Lexus LC Convertible: perfect cabin comfort, top up or down

The feeling of wind in the hair is one of the great pleasures of driving a convertible. But great care is required to balance that simple quality with the desire to maintain cabin comfort and prevent the vehicle’s occupants from feeling cold or being buffeted by the wind.

Lexus engineers went to exceptional lengths to ensure the LC Convertible delivered a luxury experience, whether you are enjoying a sun-soaked coastal drive, or the twists and turns of a snowy Alpine pass.

The cabin environment is completely different when the roof is lowered, so precise adjustments were made to the air conditioning system to take the changes into account and maintain the right temperature. The air conditioning control system knows if the roof is up or down and adapts its performance accordingly. When the top is stowed, factors such as the amount of sunlight, outside temperature and vehicle speed are all taken into account to calculate the appropriate temperature and airflow.

Adjustable heaters are built into the headrests and direct air around the neck, so occupants feel warm straight away. The system is designed to suit people of different heights and works automatically or with manual control, with three heat settings.

Lexus Climate Concierge

Our intelligent Climate Concierge system has been specifically adapted to coordinate control of the air conditioning, the seat and neck heaters, and the heated steering wheel, in order to achieve ideal heat and ventilation levels throughout the cabin. It recognises when the passenger seat is unoccupied, adjusting performance to focus on the area around the driver. Airflow is also slightly increased to add warmth in key areas, such as the back of the driver’s hands on the steering wheel.

Aerodynamic details

Lexus designers further examined how aerodynamic details could contribute to keeping the cabin calm and comfortable. After researching how air flows over the car when the roof is down, they created an external belt line that kicks up at the rear edge of the doors to meet the surface of the boot lid – which itself was set at an ideal height. This detail smooths the airflow to ensure that it doesn’t buffet the car’s occupants.

There is also a transparent wind deflector behind the rear seats that suppresses unwelcome airflow and keeps things quiet enough in the cabin to hold a conversation, when driving at speeds up to around 35mph. It may be a small feature but it reduces airflow around the occupants’ faces by about 20%.

For a more comfortable ride when travelling at higher speeds, customers can fit an optional mesh screen behind the front seats that reduces airflow around the head by about 67% at 60mph. Special attention was paid to the appearance of the screen, so that it blends perfectly with the convertible’s luxurious interior. The unit can remain in place when the roof is raised.

Read more: LC Convertible – producing the perfect soft top