Drop the top and the wind swirls above you, but even then this flagship from Lexus protects its occupants from the undesirable aspects of the environment. Wind buffeting is minimal at normal highway speeds. Even at high speeds, there's little buffeting and it's easy to conduct conversation without raising your voice.

The Lexus SC430 is not a sports car in the sense of a Porsche 911 Carrera Cabriolet. With its soft suspension, the Lexus floats and wallows on winding, bumpy roads. Take it to the limit in a tight corner, and it understeers (the front tires lose grip before the rear tires). It offers neither the grip nor the transient response of the 911, the Mercedes-Benz SL 500, the Jaguar XK8, or the Cadillac XLR. We also noticed some susceptibility to strong crosswinds.

The SC 430 is enjoyable to drive, however. It's quite wonderful when driven at a brisk pace on winding mountain roads. Its rear-wheel-drive is the proper layout for a performance car, giving it handling balance and responsiveness that no front-drive car can match. But it is not intended to be driven like a race car. It is, after all, a Lexus, designed to excel in the areas of comfort and refinement.

Similarly, the SC 430 is quick, but not lightning quick. It's capable of accelerating from 0-60 mph in 5.9 seconds, according to Lexus. The double overhead-cam 4.3-liter all-aluminum V8 produces 300 horsepower at 5600 rpm and 325 pounds-feet of torque at 3400 rpm. The SC 430 offers acceleration performance comparable to that of the Mercedes SL 500 and Jaguar XK8, which is fast company, but it isn't as quick as the Porsche 911 or Cadillac XLR. Top speed of the SC 430 is about 156 mph, more than fast enough. Around town, the Lexus is smooth, quiet and sophisticated. It's a very flexible engine, with strong torque at low rpm, so it's always ready for your input, never struggling to deliver smooth power. These are benefits of the variable valve timing, which Lexus calls VVT-i and a modern drive-by-wire throttle setup.

The five-speed automatic transmission shifts smoothly, almost seamlessly. It features three shift modes (Normal, Sport, Winter). Mounted on the floor console, the shifter has a C-shaped gate, allowing semi-manual shifting, though not as deftly as with a Porsche Tiptronic or similar automatic. It's best to let it do its own thing and it does that well. The Lexus transmission is designed to be smooth, not quick, however, so it does not respond as quickly as a Mercedes or Porsche transmission, even in Sport mode.

The SC 430 features the latest in active safety systems that will do everything physically possible to keep the car headed in the direction the driver is steering: anti-lock brakes (ABS), electronic brake-force distribution (EBD), traction control, Vehicle Skid Control (VSC), and Brake Assist. This is great technology to have as it can help you avoid an accident. While it's good to have at least a vague understanding of what these systems do, it's less important to understand how they work. The important thing to know is that, when faced with having to suddenly take an evasive maneuver, you should press down firmly on the brakes, remember to look and steer in the direction you want to go, all the while maintaining hard pressure on the brake pedal.

ABS prevents the brakes from locking up so that the driver maintains steering control. Electronic brake-force distribution maintains the proper balance of braking force to all four tires. Brake Assist helps maintain hard pressure on the brake pedal when the system detects the driver is making the mistake of relaxing pressure on the brake pedal. Vehicle Skid Control reduces skidding in a corner by correcting for oversteer or understeer. Traction control reduces rear wheel spin when accelerating on slippery surfaces. If that doesn't save you, the SC 430 has excellent seat belts with pretensioners and force limiters, and emergency locking retraction, so be sure and use them. It has side-impact airbags in addition to the mandated dual frontal airbags.

The 18-inch alloy wheels are fitted with P245/40ZR18 Dunlop summer tires. Optional run-flat tires ($400) eliminate the need for carrying a spare tire in the tiny trunk. Puncture a run-flat tire and you can continue driving until you reach a repair facility. Run-flats can improve safety by eliminating the need to stop in a dangerous or unfriendly area. Run-flat tires introduce a ride quality that's rougher and not as quiet, however, so choose this option carefully.