Lexus has made its name as a luxury brand, but it also makes some performance cars, like the RC F. The coupe is powered by a sonorous V8 that propels it to 60 miles an hour from a standstill in 4.4 seconds.
V8 power law enforcement attracting velocity a curve slaying chassis these are attributes found in mustang gt camaro ss or an rc f yes lexus kicks the drama and luxury up a notch or two bmw m4 and cadillac ats-v coupe run with turbo six cylinders and stealthier sheet metal toyota president akio toyoda is demanding more passionate lexus cars the engineers have
Delivered it’s common for cars to share architectures rc is kind of based on three lexus vehicles the front structure is from the gs the mid floor pan from the is convertible the rear the is sedan triple your fun the f structure is more stout than standard our c’s with additional chassis bracing welding and adhesives massive 15-inch slotted brakes proper rubber
And a trick active torque vectoring differential with three modes make it track ready the big lure is the 5 liter v8 with 467 horsepower and 389 pound feet of torque peaking higher in the rev range power is routed through an 8-speed automatic on its way to the rear wheels sadly mother nature is not cooperating not optimal driving conditions they will have to do
Fast you bet it’s fast and this is slippery pavement on dry asphalt lexus lane 0 to 60 runs in 4.4 seconds that will certainly get you to mickey d’s quickly but the competition will arrive a smidge faster rc f is hardly a deprivation chamber if you want a cushy like this one with a lot less road noise by an es the engine though does sound terrific that’s piped in
By the way guess the exhaust intake and mechanical sounds can be controlled from within the cabin electric power steering offers solid feedback tires grip like velcro on dry roads anyway all right here’s the deal all of these cars the mv amg and eps in the world are heroic hub public roads you just can’t tap into the true performance unless you’re on a track on a
Closed course rc f may not be as capable as ats-v and m4 it’s nearly 300 pounds heavier than the caddy 400 heftier than the bimmer most will use the f as a powerful grand touring machine the cockpit is very intimate some might call it snug it’s also very dark and black even though it’s well trimmed this space is all business it looks like a driver’s tool the seats
Embrace a wide range of pilots the upholstery is placed into a mold then filled with foam for a perfect finish lexus has replaced its odd controller with a trackpad i’m still not a fan coops are not the most practical cars in the world but i’m 5 foot 9 and i just fit wouldn’t want to go cross-country back here but it’s ok trimmed out is if lexus expected people to
Ride back here regularly the deep bolstered chairs support as firmly as those in front a reminder i use this stuff to measure the trunk because it’s about the size of a rollaway suitcase take one on a plane though and you’re pretty much guaranteed funny ones i wouldn’t recommend this as a ski car but the gear would fit seats don’t fold and there is no spare arcee
Doesn’t just haul arse it hauls a good amount of kit scoring a 5 in the tepee trunk test compared to standard rcs which by the way stands for radical coupe the f model wears many unique panels there are a lot of lines happening in this design it’s what we in the biz call polarizing it’s meant to drag lexis away from it’s safe beige reputation certainly our cf is anything but dull oh
Transcribed from video
2016 Lexus RC F | Driven: Car Reviews | The New York Times By The New York Times
