LEXUS RC F First Drive

By, 2014-09-08

The RC F’s direct competition is obvious enough: The Audi RS5, the BMW M4 and the Mercedes C63 AMG Coupe (and perhaps soon, a Cadillac ATS V coupe). These cars account for only five percent of sales in the growing market for compact luxury brand coupes, but their impact extends beyond the numbers. Lexus marketing chief Brian Smith calls the RC F a halo car. As the sole bearer of Lexus’s F designation (for Fuji, as in Speedway), it will set the brand’s performance tone, build its enthusiast cred and help drive sales of the profitable F-Sport option on other cars in the line, including the standard RC 350.

The RC F starts in the same place as the RC 350—on a platform and suspension melded for the Lexus GS sedan (front wheel wells forward), the IS sedan (rear wheel wells back) and the IS C convertible (in the middle). The RC is stiffened further with unique under floor braces, and its length, wheelbase and width don’t vary more than a few inches from any if its performance coupe competitors.

The most obvious thing separating RC F from the V6-powered RC 350 is its 5.0-liter V8. The block is the same one used in the current IS F sedan, but everything else in the engine changes. There are new heads with titanium valves, a larger throttle body and lighter connecting rods with a narrower cross section. The net is an increase of 51 horsepower compared to the IS F, for a class-leading 467, with 389 pound-feet of torque and a 7,300 rpm redline. Yet new motor-driven cam phasers can keep the intake valves open longer at light loads, effectively creating an Atkinson cycle in the RC F V8. Projected EPA numbers (16/25) surpass those for the RS5, C63 and dual-clutch, six-cylinder M4.

This car comes track ready, and as if to prove the point, Lexus will begin building FIA-spec GT-3 race cars for customers this fall. Yet the company insists it wanted more.

“The goal was a track-ready car for any driver, assessable to all skill levels,” say chief engineer Yukihiko Naguchi. “We wanted a car that can captivate experienced enthusiasts and create new ones from novice drivers”

How’s it drive?

Like the new big swinger in the Lexus lineup, or a highly competent track car that won’t pummel you on the road. The standard Lexus RC 350 is well sorted, and engaging as many Lexus products go. The RC F takes everything—head-rush acceleration, minimized body roll, dizzying lateral g loads—to an entirely different level.