Lexus RC F facelift showcases better performance with enhanced aesthetics

KUALA LUMPUR: Toyota brings another exciting news for its fans. Post the introduction of the Lexus RC coupe facelift, the company has unveiled the sportier version of the Lexus RC F. This powerful sporty car is aimed to sort out a lot of the criticism that it had over its performance.

The new Lexus RC F has seen a lot of updates on the mechanical bay, along with some complementing aesthetic enhancements. The new car incorporates a lot of lightweight components without compromising on the sturdiness. Even though the company has not revealed any actual figure in the weight saving department, we can assume the difference looks pretty significant by hinting at the changes. As for an example, the air-conditioning compressor is smaller now and the intake manifolds are trimmed down. The rear half shafts are now hollow along with aluminium support brackets for the upper suspension, indicating quite good weight saving.

For the aerodynamics, a lot of the components are made of carbon fibre and the list includes the carbon fibre made front splitter and rear wing, which helps in reducing the drag and also the downforce. Even the roof and the bonnet are done in carbon fibre.

Under the hood, there is a slew of changes as well. The same 5.0-litre naturally-aspirated V8 engine has been given a revised intake, along with a trigger for the lower rpm for the secondary intake. With these updates, the car now makes 472 hp (5 hp more) and 536 Nm (8 Nm more). This minor bump in power turns out to be significant when paired with the lightweight components.

Even the gearbox has been tweaked to some extent to improve the performance. The higher final drive ratio increases the acceleration on the initial launch. The new Michelin Pilot Sport 4S tyres with unique tread pattern and rubber compound help in reducing the understeer and also improve the lateral grip.

Moreover, the Track edition of the car now gets carbon ceramic brakes from Brembo, which is derived from the RC F GT3 car. This helps in saving around 25 kilograms alone. With such a lot of enhancements, this Track edition can do the 0-100 kmph sprint in just four seconds, which is half a second faster than the outgoing version.