When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
I think supra's drive a certain way. Hard to explain, but the RC-F just doesn't have anywhere near the same handling characteristics (probably largely due to weight IMHO).
Also, I loved the MKIV supra when I was a kid. However... it is a "boy racer" car which is an image lexus really shouldn't be playing with.
I think in a way the RCF was like a new Supra. I can agree. The RCF marketing was terrible. People still don't know what an RCF is. I have people ask all the time what am I driving, including a guy who chased me down in a truck to find out what the car was. Thought I was going to get car jacked..lol.
The new Supra seems to be getting a lot of positive press. Much better marketing. Reminding people Toyota can build exciting cars. I can't wait to go check one out when they hit the market.
I certainly think the new Supra may help the RCF sell, if people get interested in Toyota sports cars again.
The new RCF Track Edition may get better press and help also.
I think the RCF is the RCF. It isn't the Supra, but it's an interesting sport version of the Toyota group and an interesting own thing. Maybe, just maybe, will Lexus have the price niche and the fame to bring back a closer Supra FT1 version. Maybe under the name SC.
I think supra's drive a certain way. Hard to explain, but the RC-F just doesn't have anywhere near the same handling characteristics (probably largely due to weight IMHO).
Also, I loved the MKIV supra when I was a kid. However... it is a "boy racer" car which is an image lexus really shouldn't be playing with.
Stock Supras were never famous for their handling even in that era. Suspension was on the softer side with understeer due to the iron block engine, was a well known issue. They were known/famous mostly for their ability for the 2JZ block to put big horsepower down largely due to the iron block engine being able to put down big HP numbers and also highway roll racing.
From 30 years ago, suspension, tires and chassis engineering has moved on even if the cars have become heavier. One can argue, older lighter cars have a mechanical feel, newer/heavier cars cannot replicate, but when it comes to putting down the laps, it is not a fair comparison being almost 30 years apart.
I've owned and driven a lot of cars over the years. My absolute favorite car that I've owned was my 1997 6-speed Supra TT. Still wish that I had hung onto it. The RC-F is a close second though. I have always felt that the RC-F was the closest thing to the MkV Supra - and it may still be, even with the MkV Supra a reality. While I do like the looks of the new Supra, I don't think the performance numbers could ever make me part with my RC-F. A manual transmission might do the trick though!
The other day I was driving in the New Orleans area going Costco and was wondering why this older looking (but nicely modded with a mean V8 engine and custom exhaust) was tailing me on the interstate and followed me all the way to Costco. I did 4 right hand turns around the block and he was still on my tail to the Costco parking lot. After I got out, he started asking what car is my car and all. Of course the Borla exhaust made it all better. He could NOT believe it was a Lexus!!! He said he thought it was some Aston Martin of sorts. LOL
Originally Posted by CAHWY128
I think in a way the RCF was like a new Supra. I can agree. The RCF marketing was terrible. People still don't know what an RCF is. I have people ask all the time what am I driving, including a guy who chased me down in a truck to find out what the car was. Thought I was going to get car jacked..lol.
The new Supra seems to be getting a lot of positive press. Much better marketing. Reminding people Toyota can build exciting cars. I can't wait to go check one out when they hit the market.
I certainly think the new Supra may help the RCF sell, if people get interested in Toyota sports cars again.
The new RCF Track Edition may get better press and help also.
When a couple of us RCF owners test drive the new Supra, then we will find out how it compares. I plan to try out a new Supra once one arrives at my local Toyota dealership.
Stock Supras were never famous for their handling even in that era. Suspension was on the softer side with understeer due to the iron block engine, was a well known issue. They were known/famous mostly for their ability for the 2JZ block to put big horsepower down largely due to the iron block engine being able to put down big HP numbers and also highway roll racing.
From 30 years ago, suspension, tires and chassis engineering has moved on even if the cars have become heavier. One can argue, older lighter cars have a mechanical feel, newer/heavier cars cannot replicate, but when it comes to putting down the laps, it is not a fair comparison being almost 30 years apart.
Actually they were well known for their handling, and set the mark in the magazines for quite a few years with a 0.98g skidpad number for the red '93 hardtop on Michelin MXX3s the magazines all tested. C&D did an article asking if the Supra was an exotic and had Phil Hill drive the car at Firebird against a Ferrari and a Porsche, and it did quite well. Soft? You obviously never owned one with stock suspension. They were very loud inside, and very stiff for a street car. Much stiffer than the '08 IS F or the '16 GS F sitting in my garage. Suspension and chassis engineering haven't changed dramatically in 30 years. Tires have. More than anything. At least my '93 TT hardtop 6 speed weighs in at an almost respectable 3415 pounds on a certified scale, but it was also almost 300 pounds heavier than the C5 Corvette Chevrolet built using the MkIV Supra as its benchmark.
Should Toyota have done another GT coupe instead of the BMW partnership, yes they should have. But as consumers we have no idea on the reasons they went with that option other than to keep costs down is what it looks like. Let's say they did use the TTV6 in a larger version of the MKV with 2+2 and 500bhp for $90K where would that leave the RCF? My speculation is that Toyota didn't really want to invest in a high end sports car with Lexus already having the LC and RCF and this MKV is what they came up with. No way they were going to develop an all new I6 Turbo without plans to share it in other models.
I think using a BMW for the Supra was very shrewd. The automotive press seems to fall all over themselves praising every BMW made. So it would follow these same biased journalists will love the Supra.
02-11-19, 08:02 AM
Do You Think the 2020 RC F is the Proper Supra the World Deserves?
