2017 Lexus RC F Test Drive By Celebrities
Did you miss the Pontiac Trans Am I doubt I watched Knight Rider faithfully a child and I endless debate my friends about the differences between KITT and Karr When the new-for-1982 TA is presented to the Columbus Fair of self, I am sure I am first in line to see Don get me wrong; I liked the Camaro Z28, and I was a little-sorta agree with the Mustang GT 5 0 But my young heart really only had room for a true love, and he wore a Pontiac Trans Am combined badge performance first class with over-the-top STYLING was the car of a man, because no woman would be pretty stupid or crazy to drive anything that looked like a Trans Am.
My first experience with the Lexus RC F, which took place in our tests for PCOTY 2015 suggested that the scandalous future cut could be a candidate for that hole shaped Trans-Am in my heart certainly had the right visual package The RC base coupe is striking anonymous in the same way a four-cylinder 82 Firebird was, but the F model adds just the right amount of wrong, so to speak.
That ridiculous Predator grid and unnecessary lights, unique to RC F ugly but amazing at the same time thanks to the triple-angled reflectors that s not forget the front wings airy hindquarters flared-out, and hood extra-up that announces the presence of a V8 in the same way the power bulge in the bonnet of the 82 Trans Am leave the seat next to you at a red light that it was time to put on the signal right turn or take a serious ass-whipping.
The stage was set for a hot bromance, but as is often the case in these situations, some external factors have intervened to cool things down during fast road portion of our car, I switch back and forth between the RC and F Jaguar F-Type R coupe the Jag nearly a 100 hp advantage over the Lexus, and it also displays a zest for life that is not immediately apparent in a Toyota product whether in this context the RC F didn t exactly shine.
Once we got to the track, I have not enough time to master the different electronic configurations necessary to leave the Lexus leash stability control Therefore, I was very frustrated with calipers chomping, ludiques- interventions killing occurred almost continuously around the Motown Mile.
The story could have ended there, except that a friend who works for a Lexus RC F to a race I was running at the New Jersey Motorsports Park last year, and my girlfriend absolutely fell in love with the car it's been bothering me for giving big cut a second chance, and now that we're married it seems reasonable to pay attention to her when she asks for something as fate would have it, was a Lexus RC F available Molten orange weekend -end last, and I had a long drive in an open-lapping scheduled Saturday was obvious to ask the car to see if 900 miles of road and 50 laps of the racetrack in Summit Point Shenandoah could revive this love story stalled.
Between me and the RC F, not between me and my wife.
Every May since 2006, I have led in Shenandoah driving with great people TrackDAZE The cars I Ve taken there have ran the gamut from a Camry SE with a C7 Corvette Z51, with various Mustangs, Porsches, and even a Volvo in the mix and in the last decade, I ran probably more than 25 different cars, although it is notoriously unforgiving track errors through a series of concrete walls that are rarely more than 15 feet off the racing surface, Shenandoah is really good to discover defects in the cars of the street with its vibrant mix of slow corners, fast sweepers, elevation changes, and an infamous ski jump on the backstretch .
My schedule for the weekend was almost too tight to be practical; I planned to leave Columbus, Ohio on November 00 on Friday night, arriving at Summit Point in time for the morning meeting of the instructor, lead all day on track and return to Columbus after dinner the time I am entered the orange pumpkin cut to make the drive, I was already tired from a long day of work and an evening spent chasing my son, seven years old.
The day before, I d had lunch and a short drive with a friend who noted that the RC F is like any other Lexus until the tach hits five great owner It's GX470, and I think he's using here a little hyperbole, because the RC certainly has very little to do with the GX470, or bestseller RX350 at any engine or road speed that said, there are some fundamental Lexus values that were part of LS400 1990 the year of the original model, as an inside quiet library, a smooth ride, a brilliant stereo, and build quality without compromise.
All these basic values and or virtues are also present in the RC-F The door glass is thick, and it perfectly seals despite being frameless As long as the inverter in rotary fashion in the center console is set Normal, car rides very, very well on all road surfaces the Mark Levinson hi-fi chain can rattle your molars, but anything in the car will rattle in sympathy with said teeth because it ta single panel or fitting into the RC F that is loose or sloppy in a way.
The automotive press has been quick to point out that the Lexus is much heavier than the BMW or Mercedes-Benz equivalent, even if you spring for the 5500 package of carbon fiber, which also includes a delicate rear differential I think that it is equally important to emphasize that you get something in return for that extra weight, ie the bank soundness vault at all speeds and under all conditions If you'd rather a more lightweight sports coupe that feels doesn t as much as it s the only milled proverbial piece of steel, that is your choice, but at that point you might as well go the rest of the way and get a Corvette.
The Columbus trip to Summit Point begins with a slog Highway 200 mile before switching to the old Route 40 for a foggy running up and down a series of mountains, then finish with over 60 miles of two tortuous paths in all these situations, the RC F is totally unfazed radar cruise control is an excellent tool for long journeys on roads mostly empty; remain vigilant, even when you are distracted on congested highways, unfortunately, even the smallest of the following three parameters remotely encourages other drivers to turn right in front of you, how Lexus will pull on the brakes to huge surprise to anyone in your rearview mirror.
My little primary reproach with RC F as a highway cruiser has to do with the automatic transmission eight-speed torque converter There Sá and planetary gears classic case, although the torque converter locks almost all the time, except in the first report Presumably internal claws are strong enough to handle changes to a locked converter, because the iS-F has used the same system and usually very well behaved.
The problem is that in an effort to maximize fuel economy, averaging July 19 mpg during my test, the RC F will enter the seventh or eighth speed, as soon as humanly possible and stay kind pressure sweet gas usually called a downshift in the DSG-equipped vehicles modern didnt produce any action whatsoever in the Lexus you must crush the accelerator, how much he half-second pause before the fifth or fourth gear happens, the rotational speed V8 467 hp, and you're outta until you get used to it, you find yourself frustrated by the power of the RC F is not the engine; it is the transmission.
Once I'm on Maryland Route 51 and jostling, however, automatically became much more cooperative This is a very fast car straight, although some of its competitors such as BMW M4 may send digit messages slightly better and it's even better on a winding road than the numbers suggest that the massive Brembo calipers are robust even with the factory pads and fluid, and five liters pushes the redline in each report before the next shift arrives with precise slam that you do not get in any other torque converter automatic After 50 miles of full throttle and full brake at a pace that can best be described as pressed, the RC F was ready for another 50 I'm able to beat my own schedule plans enough for a two hour nap before the meeting of the driver in Summit Point.
The changes come with a precise slam that you do not get another automatic torque converter.
As a track car, the Lexus has some distinct disadvantages ago that weight, we talked about before the back straight, C7 Vette can pick about three of Down Shenandoah car lengths on the RC F Even M3 V8 E90 generation previous can ditch it a little it doesn t help that the transmission may be a little vague with top speed of synchronization, so when you are in manual mode, it is best to pull the paddle on the right just a split second before you think you'll really need change This is made more difficult because the TFT dashboard very delicate and fresh tends to wash a little sunlight West Virginia, especially when you choose to wear glasses polarized you must pass on the sound of the thing because the tach needle is hard to find.
On the positive side, when you are in the braking zone, you can simply click on the palette on the left a few times and RC delay the F downshift until it is safe for the best motor of all the vanes are mounted on the wheel, not the steering column.
Shenandoah is chock full of sharp turns, and the Torque Vectoring Differential option is a great help here in the fight against understeer In situations where most cars would wash the front, a little power goes a long way to keep the RC neutral F It's been long time since I led a street car of this size was this aversion to push the nose may never around his screen in the RC F screen that shows you what the diff does, but of course it is mostly invisible when you're on the right track and watch shouldn t in anyway.
grip levels are generally good, better than that E90 M3, but a little short of a C7 Vette There are few cars that can remove the RC F around a mid-radius turn on a racetrack but is out of corners that Lexus will steal your heart you see, most of this class cars are turbo, which means that you will be faced with a flat torque curve that you relax the direction and speed with the BMW M4 this means that there is always a chance that the gas bit that you put on the rear wheels turn if you ESC off or cause a stability control event that will steal your speed if the ESC is with Lexus, however, the atmospheric thrust is entirely predictable and the player control -By wire gas is almost hilariously accurate This means that you can get on the throttle early and pleasant and rise very quickly the e power almost anything with four seats can beat RC F on a corner.
Almost anything with four seats can beat RC F on a corner.
I tested this theory in my third session of the day lapping the track began to dry but the rain came pretty quickly about 10 minutes I DICING class with an instructor pilot in a new generation M4 As long as the track was dry, I could not close the gap, but the minute he was the least bit bright I saw back end started wobbling whenever he passed the summit, I started making up a car length per turn exit and before I knew it was a small dot in the mirror that is something the stat sheet can tell you t can you trust your accelerator application on a wet surface with the Lexus, yes hell.
No test is complete without mentioning Shendandoah ski jumping RC F approach this jump to more than 120 mph and goes for half a second up to four front wheels to put up with what I have to say is the control of most luxurious body I've ever seen at this track, you can get on the brakes immediately if you will, because there's no secondary rebound chassis this is where Lexus has everything on Mustangs and Corvettes, from the track is the same for the entry of concrete carousel; you can enter may be more than 5 mph you can in a Vette because the ride control is so absolute.
Even with two additional passengers in the car, the RC F is a tour de chill around a real race track, the ESC is not completely off, but this is a 81000 car and perhaps it is worth to just have that last line of defense between you and available concrete walls can be quite get the car on the side, even in the wet, before calling time on systems throughout the enterprise.
At the end of the day, I saw my video to get the lap times I do not like to compare fixed time over several months or years with widely varying track temperatures and so on, but I feel the comfortable to say that the RC F sharply divides the lap time between the C7 Z51 and a Mustang 5 0 with proper manual transmission, the time pass a little, and go up happy I would be surprised if Lexus ever provided car that way, but if they did, that raise the RC F in the Pantheon of great anytime dual use combinations daily track-control car.
I am pleased that the RC F and I got a second chance this time, the novel is no doubt this is not quite as hardcore as the German competition, but the Trans Am was never quite match for the IROC-Z around a race track, and I have not cared absolutely not what either the Lexus is very good on a track and just great away from the most beautiful Japanese Call ponycar in the history and deserves a second look for you.
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The Lexus RC F is the perfect Japanese pony car, lexus, perfect Japanese.