Many manufacturers have shied away from competing with the Germans in this class as, to be perfectly blunt, these top level cars are sublime and have been honed over many years. The RC F has to throw quite the punch if it stands a chance.

Visually the Lexus RC F enters the boxing ring with its teeth showing. A fabulously bold design that is muscular and pumped full of testosterone certainly sets it apart. Our test cars “Solar Flare” orange paint suits the boisterous bodywork that makes up this overtly masculine coupe profile. Its large brash details on the nose taper into sleek lines towards its tail making this silhouette seem fast even when standing still. This may well wear a Lexus badge but the brash grill, bonnet vent and stacked exhaust exits make a very different statement than its showroom siblings.

Things are more familiarly Lexus once inside the cabin of this 2+2. Beautifully sculpted heated and cooled leather seats grip you firmly with their bolsters whilst a high console divides the cockpit in two. Controls and instrumentation are presented in a highly premium fashion adding to an overall feeling of quality and good engineering.  Carbon details and aluminium accents are the icing on an impressive cake. Whilst the centre console is a bit bland for a car that looks this exciting externally, it does feature a trackpad for interaction with its infotainment system. The rear seats will fit two adults, however, this is more of a temporary seating position as is the same with many competitors. A usable 366 litre boot is smaller than that found in the BMW M4, but it does partially redeem itself with a ski hatch. Let us be perfectly honest… You didn’t come here to read about ski hatches and air conditioning. You want to skip the starter and get to the main!

Hit the starter button and this cars 471BHP 5.0 litre V8 engine erupts like thunder with anyone who hadn’t seen this Lexus’ initial visual assault now looking in its direction. With light steering and an air of tranquility settling in once underway, you notice that it still has some traditional Lexus DNA. It is easy to drive and actually rather relaxing at low speeds. The peace is only interrupted by a firm ride which could become an annoyance on our broken British roads, although it does get better at higher speeds. This cars performance it to be found higher up the rev range with things kicking of rather ferociously just below 4,000rpm. The naturally aspirated engine bellows and shouts as the car picks up pace at a slightly alarming rate. There is no denying that the 2015 Lexus RC F is a bloody quick car! It does have that lazy V8 characteristic, but take it to the rev limiter and its 0-62MPH time of just 4.5 seconds and electronically limited top speed of 168 MPH become more than just quotable figures. Accurate steering and a torque vectoring differential work together to give this car a sense of precision. That said, this is a heavy machine and as a result its doesn’t feel as agile as key rivals and there is less lateral control also. Cycling through various sports modes and arriving at maximum attack Sport S+ is great fun though. Using the steering wheel mounted paddles to manually select ratios from the fast reacting 8 speed Sport Direct Shift gearbox is very enjoyable and the deep growling noises from that V8 are utterly addictive. Left to its own devices I do think there are better units out there.

Unfortunately the 2015 Lexus RC F is not the driving enthusiasts choice, but it does have plenty of other traits that make it worthy of your consideration. If you like a touch of theatre and a meaty V8 soundtrack then this car can provide that in a well built package. Take it to the race track and the M4 and C63 AMG will undoubtedly come out on top. Drive down a busy high street and it will be the Lexus people are taking pictures of and talking about on Twitter.

The post Review: 2015 Lexus RC F appeared first on Inside Lane.

The IS300h is kept moving by a naturally aspirated 2.5L 4 cylinder petrol engine providing 178bhp and bolting on a 141bhp electric motor. All the power goes to the rear wheels and the total output comes in at a rather lavish 220bhp. The petrol engine runs on the Atkinson combustion cycle which increases engine efficiency and the new fuel injection system positions injectors in both the port and the chamber. Combining all of this means the jolt to 62mph will take a somewhat uninspiring 8.3 seconds (the BMW 320d takes a mere 7.4 seconds) and will top out at 125mph. Helping you get there is the unbelievably smooth and well crafted electric CVT gearbox. Where this gearbox feels excellent around small village roads or motorway cruising, though it can come across somewhat sterile when trying to give the IS300h the full beans. Giving the car a good dose of the right pedal does leave you feeling disconnected from the whole driving experience and the presence of the vaguely raspy sounds funnelled into the car to replicate the genuine growl of a non-hybrid does take some of the real joie-de-vivre of the car.

This isn’t a high powered sports car though. It definitely puts a smile on your face and will leave your bank account fairly intact due to it’s low tax bands. The base specification IS300h comes in at just under 100g/km in terms of emissions and even with the sportier tyres of the F-sport spec you’ll only be paying pennies due to mere 109g/km. This is the grand finale of Lexus’ rollout of hybrids in every model and the combined mpg figure is an impressive 60.1mpg while the urban figure is an equally good 57.6mpg. With the benefit in kind of 11% as well as the sub-100 figure on the SE spec you’ll be saving a fair bit of money on the comparable BMW 320d Efficient Dynamics, and company car drivers can also expect an impressive reduction in their annual tax bill as well by moving away from the German competitors.

Inside you’ll be greeted by the beautiful design we’ve all come to expect from the Japanese kings of luxury with a cockpit inspired by the £350,000 Lexus LFA supercar. The wheel is luxurious and the digital dials give the car the super-modern feel and the exquisitely comfortable leather seats (albeit at a premium of £1,400) hug you around every single twist and turn. An easy to use multimedia and navigation system is paired with a clear 7” screen and my only real niggle is that the ‘joystick’ style control is somewhat over-responsive. Sound inside the car is excellent with a powerful 6-speaker audio system and DAB radio as standard.  There is also ans aux-in cable input for MP3 players and USB ports for connecting smartphones. The rear-view camera makes parking the IS300h a dream and the dual-zone climate control is easy to use with excellent touch-pad style temperature controls which you can increase or decrease by sliding your finger up or down. Heated and electric seats in the front as well as 60:40 split-folding rear seats in the back mean space and comfort with the added bonus of ‘smart entry’ which means once you’ve pushed the big shiny start button the drivers seat and steering wheel will return to its previous position making entering and exiting the car very easy.

Outside, the car is just art. Lexus do styling very well and the F-sport bumpers and mesh grille give the car real panache coupled with the metallic white paint (a £610 extra). LED lights all round and seductive 18inch F-sport alloy wheels add the finishing touches and even in the sleepy villages of north Berkshire, this car was turning heads. The rear legroom is good and headroom is excellent as well. In the boot you’ve got 450 litres to play with as well.

On the road price for a Lexus IS300h F-sport is £33,495. Other models available include the IS250 which uses a naturally aspirated V6 to generate a shade over 200bhp with a standard automatic box which will whisk you to 62 in 8.1 seconds, but much like we’ve seen with BMW, Audi and Mercedes, this bigger engine will not be as popular is the more economic diesels/hybrids and are aimed more at the US market. The IS250 starts at £26,495 while a base model IS300h without the F-sport gear will set you back a mere £29,495 which slots nicely with the competition.

To conclude, I genuinely enjoyed every second I was in this car, in fact it’s the best Lexus I’ve ever driven. Sure the CVT gearbox was occasionally frustrating and the underwhelming performance figures did cause some grief, but I didn’t settle into the beautifully crafted leather sport seats expecting a rocket ship. I doubt the IS300h will topple the likes of BMW, Audi and Mercedes; but that’s not to say it’s a bad car. Class leading style and comfort, coupled with the reliability of a Toyota subsidiary and the low tax band, not to mention a competitive price tag, will undoubtedly make waves in the boardrooms of the Germans.

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