I like what is said on this thread so the RCF could follow the same route as the GTR continuos development , i take my hat off for Mr Yaguchi Foresight.

 

I dont see major changes in HP at all... Enhancements could be in suspension, steering feel, features etc, etc.

I expect much smaller changes than IS-F overall, as you said, because RC-F is already building up on last IS-F.

 

dry sump system in RCF would be nice. Dry sump in the vette lets them lower the engine by a few inches which gives the bodywork a lower profile in addition to lower center of gravity. Stupid pedestrian safety standards is why the hood is bulged on the ISF/RCF. I can see dry sump being another potential upgrade.

 

bulge is not due to safety standards in Europe... European IS has pop-up hood standard and has no issues passing regulations with low front end... I am sure the RC would be the same.

Bulge is due to the engine size, plus it looks great and gives car some character and distinction from regular RC models. I really like it.

Looking at all of these RC-F pictures is destroying the look of regular RC for me... RC-F looks so much nicer and the seats are awesome!

 

The GT3 version of the RC-F uses nearly the same exact engine configuration. GT3 regulations mean you can't change much from the road car. Thats why the Z4 uses a V8 from other bmw cars.

 

Hood bulge is a side effect of safety. Minimum of 20mm required from the underside of the hood to the highest part of the engine. Taller engine == taller hood. It is what it is. That's why mid/rear-engine cars look better

http://www.caranddriver.com/features/taking-the-hit-how-pedestrian-protection-regs-make-cars-fatter-feature

 

I am still the biggest fan of the classic athletic proportions - long hood, short decklid and short overhang. Nothing beats that.

Just wish the RC-F nose bulge was a bit less, but I guess there is a good reason for that especially with that V8 in it, I would not complain.

 

I thought we cleared this up already..

The safe RPM rev was raised & set to 7,200 RPM on the RC F.. (raised by 500 rpm)

The Red Line & Rev Limiter will be 7,300 RPM on the updated 2UR-GSE

The IS F was 6,700 & 6,800 respectively..


~ Joe Z

 

I am going by what Lexus revealed in the official RC-F press release. It was stated redline is at 7300 rpm

http://www.leftlanenews.com/lexus-rc-f.html

 

How do you figure? If the rev limiter is set to 7300, who cares what "redline" is because guess what? YOU"LL NEVER SEE IT. So for all intents and purposes, if the rev limiter is at 7300, redline is also at 7300.

Besides, redline is arbitrary under all circumstances. Do you really think the 2JZs spinning over 10,000 rpm at the drag strip are representative of the engine's "redline?" No, they expect to rebuild them very frequently.

20 m/sec mean piston speed is considered a conservative number for an engine designed to last a very long time. The Integra Type R has one of the highest mean piston speeds of any production engine at 24+ m/sec. Those 3.4 stroker 2JZ drag engines are WAY higher. Why? Simply because they are run at the ragged edge of reliability when 7 seconds at WOT is enough to need a complete teardown and rebuild. Ever watch Top Fuel racing? Doesn't matter if they're rails or funny cars, those engines don't run more than one pass without a complete rebuild.

If Yaguchi wants to rev the engine to make more power, there are a whole lot of things to consider. Dry sump isn't one of them. Mean piston speed (actually full kinematic analysis of the piston and rod is required), valvetrain actuation and spring rates, bottom end harmonic vibration, block strength, and a complete reconsideration of material choices are on the plate. Arbitrarily raising the redline without changing any components only means a shorter interval until major engine service is required. Period.

Here's a quick and dirty spreadsheet for calculating mean piston speed in m/sec and ft/min along with volumetric measures. You can manipulate the red numbers to see the impact of changing basic engine measurements. This information can be used to estimate power output.

 

Again no argument there..!!!!

Shifts at 7,200 .. bounces at 7,300 RPM - REDLINE

There really is no other way to word it.

~ Joe Z

 

QFT. I"ve been buying Toyota products for more than 25 years and Japanese engines for more than 35 years. Toyota never adds power to an existing platform. The IS-F didn't see any increase. The IS350 in its first iteration never saw another pony. They don't do the American thing or the German thing. They build a powerplant, certify it, and leave it alone. Been that way for so long it's not even funny.

 

Can this thread be closed or moved to a "future" section? All this is just noise, detracting from the real event/news/vehicle.

 

I am not so sure - IS and RC have special feature here.... IS and (probably) RC have pop-up hood... this is allowed by EuroNCAP and what happens is that when it detects the crash, hood pops up and creates bigger barrier between itself and the engine.

 

I am going under the assumption that majority of the cars have rev limiters placed higher than their redlines.

Here are a few examples of many I could list:

BMW E92/E90 M3 S54: redline: 8400 rpm rev limiter: 8500 rpm
Lexus LFA 1LR: redline: 9000 rpm rev limiter: 9500 rpm
2ZZ-GE: redline: 8250 rpm rev limiter: 8350 rpm (8500 rpm for Lotus Elise)
K20: redline: 8000 rpm rev limiter: 8200 rpm
Audi R8 V10: redline: 8500 rpm rev limter: 8700 rpm
Audi R8 4.2: redline: 8000 rpm rev limiter: 8200 rpm

etc.

So if the RC-F has a redline of 7300 rpm as claimed by Lexus and shown in pictures above by JoeZ, there might be a chance that the rev limiter is about 100 rpm higher than the redliner. Again, there is a possibility that the rev limiter is right at 7300 rpm, but I am considering the other possibility as well. That is all I am saying.