Kind'a new he'ah (just got a '23 IS 350 AWD F Sport) and was at the dealer yesterday. While walking through the show room I noticed an RC 350 AWD F Sport, and I said to myself: "Self, doesn't that car look just like your IS 350, except for having two fewer doors". It had the same interior (with CD player ... :-), same seats, etc.., just missing two doors.
But it seemed to be a lot more $$.

So, is an RC simply a short IS sharing the same (shortened) platform, or is there something else that makes it special?

Oh, there was an RC 500 on the floor, with $106,000 on the sticker... =:-0
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Current Hers: '24 Lexus ES350 Luxury
Current Mine: '23 IS 350 F Sport AWD

 

You mean RCF? No such thing as an RC500 lol, but it does have the V8.

The RC chassis uses the GS front, ISC mid, and IS rear.

 

While I can't speak to the specific features that are included with coupes over sedans, coupes in general are more expensive than their sibling 4 door counterparts. Mainly because less are sold (in demand).

For BMW for example, the price delta between the base 3 series sedan and the 4 series coupe is around 10%.

 

Well last week I drop off my 23" IS350 F-Sport AWD for a oil change and got the RC350 F-Sport AWD for a loaner, and I noticed the RC feel lighter and take off little quicker than IS 350? Maybe two doors less make less weight but I can feel the different of the two cars, but I noticed the ML system in the RC not as loud and crips compare to my premium without the ML system of my IS? I changed out the dash speakers and two rear door speakers and my IS sound better than the RC with ML system. That weird

 

Probably LC 500 given the $100k+ price tag.

 

My Lexus car history goes from 08 is250 fsport to 15 rc350 fsport to 24 is500 fsport.

I can say I feel like the rc handled the best, its a coupe so I suppose it should. Even though its minor, I feel like my rc had nice interior than my is500, which is crazy since my IS is 9 years newer and $20K more lol . I didn't realize how much I liked the interior ambient lighting in my RC until I got my new IS and it doesn't have it.

Other than that all 3 cars felt fairly identical on the inside more or less.


Sadly not much has changed in 16 years, but maybe thats a good thing? I obviously like my Lexus's and keep getting them even after test driving Beamers and audis.

 

But did your RC have cupholder lighting?

I kid.

But in any case, yeah the RC does have some platform/structure differences with the IS, but largely the cars share a lot of parts. The only RC models I've driven have been RC F, so I can't say for sure if it "handles better". I hear folks say the IS handles better sometimes. I guess it depends on what you like.

 

As others have mentioned, I think you saw an LC500 - that would be more like $106k.

The RC pulls from TWO platforms - the IS and the GS. Its a GS front end, with the mid and rear coming from two types of IS.
The RC borrowed exterior and interior styling cues from the LF-LC concept cars. It has a shorter wheelbase than the IS, making it more nimble in the turns, although the total length of the car is longer than the IS.
The RC is heavier, which penalizes the handling somewhat. I much prefer the looks of the RC - the curved hood, the shorter and higher back end with the built-in ducktail. The side profile of the RC looks the best of all the Lexus cars, bar the LC500 of course. I owned an IS250, and now the RC350 - because the engines are different, I cannot compare them. I have recently test driven an IS350 and I can say that it does NOT feel as sporty as the RC, especially the handling. The IS350 has significantly more body roll, and does not feel planted in the turns - my guess is the suspension is calibrated more for a sedan, than a sports car. The RC brakes are very smooth, but I didn't feel that to be the case with the IS350. The biggest drawback of the RC is its 6-speed Auto - it doesn't shift immediately. But once you get used to it, you can use the shift paddles to make it work very well in the twisties. If back seats are important to you, don't opt for the RC - the back seats are unusable for anything more than a 10 min drive! But if thats not important, then you will find the RC more of a joy to drive. Thats my opinion, of course. IS350 owners may disagree, and thats ok..