Furge :

You sound like a disillusioned Toyota employee who wants his pound of flesh and now you swing the other way to be a BMW fanboy. Anecdotal cases of defects is just that : isolated cases.

Statistical evidence is always more compelling : there are always outliers like yourself. They don't mean much in the final analysis.

And the RC-F engine shares only about 10% in common with the IS-F engine. You seem to have lost all sight of objectivity in your eagerness to crucify Lexus.

My advice : move on and buy the German car of your desires. Thank you for your past work for Toyota. You are now free to cross over to the dark/overrated side and you shall be missed.

 

Uh no. What Ford family car is on a RWD platform?

LOL, you have no idea what you're talking about. Totally wrong.

And what would getting a box full of shattered glass allow the designers in Japan to learn?

Its tempered glass. Unfortunately sometimes with tempered glass this happens, do a Google search. Its not a Lexus thing, its a tempered glass thing.

 

Just curious about a couple items. What's the approximate difference in weight between the carbon fiber and steel roof (with no sunroof)? Second question is, if I will never, well never say never, take the car onto a track, would I miss having TVD? I sort of like the idea of having an ALL white RC F.

 

my personal opinions from driving some of these cars on the road / track

- if anyone thinks these cf parts are going to be the major factor in weight (saving), that's a very wrong direction. lfa went from aluminum to over 60% cf and saved what, 220lb? the cf wing on the rcf is saving 1lb, and the overall cf package (even with the cf hood) is saving a whopping 22lb. just the tvd alone outweighs it. a lot of the weight in cars these days go to the electronics (wires can get pretty heavy), insulation, safety items, etc...

- i can't say how much weight is between cf and solid roof (no moonroof), but from one of the picture of the press event to chinese press, it seems like the roof is saving like 3.5kg (iirc, it was a bit blurry. either that or 6kg). on the e9x m3, i think cf roof saved less than 20lb

- tvd, i am sure it helps, but unless one is really pushing the car hard, it's probably not as noticeable. so my opinion? it will shine very well on the track, but unless you drive like a mad man on every turns on the road, it might be hard to enjoy those

 

Thanks for the information. The weight question was just one for general knowledge. Aesthetically, I don't care for the carbon fiber roof and wing breaking up the general look of the car's paint.

 

I come from the other camp--I feel the carbon fiber is highly distinctive, and I love the spoiler.

The CF also lowers the center of gravity for the RCF.

 

TVD--I have been known to have my moments on an open winding road in rural PA. I'll get my money's worth

 

HAHA. Not really. Your head weighs more than the CF roof saves.

 

I may be shot for saying this, but I too don't like the looks of carbon fiber. If I ordered an RCF, I'll probably buy one without the CF package. CF parts installed here and there looks a bit tacky to me. Reminds me of those cheap stick-on wood trims for the interior

 

"The RC F offers the option of a carbon fiber reinforced plastic (CFRP) roof and rear spoiler. The available carbon fiber roof and spoiler help reduce weight from points far from the center of gravity, resulting in a tangible effect on handling agility. The CFPR uses a newly developed clear coat painting process."

As for the weight of heads for many participants in this forum, that is yet another topic for discussion.

 

No guns here...

The carbon on this RCF is produced at the LFA factory and is probably some of the best in the world given their unique 3-dimensional fabrication technique.

With that said, to each his own. If you want the TVR, you're going to have to get the carbon package. As it was my preference, I had no issue whatsoever.

 

CF roofs are popular because its an easy panel to fabricate with CF, flat and easy. Also the roof is a part thats furthest from the center of gravity so saving 10kg there or whatever has a greater effect on handling than saving 10kg on a spot closer to the center of gravity. Plus it looks cool

I dont think the hood is fabricated on the 3D loom, only the parts with complex shapes are produced on it. The A pillars on the LFA were made on the loom. Remember in one of the videos there was some kind of press making the hood, roof would be made in a similar fashion.

 

I am making the assumption that the 3D loom is creating the thread for general use in carbon components. More research can be done here.

 

same here, i am not a fan of cf look in general. i am ok with the roof, but the cf wing piece looks a bit off. and personally i am glad the cf package here doesn't have the cf hood

paper theory again. quite a few e9x owners i have talked to commented that the cf room didn't really change things much. of course, there are others who think otherwise

 

I admire this group's pursuit for perfection. Does it sound familiar?

Yaguchi is our man. If he says the CF improves the car, ever so slightly, to enhance the accessibility of the RCF for drivers at all levels, I personally am inclined to believe him until I draw a different opinion through personally DRIVING the car for a duration.

So many of the qualitative and quantitative assessments are based on erroneous data based on a prototype drive. Is there anyone other than me who is looking for the production car, instrumentation-based performance metrics and driver experience? Chime in please. I am all ears. Since when are critical car evaluations based on a lesser car handed over to journalists that was tuned to prevent fast starts?

Can we give Yamaguchi the respect he deserves? The bloody guy is an automotive genius.