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Review: Lexus RC F

Image of Phil Huff
Author: | Updated: 03 Nov 2015 09:59

Blessed with a 471bhp five-litre V8 engine, the RC F will have you pinned firmly in your seat from the off. It's an out-of-date dinosaur though and probably the last generation of motoring where such lack of concern for Mother Earth will be tolerated.

Foot down, the engine revs rise. There’s a distinct rumble from the front as the engine winds up. The noise grows as the engine works harder, but then the engine hits 4,000rpm...

BAM! The rumble turns to a scream, the exhaust bellows out an almost emotionally raw statement of dominance. The horizon gets nearer, and how, as eight cylinders drum as fast as your heart beats.

You already know as much as you’ll ever need to know about the Lexus RC F. Where everybody else is downsizing engines and adding multiple turbos, the RC F comes with an old-fashioned 5.0-litre V8 lump up front. There’s good reason for that, though; ask chief engineer Yukihiko Yaguchi why and you get a simple response: “I love cars!”

Or, to put it bluntly, he’s a fan of the classic, pure sports car, so the F gets a lump of V8 metal that breathes noisily through its induction system, unhindered by anything as uncouth as a turbo.

Lexus RC F orange front dynamic

Find RC F leasing deals: business / leasing

It’s the engine that dominates and defines the entire car. There’s a punch from low revs that sees you pressed firmly in your seat, but the power just continues with a linearity you would struggle to find in any modern competitor.

Let the revs climb to 3,600rpm and the 5.0-litre engine throws away it’s rather muted tones as titanium valves open in the exhaust, allowing a bellowing roar to escape that makes the hairs on your neck stand on end. It encourages you to use all 471bhp, such is the utter dominance of the sound, and it gets better as the revs rise. The fun continues all the way to 7,300rpm, when the limiter cuts in to encourage you to select the next gear and go through it all again.

Lexus RC F orange rear static

All that power and noise goes straight to the rear wheels; four-wheel drive isn’t even an option on this car as that would dilute the promised purity of the driving experience. However, the rear axle on this test car contains an optional torque vectoring differential. For those less technically minded than your average Tokyo engineer, this moves power around the driven wheels up to a thousand times a second, maximising traction and helping to make the hulk of metal a lot more wieldy than you might have assumed it to be.

That assumption is borne from the fact that the RC F weighs close to a not inconsiderable 1.9 tonnes, something that’s not ideal for a sportscar on the road. However, those electronics are there to help, which means the torque vectoring differential offers three different modes (standard, slalom and track) while there are four stability programmes.

A further four settings for the steering and dynamic controls brings the total choices available to a bewildering 48 combinations. For some fun, Sport S+, slalom and Expert makes the most sense.

Keeping the F in the right one of eight gears means you stay in a sweet spot between 5,000 and 7,000 revs, never letting the V8 fall in to its ‘economical’ cycle. Gears are changed using the de rigueur steering wheel mounted paddles, exhaust valves opening to release more of the noise as you do, although they’re not the fastest of shifts. That’s forgiven when you realise how hard those electronics are working, compensating for pauses in power by allowing you to extract more performance from the chassis.

Lexus RC F V8 5.0-litre petrol engine

The wide Michelin Pilot Super Sport tyres eventually start giving up grip, but before the car starts slipping wide as the inevitable understeer arrives, the computers actually add more power on the outside rear wheel, releasing the front axle and letting the car hug the inside of the corner, balanced beautifully as you go round.

The electronic systems, while lacking the purity you might want from something lighter and less powerful, make even an average driver look like Lewis Hamilton. Physics means nothing, you feel invincible, able to make the car do whatever you wish it to do. It makes you look good.

Relax into normal day-to-day driving and the F turns in to a classic GT. There are comfortable air-conditioned seats, a heated steering wheel, plenty of toys to play with and an automatic gearbox that can slot into eco-mode, leaving you with a relaxed cruiser. Gone is the noise, but gone too is the definition; there’s no longer any character, just a soft mile-muncher that doesn’t please but also doesn’t offend.

In that regard, it’s typical of many Japanese saloons, and that might put off some buyers who expect a little more drama, a little more involvement. That’s all very definitely there, but it takes the pressing of a number of buttons to bring out the character of the car. And ideally, an empty race track.

Then you begin to appreciate the antisocial 5.0-litre V8 engine, the sheer hulking size of the car, and the paradoxically high-tech yet somehow pure driving sensation.

Lexus RC F interior

Verdict

In many ways, the RC F is an out-of-date dinosaur, sticking two fingers up at Guardian readers. This is probably the last generation of motoring where such lack of concern for Mother Earth will be tolerated.

However, the fact that Yukihiko-san and his team have even been allowed to create such a machine, and that Lexus has taken the plunge and put it in production, makes me hope that there’ll be a few rebels around for a few more years yet.

Lexus RC F front static

RC F at a glance:

Engine: 5.0-litre V8 petrol rear wheel drive, eight-speed automatic
0-62mph: 4.5 seconds
Top speed: 168mph
Power: 477 PS (471 bhp)
Torque: 530 Nm (391 lb ft)
Fuel economy: 26.2 mpg combined
What we actually got: 24.4mpg
CO2: 251g/km (VED Band L)

Length: 4705mm
Width: 1845mm
Height: 1390mm
Wheelbase: 2730mm
Boot space: 366litres
Kerb weight: 1845kg

Average monthly leasing rates: £931 – business, £1,203 – personal
Lowest monthly leasing rates: £725 – business, £874 – personal

Price: £60,995 OTR (£64,495 with Torque Vectoring Differential)
Rivals: BMW M4
Available: Since January 2015

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