2015 Lexus RC F Overview

The market is filled with new luxury performance coupes as of lately and it's only getting filled with more automakers. Even take a look at some of the new Hyundai's and even Hondas for example. They've really stepped up their game with the whole luxury sport look and may even compete with upper class luxury cars like, BMW, Mercedes and Lexus in the upcoming years.

When Lexus created the new RC F, their goal was to be able to compete with some of the top luxury sporty performance coupes, ie: BMW M3, Audi RS5 and Mercedes-Benz C63, etc. And Lexus sure did a good job. Although the class has been dominated by the German automakers for years, the RC F has gone over the limits of some of these cars.

One of the aspects about the 2015 RC F that we find most interesting is that this cars chassis is actually 3 cars put together. That's right, this Frankenstein car's front end up to the A-pillar is from the Lexus GS, between the A-pillar and C-pillar is from the Lexus IS C (convertible) and from the C-pillar back is from the Lexus IS. With all of that going on, the RC F is actually 200 lbs. heavier than the IS F. Part of that is because a lot of bracing was added to the chassis to help stiffen it up. Not to mention the RC F is a little over an inch longer and wider than the IS. The RC F sits 1.6 inches lower the IS and wheelbase was shortened by a little over an inch which takes away from the interior space for the rear passengers. Oh and the sloping roofline doesn't help with passenger head room either.

The RC F power plant is a 467 horsepower 5.0 liter V8. It's pretty much a retuned and revamped version of the IS F's engine. So how did Lexus squeeze the extra 51 horsepower out of the previous IS F engine that we thought was tapped out? Well, to start things off, the ECU was re-flashed, titanium valves were added along with a lighter crankshaft, bigger throttle body and injectors were also added and the redline was extended to 7300.

Since this is Lexus's hot rod, performance coupe, we would expect it to act better on track than any other car they've created. Sadly, to our disappointment, the new RC F is comparable to IS F on track. Although it may be newer and have more power, keep in mind that the coupe is significantly heavier than the IS F. 0-60 in about 4.4 seconds is impressive, no doubt, but we would expect a little more from Lexus. One of the that the RC F has that other cars in their line has is a performance package for $5,500 more. This package will get you a carbon fiber roof, a rear spoiler and a torque-vectoring differential. This dif. is very effective on the track and is actually fully capable of switching 100% of the power to either side of the vehicle.

An 8 speed automatic transmission with an option for manual shifting is what's mounted to the hefty motor. An electronic system is what enhances the engine note inside the cabin (we've seen this in plenty of other cars lately). 19" forged BBS wheels and grippy summer tires come standard on the RC F. 15" rotors give make it so this heavy coupe comes to complete stop rather easily. And of course there are 3 driver modes for this car which change up the way the rear dif. works as well as the steering weight.

With that being said, the RC F is a very promising car. All Lexus cars produced by the F Team come out excellent. But in the $60,000 price range, keep your options open as there are many great vehicles in that area.