Neither will have great rear seat room. What coupe does? Even huge coupes like the Bentley or 6 series have horrid back seats.

You don't buy or complain about rear seat room in coupes. That is what sedans are for.

Not to mention you have no idea if the pics both have the seats at the same position. Don't jump to conclusions

 

I don't see you *****ing that the 5 series is based on the heavier 7 series. No car is perfect, we know the 3.5 is old but amazingly it's still competitive.

It's not 1997, obviously things have changed.

 

Some coupes offer enough rear legroom for short trips while others are only good for handbags and amputees. I've sat in the rear seat of a 1-series coupe with an adult in front of me and it actually offered surprisingly decent amount of legroom and knee space for me for a relatively comfortable short trip (I'm 5'10" tall). The RC is not in a segment of exotic coupes after all. The buyers will appreciate certain degrees of practicality.True. Let's hope for the best.

 

Maybe.. I'm 6"5... But even so to me rear seat room is nowhere on the important items list for coupes and most people. Crush those legs!

 

If the "knock" on RC is rear seat room then it's a home run for me. I didn't pop for the 3IS simply because of the color choices and lack of options in US market. I am dying to see what the FSport looks like and what the US gets for options and standard configuration.

 

if i had to guess, i would say that rear shot of 4 series is with seats moved all the way to the front... it looks like stretched 7 series back there, hah.

I sure hope RC has space for kids in the back... i guess we will learn soon enough. At least seat angle is same as in 3IS, and not upright like in ISc or SC

 

Honestly, I don't see anything wrong with the 350's engine. Mine has run without a hitch for 7+ years, can still blow the doors off of 90% of the cars out there, and has a current average MPG of 27MPG with 80% of driving coming on country roads/highways and 20% on regular city streets.

 

The 2GR is the best engine ever in so many regard.





Check out the crazy runners above ^^

And the flatness and fullness of the power curve is excellent



306HP is such an understatement.

And the signature smoothness and refinement as always..

 

nothing is wrong with the 350 V6 engine, smooth as butter since day one! but for an introduction of a brand new coupe, added HP/TQ wouldn't hurt. execs have said this shouldn't be considered an "IS coupe" but a whole new vehicle separate from the IS.

well if you really want that depiction, there's a couple things to consider...it has the same engine/specs (supposedly)...same dash/interior outlay for the most part...basically the same chassis (probably diff spring rates/sway bars, etc)...only the body differs really, so in reality it is a 2-door IS. bump the HP, even if it is 15-20hp increase and set it above the IS on a whole...that's really nothing but a tune, maybe a larger piping from the headers back or different cams. this can be done and still keep the same mpg, reliability, and all the other concerns Lexus considers when producing any vehicle.

 

The BMW N54 engine ( X35i ) debuted 2006 and will be used in upcoming 435i ,235i and so on. It had some changes during this time but only a few models like the 1M has the higher output of 250 kW. Thats probably one reason for Lexus to keep the 350 engine as it is for now.

 

Yeah if you look at the front seat's position relative to the back of the armrest in the 4 Series picture and look at the same position in the picture of the RC I would agree.

I also see nothing wrong with the 2GR engine, but it does need more power to remain competitive.

I mean, I'd rather have a 7 year old engine with all the kinks worked out.

 

The 435i, 235i, and 335i since 2011 use the N55 actually.

 

does actually anyone in the business do different "base" engine for coupe anymore?

I think for people wanting "more", they will have RC-F, which is already testing around the world as we know.

So if you want power, you will probably get 465 hp there.

As to the being 3IS 2 door... sure but it is a lot less 3IS than BMW 4 series or C class coupe. It even has different wheelbase, significantly so. So it will end up being faster due to less weight.

All I care is 300h or possibly 2.0t.

 

Nah I'm just taking shots at Lex for not bringing the RWD 300h trim to their lineup in US

It would be interesting if RC would get 450h treatment as well. It somehow weird that GS is the lone car in the lineup with electrically boosted 2GR-FSE.

And when we are talking about 2GR-FSE, all it needs is 2-3mpg more instead of more horsepower.

 

If they follow the BMW lead, it'll probably be about $2,000 more than the IS. I have a suspicion that it might be even higher.