JCtx

Hey gang, finally got the car, and am not missing the GTR one bit. Before my observations, let me get to my questions, for those short of attention span:

0. Has anybody fitted LED turn-signals on the rear of the car? The only ones I know don't hyperflash are the bulky Triton3 V-Leds. Removed one of the tails, and space is pretty cramped in there, but maybe they can fit. Trying not to be the guinea pig for once. He he.
1. Any photos of underbody jacking points (especially central ones) on this car?
2. One of the left screen options is to turn on 'speed indicator 30-100 mph'; what the hell is that?
3. What tire pressures are you guys running? Nowadays ALL vehicles only post their FULLY LOADED (GVWR) tire pressures. I drive alone most of the time. And when not, it's only my wife. And both weigh 300# combined. Running 36 is overkill IMO, and car not only rides harsher than it should, but tires could wear unevenly when their hot-temp pressure rises. I put it at 35 for now, to see how the car feels compared to the 41 they had. Haven't driven with 35 before, but was thinking maybe 34. Opinions welcome.
4. Is there a parking sensor behind the grille's 'L'? Car only has 2, and even the RC350 has 4.
5. Can't try this yet, but does anybody know if redlining the engine in MANUAL mode automatically upshifts the tranny in any of the modes, and WHICH ones? It should do it at least in normal IMO, but let's find out. I ask because I don't like steering wheel paddles, and if accelerating hard while turning, could miss a shift. On Sport+ I fully expect it to bounce on the limiter, as it should.
6. Sat radio sounds like crap on this car. Worse than my daughters' Hyundais. Is it normal?
7. Which oil is the factory fill for our cars? And what oil dealer use? The cars supposedly come with a 1K complimentary service (just checks and reprogram crap you want), and the 5K, which is an oil change. I plan to just do the 1K including an oil change... if they put good oil.
8. Is there a way to leave the tail spoiler deployed ALL THE TIME? It goes back in on the next ignition cycle when you deploy it with the left switch.

Observations:

1. Those that want to shave all emblems (like I do since day 1), beware the front 'F's ARE PINNED. Salesman told me none had pins, and didn't bother to research first (lesson learned). At least could shave the rear 'RC-F', to make cleaning easier (with DI, it's going to get quite dirty, right?).
2. The front sensors DO NOT detect concrete parking stops. And bumper does NOT clear them. FYI. I always test this with new cars, so no, didn't destroy mine . Disappointed at the front sensors, since that's why I wanted them in the first place (mostly for my daughter and wife). Oh well.
3. The seats are awesome, but the cushions seem to lack, well, cushioning. On a 35-mile trip, my butt was starting to hurt a little. Am I the only one, or it's just a matter of getting used to them? And I'm only 160#, mind you.
4. Seat ventilation is crap on this car. Couldn't feel it on the test-driver either, so I know there's nothing wrong. Maybe the seats suck air, like Porsche's (crap as well). Will try directing A/C to the floor vents as well.
5.If you want to convert your car to all LED (except rear turn signals), you only need one kind of bulb: 193 bayonet base. And you need FIVE. One in the trunk, 2 at the bottom of doors, and 2 under the dash (foot lighting). Did it yesterday. All others are LED already, including the overhead ones and license plate lights. Well, haven't checked the side markers, so there might be others there; will keep you posted.

All in all, extremely happy with the swap, even though most people told me I was nuts. And actually got $2,800 back, so not bad. On a short trip yesterday, it's exactly what I was looking for. Still want a fast, sporty, powerful, good-looking 2-door car, but not at the expense of an ugly interior and extreme noise when touring. Have lost a small fortune buying wrong cars, but finally hit the nail in the head. He he.

Thank you for all your help leading me to buy this car folks; greatly appreciated. Now need to learn as much as I can, to enjoy it even more.. Take care.

rjmalm

See edits above and the 2 attachments.

JCtx

Thanks a lot brother for that file; exactly what I was looking for. Added question 8 but too late; could you please check it out? . You're very knowledgeable on this car.
On 2, saw that picture on page 99, but don't get what changes with the speed setting: Is it engine speed? Road speed? And the needle changes for bars, or viceversa? Or just the 'mph' sign? Anyway, will leave it alone.
On 3, under what conditions you saw excessive wear at 36? Any tracking? I can believe that. I was talking about street driving. Some aggressive twisties here and there (very far from here), but mostly no pushing the car that much.
On 5, as long as it 1st upshifts automatically, that's all I need. From 2nd at redline onward, you're not going to be turning the steering wheel that much in a turn when up-shifting. Is it the same in ALL modes though?
On 6. that was after playing with the adjustments, of course. Still a very 'steely', or 'tinny' sound. To the point I rather not listen to it. Never renew XM anyway, so not a big deal. And also found out some stations sound better than others.
On 7. I was only asking what kind of oil; sorry for not specifying that. Saw the manual, and yes, it's cheapo oil (not even synthetic blend). I agree to use it for break-in, and that's exactly what I'm doing: leaving it there. But after 1 to 2K miles, it's going out, and full synthetic in. Most sports cars come with fully synthetic oil from the factory, and there's nothing unique on our Lexus engine. But to each his own on this one. With 10 quarts, Lexus is just being cheap. Thank you again for all your help.

1LSsport

Congrats on your new RC-F. I trade in my '14 GTR premium edition to a RC-F performance and honestly speaking no regrets at all for replacing the GTR to a RCF. Are you also a member of GTR Life?
Enjoy!

rjmalm

Have fun, lets us know if you auto shift when you redline in 2nd.

ThaDRD

There are actual "standard" jack points under the rockers. The same ones they use on a lift.

cmhuk

Congrats on your new car - re auto shift I have found that in Sport+ in manual mode I do get auto shift from 1st to 2nd but its not alway a smooth transition occasionally it feels like I hit the redline and then hesitates before changing to 2nd. Definitely does not auto shift from 2nd to 3rd or 3rd to 4th... Haven't tried it yet in Sport or normal mode.

toystry

Which company did you buy the LED's from? I used http://store.ijdmtoy.com in the past and half of the bulbs burnt out within the first 6 months.

rjmalm

the wing: have not tried this but I would go the the multi function
display, settings, and disable auto wing and then see if the manual
button on the left will keep it up (or down) for you.

JCtx

Hey buddy, glad to hear I wasn't the only 'crazy' one. He he. This car is so much more than just raw power (which was basically the only thing going for the GTR IMO) that I knew I finally bought the right car after one trip. The only thing my wife wished for was a hair more compliant ride... and lo and behold, tires were inflated to 41 psi. That should make it just about perfect. Felt awesome on the highway: smooth, rock stable, safe, quiet, and comfortable. Let my daughter drive it on the way back, and she couldn't believe how nice it was. And my wife said the back was very comfortable. Due to how quiet the engine is on the highway, I just put it in auto mode in sport and called it a day. Sport+ activates the fake noise, plus it doesn't shift to 7 or 8th, so that's only suitable when driving aggressively. Oh, and I didn't like GTR Life, so hung out at GTR Heritage instead. More of a democracy, rather than a dictatorship. He he.

Hey, it's going to take a while man, as I'm right at 100 miles now. Need to check the manual to see when I can redline this thing. And will try all remaining 3 modes (eco, normal, sport) in manual for the first 3 gears and see what happens. Cmhuk already reported on sport+, but might try it anyway to see how my car handles it.

Oh yeah, most here know about those. I was referring to any others, especially the central ones (rjmalm graciously posted those above). But thanks anyman man.

I've probably spent thousands on LED bulbs man, and can categorically tell you the best LED bulb value by far for the 5 193 bulbs you need on the RC-F is superbrightLEDs p/n WLED WHP6 (cool white), and are $7.95 each. I have yet to have one fail on me. The V-LEDs are crap, except for the Triton3s, which are to replace turn-signals and avoid hyper-flashing. Was wondering if those fit for the rear turn-signals, but it'd be extremely close... if they fit at all. Don't want to be the guinea pig this time. So will leave them alone, unless somebody else tries them. I think the base/bulb would fit, but don't know about the bulky resistor box. There's a gap to the bumper, but it'd barely fit there, and we'd need space to install a velcro or some other method to secure the heavy box.

EXCELLENT idea man. There's a good chance it'd work. Will let you know. Oh, and does anybody know if that thing is actually needed? Or does it just add unnecessary drag at higher speeds? On some cars (Veyron, etc), owners disable them for less drag. Would like to know what's the deal to see if I should leave it deployed on trips, or retract it for high speeds and no curves. Thank you gang.

F1nALMSfan

Congrats on the new car. I know you put a lot of thought into the trade and subsequent purchase. White w/red is an excellent combo.

Most of your questions have been answered, but on the subject of the XM radio, the only car that I have ever thought it sounded decent was in a friend's MDX. In both of my ISFs and my TT RS, the satellite radio was extremely tinny. A shame as I liked a few stations, but with that terrible sound quality there is no reason to renew. Plus with Pandora and the others, there are better options, IMO.

JCtx

Indeed. Many people said it wasn't the right car for me because it wasn't perfect. They couldn't have been more wrong. No car is perfect. But when you buy something knowing EXACTLY what you're getting into, it makes for a much better purchase. Thankfully I had a chance not only to drive this car, but drive the crap out of it for a day with a friend of mine, drifting, doing 180s, disconnecting the intake flap, bypassing it... you name it. Each of us sports-car enthusiasts have different real-life needs that require not just one compromise, but several... if we want our S/Os to ride with us in our sports cars. And my personal situation is I work from home, so hardly drive at all other than in just trips. And the wife not wanting to ride with you makes even the most radical and desirable sports cars in the world about useless to me. And wife already approved the RC-F . So yes, had to sacrifice a few things, but overall couldn't be happier. Zero regrets. Hope my search can help others in my position in the future. Take care.

toystry

I know you said you bought 5 but after going through the car tonight there are actually 7 lights (2 under dash, 2 in doors, 1 in trunk and (2 in vanity mirrors). Did you purposely not replace the vanity ones?

Of note, I just bought the ones you mentioned above, so thanks for the help. Curious to see how much of a difference they make.

JCtx

You're absolutely correct... but the error is fixed now. Messed the headliner a little bit on the inside (fixed with 2 layers of duct tape) on the driver's side. To prevent others from doing that, pry both lenses FROM THE LEFT SIDE folks. By the way, checked the parking lights, and all are LEDs, so that's it. Only the rear turn-signals remain, but hopefully somebody will find an answer that doesn't require any piercing of insulation on wires (load resistors), and doesn't make the turn-signals hyperflash. Thank you for that correction.

I'm researching black options for the trunk's 'L' emblem, and the front fender 'F's (all 3 are pinned). Waiting for a quote on C/F ones, but will probably be outrageous expensive, as those folks sell a single LED for $80. The ideal solution would be black chrome. Input welcome. Thx.

toystry

NP.

Contact Sport Chrome in Cali. You should be able to send them to do for them to Black Chrome. When I was gonna strip all the chrome off of my Harley, they were gonna black chrome everything for me. Worth a try: www.sportchrome.com/