2013 Lexus Rx 350 F Sport on 2040-cars

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Lexus IS named Esquire Car of the Year

Esquire holds an annual car of the year award, and for the past four years, only American or German autos, such as the Cadillac ATS and the Audi S4, have earned the publication's top pick. But for 2013, the top pick is from Japan: the 2014 Lexus IS350 F Sport. The publication calls the IS "thrilling first, responsible second."
Upon learning the top pick, we had to make sure we were still reading about a Lexus, though we admit the new IS350 F Sport is indeed a new breed, one that approaches BMW 3 Series levels of performance and handling while maintaining its Japanese identity.
Esquire appreciates the F Sport's new direction, but says, "Crucially, unlike everything else, it's not trying to be the BMW." It claims the 2013 car of the year is an "honest, gutsy, fast set of wheels."

Lexus RC 350 F Sport ready to take on Europe's coupes

Rumbling into the slot between the Lexus RC 350 Sport Coupe and the RC F is this, the RC 350 F Sport. Debuting at the Geneva Motor Show next week, the intergalactic malevolence of that spindle grille is given further aggression with a mesh treatment and 19-inch F Sport mesh wheels in dark metallic. Traditionally, F Sport models have also brandished unique fascias, but the standard RC is so visually aggressive to begin with, it still ought to throw quite a scare into rivals like the BMW 4 Series M Sport.
Bigger identifiers come in the cabin and under the skin, foremost being the redrum-reminiscent Rioja Red leather treatment and Silver Performance trim, perforated leather wrapped 'round the steering wheel and a moving center ring in the dash cluster inspired by the LFA. When the coupe is put into Sport+ mode, the included adaptive damping will kick in, and buyers can optionally order the four-wheel steering system when the car goes on sale in the US this fall.
There's a press release with info and specs below, a high-res gallery above and a bright lights, big city introduction on March 4 in Geneva.

2015 Lexus RC F Review

Every year, thousands of people buy two-door coupes that bear the badges of BMW M, Mercedes-AMG, Audi RS, and Cadillac V. These cars are powerful, fast, agile, and - if you believe the marketing - are made to kick ass on the track. But, and this is just my theory, only about 0.2 percent of these owners actually drive their cars the way the companies intended. Most buyers, I think, want the image put forth by an M4 or C63 AMG more than any dynamic abilities. These people just want to give the impression that they're out tearing up the local road course, and a $70,000 sports coupe and a pair of Pilotis are just the ticket. Which is not to say they don't use the performance of these cars, just not the full track-day capabilities. If this describes you, I recommend checking out the new Lexus RC F. This coupe is powered by a 5.0-liter V8, complete with 467 horsepower and 389 pound-feet of torque. These figures, while impressive in a vacuum, are troubling when viewed alongside the competition. The Mercedes-AMG C63 tops 500 in horsepower and torque in S guise, while the six-pot Cadillac ATS-V is nearly equal on power but offers almost 60 more pound-feet of torque. And while the BMW M4 cedes more than 40 horsepower to the Lexus, the RC F doesn't feel as potent from the driver's seat. The RC F doesn't even feel as potent as less-powerful competition. This numerical deficit translates to the stopwatch, where the RC F lags behind the force-induced competition. The C63 and ATS-V both hit 60 in 3.9 seconds, while the BMW takes 4.1 seconds (these are all manufacturer estimates, by the way). The RC F needs 4.4 seconds to hit 60 miles per hour. The only vehicle in this segment that's slower is the Audi RS 5, and that's been on sale longer than all its current competitors combined. And the Audi's charms (oh, that glorious engine note) help you overlook its lack of pace. The RC F doesn't have the aging Audi's charisma, making its lack of both perceived and actual pace more glaring. I'm placing blame on this car's overbearing induction sound. It was a neat trick on the original IS F – this car's predecessor – but over the years it's just become kind of played out. At the least the noise is real, piped into the cabin via a resonator, but it sounds too artificial. And the point at which it kicks in is entirely predictable. Neither of these traits contribute to an involving driving experience.