Lexus RC-F: driving test and video
Posted on 30-03-2015 to 16:00 by CasperH – 81 Comments”
The Lexus RC-F to open the attack on the established order. Should the BMW M4, Audi RS5, Mercedes C63 AMG and Porsche 911 are concerned? The Japanese put an end to the German domination?
[ First look, then read? Watch the video HERE! ]
Let’s immediately start with the treating of that which we cannot do without: the look. The testauto that Lexus us has given is finished in the color Solar Flare, also called “Hup Holland Hup”. It will not be everyone’s taste, but it gives an appropriate dose of attention. The lines of the RC-F is pretty spectacular. Therefore, it may not be everyone’s taste, but personally, I find it rather pleasant. Where the competition relies on trusted designs and conservative lines, if the designers at Lexus apparently delicious loosening. I can personally design appreciate, but I don’t think this color was chosen.
In the interior is a lot quieter. Everything is business-like black, there are only some blue stitching to be the quantity something to cheer. The chairs are sturdy and sit a bit high. Wouter is in terms of headroom, and even with his hairstyle against the roof, when I asked him for a bit. Can come through the sliding-tilting roof that is mounted, it may have to do with Japanese engineers of 1.12 meters long, who can say. The tellerhuis changes with the driving mode you choose. Eco is equivalent to a blue clock, in Sport S or Sport S+ and everything looks a lot sportier.
The large dial is not a MMI-like unit, it is used only to the setting to choose. A little to the left means “Eco”, a bit to the right is “Sport S” and a second tap to the right is “Sport S+”. Press brings everything back to “Normal”. The different settings affect the character of the manual transmission (an eight speed automatic transmission) and the throttle response, but the frame is not variable. That is just one hard setting.
A press on the start button brings the 5.0 liter V8 to life. Under the right foot are now 477 horsepower and 530 Nm of torque available. This may be via an electronically controlled differential to the rear wheels is controlled. That differential has also has Torque Vectoring (TVD) that makes you tastier a bend in can send. The sprint to 100 kilometers per hour in 4.5 seconds and the top speed is limited to 270 kilometers per hour.
So far it seems a fine recipe, it’s time to go for a drive. We set sail for Germany, because if the Japanese in a battle, want to go can we best try the Germans in an away game to beat. We go across the border in Oberhausen, coincidentally enough, a Porsche 911 Carrera S on our tail. With 77 hp more should we who are still a little hurt you would think, so the right foot goes down. The speed runs on, but the 911 does not. At 240 kilometres per hour should I go to the right lane, and the Porsche passes me. The first battle is lost, but perhaps the RC-F other qualities. Incidentally, running the RC-F is still quite eagerly to the 270 and you can feel him really in the limiter attack. A smart softwareknutselaar will undoubtedly be a more than higher top.
We drive to the location where the car, still filming and photography: the Eisenbahnbrücke Wesel. This is the last bridge that the Germans were on the Rhine, she blew him in early 1945 in order to avoid that the allies could follow Germany in at the end of the Second world War. A beautiful, symbolic place to a bright orange attack on German cars to film, right? That the Japanese were friends of the Germans in WWII, we see even by the fingers.
If all the shots have we find what Bundesstrassen. The RC-F has a “fixed” frame. No hassle with variable dampers but a setup that is always the same. That chassis does very well, communicates good and has a fine balance. Submit can with a lot of precision and yet is the RC F never uncomfortable. You will break off the grip, then you’ll notice that there are 1750 kilos is going to slide, drifting is not easy with this car.
The gearbox is also a tad clumsy. The switching points are sometimes very hard, especially with the downshifting in the sporty modes. It is also the container (in all modes) at the smallest change of the position of the accelerator pedal immediately to the search for a different resistance. The V8 delivers its power, but especially at the bottom you will miss some punch. Are the pounds (an RC-F weighs 1750 pounds) or miss we just turbo’s extra torque at the bottom? Higher in the rpm, the RC-F is still great eagerness, and has a great soundtrack by the way, but the powertrain does what is muscle-like in terms of performance. Not what you would expect in a RC-F. It feels like a total little sophisticated and that surprised me a little. I had a Japanese precision instrument is expected, but the powertrain and the heavy weight throw soot in the food.
It is a foreign car, this. On the one hand I find him really cool. He is different, has its own identity and that fabulous-sounding V8. At the same time, you know that you every contest with the established order probably going to lose. The price tag doesn’t help, because you with an atmospheric 5.0-litre V8 on step may you of the Dutch state considerably to pay for CO2 emissions. The starting price is at 122.000 euros, you want the Carbon pack then the price is around € 135,000. For that money you can lots of beautiful things to buy and if you really Germans life miserable would make you might consider a F-Type R to buy. When you do an RC-F should buy? If you want something different, if you give not to compete with German competitors, if you want to enjoy a beautiful soundtrack and if you’re not a thirteen in a dozen design on your driveway. The choice is yours. Movie!
Gallery: Lexus RC-F
”
“