Topic: Test Drive: 2015 Lexus RC F

[Autos_Editor]

Too much of a good thing is awesome.
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[JohnnyMac]

I know the author of this article loves this new RC F but the article seems to confirm that it's a disappointment in a lot of area's.  If I was shopping in this price range I wouldn't even swing by Lexus dealer.  The Germans have much better produces in my view and they all look way better than this Lexus.  If I wanted naturally aspirated V8 power with RWD and character out the wahzoo I think I'd save about $40K and get a proper American Muscle car (my fav right now has to be the Dodge Challenger RT Scatpack).

[JacobBlack]

I know the author of this article loves this new RC F but the article seems to confirm that it's a disappointment in a lot of area's. 

Duuuuude! Spoilers!!! 

Seriously though, exactly right. I love it, but I also think that Lexus might have a hard time convincing anyone but the Lexus faithful to take this over another rig in this class. I'm glad that came through in your read!

[bluelines]

I'm not 100% sold on the new M3/M4, but there is no planet on which I see many people picking the Lexus instead. Surely the transmission is a total deal breaker, presuming potential buyers can get past the horrible aftermarket looks.

[AvgCdnMale]

Impressive performance. Love that paint colour.


A face I don't even know if it's own mother would love.

[Patrick_D1]

This car is well-suited to parking lots, particularly ones on old disused airfields. Or so I'm told. 

[DriverJeff]

Reading this prompted me to go back and read my own thoughts on the M4 from last summer.  Geez that was a sensational machine.  The RC is a nice GT car, but even then, I think I'd rather go for an AMG instead. 

As the others have said... I think the Germans still have this category locked down. 

That said, if I'm looking to buy any of them used in 3-4 years, the Lexus rep for quality and longevity would certainly come into play at that point.

[redman]

Seems that the author hit it on the head.

"The transmission is the real weak point in the drivetrain. The Torque-Vectoring differential is neat, and makes up for the lack of a proper LSD somewhat, but that gearbox – arg.
When you consider the RC F against the M4, the transmission is going to factor in. Especially given the M4 is available with a manual. This is something I expect Lexus will address in short order.
The speed of the shifts, not offering a manual transmission."

A big factor when considering a sports car.

[wing]

What's wrong with the speed of the shifts.  Does the RCF not have the torque converter lockout and 0.1ms shift times?

You have to put it in manual and sport mode to engage this.

[wing]

Hmm it does.
http://www.torquenews.com/1083/2015-lexus-rc-f-s-most-amazing-feature-transmission

I have never felt a transmission this good in any track-worthy car and that includes the manuals in the CTS-V, Camaro ZL-1, Camaro LT1, and Corvette Stingray I drove this year.

Odd.  Guess I need to drive it myself, I assume it's the same as the ISF and well that transmission is wonderful, the upshifts are instant.

[Noto]

I was also going to ask about the tranny given rrocket's praise of the 8-er in the ISF.

I love it, but I also think that Lexus might have a hard time convincing anyone but the Lexus faithful to take this over another rig in this class.

I'm not so sure that I agree.  While the M4 is a better performer, this RCF is a much, MUCH nicer machine in so many other ways. 

Sitting beside the RS5, which one garnered more attention?  The RCF.

Which one was painted Obnoxious Orange (the official term for the colour)?  The RCF.

Which one produced a better exhaust note?  The Genesis 3.6 R-Spec...but then the RCF over the RS5.

Which one has the nicer interior?  The RCF.

Which one looked more menacing and with stronger presence?  The RCF.

The M4 is ubiquitous.  If you want outright performance, no question it's the tops.  If you want understated performance, the M4 or the C63.  If you want a cohesive package that'll have women grabbing at your package, it's the RCF.

I walked away from this beast actually wanting it.  It's the first Coupe (other than the Z4) that's ever gotten that attention from me.

...and the way you, Jacob, introduced me to Orangina, as she shall be now named, was beautiful.  Love at first sight (after you successfully executed the turn without hitting anything or anyone).

As for the article:

I have been known to eat an entire Costco tub of sour key lollies over the course of a single day.

I did that yesterday!!!  SOOO good.

I get the impression that Doriftucus (the God of Drift, obviously)

  See, this is why hiring the young'ns is good.  You get funny sh!t instead of "this car has x hp and drives forward if you put it into "D" mode."  The D-mode you refer to here is way better:

Aficionados of all-things gold-chained will be disappointed to learn that the Lexus RC F cannot be parked in douchebag mode.

And, of course, the love between you and JY is unquestionable:

“Pfft, that’s lame!” he grunted, throwing his Gryffindor scarf around his neck.

Adorable.


^^ this looks like the RCF did something bad and it doesn't care.  "Psshhhaw, yeah, I know I did it.  Whatever, whatever, I'll do what I want!"

I love it.  This car, in orange (I saw one in white and didn't care for it), gets me going far better than the M4 ever could.

[bluelines]

I don't get the love for the Lexus's looks. In the picture in your comment, it looks like a Nissan Altima coupe that's been given the fast and furious treatment by a dodgy tuner.

I was also going to ask about the tranny given rrocket's praise of the 8-er in the ISF.

I love it, but I also think that Lexus might have a hard time convincing anyone but the Lexus faithful to take this over another rig in this class.

I'm not so sure that I agree.  While the M4 is a better performer, this RCF is a much, MUCH nicer machine in so many other ways. 

Sitting beside the RS5, which one garnered more attention?  The RCF.

Which one was painted Obnoxious Orange (the official term for the colour)?  The RCF.

Which one produced a better exhaust note?  The Genesis 3.6 R-Spec...but then the RCF over the RS5.

Which one has the nicer interior?  The RCF.

Which one looked more menacing and with stronger presence?  The RCF.

The M4 is ubiquitous.  If you want outright performance, no question it's the tops.  If you want understated performance, the M4 or the C63.  If you want a cohesive package that'll have women grabbing at your package, it's the RCF.

I walked away from this beast actually wanting it.  It's the first Coupe (other than the Z4) that's ever gotten that attention from me.

...and the way you, Jacob, introduced me to Orangina, as she shall be now named, was beautiful.  Love at first sight (after you successfully executed the turn without hitting anything or anyone).

As for the article:

I have been known to eat an entire Costco tub of sour key lollies over the course of a single day.

I did that yesterday!!!  SOOO good.

I get the impression that Doriftucus (the God of Drift, obviously)

  See, this is why hiring the young'ns is good.  You get funny sh!t instead of "this car has x hp and drives forward if you put it into "D" mode."  The D-mode you refer to here is way better:

Aficionados of all-things gold-chained will be disappointed to learn that the Lexus RC F cannot be parked in douchebag mode.

And, of course, the love between you and JY is unquestionable:

“Pfft, that’s lame!” he grunted, throwing his Gryffindor scarf around his neck.

Adorable.


^^ this looks like the RCF did something bad and it doesn't care.  "Psshhhaw, yeah, I know I did it.  Whatever, whatever, I'll do what I want!"

I love it.  This car, in orange (I saw one in white and didn't care for it), gets me going far better than the M4 ever could.

[JacobBlack]

What's wrong with the speed of the shifts.  Does the RCF not have the torque converter lockout and 0.1ms shift times?

You have to put it in manual and sport mode to engage this.

Do you really think I never put the thing in the sport mode and manual mode?! Seriously?! 

Anyway, in manual mode the downshifts are especially slow. Painfully so. Upshifts are a little better, but are much faster in automatic mode. In automatic mode (as I wrote in the article) the kick-down takes forever, even in Sport+ mode (which I spent most of the week in, hence the hilarious fuel economy figure).

Torque News can say what they like, I drove it, and my experience was a woefully slow transmission.

[Triple Bob]

I'm not so sure that I agree.  While the M4 is a better performer, this RCF is a much, MUCH nicer machine in so many other ways. 

Sitting beside the RS5, which one garnered more attention?  The RCF.

Which one was painted Obnoxious Orange (the official term for the colour)?  The RCF.

Which one produced a better exhaust note?  The Genesis 3.6 R-Spec...but then the RCF over the RS5.

Which one has the nicer interior?  The RCF.

Which one looked more menacing and with stronger presence?  The RCF.

The M4 is ubiquitous.  If you want outright performance, no question it's the tops.  If you want understated performance, the M4 or the C63.  If you want a cohesive package that'll have women grabbing at your package, it's the RCF.

I would have to disagree, I would take the M4 or (previous gen) C63 over this in a heartbeat.  Yes it certainly has presence, but:

More attention doesn't equal good.

The colour doesn't make it better.

The exhaust note I expected to be much much better than it was, both the Germans would win over this.

Interiors are subjective, and I don't like the trackpad anyway.

The M4 performs better.

And most women will look at that huge orange appendage and think you're an idiot with a complex.

[wing]

Just makes no sense.  It's instantly on the paddles in the ISF.  Guess they foobared that on the RC then.

[Noto]

I'm not so sure that I agree.  While the M4 is a better performer, this RCF is a much, MUCH nicer machine in so many other ways. 

Sitting beside the RS5, which one garnered more attention?  The RCF.

Which one was painted Obnoxious Orange (the official term for the colour)?  The RCF.

Which one produced a better exhaust note?  The Genesis 3.6 R-Spec...but then the RCF over the RS5.

Which one has the nicer interior?  The RCF.

Which one looked more menacing and with stronger presence?  The RCF.

The M4 is ubiquitous.  If you want outright performance, no question it's the tops.  If you want understated performance, the M4 or the C63.  If you want a cohesive package that'll have women grabbing at your package, it's the RCF.

I would have to disagree, I would take the M4 or (previous gen) C63 over this in a heartbeat.  Yes it certainly has presence, but:

More attention doesn't equal good.

The colour doesn't make it better.

The exhaust note I expected to be much much better than it was, both the Germans would win over this.

Interiors are subjective, and I don't like the trackpad anyway.

The M4 performs better.

And most women will look at that huge orange appendage and think you're an idiot with a complex.

I maintain my position, but highlight that indeed, things like colour do matter to some buyers.  ...and again, the M4 doesn't 'blow the RCF out of the water'...it just performs slightly better when driven all-out.

So, if you are looking for a sport-coupe that you never plan on taking to a track, how is the M4 better?  I would argue that it's not unless you prefer understated.  I do not.

I love the trackpad, by the way.

[Noto]

Motortrend disagrees with you...

While the test numbers give the M4 the edge, the real world proves more of a level playing field. If you forget the numbers, you'll have a great time in either car. How can you not? They are, after all, luxury hot rods with precise steering, sharp handling, and hugely enjoyable, 400-plus-horsepower powertrains.
...
When pushed, the BMW drives the way the Lexus looks, and vice versa.
We drew quite a few new lines around our local Streets of Willow racetrack where resident hot shoe Randy Pobst set lap times and gave impressions. Those lap times? They fell within 0.3 second of each other with the M4 ahead, no surprise considering the advantage it held during our tests.

...and Jables, the writer there felt the issue with the transmission was how it behaved in the Sport+ mode - perhaps it would be faster in non-crazy mode?

The same goes for the transmission. "I don't like the most aggressive setting because I think it actually unsettles the chassis on upshifts," Pobst said. "It hits with such a bang."

...and finally:

We preferred the Lexus around town, as it's a more interesting car to sit in thanks to its wealth of technical and visual details. The styling may be a large miss, but we admire the effort. And we were genuinely impressed with the ground the RC F made up on the racetrack. It offers performance similar to the M4's, but it feels friendlier.

[Fobroader]

Really love the way this car looks but that slushbox is disappointing to say the least when you are supposed to be making an M3/M4 competitor. Also 4000+ lbs....wow, thats a lot.

[Noto]

Really love the way this car looks but that slushbox is disappointing to say the least when you are supposed to be making an M3/M4 competitor. Also 4000+ lbs....wow, thats a lot.

When Lexus explains that budgetary constraints meant that the RC-F gained weight because it uses the front end of the GS, the mid-section of the last-gen IS-C, and the rear of the current-gen IS sedan.

I'd say that's fairly inexcusable given Toyota's wealth.  Make it proper or don't make it at all.

...with that being said, they got to what, 90% of the performance?  It's just a redesign away from shedding 400lbs with the use of different materials.  Perhaps.

[Triple Bob]

I'm not so sure that I agree.  While the M4 is a better performer, this RCF is a much, MUCH nicer machine in so many other ways. 

Sitting beside the RS5, which one garnered more attention?  The RCF.

Which one was painted Obnoxious Orange (the official term for the colour)?  The RCF.

Which one produced a better exhaust note?  The Genesis 3.6 R-Spec...but then the RCF over the RS5.

Which one has the nicer interior?  The RCF.

Which one looked more menacing and with stronger presence?  The RCF.

The M4 is ubiquitous.  If you want outright performance, no question it's the tops.  If you want understated performance, the M4 or the C63.  If you want a cohesive package that'll have women grabbing at your package, it's the RCF.

I would have to disagree, I would take the M4 or (previous gen) C63 over this in a heartbeat.  Yes it certainly has presence, but:

More attention doesn't equal good.

The colour doesn't make it better.

The exhaust note I expected to be much much better than it was, both the Germans would win over this.

Interiors are subjective, and I don't like the trackpad anyway.

The M4 performs better.

And most women will look at that huge orange appendage and think you're an idiot with a complex.

I maintain my position, but highlight that indeed, things like colour do matter to some buyers.  ...and again, the M4 doesn't 'blow the RCF out of the water'...it just performs slightly better when driven all-out.

So, if you are looking for a sport-coupe that you never plan on taking to a track, how is the M4 better?  I would argue that it's not unless you prefer understated.  I do not.

I love the trackpad, by the way.

If you're going to do orange, at least make it bright.  Personally I think the M4 looks better inside and out, sounds better, performs much better, and has better heritage.  Same for the C63.  That's enough for me, track performance doesn't matter.

In the long run the Lexus might be more reliable, but I buy a car like this because I have a passion for cars, not because it's the longest lasting appliance.

I'm not asking you to agree with me, each to their own, I'm just telling you why I disagree.  IMHO the M4 is a far superior car.