Lexus RC F Track Edition: Undoubtedly Awesome, but Worth $100K?
Lexus RC F Track Edition gives you marginal performance upgrades at a big cost, but they also add up quickly.
Lexus fans have been pining for more performance-oriented cars for years now. So, the automaker has thrown us a bit of a bone in the form of the 2020 RC F Track Edition. Lighter, more powerful, and designed to be steered via the throttle, this special RC F is like music to our proverbial ears. There are just a couple of problems, of course. Lexus is only bringing 50 of them to the U.S., and the cost is staggering – $97,675. Or, nearly $32k over the price of a base RC F. So is it worth it?
Thankfully, YouTuber Matt Maran Motoring got his hands on an RC F Track Edition recently in an attempt to answer that question for us. Maran first points out the attributes that justify that large jump in price. “A standard RC F is gonna be around 55 pounds lighter for the 2020 model year. Then this goes and reduces another 121 pounds off of the vehicle.” Much of that weight loss comes courtesy of a carbon fiber hood, roof, front lip, rear diffuser, and spoiler.”
Those carbon goodies also help generate downforce. Coupled with some aggressive damping, that equates to much improved handling. “You have a torsion limited-slip differential on the back that’s got more aggressive tuning,” Maran adds. “You get a shorter final drive ratio here as well. I think the steering’s a little quicker too, because this is very darty and eager to turn in.”
Maran then flips on Sport+ mode and hits some backroads, where he can really wind out the RC F Track Edition. “I love that glorious naturally-aspirated 5.0-liter V8 engine,” Maran exclaims. It just gives you so much induction noise. It makes about five more horsepower here for 2020. All RC Fs have 472 hp and 395 lb-ft of torque. The Track Edition will do 0-60 in 4.0-seconds flat with that launch control. The regular RC F does it in 4.2-seconds.”
Maran clearly enjoys the Track Edition’s retuned limited-slip differential, which he says makes it more “tail happy” than the regular RC F. “I love this engine and transmission combo, it works very well” he says. “Then you’ve got these nice big carbon ceramic brakes.” The car stays pretty flat in the corners, but Maran says that “it feels like it wants to drift.” Which only adds to the fun factor, in our opinion.
All of this is great stuff, of course. But does it make the Track Edition worth $32k over the base RC F? “Being in the nineties does sound like a lot,” Maran concludes. “But when you consider what other manufacturers charge for carbon ceramic brakes, a carbon fiber roof, that’s all pricey stuff. So I don’t think this is unfairly priced. I definitely think that if you’re going to actually track your RC F and you’re not worried about it being a collectible, this is definitely the way to go.” But with only 50 coming to the states, you’ll also be in pretty rare company, too.
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