When I first laid eyes on the Lexus RC F, my reaction was one of those mad scientist laughs – mwahahahahahahaha!  If there was ever a car that looks like it was built for sheer speed and power, this is it. Even the otherwise refined looking spindle grille that’s characteristic of Lexus looks aggressive and dynamic on the Lexus RC F.  So do the LED lights, the quadruple exhaust system and the overall styling.  That’s just the initial impressions of the exterior looks.

It’s not just my pulse that got racing, either.  In fact, the designers were after a vehicle that got people pulsing with adrenaline and excitement.  On the official Lexus Australia website, you can see the results of a biometric test where they strapped FitBit-style devices that monitor heart rate and other physiological data (including skin conductivity – the one that measures excitement as used by lie detectors) onto passengers of the Lexus RC F (male and female) and sent them out onto a racetrack with a pro driver to put the performance car through its paces, linking the car’s performance stats with the biometric data.  Maximum heart rates were 186 beats per minute (bpm) at 167 km/h, 174 bpm at 6601 rpm and 162 bpm in third gear (by way of comparison, this writer’s resting heart rate is 78 bpm – albeit after a strong coffee and watching a few videos of the Lexus RC F performing.  Part of me wishes that these stats were available for all performance vehicles as well as the raw speed, power and torque figures.

However, the bare mechanical stats do make it easy to compare car against car, although if you want to make a true comparison between apples and apples (or, if you want a more appropriate fruit for a performance vehicle, jalapeños and jalapeños – yes, they’re technically fruit), you will want to compare the Lexus RC F against other performance vehicles such as those that come out of the HSV or FPV stable, or with any other high-performance marque that you fancy.  We’re sure that you’ll be impressed with what the Lexus RC F has to offer.

The engine that delivers the goods is a good old-fashioned 5-litre V8 – or maybe make that a cutting-edge 5-litre V8 petrol engine with 32-valve DOHC with dual VVT-i.  This has been designed with one thing in mind, and it’s not fuel economy (although 10.9 L/100 km combined under test conditions isn’t too bad for this class of vehicle). No indeed.  The designers have tuned this engine very precisely and not just so that it growls like a wild animal to evoke a visceral adrenaline response.  It’s designed to go fast.  Very fast.  The top speed is 270 km/h but I suspect that it’s been speed limited (or else that this was the top speed on the track in the biometric test).  As the power peaks at 351 kW at 7100 rpm, the torque peaks at 530 Nm at 4800 rpm and the zero-to-ton sprint takes 4.5 seconds, it probably would be capable of more if it wasn’t for the speed limiting.

Now, the engine isn’t everything, although it’s where the fun starts.  You’ve also got all the driver aids, the drivetrain and the transmission to think about.  Rear wheel drive and eight-speed automatic transmission with manual mode simply beg to be driven hard and fast.  You can also customise what you do with the Drive Mode select: pick from Normal, ECO, Sport and Sport S+ to tailor the engine output, acceleration and handling (and, in the case of ECO mode, the dual-zone climate control air con) to suit what you want to do.  You can also customise the Torque Vectoring Control, which is independent of the drive mode, and you can pick how the handling will be: Standard mode, Slalom or Track.

The power is all reined in with Brembo brakes that come with the works, a.k.a. the Vehicle Dynamics Integrated Management system, which takes care of the EBD, the ABS, the traction control and the stability control.  As if that wasn’t enough, the Lexus RC F has other driver aids up its sleeve in the form of pre-collision safety assistance with brake assist, hill start assistance, an overtaking sensor (for when you do the overtaking: the Lexus RC F doesn’t get overtaken often, except by idiots), lane departure warning, front and rear parking sensors, rear parking camera and push-button engine starting.

Now, there are performance cars out there that strip the vehicle back to sheer performance and nothing else.  However, the Lexus RC F knows that people who want this car also want to be comfortable. There will be times that this vehicle won’t be driving to the limits but will be gently gliding through town.  This is why the interior is quite luxurious.  For a start, the interior features leather everywhere you look, except on the LED instrument display panel.  The driver seat has all the comfort features, including electrically adjustable lumbar support, heating and lots of ways to adjust it, and the front passenger seat isn’t far behind.

As the Lexus RC F is a car designed for performance and for those who love the driving experience, it doesn’t have all the infotainment bells and whistles that some other recent models have.  Bluetooth connectivity, voice-controlled sat-nav and a 17-speaker sound system, yes.  But the Lexus RC F doesn’t pretend to be your home movie system.  Good on it.  It also doesn’t have all the driver aids that stop your attention wandering.  It doesn’t need to – the performance is supposed to be stimulating enough to jolt you awake like a double espresso. Come on – even the exterior of the Lexus RC F as it stands there on its 19-inch alloy wheels with its body-coloured exterior mirrors and bumpers is exciting enough.  It’s especially exciting in go-faster red, although eight exterior colours are available.

There’s also a Carbon model available that really goes to town with the carbon fibre body kit to trim down the weight for extra vroom.

Current model series include:

• Lexus RC F
• Lexus RC F Carbon

For any more information on the Lexus RC F, or for that matter any other new car, contact one of our friendly consultants on 1300 303 181. If you’d like some fleet discount pricing (yes even for private buyers!), we can submit vehicle quotes requests out to our national network of Lexus dealers and come back with pricing within 24 hours. Private Fleet – car buying made easy!