DETROIT MOTOR SHOW: RC F still chasing power

Update, January 16: Since this article was written, Lexus advises that it is claiming the RC F is the first front-engined rear-wheel drive car with torque vectoring reliant on the differential to adjust the torque split. Other companies, such as HSV and Jaguar use rear braking to achieve the same effect. According to a Lexus spokesperson, the RC F's system is more efficient and doesn't generate heat during operation.

Lexus is still working to extract engine performance from its new RC F, even though the V8 super coupe made its global debut at the Detroit auto show overnight and will be on-sale in Australia in the fourth quarter of 2014.

And the company has also tripped up by claiming the RC F is the first user globally of a torque vectoring differential in a front-engined rear-wheel drive car, as that honour actually belongs to the Australian-built HSV GTS.

The Toyota-owned luxury brand spruiked the three-mode TVD in its media presentation of the high performance version of its new RC coupe, along with an output of more than 450 horsepower (335kW) from its 5.0-litre naturally-aspirated V8 engine. More than 383 lb-ft (519Nm) torque output is also claimed.

That number makes it Lexus’s most powerful V8 ever and it outdoes the 316kW turbo six-cylinder BMW M4 also launched in Detroit and is at least lineball with the standard version of the outgoing 336kW Mercedes-Benz C 63 AMG.

Chief engineer Yukuhiro Yaguchi, who also developed the first Lexus F model, the IS F, confirmed he was chasing a higher output level from the engine.

“The engine output is going to be at least 450 horsepower but we are trying to push it up even further,” Yaguchi said via an interpreter. “We think there is still room to push that up.”

In part the search for more power is understood to be driven by the CCS-R race car version of the RC F, which has debuted this week in concept version at the Tokyo Auto Salon. The two cars will share the same engine specification.

Lexus claimed the car has an electronically limited 168mph (270km/h) top speed, which is identical to the IS F. But no claims for 0-100km/h and 0-400 metre acceleration times have been made because the engine package is still being tuned, Yaguchi said. He also refused to reveal a Nurburgring lap time, although he confirmed the car had tested there.

He said acceleration claims would not be made until the engine outputs were finalised. But it seems unlikely the RC F’s Nurburgring efforts will ever be revealed: “We don’t measure the time,” he said. “The time you get on that track is just for reference only. The problem is that depending on the driving conditions you get a different time every single time so it doesn’t have a lot of meaning.”

That attitude is in direct contrast to Lexus’s extensive promotion of the Nurburgring lap record achieved by the LFA V10 Supercar Nurburgring Edition in 2011.

Both Yaguchi and Lexus international executive vice president Mark Templin denied there was any concern about engine performance or the RC F’s performance competitiveness with its rivals.

“We haven’t revealed a lot of numbers on it yet, but we will provide a lot of that later,” Templin said. “But’s not all about 0-60, or 0-100, or braking from 100 to zero or any of those, it’s when you put all of those thing together and make it the most balanced car.

“That is what they are trying to create. Not the fastest, not the one that goes around the corners the best, it’s about balance of all of those things.”

The RC F engine, which is a development of the unit that debuted in the IS F in 2007, employs both Atkinson and Otto cycles to maximise performance and economy. No fuel consumption figure was claimed, but the target is to beat the IS F, which averages 11.4L/100km.

The engine mates exclusively to an eight-speed automatic transmission with paddle shifters. The suspension has been retuned, compared to the standard RC 350 petrol V6 and RC 300 petrol-electric hybrid that were revealed at the Tokyo auto show late in 2013. The car rolls on 19-inch wheels and rubber.

The exterior boasts a dramatic interpretation of the Lexus spindle grille, a re-profiled bonnet with air vent, cooling ducts, a retractable rear wing and stacked exhausts. Inside, the four-seater has an instrument panel inspired by the LFA that includes a large centrally mounted tachometer. Seats are all-new.

No Australian pricing has been confirmed for the RC F, but the outgoing IS F currently retails here for $125,945.

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