Lexus insists the guiding principle for its new coupé was “functional beauty”, claiming an aerodynamic or cooling purpose for every stroke of the designer’s pen. The result is elaborate styling, although simpler lines, even at the price of lesser efficiency, might have helped the RC F to better compete with its sleeker European rivals.
Underneath, the RC F’s steel architecture is a fusion of GS, IS and IS convertible platforms. The result is a relatively large coupé, eclipsing an M4 in length and height. Lexus has reinforced the body-in-white in the pursuit of appropriate levels of rigidity.
The double wishbone suspension at the front features forged aluminium parts, as does the multi-link set-up at the rear. Damping is via passive Sachs monotube performance shocks and braking by Brembo steel discs and aluminium monoblock calipers.
The use of aluminium usually betrays an attempt at weight loss, but here the Toyota marketing machine falls necessarily quiet. That’s because, based on the claimed kerb weight, the RC F weighs almost 200kg more than the M4.
Thankfully, the RC F’s 5.0-litre V8 isn’t short on power; there’s 470bhp of it. Many of the major components – including the cylinder head, injection system, pistons, connecting rods and crankshaft – are new. The resulting 54bhp increase over the IS F comes at increased crank speed, with the engine’s redline having been extended to 7300rpm.
