1st Generation Lexus RC 300, 350, F and Track Edition Megathread

[Smychavo]

As you can see from review videos above, RCF and RCF TE most directly compete in the M4, C63, RS5 or Mustang GT, Mach 1, Camaro SS segment with focus on similar attributes. Luxury, practicality, street drivability combined with track performance for a few track days a year. LC500 is a full-on luxury, halo car that was built with the similar focus as Aston Martin cars, S-Class or BMW 6-series as the closest examples. I see it as a modern day V8 Vantage. While they both have the same engine, the dimensions, size, weight, figures etc. are all different.

Supra on the other hand was developed a small, 2-seater sports car and it has a turbocharged i6 engine (B58) so it is like a Cayman, BMW M2 or 12c. Small and lightweight car that is still comfortable and daily drivable, but has a small trunk and no rear seat.

Regarding audio, I have the 17 speaker 835 watt Mark Levinson system in my RCF carbon/TVD. It is a great system, but I rarely ever use it since I drive the car for the driving experience/sound. I don't know how it compares with LC500, but I assume LC500 has the better ML stereo as it is a newer more up to date version of ML system as RCF was designed way back in 2013.

Nowadays, even the cheapest mint condition, lower mileage (30 - 50K miles) and well maintained old 2015-2016 RCF are around $50K and a few grand more for the carbon fiber/TVD version 2due to inflation and chip shortage.

This is a video of my RCF in a tunnel with some mods on it so you can see why I never use my ML stereo. Still audio does not do justice, though. This soundtrack is not possible in the Supra.

I do greatly appreciate the overview, and man, those v8 noises sure are addicting to listen to lol
How does it behave through turns? I'm hearing very different impressions between it being very balanced, to it being a heavy, unstable boat between reviewers. As if there isn't as big of a consensus like there is with the LC. Personally I admire it just as much as said LC, they both look stunning, if anything the sportier nature of the RC F are wooing me over just a bit😅

 

[Faisal Sheikh]

I do greatly appreciate the overview, and man, those v8 noises sure are addicting to listen to lol
How does it behave through turns? I'm hearing very different impressions between it being very balanced, to it being a heavy, unstable boat between reviewers. As if there isn't as big of a consensus like there is with the LC. Personally I admire it just as much as said LC, they both look stunning, if anything the sportier nature of the RC F are wooing me over just a bit😅

The suspension and chassis are as expected, stiff especially if one puts on more aggressive tires, but not harsh. It just needs better tires as I swapped mine. I personally do a lot of twisties with stock suspension and just a better tire setup. I have the torque vectoring differential (TVD) and carbon fiber which lowers the center of gravity more. Definitely, in my experience it handles like a dream and taking long turns at 80 - 85 mph with some gentle oversteer is no issue at all. It is extremely stable, predictable even when there is gentle oversteer. No complaints.

Yeah, heard the "heavy" thing a lot (explained below). However, if someone says "unstable boat", that person is just trolling or doing something wrong and every car will have some trolls as it is nothing like either of those. Yes it is quite wide, but it shrinks around the driver in SPORT+/MANUAL mode (TVD in slalom) on open roads with run offs.

Regarding "consensus", if you look at it this way, it is the most cut-throat segment of cars dominated by M4/M3 where the car should excel at everything so it is tough to win everyone over. "Heavy" was a term used when it came out because RCF at 3950+ lbs was about 400 lbs heavier than the F80/F30 M3/M4, but still did well in lap times against it. You can also see how quickness of my RCF in the video to 110 mph. Nowadays, the M3/M4 get the same critique. The new M4/M3 is a lot bigger than the RCF and weigh around 3850 lbs. The C63 and RS5 both weigh 4100 lbs. The Mustang GT/Mach 1 weigh 3950 lbs. Even the Stingers, G70, TLX-S etc. all are heavier so the weight is rarely ever talked about both in the RCF and RCF TE these days as it has become a new norm for high horsepower practical cars.

As a matter of fact, there are a number of F80/F30 M3/M4 owners who are going back to the E90/E92 M3 simply because of how good the V8 engine sound and response was. That makes even driving to a grocery store a special event.

 

[Smychavo]

The suspension and chassis are as expected, stiff especially if one puts on more aggressive tires, but not harsh. It just needs better tires as I swapped mine. I personally do a lot of twisties with stock suspension and just a better tire setup. I have the torque vectoring differential (TVD) and carbon fiber which lowers the center of gravity more. Definitely, in my experience it handles like a dream and taking long turns at 80 - 85 mph with some gentle oversteer is no issue at all. It is extremely stable, predictable even when there is gentle oversteer. No complaints.

Yeah, heard the "heavy" thing a lot (explained below). However, if someone says "unstable boat", that person is just trolling or doing something wrong and every car will have some trolls as it is nothing like either of those. Yes it is quite wide, but it shrinks around the driver in SPORT+/MANUAL mode (TVD in slalom) on open roads with run offs.

Regarding "consensus", if you look at it this way, it is the most cut-throat segment of cars dominated by M4/M3 where the car should excel at everything so it is tough to win everyone over. "Heavy" was a term used when it came out because RCF at 3950+ lbs was about 400 lbs heavier than the F80/F30 M3/M4, but still did well in lap times against it. You can also see how quickness of my RCF in the video to 110 mph. Nowadays, the M3/M4 get the same critique. The new M4/M3 is a lot bigger than the RCF and weigh around 3850 lbs. The C63 and RS5 both weigh 4100 lbs. The Mustang GT/Mach 1 weigh 3950 lbs. Even the Stingers, G70, TLX-S etc. all are heavier so the weight is rarely ever talked about both in the RCF and RCF TE these days as it has become a new norm for high horsepower practical cars.

As a matter of fact, there are a number of F80/F30 M3/M4 owners who are going back to the E90/E92 M3 simply because of how good the V8 engine sound and response was. That makes even driving to a grocery store a special event.

Insightful. Suppose offhand youtube comments and the like aren't exactly a suitable statistic to gauge how something like the RC F actually handles and is like to live with. Lots of junk to sift through to find anything of usefulness there, and even then, there's forums like this with users like you who do an excellent job explaining the vehicle's capabilities. I've been reading up on the thread, in all its forms, the RC F is a very competent piece of engineering after all this time, it's exactly what I expected from Lexus, and I really quite like it.
Now on the offhand chance that I might look into buying one down the line, what say you between a TVD carbon-equipped trim compared to a more basic configuration with the LSD? Which would be the better buy in your mind?

 

[Faisal Sheikh]

Insightful. Suppose offhand youtube comments and the like aren't exactly a suitable statistic to gauge how something like the RC F actually handles and is like to live with. Lots of junk to sift through to find anything of usefulness there, and even then, there's forums like this with users like you who do an excellent job explaining the vehicle's capabilities. I've been reading up on the thread, in all its forms, the RC F is a very competent piece of engineering after all this time, it's exactly what I expected from Lexus, and I really quite like it.
Now on the offhand chance that I might look into buying one down the line, what say you between a TVD carbon-equipped trim compared to a more basic configuration with the LSD? Which would be the better buy in your mind?

Yeah, most car in particularly tough segments get their share of negativity, but I don't want to dive deeper into my own journey. Just one test drive with the owner himself who was a great driver and I was sold. Key is to skip all modes and go to SPORT+/MANUAL mode and TVD in slalom to sharpen everything up. It will feel like a dim witted cruiser in ECO or NORMAL mode. Though, the steering in SPORT+ mode gets heavy/stiff especially at higher speeds under progressive load. Some people think it makes the car feel heavy, but I really like the heavy steering feel especially at higher speeds.

Regarding the RCF TVD vs LSD, the TVD comes with carbon fiber so it helps lower the center of gravity. The CF roof is about 50 lbs lighter than the moonroof so all of that weight moving side to side at the top under heavy transitions makes a difference. CF also adds rigidity since it is more rigid than steel. The TVD does great under both throttle and braking with motors vectoring torque to make the car feel very nimble and sharp especially in 'slalom' mode. Net feel is as if the steering is very sharp off-center. Only key is not to coast through turns, but to brake hard entering the turn and then feed-in the throttle as quickly as possible through the turn and power out with a slight power oversteer. TVD has proven to handle better than the LSD by 3% per lap, but the LSD's advantage is simplicity so less risk of anything going wrong and also it is much cheaper than the TVD. Mechanical LSD to some gives a very organic feel especially if one wants to do full-on drifts.

Downside? Well carbon fiber/TVD RCF are rare and especially in mint condition.

 

[CRSKTN]

I’ve had both the RCF and Lc500 I’ll maybe do a comparison write up at some point.
Both are great cars, but they’re different beasts.

 

[Smychavo]

I’ve had both the RCF and Lc500 I’ll maybe do a comparison write up at some point.
Both are great cars, but they’re different beasts.

Definitely looking forward to seeing that write up! 👍

 

[mikeavelli]

More to come….

 

[Faisal Sheikh]

Unique Swedish RCF track edition on coilovers (credit: LinPaul76)

 

[Will1991]

A Swedish RCF track Edition, that guy is truly a Lexus Enthusiast!

 

[Faisal Sheikh]

 

[Faisal Sheikh]

REVSpeed Japan feature on the Lexus RCF around Fuji Speedway track

 

[Faisal Sheikh]

800 HP (stock internals) Lexus RCF hot lap around Watkins Glen race track

 

[mikeavelli]

You clearly didn’t read all the issues that company has. You surely wouldn’t post that.

 

[Faisal Sheikh]

You clearly didn’t read all the issues that company has. You surely wouldn’t post that.

I just posted a good RCF video with 800 HP running some great laps. This is a customer's car who seems to be very happy with it. This is not about whether RR Racing is a perfect company or not. I am sure there are quite a few customers out there who are unhappy including with their superchargers. I do know I have read Rafi's posts and his side of the story on it. Without first hand experience, I cannot pass judgement on who is right and who is wrong. I do plan on buying a few bolt-on things from RR Racing pretty soon.

 

[mikeavelli]

I just posted a good RCF video with 800 HP running some great laps. This is a customer's car who seems to be very happy with it. This is not about whether RR Racing is a perfect company or not. I am sure there are quite a few customers out there who are unhappy including with their superchargers. I do know I have read Rafi's posts and his side of the story on it. Without first hand experience, I cannot pass judgement on who is right and who is wrong. I do plan on buying a few bolt-on things from RR Racing pretty soon.

They have made multiple inappropriate comments against black and brown and yellow people, women and just about everything in between.

Good luck with your purchase.

 

[Faisal Sheikh]

 

[Faisal Sheikh]

 

[mikeavelli]

You can now build the 2022 on lexus.com… loaded it is now over 107k! I haven’t seen the new blue in person but I am really curious.

 

[Faisal Sheikh]

A German owner of RCF track edition Julius Meinhardt who takes his RCF to the 'ring regularly lays down a 7:52 lap time around Nurburgring. Since it was on tourist days, it was with traffic on the track.

Very impressive to have such a fast lap time with traffic in the hands of a regular driver and be able to put down a lap time. Without traffic and in the hands of a pro, it could definitely be around 7:40 - 7:45.

Pictures Credit: ClubLexus and Barry Huang

Nordschleife BTG Tourist - RCF TE 07:52 - FastestLaps.com

fastestlaps.com

 

[Faisal Sheikh]

I talk to the driver of this video for tips and thoughts. He is an RCF owner who has great driving skills. He runs great lap times around Suzuka of around 2:35 pretty much stock RCF carbon/TVD.