F Sport vs F
 

I was discussing this with a friend of mine and wanted to know the group's thoughts.

I personally think Lexus should not have gone with the F Sport for lesser vehicle packages. To truly differentiate the F as being the performance division of Lexus, they should not use the F unless it is a true F car. I see non Lexus enthusiasts get confused with F Sport and F.

F should be the true sport models. The F sport should be GT or just Sport. Thoughts? Does this bug you guys? It waters down the F to me.......

It does to a degree, but Lexus' Branding for Heritage and to stay consistent with it's competitors, BMW, Merc, Audi separates True Performance with just using just 1 letter. F Sports is just an appearance package. F Sport is no different than the M3 "sports APPEARANCE package', but a true performance BMW is called just "M'', as in M4, M3 as opposed to 3 series/4 Series, X3 etc with a M Appearance Pkg., Audi is S Line vs S only, Merc AMG before model is Performance, after model name is Appearance only....
The Europeans are consistent and people get it, true performance guys know the difference between F Sport and F, just that the number of F's in the world is dramatically smaller than the European competitors. The German always put the Letter ahead of the #'s to signify Performance and the Japanese put the Performance letter 'after' the series name....if following the Germans, we would all be driving F-RC (which really would suck).

You are right - it just bugs me a bit. I laughed because when some people I know saw the picture of the RCF, they said yeah my dad has that car. I responded with "Oh, that’s awesome"......the problem is many people see the F and assume they are all the same. The girl's dad didn't have an RCF - he had an F Sport.

even the RC guys mistake for 1 of their own. But, having a sleeper has it's advantages, element of surprise, no police etc. Where are you in Ontario? I'm from Ottawa, but in Calgary now.

For sure and the quad exhaust will give it away. I live in a town called Leamington right near the most southern tip of Canada (35 minutes from Windsor).

Been there often, Beautiful part of Ontario.

I hear what you're saying, but disagree. For one, I actually applaud Lexus for trying, even if adding the F-Sport package to a "regular" Lexus doesn't actually improve performance. At least they are offering a sportier looking model to capture a different buying demographic. Lexus seems to have stepped well away from the stodgy old-man car image and they're actually producing more performance cars and performance oriented cars than several other brands. Honda appears to have just given up, save their Type-R.

Secondly, like someone else already mentioned, I don't think the M-performance package or S-line take away from the actual M cars that BMW has or the S and RS models that Audi has. True enthusiasts know the difference, and I like that the RC F is kind of a sleeper to the non-enthusiast.

I am going to debadge the RC before the F on my car though. I want people to wonder what it is.

I have no issue with sportier versions, I like that there are not just bland base models. Just call it something else and save the F for IMO a true F car.

Good points though.

Does it really matter, thought? I fail to see how someone putting an F badge on his RC200t negatively impacts my enjoyment of my RC-F.

I had a '92 Camry LE back in the day and i glued V6 XLE on it, had everyone fooled :yikes: :driving:

im not too bothered by it.
If you take a look at the RC F next to the RC350, you’ll come to find that almost every single body panel is different. The only exception is the doors. However, the hood, front bumper, grille, rear bumper, roof, front fenders, wheels, brake calipers, spoiler, exhaust, some interior parts and most importantly the engine are all unique to the RC F.

Ive owned both USB RC350 and now a USB RCF and differences are night and day for the driver and honestly its all that matters.

I do think it causes some confusion, which is why I feel like it was a bit of a mis-step for Lexus. Ultimately though, I know the difference between my car and any F-Sport model, and it has literally zero impact on how much I enjoy my RC-F.

Definitely bothers me that regular RC-F owners even exist, it should only be reserved for the track edition owners....

at least you guys have a v8 too

You trust your dealership enough to let them pick up and deliver your car? Had enough fast sport cars, (and some expensive), in the past where the odometer went up 20 miles or more just for an dealership oil change. And I still check my oil fill, since for 1/2 of my RCF oil changes, they have been dealership overfilled by a wide margin.