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I totally remembered i saw an interview online where the Lexus engineer denied that the RCF is trying to compete with the BMW M4 ( or anything similar ).
Also the auto journals' articles favoriting the Euro brands basically caused a piled up of RCF inventory at the Lexus dealers and subsequently price drops. But now Lexus HQ had since adjusted its production so now the inventory is more rarer now.
The RCF is a hidden gem and tremendous value.
When the auto journalist asked Lexus engineer (Yaguchi): "What car did you benchmark?" Yaguchi replied: "no benchmark".
Later on Yaguchi "referred" to the Porsche 911 as the "the best high-performance car out there today". While the BMW (Biermann) did not give a straight answer except to mention its own "M1".
Please see below as from "MotorTrend":
What car did you benchmark?Biermann: The predecessor, first of all. That was our main benchmark. The target was to make the best M3 ever. Now we call the coupe the M4, but the job was to make the best M3.Yaguchi: No benchmark. I don’t care about the competitors. I want to create what I want, which is a really high-performance car offering driving pleasure to anybody, even regular drivers.
What is the best high-performance car
out there today?Biermann: That is a hard to answer question because I think we need to cut this in slices for segments, you know? But the best one would be the M1 successor — if there were a successor.Yaguchi:Porsche 911.
If you were to give the previous car a 10 on a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being best, what number would you give the M4/RC F?Biermann: Oh, that’s a tough one. I mean, if it comes to lap times, speeds, overall acceleration, then we would be in a different league than the M1 successor. As a driver’s car and driving involvement, it pretty much goes to a 10.Yaguchi: The Porsche has different axis to measure. The 911 goes this direction and the RC F goes that direction. So, 10 score 911; 10 score RC F. Just different axis.
What are the five things about your car that you’d want people to know?Biermann: First of all, to go on with the tradition of bringing race car technology onto the road. That’s the job of the M3 and the M4. And there’s a lot of race car concept in the new car. Then, our completely new engine, where we bring the high-revving aspects of the predecessor’s naturally aspirated engine together with the efficiency and the performance of a modern — very modern — turbo engine. Then all the focus we put on the car regarding light weight. There’s so much technological substance in the new M4, with carbon-fiber technology, like a carbon-fiber driveshaft, carbon-fiber roof. The trunklid inside layer is carbon fiber, so it’s lighter, less weight than the predecessor. That’s a very important statement. And then, for sure, the precision and the agility of the driving experience. We put a lot of effort into developing everything around the steering system — the kinematics, the front axle, the rear axle, how they interact, and that was a big focus on the car. Last one is performance on a racetrack. This is not a pretender. Like all the M3s before, this a track car.Yaguchi: First of all, styling — the coupe design. And then the engine — the new engine we’re going to introduce. And then the handling, with a really rigid body. Then the fourth: electronic devices, which help not only just professional drivers, but those beginner drivers, who can drive really easily and enjoy. And last, everybody can be smiling when they drive the RC F.What are your thoughts on the RC F/M4?Biermann: I need to understand more about the technology [[url=http://www.motortrend.com/cars/lexus/]Lexus] put into it. If [RC F] is just another IS F with a big engine, that would not make a competitor to an M3. I can only imagine that, for their customers, [5.0-liter V-8 and eight-speed automatic] is the right way to go. That would definitely not be the right way to go for our customers. We have kind of a race car engine — the character of our engine is almost like a race car engine. Very precise, although it’s a turbo, but it’s very responsive and it revs up to 7600 rpm. Very sharp. And it’s a car for the track.Yaguchi: It’s kind of typical M product, which means they don’t change horsepower quite a lot, but they just reduced the weight to enhance the driving performance—the typical M way. So, that’s my observation. At this moment, for Lexus F, we think the non-turbo engine provides the best performance balance and also response. But I don’t want to reject any performance engine’s potential. If needed, I’m going to certainly study. I want to provide linear torque and power by a naturally aspirated engine.
Quote:
Originally Posted by lexusrus
I totally remembered i saw an interview online where the Lexus engineer denied that the RCF is trying to compete with the BMW M4 ( or anything similar ).
Also the auto journals' articles favoriting the Euro brands basically caused a piled up of RCF inventory at the Lexus dealers and subsequently price drops. But now Lexus HQ had since adjusted its production so now the inventory is more rarer now.
The RCF is a hidden gem and tremendous value.
That lady spokewoman is in the marketing department. She is not an engineer!!!! (I was referring to a Lexus "engineer" in my prior post).
C'mon man, customers don't separate Lexus the way you're explaining (engineers versus marketing). That's not how it works.
You have to admit, when you make a high powered luxury coupe, everyone is going to compare it to the other high powered luxury coupes out there. ESPECIALLY when you price it in the same ballpark as the others...
Without a doubt, early on, and around the time I purchased my RCF, Lexus placed the RCF in direct competition with the M4 and that faster than an M4 on a closed circuit was plastered all over everything and sales people marketed it that way.
. . . and then . . . road test after road test began showing Lexus's claim was false which is in part why I believe some of the early reviews were so brutal. Lexus hyped it up to be quicker and it rolled out heavy and lacking the torque the torque to be quicker. Big mistake and I believe the RCF gotten written off early as a joke in direct response to Lexus's decision to over hype the careened make claims that were not true.
it was faster in that specific test hence the fine print at the bottom of that image
If the driver that conducted this comparison test was indeed Justin Bell (who is on Lexus' payroll and is co-host of the TV series Shut Up and Drive which exclusively promotes Lexus vehicles), there is a very high probability that the lap time results were rigged (either by Justin Bell sandbagging the M4 and RS5 around the track and/or building the track to heavily favor the driving characteristics of the RC-F).
I'm just happy how the RCF market turned out the way it did with the build up of surplus RCF inventory. Subsequently the price drop. I'm glad I waited and did not pay retail.
Overall the RCF is still a tremendous value. Sure, there are cheaper ones out there that are faster, more hp's, and etc. Also there are more expensive ones out there too with "pedigree status".
At the end of the day, I'm just happy to have options and with open roads to drive the RCF the way it was meant to be. ......... DRIVE IT LIKE YOU STOLE IT!!! LOL. 😀😀😀 It's all good.
Originally Posted by DougHII
Without a doubt, early on, and around the time I purchased my RCF, Lexus placed the RCF in direct competition with the M4 and that faster than an M4 on a closed circuit was plastered all over everything and sales people marketed it that way.
. . . and then . . . road test after road test began showing Lexus's claim was false which is in part why I believe some of the early reviews were so brutal. Lexus hyped it up to be quicker and it rolled out heavy and lacking the torque the torque to be quicker. Big mistake and I believe the RCF gotten written off early as a joke in direct response to Lexus's decision to over hype the careened make claims that were not true.
C'mon man, customers don't separate Lexus the way you're explaining (engineers versus marketing). That's not how it works.
You have to admit, when you make a high powered luxury coupe, everyone is going to compare it to the other high powered luxury coupes out there. ESPECIALLY when you price it in the same ballpark as the others...
Again, the interview I was referring to was the one with the engineer, not the marketing lady.
I think you can also agree that BMW by making the car lighter compromised safety, especially the small overlap frontal crash test. The RCF did very well in this whIle the BMW did only MARGINAL. As matter of fact, there is still NO TESTING of the M4 yet on this. What'a BMW waiting for? Perhaps BMW is still trying to figure out on the additional bracing needed to achieve a GOOD rating?
Which car would you rather be in in case of a crash? You decide.
Originally Posted by LDEUX
C'mon man, customers don't separate Lexus the way you're explaining (engineers versus marketing). That's not how it works.
You have to admit, when you make a high powered luxury coupe, everyone is going to compare it to the other high powered luxury coupes out there. ESPECIALLY when you price it in the same ballpark as the others...
I'm just happy how the RCF market turned out the way it did with the build up of surplus RCF inventory. Subsequently the price drop. I'm glad I waited and did not pay retail.
Overall the RCF is still a tremendous value. Sure, there are cheaper ones out there that are faster, more hp's, and etc. Also there are more expensive ones out there too with "pedigree status".
At the end of the day, I'm just happy to have options and with open roads to drive the RCF the way it was meant to be. ......... DRIVE IT LIKE YOU STOLE IT!!! LOL. 😀😀😀 It's all good.
I think the RCF is a wonderful car and a steal at the going prices for what you get. My only point is that I think Lexus harmed sales by trying to overstate its performance early on and making it bit of a joke to both reviewers and enthusiast when it turned out not to be so.
Again, the interview I was referring to was the one with the engineer, not the marketing lady.
I think you can also agree that BMW by making the car lighter compromised safety, especially the small overlap frontal crash test. The RCF did very well in this whIle the BMW did only MARGINAL. As matter of fact, there is still NO TESTING of the M4 yet on this. What'a BMW waiting for? Perhaps BMW is still trying to figure out on the additional bracing needed to achieve a GOOD rating?
01-02-17, 03:10 PM
What is the best high-performance car
