Test drive Lexus SC 2001 - 2005 compartment

Maximum brightness

There are many stars in the cast of the Lexus brand, and yet the new SC 430 model is the brightest of them. Surely for many years this car will be considered one of the most chores serial convertibles wearing Made in Japan.

Our correspondence acquaintance with this car took place back in 1999. A colleague brought materials from the Tokyo car dealership according to the then conceptual model. Having examined the photos, we agreed that the novelty looks quite fresh and extraordinary. Two years later, from Detroit, someone brought a press release already through a serial car. And now, no matter how much the rope curled, its tip brought us to the Lexus car dealership to meet with that convertible, capable of amazing, as it turned out, not only by forms and capabilities, but also by the price.

SC 430 is a rare case when the car in life and in the pictures looks exactly the same. It is photogenic from all sides, which greatly facilitates the shooting does not have to look for a successful angle.

In the cabin, the kingdom of excellent finishing materials: leather, aluminum, chrome, natural wood. Not a granuted chamber, of course, but impressive.

The front seats have eight adjustments, however, it is not easy to find a convenient (more precisely, familiar) position. Agree, vertical, bus landing is clearer for us what the one that Rogster offers. There is nothing to be done, the law of the genre. In this regard, the passenger does not need to steer or the pedal to press.

In the second row, with all the amenities, a weighty suitcase or a couple of sports bags will be placed. For a normal person here for more than ten minutes not to sit. The back of the seat without the slightest inclination. Maybe this is not bad to correct posture, only now there will be practically no time on the trip, meditating in the lotus pose there is practically no foot space. Well, it’s good at least there is an additional place for luggage of the trunk of the four hundred and thirty is small, some 368 liters, and even then very flat, spread. If you also fold the roof, there will only be 135 liters.

The aluminum top is removed or returned to a normal position in 25 seconds almost silently. The only thing that is somewhat annoying is that the electric drive key must be kept throughout the procedure.

Having lowered the roof, we did not raise it anymore. Firstly, on the day of the test it was warm, and secondly, so the driver had at least some overview. With this case, this Lexus has real problems. In addition, he has completely blurry dimensions: where the car ends, you only imagine approximately, which is especially unpleasant in city traffic jams.

The steering wheel is literally fighting. Such is his perseverance on the highway for happiness, but, excuse me, what is it when parking or maneuvers in street crushing? A hydraulic wrap with varying effort is not such a difficult thing. The Japanese could calmly bring him to the ideal.

But over the radio and acoustics, Mark Levinson himself worked for this car, an unsurpassed developer of High-End equipment. Nine speakers and a superinTelelectual system that is reconfiguring, depending on whether the top of the car is open or closed, allow you to enjoy the magnificent sound of music. True, only when the volume is close to maximum: with an average or smaller somewhere, high frequencies disappear. However, maybe we did not fully deal with her work. We did not have so much time to meticulously study the radio or, say, a climatic installation. By the way, it is also not simple and allows you to ride an open top even in winter, automatically adjusting the temperature in the area of \u200b\u200bthe feet, knees, chest and head, and for the driver and passenger separately.

For some reason, many consider the words a convertible and a sports car with synonyms. Lexus lively evidence that such an opinion is not quite fair. First of all, it is a business class car. Recall that the model was created on a shortened platform of the well -known GS 430 sedan. Hence it, he has such a soft tread of any analogy with shaking supercars. Even if under the wheels completely broken asphalt, Lexus remains calm. The degree, measured riding on it is as pleasant as on the representatives of the representative class.

Grasping this car is also very cool. No wonder the energetic V8 is located under the hood. The engine is absolutely silent, as on an electric car. At first it even confuses. You stomp on the gas pedal, but the car does not seem to go. You look at the speedometer everything is fine, already far over a hundred. Slow down, accelerate again, seven seconds again a hundred?! Only then do you understand that the cause of these incomprehensible sensations is a complete absence of sound accompaniment. The motor does not break into a cry even at maximum speeds. But is it worth it to be surprised: what is two with a small tons of complete mass for 286 horses! By the way, it is also not difficult for them to disperse Lexus to 250 kilometers per hour.

An adaptive five -speed gearbox will be worried about the smoothness of the dispersal. It works both automatically and secretly. In addition, you can choose the usual, winter or sports regime, and if the difference is not noticeable in many cars, then Lexus clearly makes it clear that driving along dry asphalt and on the winter road differs from each other as heaven and earth. In winter transmission mode, they switch much earlier, providing more delicate traction. It is worth going into sport, and the tachometer arrow almost all the time reaches the red zone. But in this mode, the transmission is switched very correctly.

A few words about additional equipment. It is several, because almost everything in the car includes gas -discharge headlights, mirrors with an anti -coating effect, a tire pressure alarm, wipers with a rain sensor, a steering column with an electric stability, etc. Options can only be the navigation system and special Run-Flat tires, allowing, in the event of a puncture of the wheel and a complete drop in the pressure in it, drive 160 km at a speed of up to 90 km/h.

We think that now you will not be surprised that this machine, the sales plan of which is only 10 thousand pieces per year, costs $ 94,000. True, it is true that Mark Levinson is not cheap: the Middle Class Music Center of this company costs about as much as a car of the same class.

Text: Oleg Kalaushin
 

Source: Magazine 5 wheel [05/2002]