Db750

Hey guy, it looks like this weekend I am finally going to get to go on my first REAL test drive of the RCF. I got to take one on a quick spin while on vacation a few months back, and I have spent probably 30 minutes in the drivers seat on various occasions, but this weekend I will be taking one out for more than just a few miles! Our local Lexus dealership, which I will say is probably the nicest looking dealership, unfortunately just does not want to let anyone test drive the car, even if I pull up in a 2013 M3. For the most part the sales team is very ignorant on the car; they think it is a limited production exotic that has no rivals from BMW, and that if you aren't ready to sign a paper saying you want to buy the car you will not be able to test drive! To be fair the local BMW dealer is pretty uptight about their M3's as well, although not to this extent!

As such I have found a beautiful Ultra White RCF that is very close to how I would have speced it if I had ordered at Sam Swope Lexus in Louisville. It has the Performance Package with the CF roof and TVD, the cooled seats, the ML audio; basically everything I have wanted to test out for over a year now. It is also a 2015 model, so I am hoping a good deal can be worked, although I am not overly optimistic at this point as my wife is not willing to take much of a beating on her M235i like I am!

Anyway, I created this thread with hopes that all of the current owners and Lexus experts could offer myself and other's that aren't as familiar with the brand advice and tips on how to get the most out of their test drive. I have only owned one Lexus, a 2002 ES300 that I drove in college, and while I have driven many other models it has been a very long time, so I am not at all familiar with Lexus' new interface and controls.

Specific questions I have are how should I set the car up with regards to TVD, sport/sport +, etc? How can I get the most out of the transmission as far as testing both auto and paddles mode (this is probably my #1 concern with the car)? Are there any features that you discovered that were good/bad that you wish you had seen during a test drive? Anything with regards to the control interface/screen I should play with? Adjustments on the seats? As you can see there are tons of different things to learn or explore in this car, so please post away any tips that will help myself or others get the most out of their Lexus RCF test drive!

Thanks guys!!!

F1nALMSfan

It's great you found a potential car, and I am glad you are getting a chance to drive it this weekend. Lot's of questions here, but I think the same answers can work for many.

The first thing I would say is and this is the most important part, this car needs to get up to temp before it will allow you to experience it's performance. The engine and transmission logic are very slow to react until proper temp is reached. I think that could be a real point of contention to some test drivers that just go out for a quick drive and claim the car is slow, slow to react or just not what they thought it should be.

While the engine/trans is warming up though, you can get a good feel for how the car will be. Play around with the controls for the nav, climate, radio and such, and see how you like them and their placement. The navigation system and control of anything via the touchpad is cumbersome and takes some getting use to.

Depending on how much you use your phone in the car, try syncing it up and use it a bit as you would normally. I found I like how the ML sound system will improve the sound quality on digital tracks, and overall have been very happy with the sound fidelity.

I have been extremely happy with the seats, the seating position and overall outward view from the car. Make sure you do have the blind spot monitoring, which is probably my most used option.

Once the car is warmed up, find some good stretch of road, move to sport + and give it some go. I would look first at how the car handles shifting in auto mode first. Get a feel for what the shifting logic does, keeping in mind this does change to your driving style over time. Also try cruising at highway speed and initiate a pass, looking at how long it takes the car to downshift and move into the powerband.

When you have a good feel for the car in auto mode, move to manual shifting and drive more of the same. Keep in mind the car has quick up shifting while driven hard, and quick downshifting, (one gear) while driven hard too. Prepare yourself for slow manual shifting though when not driving WOT, and when downshifting more than one gear at a time.

I don't have the TVD equipped on my car, so i would have to deffer to someone that does for the best settings and scenarios to test.

Check out my writeup from my recent road trip too, as it has a lot of feedback on the car based on my time with it so far. https://www.clublexus.com/forums/rc-...-the-rc-f.html

Best of luck on the test drive. I hope you next post is as a new owner. Feel free to ask any other specific questions on the car, I'll try my best to watch this post and answer if I can.

Db750

Hey F1nALMSfan,

I don't have time to post a full reply yet as I am at work, but I just wanted to give a big THANK YOU for that amazing response! I really appreciate you taking the time to put all that together. It is tremendously helpful! When I get home later tonight I will respond in more detail to some of your specefic points, but I was blown away by your great post and had to at least give thanks!

Two points I will make:

1. I have been reading on your road trip thread in bits and pieces and was planning on writing a response tonight. Simply put that is one of the most helpful and best reviews I have read in the 1.5 years I have been reading this forum!

2. While driving my M3 I drive 99% in manual mode with paddles. The auto is fine, but I just greatly prefer the control, feel, and most importantly the sound you get from the engine when shifting your own gears. The dct is of course lightening quick no matter the situation as I always keep it in S5 mode, and I already know coming in this will sadly be one of the only disapointments I'll have with the car. I also drive my wife's M235i in paddle shift mode 95% of the time. Once again I just enjoy having more control. Her car, on the other hand, is better than the DCT in auto mode, but not as good as the DCT in manual mode. Her car has the 8 speed "sport auto" which I will say is far and away the best auto I have driven. I am really hoping the auto in the RCF will be at least this good. The upshifts are lightening fast (i notice no difference from my DCT, and they make an awesome burp noise banging into gear). The downshifts are also very fast, and are rev matched, but they do not bang into gear as quickly as the DCT. It does make an awesome sound though and the there are tons of crackles and backfires. Basically I know going in it wont be as good as the DCT, but I am hoping it will be as good as the Sport Auto in the M235i (please note that the sport auto has a different programing than the regular 8 spd in bmw cars and actually feels much better).

Having said that, and knowing that I will prefer to drive in manual mode with paddles, if anyone could add on how to get the most out of the paddles it would be appreciated!

Now looking back at what was suposed to be a very quick post while taking a break from work I see that I have once again posted a novel!

F1nALMSfan

Hey no problem man, I am more than happy to share my thoughts on the car. I too seem to post novels as well.

In terms of the paddles, I too drive in sport +, with the paddles when I am not in long cruise commute mode. Basically you can drive the car like you do in the BMW, or like you would a traditional manual. If I am having fun, I will always draw the car out to redline, hitting the paddle right when the first audible beep comes on. These shifts are fast, and the car always is in it's torque powerband.

The car has great rev matching on it's downshift, made even better with an aftermarket exhaust, a paddle press will give you a pretty instantaneous gear shift, granted you are asking it to go down more than a gear at a time.

It really sounds like it is very similar to your experiences in the M235i, and I think if you come in with that mindset, and not of the DCT, this transmission will meet your expectations. I found it to be great in the ISF, and even better in the RC F. TBH, I would gladly take the RC F transmission over a DCT for the normal daily driving I am doing, as to not have to worry about the more clunky gear changes that occur when the car is not WOT.

I hope that helps a little more. Feel free to ask any more questions.

Kevin

MisterSkiz

iTrader: (2)

If its anything like the IS-F, you have to really drive it like you hate it to get the power out of the motor

JCtx

BMW uses a ZF 8-sp tranny, which is the best. The Aisin (Toyota owned) on the RC-F can't match it, especially in auto mode. But should be close in manual mode driven aggressively. Curious to hear your comments on overall differences. But you'll be disappointed compared to a DCT, just like we all DCT ex-owners were. But the car is so good everywhere else, we all forgave the tranny issue. Since I also drive in manual basically all the time, it wasn't a huge deal for me. When I really want a quick response is when driving aggressively. And there (in sport+), it's almost as quick as my ex GTR. Had a blast on the first and only trip I took to the twisties so far. But now we're disappointed at the alignment specs, since the car could handle much better with a more aggressive alignment... which turns out can't be adjusted any more aggressively. There's a thread going on about possible solutions to that. Good luck on your test drive, and please write a detailed report on the tranny.