I looked up MT times at Willow Springs to see how the RC F stacks up against cars outside of the M4.

Number 16 is pretty darn good

Lexus should stop saying it is faster than an M4 on the track and start saying faster than an RS 7, a Stringray, and a Hellcat (at least at this track)

http://fastestlaps.com/tracks/willow...of_willow.html

 

I dare say there plenty of owners who believe it is faster than a M4 on a track with a lot of demanding curves given the benefits of the torque vectoring differential.

To your point, no car is ALWAYS faster than a close competitor as there are too many variables. Let's just say they are all close competitors, i.e., the RC F, M4 and RS5.

However, you are referencing the AMCI certified testing.

"The video below would strike me as merely a Lexus marketing ploy except for two things. First, Lexus’ RC F and the BMW M4 had the same lap times to within 0.3 seconds in Motor Trends track testing at the Streets of Willow. That test was driven by Randy Pobst. Second, I have driven all of these cars on track myself (in the case of the BMW I drove a 2015 M3) and to me, the Lexus was by far the fastest car. I had assumed it was my own limited skills that made the cars feel this way, but now I am starting to believe the evidence that the Lexus RC F, in the hands of a pro driver, is able to compete head to head with a 2015 BMW M4 or Audi RS 5." TorqueNews


And yes...16th is excellent considering the line up of machines and the car is a new class entry.

It will remain a close race...that's the reality.