probably the best I’ve ever owned, and by some distance. For reference I’ve been a Porsche guy for the last 10 years. Negatives, the amazing interior fits inside an exterior that just doesn’t work if you need to park, open the door to get out within 100 metres of anything else (yes tongue in cheek).  We went to Bruges at the weekend. We stay at the Dukes Palace because it has great parking, for Bruges. I’ve done the same journey in probably 3 different Porches and never given it a second thought. What a nightmare in an LC500, the width/angle of the barrier entrance was an issue, when we came back to the car to come home, couldn’t get in as there was no space to open the door. First world problems I know but the first tour in our grand tourer was a nightmare. Touch and go on the Eurotunnel to be fair. Would recommend the tall and fat train. Then I question the luxury coupe bit, how many of us use the car for grand tours? How good is it for everything else? Weirdly I want to defend it, love the way it looks, except from the back. It’s different to everything else available, especially at a similar price point and assuming you are looking at new’ish cars. I do love the engine, as long as you don’t care about ultimate performance and I never had an issue with the gearbox. Ultimately I am very glad I scratched the itch and the LC has a lot going for it but for me it struggles with UK roads and general infrastructure and for that reason a Porsche dealer will hopefully love it and give me top trade in value in the near future. 

[BrettMRC]

They are in a class of one, which as you have highlighted comes with as many lows as highs.

I don't regret the time I had with mine at all.

[Arth_Vader]

Yes it’s big and wide and the doors are hard to open in confined spaces.  

Rear visibility is bad and reversing is a mare due to length and width.

You need to think and plan where you are going to park and narrow underground/internal hotel car parks are deffo not its forte.  

Certainly a Porsche 911 or even modern boxsters are way more practical and faster, and better suited to British roads.  

However I didn’t buy it to go fast or park in multi stories.  

I bought it to look at and so I didn’t have to drive fast to raise the hairs on the back of my neck.    I bought it for looks and noise, and very low cost of ownership compared to my previous Porsches and Astons.

It still looks new and fresh and I really do still marvel at the way it looks, and sounds, but its no longer anywhere as cheap to run as it was. 

 

 

 

[Simon Gibbs]

6 hours ago, Arth_Vader said:

Yes it’s big and wide and the doors are hard to open in confined spaces.  

Rear visibility is bad and reversing is a mare due to length and width.

You need to think and plan where you are going to park and narrow underground/internal hotel car parks are deffo not its forte.  

Certainly a Porsche 911 or even modern boxsters are way more practical and faster, and better suited to British roads.  

However I didn’t buy it to go fast or park in multi stories.  

I bought it to look at and so I didn’t have to drive fast to raise the hairs on the back of my neck.    I bought it for looks and noise, and very low cost of ownership compared to my previous Porsches and Astons.

It still looks new and fresh and I really do still marvel at the way it looks, and sounds, but its no longer anywhere as cheap to run as it was. 

 

 

 

Agreed on many points. I went for a drive this morning before work and loved it. For me though great cars are about adventure and that doesn’t involve planning ahead. 

[shapiro]

I actually don’t find the width an issue with regards to general driving, but agree on the door opening aspect. It’s a big door with some heft.

I’ve taken mine into Europe (France and Switzerland) with no issues. I’d go further and say, it’s been an absolute pleasure to much through 1000s of miles in it. It also gets a lot of positive attention even in the company of supercars / other mainstream sports cars.

My gripe is the sound system I can never quite set up right (ML) to my liking so constantly fiddling. And don’t start me on the stock tyres. I swapped mine out for non run flats (PS4S) and it transformed the way it turns in and puts power down.

Photo from a trip down to Épernay a weeks back. 

[Sadz]

The 360-degree panoramic camera on the 2024 models are great help for tight parking spaces. (Yet, I managed to damage my alloys 😂).

Rear wheel steering also helps.

After driving almost 8,000 miles in 5 months, I'm impressed and loving every drive. Looking forward to a road trip to Munich next month and probably get the 10k mile service done before that.

[shapiro]

Wow you’ve been busy! 8000 miles in a few months?!? Nice going. 

[Simon Gibbs]

20 hours ago, Sadz said:

The 360-degree panoramic camera on the 2024 models are great help for tight parking spaces. (Yet, I managed to damage my alloys 😂).

Rear wheel steering also helps.

After driving almost 8,000 miles in 5 months, I'm impressed and loving every drive. Looking forward to a road trip to Munich next month and probably get the 10k mile service done before that.

That is very impressive mileage. You are right the 360 cameras help. I think the door size is the main issue but having been out a few times since our trip I must admit it will be staying. I get a bit annoyed with it but then I’m won back around. 

[eightk]

Fair review I think. What Porsche was it? Completely agree a 911/Cayman/Boxster is probably more 'jump in and go' but in terms of occasion I reckon the LC wins. It's that engine....

LC is a hoooge car - no way I'd risk entering a eurotunnel single carriage - but only when it's in a confined space - feels smaller on the road, if that makes sense. It should really be 10% smaller, 20% lighter.

Jealous of the 360 cameras - mine's a '21 and they really should have had something better than flakey parking sensors on the front. I'm the 'park at the far end of the carpark diagonally across two spaces' idiot that everyone hates 🙂 

I've done 4,000 miles in 17 months, need to try harder, but it's incredibly usable compared to the Grancabrio and TVR Griffith I had before, the only negative is the bloody theft/attempted theft and resulting damage problem otherwise I'd have definitely used it more.

You'll miss it when it's gone...

[Simon Gibbs]

26 minutes ago, eightk said:

Fair review I think. What Porsche was it? Completely agree a 911/Cayman/Boxster is probably more 'jump in and go' but in terms of occasion I reckon the LC wins. It's that engine....

LC is a hoooge car - no way I'd risk entering a eurotunnel single carriage - but only when it's in a confined space - feels smaller on the road, if that makes sense. It should really be 10% smaller, 20% lighter.

Jealous of the 360 cameras - mine's a '21 and they really should have had something better than flakey parking sensors on the front. I'm the 'park at the far end of the carpark diagonally across two spaces' idiot that everyone hates 🙂 

I've done 4,000 miles in 17 months, need to try harder, but it's incredibly usable compared to the Grancabrio and TVR Griffith I had before, the only negative is the bloody theft/attempted theft and resulting damage problem otherwise I'd have definitely used it more.

You'll miss it when it's gone...

I think you’re right I would miss it. I’ve been on a couple of fairly short journeys this week and thoroughly enjoyed it. It will stay a while and I will avoid foreign underground car parks!