Winter Autocross Keeps This RC350 From Ending Up in the Crusher
A Detroit based Toyota engineer is keeping this pre-production Lexus RC350 alive through winter motorsports.
Everyone at ClubLexus should give a round of applause to a gentleman named Brad Legris. Brad is the pilot of the Lexus RC350 you see here, and if it weren’t for events like winter autocross, the car would have already been crushed. That’s because Legris is an engineer for Toyota, and he intervened in this car’s fate.
We spotted Legris and his RC350 at Road America during one of their winter autocross events. The event is formatted exactly how you would think, with the driving happening on snow. As it turns out, the RC350 is a natural at this.
Road America used a section of turns 13 and 14 for their high-speed autocross, and in another section, they used the on-site go-kart track for a more traditional and longer autocross. Legris excelled at both.
Speaking with him in the paddock, we found out that this 2015 RC350 was previously a press vehicle. Journalists would use the car for a week to write a review and off it would go to the next writer. But since it was a pre-production vehicle, it was slated for the crusher. That’s when the idea was born to use it for rallycross, and as a research and development testbed.
“It has about 6000 miles on it, and about a third of those have been on dirt,” Legris told us. We also found out that the car is essentially stock. Some modifications have been performed, such as the addition of mudguards and the winter wheel setup, but otherwise, it’s just as you would find out there on the street.
In a sea of blue Subarus and black Audi Quattros, this Lexus stands out. And its performance was up to par, too. Classified with all other AWD cars, this Lexus scored a solid second place. A time of 47.578 was enough to clinch that silver medal. The next nearest AWD car was a Focus RS, which was over two seconds slower. The best Subaru was a second slower still.
So now when someone mentions the WRX or STi and its rally-bred performance, just make sure to remind them that Lexus can do it too. And in some cases, they do it better.
Join the Club Lexus forums now!
Photos for Club Lexus via Patrick Morgan
