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2015 Lexus RC F

I didn't get a chance to drive the Lexus IS F until 2009, two years after the car had gone on sale, but I still vividly remember the day it happened. Having piloted almost every other vehicle in the Lexus lineup at that point, I was stoked to finally get some wheel time in the V8-powered, flared-fender muscle sedan, but fully expected the car to offer a quick, sanitized and ultimately un-driverly experience. Lexus built well-screwed-together, comfortable, quiet, reliable luxury cars for the timid, right?
As it turned out, I was 100-percent incorrect. When the premium brand's lauded "skunkworks team" crammed that massive V8 into the innocent IS, and then tuned the thing for competent hot laps at Fuji Speedway (F = Fuji, if you haven't heard), they seemingly forgot every brand value that Lexus had curated over the previous 20 years. It was raw and loud, had fast-twitch reflexes and a penchant for power slides, and it went unyieldingly across the road surface like a racecar cut loose from the paddock.
As far as Ur- models and origin stories go, the IS F and Lexus F has a pretty compelling, if new, set. A backdrop against which the sequel, this 2015 RC F, must inevitably be viewed. Sure, the otherworldly LFA may have intervened as the second F model, but the RC carries forward an evolution of the 5.0-liter V8 thumper, some shared body and chassis constructions, similar in-your-face design and a ticket price that's squarely in the mix for premium buyers with a hankering to smoke tires.

Updated Lexus CT200h coming next year, new variants reported

Lexus has had a minor success on its hands with the CT200h, a funky, five-door, sport-luxury hybrid that burst onto the scene in 2011, and managed just over 17,000 US sales in 2012. Worked out to a monthly average, that's nearly 50 percent more units per month than Lexus initially targeted when the car went on sale.
Though it's done well, the CT has been left behind while designers and engineers have reworked the rest of the Lexus lineup, bringing out fully revamped versions of the GS, IS and LS over the past few years. According to a report from Down Under, though, the little CT will get some attention soon.
Speaking to Sean Hanley, boss of Lexus Australia, Aussie site The Motor Report picked up a telling quote about the execs affections for the CT, when he said, "We see the CT200h as our greatest opportunity." Hanley added that a refresh of the CT could happen early in 2014, while a clean-sheet reworking would happen around 2016.

What effect did Super Bowl ads have on online car searches?

Lexus's Super Bowl ad Let's Play starring an RC version of the RC 350 sliding around wasn't really a big hit among Autoblog readers, with a pretty miserable 13 down-votes as of this writing, compared to the winning Nissan spot with 52 up-votes. The Japanese luxury brand doesn't need to feel blue about the results, though, because in at least one metric the commercial ranks as the most popular of the night. According to Adweek analyzing figures from Kelley Blue Book, the Lexus coupe saw an astounding 1,820-percent increase in searches on the auto pricing site, more than any other vehicle advertised during the game. Viewers were apparently intrigued by the BMW i3 because the EV came in second place with a 1,131-percent jump. Third place went to the Mercedes-AMG GT with a 950-percent boost from its whimsical ad. The lowest growth for the night was from Toyota with a 20-percent upswing for the Camry. In terms of brand searches, the Kia James Bond-inspired spot brought a 68-percent increase in searches to KBB's website, according to Adweek. Dodge scored a close second with a 62-percent bump, and Fiat's humorous ad apparently resonated enough for third place and a 52-percent jump in searches. Despite the RC 350's popularity, Lexus actually ended up at the bottom of the list with just 6 percent more visitors looking for the company. To explain the weird discrepancy, a Kelley Blue Book analyst explained to Adweek that visitors came to the site specifically looking for the RC 350 and to a lesser extent the NX, which saw a 48-percent jump in queries, but that interest didn't extend to the whole brand. Related Video: News Source: Adweek Marketing/Advertising Lexus Coupe Performance Videos lexus rc lexus rc 350