Lexus RC 200t 2015 Review

Lexus RC 200t F Sport
Local Launch
Canberra, ACT

A 'spindle' grille chock full of honeycomb mesh tells us that this car is the RC 200t F Sport – the middle-ranking model in the turbocharged, four-cylinder subset of the Lexus RC range.

In Lexus parlance, F Sport indicates the car is sportier and better equipped than the so-called 'Luxury' grade, but not quite at the level of opulence found in the flagship 'Sports Luxury' variant.

The vehicle available for motoring.com.au to drive during the local launch of the new engine was fitted with an enhancement pack, featuring a moonroof and lane-departure warning system, among other gizmos. This option takes the price of the RC 200t F Sport up to $76,500 (plus ORCs).

It also takes the headroom down a notch, as I learned when I cracked my skull on the car's grab handle over the door during a corner. Headroom is also marginal in the rear seat, where the optional moonroof resides when it's open. It has to be said however, adults can at least sit back there for short trips – unlike Ford's Mustang or the Audi TT (not that they're directly comparable with the Lexus though). Even with the moonroof fitted, there's barely enough head room for an adult of average size. Ditto for knee room. And climbing in is not difficult, although the solid doors are heavy and the power seats, which slide forward to make way for the rear-seat occupant, are pretty slow.

There's no ski port through to the boot, although the rear seat does fold forward in a 60:40 split. While the boot itself runs forward far enough to be useful – and folding the seats forward frees up additional space – it's narrow and shallow, despite the space-saver spare under the floor.

Up front the RC's driving position is generally good. Most of the controls (e.g. the indicator stalk) are where they should be, but the foot-operated parking brake is much the same as in the IS 200t recently tested. It occupies a fair amount of space in a smaller footwell, but once it's released it's up out of the way.

The instrument binnacle is dominated by a large centre dial, with a trip computer display that 'slides' out from behind the speedo to the left of the binnacle. Arrow buttons on the right spoke of the steering wheel scroll 'horizontally' for different categories of information and 'vertically' for different subcategories. The display is revealed or concealed by a toggling button also on the wheel. It's somewhat different from other systems in competitors and would require some familiarisation for use to become second nature.

Having recently tested an IS 200t, I found the RC's dashboard layout and the controls immediately recognisable. Like the IS, the RC is pretty easy to set up quickly, but the different shapes and protuberances of the dashboard I find jarring. The infotainment screen looks ancient

Under way, it was the RC 200t's F Sport seats that impressed first off. They're nicely shaped and comfortable, but hold the occupant in place securely while the car is being hurled around.

Over the course of a short drive program around Canberra, the RC 200t was extremely quiet, even on coarse-chip country roads. Wind noise was present, but it was a very blustery day. On that very brief run the Lexus returned a fuel consumption figure of 11.0L/100km, according to the trip computer.

The turbocharged four-cylinder struggled with the weight of the car when attempting a fast start, but it pulled hard at higher revs and was more effective in intermediate gears. Power tailed off slightly, nearer the redline, betraying to an extent the engine's torquey nature.

It was that exploitable torque that makes the engine an ideal partner for the eight-speed automatic transmission. The transmission was composed and unobtrusive in its shifting and would change up automatically at the redline, even when the driver was using the paddles. It wasn't confused on those occasions the driver manually shifted at redline either.

Fitted with Adaptive Variable Suspension as standard, the RC 200t in F Sport guise rode in a very compliant way. The ride and handling was generally very finely balanced, although the Lexus was prone to plough on through tighter corners, and the stability control would cut in early. It was also reluctant to hand back control to the driver.

I found the steering to be fairly communicative, but the RC 200t was remote and insulated the driver from the action in many other respects.

Given the nature of the engine's power delivery traits and the refined transmission, this is a touring car that will appeal to those who like to go cruising – and let the car do all the work – rather than those who enjoy the thrust-and-parry of driving a car at speed up a twisting mountain pass.

2015 Lexus RC 200t F Sport pricing and specifications:
Price: $73,000 (plus on-road costs)
Engine: 2.0-litre four-cylinder turbo-petrol
Output: 180kW/350Nm
Transmission: Eight-speed automatic
Fuel: 7.3L/100km (ADR Combined)
CO2: 168g/km (ADR Combined)
Safety Rating: TBA

Also consider:
>> Audi A5 (from $69,700 plus ORCs)
>> BMW 428i Luxury Line (from $81,000 plus ORCs)
>> Infiniti Q60 (from $63,900 plus ORCs)