I managed to get my hands on the RC-F Carbon Fibre, Lexus have pegged it as a road going performance car but I think it’s more of a grand tourer.
The Carbon Fibre version is around 10kg’s lighter than the regular (if you can call it that) RC-F but the reality is it’s more of a cosmetic improvement than a significant performance modification. In the sunlight the visual effect of the carbon offers up a different visage from a variety of angles.
With the window down and under significant throttle the 5L V8 has the most amazing sound, it also produces 381kW/530Nm – huge numbers but then again it is a substantial car. The 0-100 time is a shade under an impressive 4.5secs – around the same time the smile arrives on your face.
To add to my driving pleasure, there is a G force monitor on the instrument panel and after a while I started to use it as a target, how much G force could I pull off the mark, round corners and under braking – thankfully it’s limited to 1G.
Yes it’s heavy but it also feels solid on the road and very forgiving, it offers both stability on the highway and corrects any mischief around corners that would otherwise end up giving you a bad day.
The seats are comfortable and supportive I get the feeling that on long trips I’d arrive as fresh as the moment I left and the rest of the interior reinforces the luxurious position that Lexus has taken in the car market. The finely crafted analogue clock on the car’s centre stack wouldn’t look out of place on the wrist and the Mark Levinson stereo not only produces Chrystal clear sound it also uses the windscreen as an acoustic device.
The Alcantara leather over the dashboard has been hand stitched to look like it’s been done by a machine – the precision is amazing but I then wondered if it lacked a bit of character – maybe this needed a slight flaw – to err is human and all that.
The seating position fitted me like a glove, I have a tendency to let my hand rest on the gear stick as I drive and the armrest support was just perfect.
When in eco mode (yes I did go there – but not for too long) the rev dial has a blue ‘riffle barrel’ effect, it’s worth checking out, but overall the RC-F prefers to be driven in sport or sport +, or maybe that’s just me.
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