ISF001

In a few words, I messed up. I had the opportunity to hot lap the RCF and was unable to make the date—pre-planned family event.

So, this is what several of my friends at Lexus, who did attend, gave me as an account.
The first thing they said is “You will not miss your ISF.” The car is amazing. In their next breaths, they stated had the M4 and RCFs at the track, and we drove both. There were professional drivers at the track, and the first thing they stated is that the M4 is the industry standard. Make no mistake: the RCF is going up against this car. The pro drivers allowed them to form their own opinions.

So I asked: how is the M4? They stated the car is fast (not noticeably faster) on the track. The ride is horrendous, the sound is terrible (I will not dwell on this again.), and the looks of the car, exterior and interior are like any other BMW. However, they did make the point that the interior of the M4 is zero frills, little luxury if at all, unimpressive and not inviting, and that there is NO parking brake…! Much has been stripped to keep it on a diet.

When I inquired about the RCF, they all spoke about the remarkable control the car has on corning with the g-force artificial intelligence. They drove hot cars—not the detuned prototypes—with the final product software. Upon entering the corners, they loved how the car automatically downshifted, dug into the track while corning, and propelled them out at optimal speed. They also commented that, like the ISF, a nominal correction of the wheel was all that was needed to come out of a driver induced fishtail. The sound of the RCF was a big draw as well.

Yes, they said the car is heavier, but they did not feel the weight driving on the track, nor did it interfere with rapid takeoffs, handling, braking, etc. And I need to mention: the pro drivers had the RCF airborne at one point on the track where there is an abrupt incline and dropoff.

They could not say enough about the quality of the car, interior and outstanding seats, the profile, and overall design, and they particularly liked the ultrasonic blue metallic color.
Their conclusion is that based on their hands-on drives with the M4 and the RCF (the Audi’s at the track did not even enter into the serious comparisons), the RCF is the best overall car.

I can’t believe I missed the opportunity to hot lap this new RCF…

They had a bunch of videos. They sent this one along. The other video, which I need to get, is of one of the pro drivers running the beast. It was incredible--the car runs like a stallion and sounds remarkable.

I will load the smoking tires video tomorrow as I will need to set it up so you can see it via a URL.

ISF001

Smokin' at the test drive footage.

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/...1429-264-2.mp4

05RollaXRS

Very cool footage. Love it.

Badman Forever

Now that was a decent donut.

kesando

I can't view the video. File is corrupt?

Badman Forever

Realized it is a non-carbon version too.

ISF001

HAHA...posted it for you!

Hoovey689

iTrader: (16)

Nice recap of your friends findings. Can't wait for Running of the Bulls. My ride is in November.

RNM GS3

Its nice u love the RCF so much but ur bias against the M4 is dramatic.
Please see pic below with parking brake and interior looks nice to me.





BTW I will be at the RCF event Oct 18th at Raceway Park and will post videos and my personal review of the car.

chilipalm

Except for the half tablet stuck in the dash, the interior looks dated to me. Every time I sit in a BMW, I think of my dad's BMW from the 80's. It's designed for the old.

ISF001

I am admitted biased because of my bad experiences with BMW. One year, everything from the driver's seat forward was dismantled and on the floor in the service bay. I have several stories of enduring 3-4 weeks of repair time.

With the exception of the carbon, I will objectively say this looks very dated as this could be the interior of a 20 year old BMW--it just has not evolved that much, in my opinion.

As for the parking brake, I believe their car had an electromechanical set up. In this regard, no parking brake...?

begone

Great third party review, can't wait for a few of you to actually get to drive it yourselves. Especially some of you that are a little less biased. But if it's really that good then it'll for sure be a top competitor. Any final production numbers in power, did they mention that?

And as far as the traditional hand parking brake.
M4 - Yes (all 3 series as a matter of fact)
RCF - No, little left foot lever

GSteg

iTrader: (15)

The BMW interior looks good to me. It's always been more focused and less plush. Nothing wrong with that since it's aimed at a slightly different demographic.

Waiting to hear more reviews from Clublexus members, preferably from someone who isn't buying one (I know that sounds weird..)

ISF001

Unfortunately not. There was really no focus on optimal run times, i.e., times that can be reasonably achieved beyond the published/conservative 4.5 0-60 and 12.5 quarter. (We already know the car at least runs a 4.3 in the desert--Motortrend).

We'll see plenty of those numbers as soon as the production cars are driven off the lots in late December. The RCF carbon TVDs follow in February.

ISF001

Not weird at all. I suspect their experience behind the wheel, however, will be very limited. No one is going to buy a new RCF with more than a couple of miles on it. So I expect joy rides will be quite difficult to secure and highly limited.

Carbon TVDs for the most part will be special orders, highly limited production vehicles, and consequently rare. Unless the dealer wants to speculate, I would not expect to see many of these boys on the lots.