It’s one of the great pleasures of driving a convertible, that wind-in-the-hair feeling that makes you feel closer to the world around you as you take to the open road.
It sounds like a simple concept, but with the new LC Convertible, Lexus has gone to exceptional lengths to make sure that when you drop the roof, there’s no loss of comfort. That’s true whether you’re enjoying a sun-soaked ocean-side drive, or the twists and turns of a snowy Alpine pass.
The goal was to prevent cold air chilling the lower body, while managing temperature and airflow around the head and shoulders, so that you can enjoy a refreshing breeze without feeling cold or buffeted.
IDEAL COMFORT WHETHER IT’S HOT OR COLD
The cabin is a completely different environment when the roof is stowed, so precise adjustments had to be made to the air conditioning system to maintain the right temperature. The LC Convertible has an open-air control that automatically detects whether the top is up or down using a sensor in the roof and adjusts air conditioning performance accordingly. When the top is down, factors such as the amount of sunlight, the outside temperature and the speed of the car are all used to calculate the air-con temperature and airflow. Adjustable heaters built into the headrests direct air onto your neck, so you feel warm straight away. It’s designed to suit people of different heights and works automatically, or you can use manual control, with three heat settings.
LEXUS CLIMATE CONCIERGE
Lexus’ intelligent Climate Concierge has been adapted for the Convertible, co-ordinating control of the automatic air-con, the seat and neck heaters and the heated steering wheel. It even recognises when the passenger seat is unoccupied, switching off the heaters to save power. True to Lexus’ famous attention to detail and omotenashi seamless comfort and hospitality principles, the air conditioning’s airflow has been slightly increased to add warmth in key areas, such as the back of the driver’s hands on the wheel.
AERODYNAMIC DETAILS
Lexus also looked at how the car’s aerodynamics could play its part in keeping the cabin calm and comfortable, once again taking a human-centred, omotenashi approach. After researching how air flows over the car when the roof is down, the engineers created a belt line along the side of the car 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 makes for a smoother airflow that doesn’t buffet the car’s occupants. There is also a transparent wind deflector behind the rear seats – fitted as standard – which suppresses unwelcome airflow and keeps things quiet enough in the cabin to hold a conversation, when driving at speeds up to around 60 km/h. It may be a small feature, but it reduces airflow around the occupants’ faces by about 20%.
OPTIONAL WIND SCREEN
For a more comfortable ride when travelling at higher speeds, you can fit an optional wind screen. This again reduces airflow around the head (by about 67% at 100 km/h). The mesh unit sits neatly behind the rear seats and can remain in place when the roof is raised.
Many different mesh patterns were tested before the best-performing design was chosen. Special attention was also paid to the screen’s appearance, so that it blends perfectly with the convertible’s luxurious interior.
