2018 Lexus RC F

[MUSIC PLAYING] CARLOS LAGO: Though it's received some minor updates, the Lexus RC F has been largely unchanged for the past few years. And that means we know certain key things about it already. It may have 467 horsepower from its 5 liter V8, but the fact that it's heavier than most of its competitors means it's slower in a straight line and not as sharp when it comes to handling. But if those are the things we already know, let's take a look at this example and see the things you might appreciate if you were to own one. Inside the RC F, you find the look is consistent with the outside in that there is a lot going on from a style perspective. You have different color stitching, you have different kinds of materials ranging from soft touch to leather to carbon fiber to a plastic that looks like metal. There's a lot happening in here and it's kind of hard to take in but at least it looks similar to the outside for better and worse. But without further ado, let's get this car started. One of the things that I like a lot about the Lexus RC F, and a lot of Lexus in general, is the gauge cluster. Though it has analog style housings, most of it is digital and it changes depending on the drive modes that you're in and the settings that you have engaged. It's a really clean, high-tech look that also works well. And the configuration options it gives you allows you to tailor it the way you'd like to have it, which is a nice thing to do. In the middle, you have a large center display. It's a big screen but it's so big, in fact, that the bottom left of it is kind of obstructed by the dash right here, which is not the worst thing in the world but it is noticeable. Controlling it, you have this large touch pad in the center here. It's not as elegant as some other solutions that you'll find in similarly priced luxury cars. You won't have any big problems working with it, but it can be annoying when you take quite a bit of your attention away from the road when you're driving just to do things like change the audio track or enter in an address in the navigation system. Otherwise, the interior definitely feels like you're at the level of luxury that you would expect to get with a Lexus with a couple of weird things, like the material on the volume and the tuning dials. Whatever they've put on these knobs, when you run your finger on it, it's not unlike trying to drag your finger across a chalkboard. It can send a shiver up your spine. So it's weird that they would use that on something that you would touch frequently. But then again, I keep touching it because it feels strange. I don't know. The seats are well bolstered and supportive. I'm not the widest person in the world, but I do notice that they push my shoulders forward and that might be uncomfortable. But what you're getting with these seats is the ability to hold you in place when you're doing some tight cornering, and that does come into play with the RC F. When it comes to the more utility and functional aspects of this car, like the back seats and the trunk, well with the truck specifically, you have a lot of space. There's a good amount there for weekend trips or basically everything that you would need to do with a car like this. Back seat space, on the other hand, is pretty tight, but that's kind of what you would expect from a two-door four-seat sports coupe. There are outliers in this segment that give you a bit more backseat space like the M4, but here it seems like it's appropriate for what the car is. Overall you have an interior that's working nicely on a daily basis, but let's see how it works in action. [ENGINE REVVING] That's a nice sound. Now when it comes to driving the Lexus RC F quickly, there are certain truths that everybody already knows. So we won't belabor the point. This car is heavier than its competition. And it isn't as dynamically sharp as it's competition. So with those out of the way, we won't rest on them and talk about the things that this car does right and continues to do right to this day. First, you have that sound. You can't beat the terrific sound of a high-revving, naturally aspirated V8. And the way the powerband swells at high RPMs when you really get close to redline just feels so satisfying. If you were to take the data loggers off this car and just pay attention to the experience, you'd find that it's not that far behind the competition. There's a variety of reasons for that. You don't notice tenths at the limit unless you are a professional racing driver. What you notice are the little things the car does, like that beep when you upshift. It just sounds so good and it reminds you, hey, you're going to get another dose of that engine sound as soon as you downshift. The way this 8-speed automatic changes gears is so smooth and so satisfying. Crisp comes to mind as a way to describe it. This car has the torque vectoring differential which has various modes and it seems really complicated, using different gear sets and electric motors to help distribute the torque between the two wheels. You can even go through the settings to go from normal to slalom to track. We're in the normal setting right now but going between, and it's tough to really suss out the difference. Let's change that right now to track. Even though you may not be able to tell what it's doing by switching between the settings, that's kind of how technology is supposed to work, especially in sporty cars. You want the experience to not feel like technology is dominating it or changing it. You want it to feel natural. And then you get back to the straight where you get that beautiful sound coming back in. Now you'd find that if you were to take us to a race track, and most wouldn't take this to a race track, that this may not have the tire grip that lets you challenge corners like you would in some other sporty cars at this price, or even less than. But around town where this really comes together is the commute, the daily grind, and not an environment like this. The fact that I can enjoy this experience is nice and I can still put the car out in it's expert, quote unquote, "stability control mode," I can still get a little bit of oversteer and correct it in a way that's enjoyable. But what I really think is, when it comes to sport coupes like this, people buy the car because what they think they want to do, and not what they actually want to do. I bet that most people who go get a C 63 or an M4 would be totally fine with this if they didn't know the difference in performance and weight. You get that throttle. When you start really pushing this thing through the corners, you see the tire grip isn't there, the understeer starts cropping up in places where you wouldn't want it to. You feel like this thing should be able to go through corners a bit more quickly before it starts giving up on the cornering balance. There it is, there it is. OK. Back to the straight line though. But the thing is, you're never going to be challenging corners like this when you're driving around town. You may goose it a bit on a freeway onramp, but that's really the extent of it. What you're really going to notice is the consistency with which this accelerates and how approachable it's cornering limits are. But when it comes to the refinement and drivability of the Lexus, that's where it really comes together. This is a luxury car experience with a nice sounding engine, with a satisfying transmission, with handling that isn't so sharp that it will bite you, but it is approachable enough to enjoy. What's nice to know about the RC F, though, is after all this time the changes it hasn't seen. It's got a new adaptive suspension underneath it, but it's still the same old car it was back in 2015. Where does the RC F go from here? That's an interesting question. I hope it maintains this style of engine. I don't need much more power. I'd like it to be lighter, of course. I would like it with a bit more tire grip on it. But beyond that, I like this experience a lot. This is pleasing, this is enjoyable, and if I were to drive this every day I think I'd be really happy with it overall. It's just a shame about how it looks. When it comes to luxury sports coupes like this RC F, it's really important that you be realistic with the things you want from the car. Though this car isn't as quick in a straight line and it isn't as sharp around a handling track as its competitors, let's be honest. Are you really going to take these cars to the racetrack? If you do, there are better options for this money, and cheaper. But if you're looking at a nice, luxurious daily driver that is satisfying because of how the engine reacts and how the transmission behaves, the RC F is a great pick. If you like what you saw, keep it tuned right here. Be sure to find us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and be sure to visit edmunds.com. [MUSIC PLAYING]