Review: 2025 Lexus LC 500 Convertible
Not every sports car has to chase lap times. Building sporty vehicles with the goal of ultimate performance can lead to harsh rides, restrictive seats, high-strung powertrains, and loud cabins. They can be very rewarding to drive at the limit, but they can also be exhausting as everyday drivers, so much so that you may avoid getting behind the wheel… But you’ll always want to drive the 2025 Lexus LC 500 convertible.
The LC 500 droptop gives up some of that ultimate performance potential for a smooth ride and a relaxed overall character. It also focuses on some of the best parts of the sports car experience to make it one of the most pleasant and rewarding cars to drive on a regular basis.
An Everyday Sports Car
It’s easy to fall in love with the LC at a single glance. It sits low and wide, with broad hips fronted by large brake cooling scoops. The nose features an attractive, wide-mouth version of the Lexus spindle grille flanked by squinting LED headlights that drop down into front air intakes. It looks good top up or down, and the soft top is available in four complementary colors. The top can be operated at speeds up to 31 mph and takes 16 seconds or less to raise or lower.
My test car is especially attractive with its Iridium paint (a new color this year), blue top, and white and blue semi-aniline leather interior that imparts a decidedly nautical look. Both the interior and exterior colors are available only in the LC’s Bespoke Build Package that costs $5,500 and comes with dark smoked chrome trim and black accents, and offers the choice of red or blue soft-top colors and three wheel designs.
If the styling doesn’t get you, the V8’s purr will. I hop into the LC, buckle myself in, hit the start button, and the direct-injected 5.0-liter V8 fires to life with a low burble. When I dig into the throttle, the engine emits a note that exists somewhere between NASCAR stocker and refined luxo-cruiser. It’s one of the best-sounding engines on the market, and it’s only enhanced by the active exhaust system that opens a computer-controlled valve at higher revs, as well as the satisfying crackles that sneak out between the smooth shifts of the 10-speed automatic transmission.
The V8 is no slouch in terms of power either. It spins up 471 horsepower at 7100 rpm and 398 pound-feet of torque at 4800 rpm. Without the benefit of the low-end torque supplied by today’s turbocharged engines, the power is strong, but it builds rather than arriving with a wallop right off the line. It motivates 4,500 pounds of Japanese luxury droptop from 0-60 mph in 4.6 seconds, which is certainly quick but not in the ballpark of the Porsche 911 or today’s high-output electric cars. It tops out at an electronically limited 168 mph.
While the power is inviting, the LC 500’s dynamics calling card is its ride quality. It’s set on low-profile 21-inch wheels and tires, but the LC’s double-joint multilink front and multilink rear suspension, with adaptive dampers all around, soaks up bumps like a mainstream sedan. Most sports cars lean toward firm suspensions that leave me wanting to use the softest setting of their adaptive dampers. In general, I prefer the firmer damper setting in the LC 500 convertible that never skews toward overly firm.
For commuting, the base suspension tune works well, but I want the Sport setting when driving on twisty roads. The firmer damper setting helps control some of the LC’s body lean, enhancing the car’s natural athleticism. To make up for the loss of the top, Lexus adds underbody bracing, including a rear suspension tower and V-brace, all of which do a good job of limiting body quake over bumps.
After its initial lean, the Sport setting helps the LC’s poise in corners, and it rotates predicably. The 245/35R21 front and 275/30R21 rear Michelin Pilot Sport S 5 summer performance tires provide good grip, and the steering has some welcome heft and quick, controlled reactions. An available limited-slip rear differential will help it accelerate more briskly on corner exit, but my car doesn’t have it.
The brakes are pretty capable, too. They’re sizable, with 15.7-inch front rotors pinched by six-piston calipers and 14.1-inch rear rotors clamped by four-piston calipers, and will stand up to a good amount of abuse on any road. However, they can fade under the duress of track duty.
Mostly, though, the LC 500 likes to remain subdued, and the cabin helps with its relaxing nature. The top has three layers of cloth and a layer of sound deadener, and Lexus outfits the LC with standard active noise cancellation. A wind deflector also blocks noise when the top is down. That all makes conversion possible with the top down, and the cabin becomes downright quiet with the top up.
Lexus calls the LC a four-seater, but only two are realistic, and the “back seats” are barely deep enough to fit a rollaboard suitcase, let alone a person. Front riders are surrounded by standard leather and available softer semi-aniline leather upholstery, and they get eight-way power adjustments and standard heating and ventilation for the spacious and comfortable front buckets. The trunk, however, is tiny with just 3.4 cubic feet of space.
The driver interacts with one of the most attractive, watch-like analog instrument clusters left on the market, as well as a quick-acting 12.3-inch touchscreen. Also standard are wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, a satellite radio trial, and available connected services through a 4G network. Spending an extra $1,220 brings an excellent 915-watt Mark Levinson audio system, and a head-up display is available for $900.
The LC also comes with a good set of safety features that includes Lexus Safety System+ 2.5, which includes automatic emergency braking with pedestrian detection and cross-traffic mitigation, emergency steering assist, adaptive cruise control, lane keep assist, and road sign recognition. Blind-spot monitors, rear cross-traffic alerts, a surround-view camera system, and front and rear parking sensors are also standard.
The 2025 Lexus LC 500 convertible starts at $107,800, including a $1,350 destination fee. That’s $7,500 more than the LC 500 coupe for the joy of top-down driving. The LC 500 convertible is an old-school sports car in the mold of the Mercedes-Benz SL-Class: comfortable, relaxing, and powerful. It’s not a track machine, but track machines can be taxing to drive. Instead, the LC 500 invites you to drive it every day and enjoy every minute of it.
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2026 Aston Martin DBX S First Drive: The Best Super SUV Gets Even Better
Model year 2026 marks the return of S variants to Aston Martin’s already stupendous model lineup. Performance enhancements, weight savings, and stylistic revisions will proliferate to the Vantage next, but for now, Aston hopes to bank first on the success of a new DBX SUV. A whole host of S revisions most notably bump output up to a total of 717 horsepower, versus 698 hp for the DBX 707, which critically vaults it back above the Ferrari Purosangue to reclaim the title of world’s most powerful non-electric and non-hybrid super SUV.
The increase comes thanks to a pair of upgraded turbochargers borrowed from the Valhalla hypercar – ironically a hybrid – with a 4-millimeter larger turbine housing. But as I learned on a drive program held through Santa Barbara, California, and the nearby mountains, the transformation from 707 to S means so much more than just boosting power by a few additional ponies. All the functional enhancements, though measured in marginal gains alone, simultaneously work together to somehow make my favorite super SUV even better.
Don’t take this the wrong way, but the difference between 698 and 717 horsepower at full throttle probably only matters while trying to pull off wheel-to-wheel passes on a racetrack. In the real world, on public roads, the experience of driving matters much more. And I can report with unequivocal confidence that the DBX now has the best steering of any modern Aston Martin. In engineering terms, the steering ratio tightens by just five percent, but not just via programming of the electric assist. Aston also revised the wheel hub mounting points where the tie rods connect, which results in a drastic improvement to feel and granularity.
Where every other recent Aston I’ve driven straddles a fine line between lightweight precision and a sense of anaesthetized numbness, the DBX S absolutely nails communicativeness for regular driving, then unleashes a more expressive nature while pushing hard. Part of the improvement likely comes down to a set of optional magnesium wheels, which at 23 inches in diameter are the largest on the market. Consider these absolutely mandatory: Together, the mag wheels save a total of 42 pounds of unsprung mass, the most important place to shave poundage, which always helps to improve both overall performance and steering feedback.
Pair drastically lighter wheels with mild suspension tuning updates for the adaptive dampers and 48-volt active anti-roll system, and the DBX S takes an even bigger step forward than the DBX 707 did for the 2025 model year. Meanwhile, the clean and crisp interior design carries over, now with Apple CarPlay Ultra to enhance the user interface with familiar overlays on the gauge cluster as well as the center touchscreen. Over the course of a long drive, CarPlay Ultra worked well other than a few moments when the audio stopped playing – in the more rural parts of central California, I can’t say with confidence whether that was an Ultra, an iPhone, or a reception-related issue.
The S’s optional carbon-fiber roof also slots in as another highly recommended option, if only to replace sun glare from the standard panoramic glass roof. This saves another 40 pounds in a critical location for improving the DBX’s center of gravity, too, though from the inside, the leather headliner integrates slightly less neatly than expected.
Other design updates include a honeycomb front grille inspired by the DBS, which cuts another seven pounds, and more efficient front intakes that also add a more dramatic angularity to the nose. The side skirts and rear splitter appear slightly smoother from most angles, meantime, and the little ducktail at the rear comes with a jet-black paint job inspired by the V12 Vantage S. Lower down, new stacked exhaust tips further integrate into a more cohesive and aggressive rear end.
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That exhaust also ramps up the engine soundtrack, as well. By tuning the 4.0-liter V8 so those larger turbos prioritize power output at the higher end of the rev range, with freer flowing exhaust, the DBX S now settles into a lumpy idle almost similar to an American muscle car. Thankfully, gasoline particulate filters mandated by government regulations in other regions will not ship to the USA, and a very mild exhaust note routed into the cabin increases the overall resonance. Aston hoped to avoid any faux noise but the DBX’s incredibly effective sound deadening, which creates a shockingly quiet ride while cruising, almost made the new exhaust sound like it was coming from a different car.
Rest assured, at full throat, the DBX S snarls to life and bellows along while delivering endless wellsprings of torque, leaping forward at tremendous pace even halfway into the throttle pedal’s travel. Full throttle requires full commitment (and a long road) as the unbelievable traction allows for downright brutal forward shove, which then transitions to high-speed stability with ease.
I struggle to imagine that I actually sensed the additional 19 horsepower, an increase of nearly three percent. And total possible weight savings of 104 pounds only comes to a decrease of just two percent. Regardless, the DBX S feels more exotic, more raring to rev, and happier at the higher end of the tachometer than the outgoing 707. And all the while, even when pushing moderately hard on public roads, the reduction in overall mass, the lightweight wheels, improved steering, and suspension tuning do coalesce into a significantly differentiable SUV than any prior DBX. One that’s undeniably more fun to drive, and without sacrificing any of the comfort or luxury factor, either.
Surprisingly, Aston opted against transferring over the adjustable traction control settings available on the Vantage and Vanquish. I thought maybe the S package might have been a good time to introduce this, plus a rear-wheel-drive drift mode to take advantage of the electronic center differential’s ability to send 100% of power to the rear tires. But apparently, all-wheel-drive traction in a large SUV – even a significantly lightweighted one – simply makes this an exercise in futility.
Telling an S apart from the DBX 707 requires eagle eyes for any SUVs that lack the optional pinstripe livery. On the interior, though, a new quilting pattern for the seat upholstery (of course, still ventilated and massaging) stands out as a readily apparent change. But tacking on options adds up quickly: those magnesium wheels cost $22,300 while the carbon pack contributed $11,200 to my test car’s $350,500 MSRP. That’s a serious step up from the starting price of $270,500 and yet the DBX S still stands out as quite competitive against the rest of the super SUV segment.
A Lamborghini Urus SE, for example, starts at $262,630 with options that tend to compound even quicker, plus the power gains come at the expense of a hybrid system – for better and for worse. Ferrari’s “not-an-SUV” Purosangue that the DBX S needed to beat in power terms also sits at a much higher rung up the ladder, with a starting price of $428,686 (and I’ve never seen one that cost under half a million).
Every detail, the overall performance gains, the pricing, and the timing all fit into Aston’s plans to move more DBX units. The S arrives on a perfect schedule for anyone coming out of a three-year 707 lease, as will the Vantage S scheduled next in the planned release timeline. Expect more announcements about other potential S variants soon, as the new strategy under Lawrence Stroll and freshly appointed CEO Adrian Hallmark continues to develop. For now, the DBX arrived first to the S party, and if similarly significant updates proliferate across every model in the Aston portfolio, this plan portends very good things for the entire model range in the not-too-distant future.
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Review: 2025 Lexus LC 500 Convertible
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