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 The Lexus SC400 Sport Coupe will amaze you.
It’s performance is amazing, and so
is it’s
price!
The V8 engine on the SC400 is awesome.
It
puts out 290 horsepower, which gives
you
quite a kick in a car this small! That
engine
is as smooth as it is powerful, and
is amazingly
silent. For a little less money, you
can
get the SC300 and its 225 horsepower
six
cylinder engine. You used be able to
get
a manual transmission on that model,
but
it’s not available anymore. That makes
the
SC400 and it’s V-8 engine the better
choice.
Coupes are not really in fashion any
more,
and while the Lexus SC400 is a wonderful
machine, it kind of typifies why people
aren’t
buying this kind of car much. If you
want
small, roadsters are sexier and cooler.
If
you want big, you’re not going to be
looking
at a coupe.
You do get your share of thrills driving
the Lexus SC400. It handles nicely,
takes
corners well, and goes exactly where
you
want it to go...without much effort.
Very
smooth...with plenty of style?
The SC 400 definitely has all the luxury
you would want...from leather power
seats
to high end stereo system, and all
the bells
and whistles. Plus you have the Lexus
reputation
of quality.
This is a beautiful vehicle. I was
surprised
to learn that the SC 400 hasn’t really
changed
that much since it was introduced back
in
1991. It certainly doesn’t look the
least
bit dated. However, despite the SC
400’s
beautiful styling, it’s been on the
road
so long that nobody notices it. There
are
virtually no changes from 1999 to the
2000
model year.
If you are tall, make sure you take
a good,
long test drive. I’m 6’4”, and just
could
not get enough headroom...trying all
possible
configurations with the seats. Having
a stiff
neck can take a lot of the fun out
of long
drives in even a beautiful vehicle
like the
SC 400. The optional moon roof makes
it a
bit tighter.
Now comes the part I couldn’t get over.
Are
you sitting down? The sticker price
on my
test vehicle topped 60 thousand dollars.
I kept asking myself is this worth
2 Cougars
or Camaro’s? Yea, the Lexus is a better
car...but
is it that much better? When I think
of all
the great cars I could get for well
under
60 thousand dollars, it’s still hard
to figure
why this vehicle commands that kind
of price.
If you can swallow the big sticker
price,
the Lexus SC 400 is a fun car. But
the cost
of fun shouldn’t be that high. Let’s
split
the difference and give the SC 400
a 3 on
our one to five scale.
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