RC F Hot Lap
 

Unless your going to be driving it this hard you'll be fine :)

I am surprised Randy didn't drive in manual mode. He is fairly familiar with the car, as he drove it in the head to head battle with the M4, and just narrowly missed it's time. If you are a professional race driver, I can't see why you would leave the transmission in auto..... Oh well, a 1:34 seems like a pretty decent lap all things considered.

Unfortunately, press like this and the Lightning Lap results don't help with the general public's perception of the this great car.

Box of chocolates is a good description if you're not used to the car. Most of his issues are easily explained though. The oversteer is from trail braking into slower corners, I've been caught off guard on that a couple of times. The RC-F is pretty front heavy, so there's no weight/grip on the rears under heavy braking and it just comes swinging out on turn-in. You need to be almost off the brakes on turn-in to keep the rear end planted.

The understeer, specifically mid corner as you power out, is from a lack of front grip. Tire pressures play a significant role here because of the weight distribution, the stock settings are terrible (my car had 34 front and rear cold) and I settled on 37/31 cold to keep the fronts from rolling over to the sidewalls, and use all the tread on the rears. Not sure what you guys are getting for tire pressures from the factory, if they're better than what I got. I was ready to throw on 265's up front to battle the issue, but ended up using 15mm spacers up front which gave the car a pretty good balance.

What a lame example of how this car can perform. I think Randy's driving was a box of chocolate. :egads:

I wasn't impressed with his driving and who knows how he set up for the car. Maybe, his driving is not what it used to be, or there were other interests at work with this track test, which would be sad.

I don't understand why he was not using manual mode, which is designed for high-revving downshifts and track work--amazing to me. I wonder if it was even in TVD track setting.

This is a perfect example of how things get misrepresented in the press. This was, unfortunately, someone showing his lack of knowledge of the RC F. Even Randy needs to learn how to optimize performance in this car.

The tranny is awesome in the 3 digit zone and does not refuse or delay shifts.

thanks for the tips!!

at that price as tested, i highly doubt it was the TVD model

it always makes me chuckle how, when the results arent favorable, fans of certain cars are quick to denigrate the skills of a world championship driver. the guys on the bimmer board have CONVINCED themselves that Pobst doesnt know how to drive any car with the least bit of oversteer. hilarious...

ftr...it looks like Pobst left the CTS-V and C63s in automatic mode, as well.

My guess is due to the lack of familiarity with each car, he just takes what he has, leaves it in auto mode, gets 2 laps in as fast as possible, and that's it. A lot of cars to test in a single day, plus a lot of filming. It takes more than a handful of laps to really learn the nuances of a car, and there's just no time for that.

I've seen Pobst run a bone stock E63 Wagon camera car at Spring Mountain during the Optima ultimate street car event. None of the competitors could beat his time lol. The man can drive.

i saw the video yesterday and i didn't post here for the same reason, i knew exactly what's coming. and yes i noticed on the bmw side as well and i laughed.

truth is, more than likely hardly any of us here can drive close to be as good as randy can. but suddenly he's the worst driver when he's saying something negative about the car(s). i agree with rage2, a lot of times these drivers get very limited time with each car and all they can do is to get the most out of the cars within the time allowed.

but i actually think that still makes it a fair fight. if the rcf is really that easy of a car to drive and/or master, then this test environment limitation can only be beneficial.

same go to all other brands. it seems to me people can never feel secure enough about their own purchases. i never think any of my cars are perfect but i always enjoy what they are

At the end of the day Randy in Auto mode will be FASTER than any regular driver even with 100 laps of seat time in the RCF with your favorite setup.

RCF is a great Sport Luxury GT - definitely not the Best Driver's Car.

That's what it's all about. no car is perfect. And admitting such doesn't mean that you've wasted your money. It makes you objective...

:D And it's easy for non-owners to not know the capabilities of the car. There was a lot of fiction in the event.

It was a travesty of a lap. The car was not set up properly, and Lexus dropped the ball on the track test...again.

He loss precious seconds not using manual mode...ridiculous.

I find it interesting that he had no issues shifting in the head-to-head lap. Auto-mode will refuse a shift.

Pobst commented the RC F is like a box of chocolate--you never know what you are going to get. I say stupid is as stupid does.

I would place good money that more time at 10/10ths that 99% of the 'owners' on the site. So to just because he doesn't know how to sync his iPhone doesn't make his laps any less valid.

Like you said...he LAUDED the transmission in the head to head lap. And guess what...didn't look like he was manually shifting on those laps, either. I don't remember any complaints with the times. But instead of speculating that it could possibly be a problem with THAT car on THAT day, you choose to denigrate the operator. An operator who has been winning racing championships for decades.

Here's what I don't get...folks claim that it's not about lap times with a car like the RCF but then turn around and complain about 'precious seconds' lost? Can't have it both ways, can you? Why can't what the RCF is be enough?

I am fine with what you are saying. It is just frustrating to see what happens when the car is not optimally set up for the task at hand. The results would have been quite different given the right set up and a more adventurous driver...and better guidance from Lexus. In my experience, thus tranny is lightning quick at full redline and does not refuse shifts. The cornering is remarkable in track mode--I just don't get it.