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Only really drove it the long way home from the dealer but it’s a blast. It replaces a manual 2014 Q60-S which was a fun drive to but had gotten long in the tooth. I also have a 2020 RX 350 so I’m clearly all in on Lexus
Sport+/manual mode are the one to use for spirited driving. Also, once you break the car in, it really comes alive after 5500+ rpm. Cheers!
Aloha everyone, I just purchased a 2015 ultra sonic blue mica/black leather interior, 6,000 miles with lots of tasteful modifications done by the first owner.
Factory Packages and Options:
Leather package
Premium package
Navigation system w/Mark Levinson
High Plus Wheel
Pre/collision system
Performance package (my favorite carbon fiber/tvd)
I’m looking forward to the Club Lexus and ownership experience!
Wow, she's practically brand new. Congrats. Youre going to love her daily.
Thank You! I got really lucky to happen upon her, I was in the market for a P car after selling my E92 M3. I have been a BMW guy for years but always liked the Lexus F brand and cross shopped an IS-F before buying my E92. I Was really close to purchasing a less optioned RC-F in nebula grey. I always loved this color and when I saw her in person couldn’t pass it up. I’ve been having fun researching all the modifications done to her and figuring out how to use the options. This sight and it’s search feature has been great. Aloha!
Thank You! I got really lucky to happen upon her, I was in the market for a P car after selling my E92 M3. I have been a BMW guy for years but always liked the Lexus F brand and cross shopped an IS-F before buying my E92. I Was really close to purchasing a less optioned RC-F in nebula grey. I always loved this color and when I saw her in person couldn’t pass it up. I’ve been having fun researching all the modifications done to her and figuring out how to use the options. This sight and it’s search feature has been great. Aloha!
@IMUA I was actually also in the market originally for an E90 M3 sedan with ZCP and 6 speed. When Lexus came out with RCF, I really could not take my mind off of it. Two years passed before I started looking seriously and then another 10 months to find the perfect one for me since there are very few RCFs in my city and even fewer carbon/TVD one's. How do you like jumping from E90 M3 to RCF? Other than the obvious differences like quicker, a lot more torquier etc. How is your experience?
@IMUA I was actually also in the market originally for an E90 M3 sedan with ZCP and 6 speed. When Lexus came out with RCF, I really could not take my mind off of it. Two years passed before I started looking seriously and then another 10 months to find the perfect one for me since there are very few RCFs in my city and even fewer carbon/TVD one's. How do you like jumping from E90 M3 to RCF? Other than the obvious differences like quicker, a lot more torquier etc. How is your experience?
p.s. What kind of exhaust does your RCF have?
05RollaXRS, congratulations on finding your perfect RCF, she’s a beauty. I am still getting to know the RCF but my initial impressions are these, the E90/E92 M3 hydraulic steering and feedback is excellent, M3 is noticeably lighter and seems more agile, the exhaust note is very unique and a lot of aftermarket options to get the M3 to sound and perform the way you want. Lots of aftermarket support and the 8200 redline is excellent. The RCF on the other hand is no slouch at all in those areas. I feel the RCF is more refined and more of a sporty GT car which I like. I love the looks of the RCF and the cars exclusivity in my city. There are a lot more M3/M4s around than F’s spread across three platforms. I am definitely enjoying having a smoother transmission even if not as quick and more torque. As I get more seat time in the RCF I’ll post more of my opinions on both. I also had a 2006 ZCP E46 M3 manual and a 2007 335i. But I really do think Lexus borrowed some design cues from the E92 M3 such as the carbon fiber roof that I love. My exhaust is the Amuse titanium R1titan full exhaust with gold ring quad tips. I don’t know if it’s a good exhaust but it sounds good to me. The first owner was from Japan living in Hawaii and bought majority of the aftermarket parts from Japan, I have a boxes the parts came in with the u.s customs inspected stickers on it the Lexus brochures are all in Japanese and so is the card from the sales person that sold him the car, pretty interesting. He sold his RCF to buy an R8 after putting 5,700 miles on it. The next owner owned her for almost 3 years and put less than 300 miles on her. I am extremely happy and lucky with the purchase.
05RollaXRS, congratulations on finding your perfect RCF, she’s a beauty. I am still getting to know the RCF but my initial impressions are these, the E90/E92 M3 hydraulic steering and feedback is excellent, M3 is noticeably lighter and seems more agile, the exhaust note is very unique and a lot of aftermarket options to get the M3 to sound and perform the way you want. Lots of aftermarket support and the 8200 redline is excellent. The RCF on the other hand is no slouch at all in those areas. I feel the RCF is more refined and more of a sporty GT car which I like. I love the looks of the RCF and the cars exclusivity in my city. There are a lot more M3/M4s around than F’s spread across three platforms. I am definitely enjoying having a smoother transmission even if not as quick and more torque. As I get more seat time in the RCF I’ll post more of my opinions on both. I also had a 2006 ZCP E46 M3 manual and a 2007 335i. But I really do think Lexus borrowed some design cues from the E92 M3 such as the carbon fiber roof that I love. My exhaust is the Amuse titanium R1titan full exhaust with gold ring quad tips. I don’t know if it’s a good exhaust but it sounds good to me. The first owner was from Japan living in Hawaii and bought majority of the aftermarket parts from Japan, I have a boxes the parts came in with the u.s customs inspected stickers on it the Lexus brochures are all in Japanese and so is the card from the sales person that sold him the car, pretty interesting. He sold his RCF to buy an R8 after putting 5,700 miles on it. The next owner owned her for almost 3 years and put less than 300 miles on her. I am extremely happy and lucky with the purchase.
Great detailed insight. That exhaust is seriously expensive as it is a Japanese import. I don't know much about that specific exhaust and its sound, but AMUSE makes great products and very popular in Japan. I have Invidia full catback with titanium tips and I absolutely love it. It is more on the melodic and higher-pitch side rather than the rumbly exhaust note with a lot of bass, which is why I got this one.
I guess, you have a lot more experience with the E92 M3 while I have 3+ years of driving my RCF so it is a bit of an opposite situation. You definitely know more about the E90/E92 M3 as most of my time is in the RCF. I have about 2 - 2.5 hours of total seat time in the E90 M3 a few years ago. It would be interesting to go back and drive one again since I never drove one after I purchased my RCF.
Some of the things come down to "learning the car", which is always a phase in the beginning. The sport GT type impressions are based on the two very different "Jekyll and Hyde" personalities the RCF has. One is the refined and relaxed side and the other is the beast side of the car, which is probably unlike how things were in the M3. I remember, the M-drive mode changed things, but it did not change so night/day as it does in the RCF. In the RCF, if you want to use the aggressive side, you have to put the car in sport+/manual mode and as you have the TVD, you would want to use 'Slalom' mode for the very sharp on-center steering feel where it will provide rotation from the rear.. The steering becomes tighter/heavier and the throttle response sharpens up a lot etc. Also, the steering and shift speed is at the maximum in the high rpms. Manual mode locks the torque converter for the mechanical engagement feel, which makes the shifts slam into the next gear at redline. I pretty much always keep the car like that since it is not my "relaxing" commuter car. It is still very refined, but you can feel the car get a lot more aggressive.
Regarding agility, some of that is the explanation above where you have to get it in the most aggressive settings to get the most out of the car. RCF is wider and heavier so you are right there is a difference there. However, if you look at their track capabilities, RCF does very well against the current and contemporary competitors. Being N/A high-revving engine, it is a few tenths slower than the M4 mainly on the straights, but the raw handling numbers are up there. It comes down to how they tuned the chassis and suspension with a of emphasis on chassis rigidity, which is why the doors are very heavy and the seats don't fold down etc. Because of that, you will find RCF is very deceptive in how quick you are going either in a straight or in the turns. 90 mph feels like 40 mph in this car. You have to look at the speedo to realize what the speed is because of the stability and predictability.
Regarding the E90 M3, that is true regarding the S65 engine revving to 8300 rpm. Very characterful and sounds great as well. The RCF 2UR is a masterpiece in its own right. While the RCF does not rev as high, it still revs very high for a big 5.0 Liter displacement V8 and achieves its high output with DI. Both are very high specific output engines with 103 HP/Liter for the S65 and 95 HP/Liter for the 2UR. RCF feels very strong from 3500+ rpm all the way to 7400 rpm rev limit. Despite being a much bigger displacement engine, it seems to rev so freely that it feels like a much smaller displacement engine than it is. My dislike in the RCF is our gearing, which is long that is great for a highway beast, but you cannot have fun on small roads as much. You wind out 2nd gear in redline and you are doing 75 mph. My complaint with the E90 M3 was that there was nothing there until it got to around 6000+ rpm. While the RCF has a similar 5500+ rpm powerband, that additional 100 ft-lbs of torque is felt in the 3000 rpm to 4000 rpm range, but it feels like a proper almost 500 HP car at 7000+ rpm.
Good thing is you have the coil overs. I am not sure how they compare to the stock suspension since I am stock, but you can adjust the coil overs to what your driving preferences are. You will definitely learn more about the character of the car as you drive it more.
You can see from the telemetry data below regarding the dual personality. It does 1.41g while not being overly harsh, which speaks to how they tuned the chassis//suspension. You can always post your questions about the RCF and we can help you answer those.
Wow! A lot of great information and terrific insight, thank you! One thing I forgot to mention was reliability and peace of mind. For me the rod bearings and throttle actuators were always something I had to worry about even though I had no issues with my M3. I got to spiritedly drive my RCF today and am getting used to the TVD slalom and sports + mode. I also have an APEXI throttle controller and was trying to feel the difference between the different modes. Enjoying every moment of it. Thanks again for all the information!
Wow! A lot of great information and terrific insight, thank you! One thing I forgot to mention was reliability and peace of mind. For me the rod bearings and throttle actuators were always something I had to worry about even though I had no issues with my M3. I got to spiritedly drive my RCF today and am getting used to the TVD slalom and sports + mode. I also have an APEXI throttle controller and was trying to feel the difference between the different modes. Enjoying every moment of it. Thanks again for all the information!
Thanks man. Great to hear you are enjoying the RCF. I agree, I had read about the throttle actuators and the rod bearings a lot. It was one of the things I researched a lot back in the day. With the RCF, I have 11K miles on it now and ZERO issues in 3.5 years of my ownership. I only got new Michelin Pilot Sport 4S tires with reinforced sidewalls (XL load) to prevent rolling on the sidewalls in transitions to replace the stock Super Sport tires (the stock OEM Super Sport were SL and had a horrible tendency to roll and dive due to the soft sidewalls). These tires are so much better than the OEM tires the car came with. Still have OEM brakes and everything else is just standard yearly maintenance.
BTW, that LEMS titanium intake looks incredible. Always liked how well designed it is. I don't believe it comes with a conical filter to replace the OEM paper filter? My next mod will be a cold air intake with a big conical filter mostly to get more induction sound as unlike the full exhaust where I felt a significant power difference, CAI gains are pretty minimal on the RCF. Takeda CAI seems to be on the top of my list because it retains the sealed OEM airbox, but replaces the pipe and filter. I have always been a big fan of the E46 CSL-like induction noise. I want a louder intake noise like those one's. I have some other small mods planned, but the car is pretty close to exactly how I wanted it to be so I make small tweaks here and there to see how it enhances the experience. I would not do headers because I don't really need more power. It is sitting at about 415 - 418 whp right now and that is enough for me. I just want to enhance the driving experience as there is definitely room to improve there. Cheers!
05-31-20, 10:52 AM
