Lexus RC F Track Edition 2020

[Ashrez]

The new Lexus RC F Track Edition has been unveiled and it looks pretty aggressive. Improvements to suspension tuning, engine power output, torque, aero, transmission drive ratio and reduction to weight has been worked on the car. Still on the fence about the new headlight unit though. You'll notice on 2 of the pictures the 2020 RC F in there too.

 

 

[Guest]

Meh...... looks like a home done job.

Headlamps..... 

Lexus F series 

[Ashrez]

 

[FTBBCVoodoo]

Carbom ceramic brakes...  There goes the 50% off brake discs bargains from ECP 😉

I do like it though.

[Guest]

Are the door mirrors a different shape?

[Ashrez]

17 minutes ago, Comedian said:

Are the door mirrors a different shape?

Yea, door mirrors design taken from the LC i think.

[mrfunex]

Love that F detailing in the carbon on the side of the wing! Anyone got a list of the actual differences from a standard RCF?

[FTBBCVoodoo]

15 minutes ago, mrfunex said:

Love that F detailing in the carbon on the side of the wing! Anyone got a list of the actual differences from a standard RCF?

Apparently....

-472 hp 
-395 ft. lbs. of torque, 
-176 lbs lighter
-19” BBS forged wheels
-Brembo carbon ceramic brakes
-functional carbon body parts incl. rear wing
-0-60 in 3.9 seconds 
-only available in matte Ultra White or matte Nebula Grey with red interior

[B1RMA]

Most people serious about track days tend to remove the carbon ceramic discs and replace with steel. This makes sense as they can be easily chipped if you land up in the kitty litter.

Plus from experience (my Porsche had them) you have to be really anal about who does any work like changing tyres as they can also be easily chipped because you have to replace them in pairs and at something like £6K + per pair.

The odd track day error could be very expensive. You also have to be a Driving God to notice any benefit in the unsprung weight advantage. But speaking as someone who always managed to boil his brakes on track days I can confirm they never boil or fade and you can brake harder and later with them.

[Stuno1]

3 hours ago, FTBBCVoodoo said:

Apparently....

-472 hp 
-395 ft. lbs. of torque, 
-176 lbs lighter
-19” BBS forged wheels
-Brembo carbon ceramic brakes
-functional carbon body parts incl. rear wing
-0-60 in 3.9 seconds 
-only available in matte Ultra White or matte Nebula Grey with red interior

Really? PH article says 455 bhp I think and 80kg lighter. Bit dissapppibted. Expected more weight off and more power. Also, Carbon brakes.... imagine replacing those! Would cost a fortune. Look forward to reviews but disappointed so far. 

[B1RMA]

It's a very nice car but to be honest I'd be tempted to just supercharge a current RCF, although a heavy car can't really see the advantage of the carbon ceramic brakes although they are supposed to last for about 100K miles provided you don't have Quik Fit or some other incompetent outfit damage them as they are fragile.

[FTBBCVoodoo]

26 minutes ago, Stuno1 said:

Really? PH article says 455 bhp I think and 80kg lighter. Bit dissapppibted. Expected more weight off and more power. Also, Carbon brakes.... imagine replacing those! Would cost a fortune. Look forward to reviews but disappointed so far. 

PH is the only article I have found that states power remains the same.

Others are quoting 47xbhp

I wonder if it's getting different outputs in the US compared to Europe.

 

[mrfunex]

I cannot imagine how much Lexus would charge for replacement brakes, given the current pricing of the steel ones! 

[Stuno1]

1 hour ago, FTBBCVoodoo said:

PH is the only article I have found that states power remains the same.

Others are quoting 47xbhp

I wonder if it's getting different outputs in the US compared to Europe.

 

Aye and that’s 457bhp which is less than earlier ones due to changes in omission laws. On top of what I said I bet this costs much money as well. I was hoping for 500hp, increased torque, lighter wheels and exhaust, maybe an option to in tick rear seats, more carbon fibre to reduce weight and basically a more focused car. It’s more like a slightly lighter rcf with more expensive brakes which will cost a bloody fortune to replace. I don’t think it will attract a lot of customers. It will be faster around longer tracks due to aero but shorter circuits and to 60 ininagine about the same as the current car. I’d be amazed if it slips below 4 seconds to 60. Happy, but amazed. 

[rayaans]

More info here

https://lexusenthusiast.com/2019/01/14/introducing-the-lexus-rc-f-track-edition-updated-2020-rc-f-coupe/

Says power is increased but I wonder if Europe will get the filter in the exhaust which reduces power?

[Chafford1]

22 minutes ago, rayaans said:

More info here

https://lexusenthusiast.com/2019/01/14/introducing-the-lexus-rc-f-track-edition-updated-2020-rc-f-coupe/

Says power is increased but I wonder if Europe will get the filter in the exhaust which reduces power?

451bhp in UK according to the Lexus UK media site so European emissions ruses taking their toll.

 

[Stuno1]

They are also including weight reduction from the cf roof and bonnet so the reduction over the cf version already available is less than stated. 

[B1RMA]

17 hours ago, Stuno1 said:

Aye and that’s 457bhp which is less than earlier ones due to changes in omission laws. On top of what I said I bet this costs much money as well. I was hoping for 500hp, increased torque, lighter wheels and exhaust, maybe an option to in tick rear seats, more carbon fibre to reduce weight and basically a more focused car. It’s more like a slightly lighter rcf with more expensive brakes which will cost a bloody fortune to replace. I don’t think it will attract a lot of customers. It will be faster around longer tracks due to aero but shorter circuits and to 60 ininagine about the same as the current car. I’d be amazed if it slips below 4 seconds to 60. Happy, but amazed. 

I couldn't agree more, I wish Lexus every success with this car. I think it's fair to say that the RCF isn't that good on track (the Chris Harris youtube confirms this) and to make it any good it needed a drastic re-think/re-work not what I think we have here and that's to put it very bluntly/truthfully a few cosmetic tweaks.

I like the RCF as a road car at which it's rather good, again Chris Harris concluded that too.

With this and the new Supra getting criticised for it's looks etc I wonder if Toyota/Lexus have lost their way a bit.

If the figure of 457 BHP is correct the power to weight ratio is 3 BHP more that the standard RCF.

Oh and that red interior.

[Stuno1]

20 minutes ago, B1RMA said:

I couldn't agree more, I wish Lexus every success with this car. I think it's fair to say that the RCF isn't that good on track (the Chris Harris youtube confirms this) and to make it any good it needed a drastic re-think/re-work not what I think we have here and that's to put it very bluntly/truthfully a few cosmetic tweaks.

I like the RCF as a road car at which it's rather good, again Chris Harris concluded that too.

With this and the new Supra getting criticised for it's looks etc I wonder if Toyota/Lexus have lost their way a bit.

If the figure of 457 BHP is correct the power to weight ratio is 3 BHP more that the standard RCF.

Oh and that red interior.

Indeed. Not enough for a GT car. Reduced sound deadening, lighter windows, cf door cards etc all things I expected to shed the lbs. Banging on mega expensive lighter brakes is not enough and is actually something that will put many off. They are not condisive for daily driving. It is now not a proper track car you can daily or a daily car that smashes tracks. Misssed opportunity to expand the f brand.

[B1RMA]

4 minutes ago, Stuno1 said:

Indeed. Not enough for a GT car. Reduced sound deadening, lighter windows, cf door cards etc all things I expected to shed the lbs. Banging on mega expensive lighter brakes is not enough and is actually something that will put many off. They are not condisive for daily driving. It is now not a proper track car you can daily or a daily car that smashes tracks. Misssed opportunity to expand the f brand.

You're right about the Carbon Ceramics, I concluded that I'd never specify them on a new car due to the expense but I would have them on a secondhand car, that is provided it was a genuine low mileage car because the only way to tell what state of wear they are in is to weigh them.

One other tip for any potential purchasers of a Carbon Ceramic brake equipped RCF is this. The first time I washed my car with Carbon Ceramics I had the shock of my life, I live on a hill and drew out of my drive and near the bottom of the road applied the brakes, nothing they didn't seem to work, so I pressed really hard and managed to stop at the bottom of my road's junction about 6 inches over the white line. This was a true brown trouser moment, luckily the road is never really busy but in future always applied the brakes after washing the car.

One thing that is great is absolutely no brake dust at all, my wheels always stayed perfectly clean, plus they should last for about 100K miles under normal driving.

[Stuno1]

I have heard they take a long time to warm up and as such are not good for daily driver cars unless pushed hard all the time. Also, quite a few stories of Aston  CS discs warping and cracking. 

[B1RMA]

14 minutes ago, Stuno1 said:

I have heard they take a long time to warm up and as such are not good for daily driver cars unless pushed hard all the time. Also, quite a few stories of Aston  CS discs warping and cracking. 

I can't say i noticed the heating up factor much on mine, but early Carbon Ceramics did squeal a lot.

As for Aston Martin well they had big issues with disc balance too requiring the wheels to be balanced on the car, this required an old fashioned machine to do the job. The reason I know this is my late V8 Esprit had an unusual stud arrangement which meant I had to seek out a specialist near Silverstone to balance the wheels on the car. When I arrived he had a number of Aston Martins parked up awaiting wheel balancing because of the disc imbalance.

I know I have been banging on about BHP per tonne but it is a factor in car performance as well as gearing and unsprung mass so maybe the track edition has a few tricks up it's sleeve but i doubt it's anything revolutionary. Lets wait and see what the first tests of the car are and just hope someone who can drive properly like Chris Harris, Plato of Tiff get to test it first before all the other 'Experts/Clowns' get to test it.

[Stuno1]

Power to weight is key! I think it will do ok on track. The older rcf beat the m4 on a number of tests or was within 1 second. It’s still a great car just not what I hoped for and not what I think a track focused car should be. Lexus are too wedded to luxury and refinement and need to put that concept aside to a degree for cars lik this. 

[FTBBCVoodoo]

"Adding power makes you faster on straights.  Subtracting weight makes you faster everywhere"

Colin Chapman 🙂

[Guest]

Wing looks too flat to do a great deal