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

[Joaquin Ruhi]

Although it has yet to appear in the Lexus USA Newsroom, Automotive News reports that the RC F Track Edition will debut at the 2019 Detroit Auto Show:

Superfast Lexus RC F Track Edition to debut at Detroit auto show
December 6, 2018

Lexus plans to unveil a new superfast coupe at the Detroit auto show in January, just months before it hits the market.

The RC F Track Edition, which goes on sale in spring, reflects the brand's "Experience Amazing" evolution, said Cooper Erickson, vice president of marketing for the Lexus Division of Toyota Motor North America.

"It's about adding fun driving dynamics, styling, excitement, passion, emotion on to our traditional brand strengths," he said in an interview Thursday in Detroit.

Bob Carter, Toyota's executive vice president for North America sales, told Automotive News: "There's still some of us that like to drive fast, and there's some of us that like to drive really fast. And for those customers, we have something they'll enjoy."

Production will be “very very limited,” Carter said.

“With the exception of LF-A, this is the fastest most powerful vehicle that we’ve ever built,” he said.

http://www.autonews.com/article/20181206/OEM04/181209832/

 

[F1 Silver Arrows]

https://www.autoblog.com/2018/12/06..._7RI-MRlYgyKjdkprVdhgR164XZ4Ftuq7VdYkScvtFs3U

Holy sh*t! I can't wait! :heart_eyes:

 

[Gecko]

So that points to a power bump over the 471hp... AWESOME!

 

[Faisal Sheikh]

RCF easily gets around 500 HP with an exhaust mod. Maybe, Lexus relaxed the emissions on it a bit (since it is a limited edition model) and got it around 490 - 495 HP (that is what I had predicted a while back). Would be awesome if they raise the redline to 7800 rpm, but I doubt that will happen.

Very excited about this as RCF will go out with a bang.

So that points to a power bump over the 471hp... AWESOME!

 

[Joaquin Ruhi]

So that points to a power bump over the 471hp... AWESOME!

To quote from the Autoblog article cited above:

As for how much power the RC F Track Edition will produce, we can at least guess a range while we wait for the reveal. The most powerful LFA, the Nurburgring Edition, made 562 horsepower, and the regular model made 552 horsepower. The most powerful Lexus on sale right now is the LC 500 with a 471 horsepower V8. At least 500 horsepower seems a safe bet for this special RC F, and it will probably come from a massaged version of the 5.0-liter V8 in the regular RC F and LC 500.

Two key questions here:

- How much weight will the Track Edition shed versus the regular RC F? Will it lose, for example, the back seats?

- Will the Track Edition have to observe the "no U.S. CAFE Gas Guzzler Tax" edict that has limited horsepower figures of the vast majority of Lexus' performance lineup? Or will it be exempt as the LFA was?

 

[CRSKTN]

552-562 hp as a hurdle, even without any weight reductions puts it at 283-289 hp/ton vs 242 hp/ton of standard. So about a 20% increase. Add in some weight reduction and some smarter bits and pieces, and this could be a pretty attractive track option (especially if it remains NA, which seems likely). I realize that they are not necessarily saying this is more powerful than the LFA, the wording seems a bit vague to take that away from it, but it would be interesting.

What's the likelihood this thing being faster than/comparable to a potential LC F, until an LC F track edition comes along?

 

[Faisal Sheikh]

They said, aside from LFA, it will be the quickest (which RCF already is, actually).

It won't be anywhere close to 552 - 562 HP. We get 450 - 460 whp with all naturally aspirated mods out of the RCF (stock is 400 whp). So 450 - 460 whp is around 520 - 525 HP, but the emissions are out the door at that point.

Since it is the same N/A V8 (as appears in spy videos), it can go safely up to 490 - 495 HP with small tweaks easily without emissions being too much of an issue. Also, the weight reduction would be around 250 - 300 lbs (light seats, no back seats, no 17 speaker ML, more carbon fiber) so my guess is around 3670 - 3700 lbs weight and around 490 - 495 HP.

552-562 hp as a hurdle, even without any weight reductions puts it at 283-289 hp/ton vs 242 hp/ton of standard. So about a 20% increase. Add in some weight reduction and some smarter bits and pieces, and this could be a pretty attractive track option (especially if it remains NA, which seems likely). I realize that they are not necessarily saying this is more powerful than the LFA, the wording seems a bit vague to take that away from it, but it would be interesting.

What's the likelihood this thing being faster than/comparable to a potential LC F, until an LC F track edition comes along?

 

[krew]

krew

Lexus RC F Track Edition to Debut at Detroit Auto Show

The second-fastest Lexus ever built.

View the original article post

 

[Alexander Li]

I have been waiting for this kind of update for a long time. I hope it's good.

 

[mordecai]

Autoblog just likes to remind everyone that Lexus’ parent company is Toyota. The first word in that article is Toyota, smh...

 

[Joaquin Ruhi]

Autoblog just likes to remind everyone that Lexus’ parent company is Toyota. The first word in that article is Toyota, smh...

In this particular case, I don't think there was any malice or trolling intended. Rather, it was a reminder that the reputed "blandmobile" carmaker was, in fact, debuting two enthusiast-oriented sports cars (Toyota Supra and Lexus RC F Track Edition) in Detroit.

 

[meth.ix]

Is no one talking about that wing? :heart_eyes::heart_eyes::heart_eyes:

 

[Hamed Al Ketbi]

Some real exciting news!!! Can’t wait even for the LC’s project as it’s not yet finished!

 

[Faisal Sheikh]

Being an RCF owner, one of the most frustrating thing is that the car is making the most power just before rev limiter. It surges/howls all the way and then suddenly rev limiter. Hope they raise the rev limiter a bit to around 7700 - 7800 rpm. It would really make one appreciate the engine even more, but I doubt it will happen.

 

[ssun30]

Being an RCF owner, one of the most frustrating thing is that the car is making the most power just before rev limiter. It surges/howls all the way and then suddenly rev limiter. Hope they raise the rev limiter a bit to around 7700 - 7800 rpm. It would really make one appreciate the engine even more, but I doubt it will happen.

Yes. An engine that peaks right before rev limiter is very suboptimal for track use because it forces an upshift which leads to a loss of power continuity. A good performance engine should always leave at least 10% extra revs after peak so the car is still in the power band after upshift. But in this case it's just Lexus being Lexus because you know, maintaining that reliability reputation is No.1 priority on every car they make. And it's unlikely they will ever change that approach.

 

[arrow1982]

It will be 473 hp. 472 hp would be too little bump. They will not put engineering hours in an engine, that will be built like maybe five pieces a month, for a twelve month production run.

The car will be stripped of amenities, a little carbon fiber panels here and there and thats it. Still it will be hellishly fast!

 

[spwolf]

indeed, it will likely gain no more than 10hp ... but much lighter.

 

[Faisal Sheikh]

Guaranteed it would be 480 - 490 HP as the engine can easily attain that without any engine modifications. It will cost quite a lot more than carbon/TVD RCF (will be around the M4 GTS or at least M4 CS price range) so it will definitely get more power.

Especially, considering in Europe/Japan the RCF and LC500 both are rated identically to 477 DHP/PS (471 BHP) so if RCF GT is "most powerful" then it is definitely much higher than 477 DHP/PS. As soon as they arrive in the North American markets, there is a "marketing" 4 HP difference when the exhaust of Euro-spec RCF is identical to the NA RCF so there is no reasonable explanation of the 4 HP difference.

It will be 473 hp. 472 hp would be too little bump. They will not put engineering hours in an engine, that will be built like maybe five pieces a month, for a twelve month production run.

The car will be stripped of amenities, a little carbon fiber panels here and there and thats it. Still it will be hellishly fast!

 

[Faisal Sheikh]

The torque curve is very flat from 4000 rpm to rev cut off. Over 90% available at all times. However, as the revs rise, the gearing torque multiplication is greater, which is why after shifts (drops to 5700 rpm in 1st to 2nd shift), there is definitely a noticeable difference in power at 5500 rpm vs ~7400 rpm. Almost as if Lexus designed an 8000 rpm engine and then bean counters decided to put a rev limiter around 7400 rpm.

Yes. An engine that peaks right before rev limiter is very suboptimal for track use because it forces an upshift which leads to a loss of power continuity. A good performance engine should always leave at least 10% extra revs after peak so the car is still in the power band after upshift. But in this case it's just Lexus being Lexus because you know, maintaining that reliability reputation is No.1 priority on every car they make. And it's unlikely they will ever change that approach.

 

[ssun30]

Almost as if Lexus designed an 8000 rpm engine and then bean counters decided to put a rev limiter around 7400 rpm.

And the Camry's 2.5 at 6800 has a higher mean piston speed than the 2UR at 7400. Toyota in their infinite wisdom thinks it's too risky to rev their flagship track car to 8k while it's okay to rev the grocery getter harder.