Hey all,
Purchasing a 2016 200t next weekend and am looking for ownership experience. Are you guys enjoying the 200t? Any issues or "dang I should'a just bought a xxxx"? Car is for my wife, she drives about 100 (mostly highway) miles roundtrip to work 5 days a week. We're choosing the 200t over all other RC models due to MPGs. TIA

 

I owned a IS 250 and then had a 200t for a few days as a service loaner. It's a decent step up in my opinion, quick enough and with the exhaust note pumped into the cabin as they do, it's a fun time.
You'll not get anywhere near the 200t's mpg in a 300 or 350 imo, at least not practically.
No substitute for a long test drive!
Hope this helps, best of luck.

 

Sweet engine...love Toyota 4 bangers since the old 22RE. I've had too many Toyota 4 cylinder engines to count and they're always great! A bit underpowered, easy to work on, and absolute reliability. Sure, Toyota makes great V6 and V8s (I own one currently), but I really love the 4 cylinder and the RC 2.0t is factory turbo charged! Not many comments on this site...share the 4 banger love!

 

The 8AR-FTS was my first 4 cyl and now I own two, one in our NX and one in the GS. I am very happy with both. I would highly recommend the D3 Performance tune to really wake it up and change the character of both throttle tuning, transmission tuning and of course more boost. It keeps the stockish tuning in normal and eco modes for a relaxed experience but cranks everything in sport mode.

The most common issue is the turbo regulator valve. There was a redesign on both the electronic valve and wastegate hose. There is a TSB and if you experience the symptoms, the part is only a couple hundred at most and is a 1-2 hour job so not a big deal.

 

I owned a 2016 IS200t F Sport from 2016 to 2019. It was a nice cruiser. The infamous throttle delay from a standstill can be annoying, I literally got wasted by a Prius before at a stop light from 0-20 lol. Yep that's how bad the throttle delay is. It's Toyota's first attempt at a modern 4-turbo--don't expect it to be on par with an F30 BMW 320i from 2012ish. 320i will completely smoke the floor with an IS200t.. and to top it off an RC200t is heavier yet than an IS200t. If you're getting the car to cruise and have a nice daily then that's fine but if you're performance oriented forget it. I averaged between 16 and 21 mpg average depending on my mood.

I'd advise against "tunes" for the 8AR-FTS... just enjoy it for what it is. Last thing you want to do is smoke the turbo seals, impellers etc all because you tuned your car so it can STILL lose to a stock 328i, and barely keep up (barely) with a stock 320i. Back when I had my 200t, people with tunes, full bolts ons, no cats, were still getting absolutely stomped by a college kid in her stock 328i. At its best, it's still no match speed wise. Just a little heads up!

 

The D3 tune helps immensely with the the throttle delay and tunes the transmission logic in sport mode to downshift more quickly so that it's always in the right gear for peak torque. Yes there's extra boost but its mainly the throttle and transmission that make the difference in the driving experience.

4 extra psi isnt going to blow out any turbo seals. Back 20 years ago we used pull the wastegate hose and run 25psi when stock was 9psi....that could have blown the seals, I never found out since I swapped the turbo quickly. Since then, I've never had an issue with various tuned turbo cars. I don't have an interest in racing but the car gets to 60, 70, 80 mph before I expect and always has a lot of torque on tap for my commute.

 

Absolutely. Yes, the 200t is not a performance machine. I like it for looks, reliability and MPG (mostly highway driving). The RC F is the performance machine if one wants to stay with Lexus.

 

I hear you but still I wouldn't chance it on what has the potential to be a very big repair bill if things go wrong. The point is you can do all this tuning to introduce unknown variable XYZ into the loop -- all for what? To still be slower than a stock F30 328i? It's just a question of benefit vs. cost, as well as preserving your daily driver. Also modern engine management can and do tell on you when you go to the dealer that your car has been flashed or has been working with irregular values (piggyback) so it's smartest to just leave it stock.

Many people also forget catalytic converters too... big bucks. Overall upping the boost on a car not necessarily designed for it just introduces extra heat and stress that wasn't considered long term within the design parameter of the car overall.

 

I have been doing this long enough to recommend tuning but ultimately its each owner's decision. For me, potential repair costs aren't a worry but yes an owner would want to weigh that decision if they are financing or on a tight budget.

I barely use the extra boost since I only drive the car when commuting in traffic but the main benefit is the throttle delay help and transmission tuning to best take advantage of the available power, within the stock boost range, for the type of driving I do. Its a huge improvement and worth it for the potential costs.

If one was to have minute plus WOT runs at the higher boost, I would have a concern over the exhaust setup or other heat-sensitive components but a few seconds here and there aren't going to affect anything. The driver is just as important as the machine here. I assumed the OP was out of warranty after they mentioned the 2016 model year. I was told D3 tune is not detectable if flashed back to stock but I can't confirm from personal experience. Either way, the option is there if owner wants the improvement.

 

You made the right choice. A reliable, beautiful, and fuel saving coupe for long distance commuting which is the reason I picked the 200t. If you want performance, the RCF is there (you can pick one up for a little over 40 grand now).


I'm a little over 60K on the odo and the only problems I've had was dead battery (due to age) and a nail on my right rear tire.

 

When I read the comments on some of these post, I get entertained on how fast this is, how fast that is.
The Lexus RC200T is a great car. It's not a road burner but it checks all the boxes in rare, very good looking
car, reliable, comfortable on any ride. Just enjoy it for what it is and one thing for sure is years of fun and
not being "part of the crowd" bunch. And you can pick up your friends at the dealers while they are getting
their BMW's fixed. Most of the time the zero to 60, going around curves, top speeds, just don't mean a
thing in everyday use. The RC does all of these well, and there is always going to be the "bigger dog"
in the yard. Drive and enjoy, these cars are great. I have an RC350 F-sport for a daily driver, love it.
And I have had faster in the past, quite a few as well. Just most fall short of Lexus quality.

 

I have previously owned an IS250, CT 200h and an SC 430. I truly believed that that SC would be the last car that I ever owned. While I understand that many don't like its styling to me the SC is absolutely beautiful, offers up a nice convertible ride when the temperature is right, and the interior build and materials quality is comparable to many way more expensive cars.

How, having said that, earlier today I took my 04 SC 430 with only 72k miles to a friends nearby consignment lot to get it hopefully quickly sold. I repeat myself, I never thought this day would come but the reason why is solely due to my unexpected purchase and thorough enjoyment of driving my 2016 RC 200t. Before I purchased the car I didn't even really know that this model existed, but when I found this beauty and the wife encouraged me to "upgrade" to something newer, that was the beginning of the end of my enjoying my SC.

So, having owned the RC 200t for about 4 months now I would say that the car is very enjoyable to drive, fast enough when you want it to be, and makes me feel proud to be seen driving and parking the car wherever I may go. I'm nowhere near an audiophile but the bluetooth sound from my iPhone play lists sounds great to me. The 8 speed transmission is very responsive but being that I'm not really a fast driver, its taking me some time to get used to the transmission downshifting all the time. I guess this is due to the very "economical" gas mileage seeking set up of the car from the factory. To that end I have averaged about 21 mpg driving my SC 430 and around town driving with the RC 200t I am now averaging over 28 mpg. I completely agree with some of the other posters that if you consider yourself a driver who likes the quick get up from zero and the power to blow many other cars away from the traffic light, then perhaps an RC-F would be a better choice. Otherwise, for this old guy, who knows, maybe now the RC 200t will be my last car I ever own.

 

Is that high way driving?

I can barely crack 22 mpg with my modifications. When I was stock, my highest was like 23.5 mpg.

 

I am at 25 to 25.5 with the D3 tune in my GS on 93 octane. 100% suburban/stop n go, no highway. Is the gas in CA any different?

 

Mixed. 80% Highway in southern California on ECO mode strictly for commuting to work only on weekdays.(I use another car I use for the weekends). A tame driving style helps significantly as well to get thru these congested L.A. freeways because I can't get any spirited driving done without being or looking like a total @ss. I've been using the same exact route to work for the past 20 years so I know how to modulate the gas pedal to get a consistent MPG.