There’s a saying that goes something like “you can sell a young man’s car to an old man, but you can’t sell an old man’s car to a young man (or woman)”. That was the main complaint about Lexus cars, their cars were just too conservative looking, although they were extremely well made and infinitely more reliable than their European competitors.
Then came the radical/controversial “L-finesse” design language, which featured designs that were very aggressive looking. And guess what? People then started complaining these cars were too aggressive looking, but that didn’t stop Lexus from applying this design language to pretty much all of their cars and they’re selling these vehicles like hotcakes.
One of the first production cars to receive this new design treatment was the Lexus IS sedan, and I must admit, I absolutely hated it when I first saw pictures of it. But after seeing it in person, I did a complete 180 degree turn, now I absolutely love the design of that car. This has never happened to me before, if I hate a car in pictures, I might tolerate it when I get up close and personal with it, but with IS 350, I absolutely love it now! I was very close to buying an IS 350 late last year, but the Infiniti guys offered me a hefty discount on a Q50S and I let my wallet do the talking.
Anyways, this post isn’t about the IS 350, but I had to mention that because the design of that car is relevant here. This article is about the 2015 Lexus RC 350 coupe, which Lexus Canada provided us for a week to review. In a way, the RC 350 is a coupe version of the IS, although the car isn’t completely based on the IS sedan.
The RC coupe comes in two flavors, wild and really wild, you can’t call the first car mild because it is anything but mild. The base model is the RC 350 and then there’s the really wild RC F. Our week-long review car was the 2015 Lexus RC 350 AWD, which has a starting price of $54,600 CAD, and our car included the $7,200 optional “Executive Package”, which includes the follow:
- Power tilt & telescopic steering wheel
- 17 speaker Mark Levinson premium audio system
- Pre-Collision System
- Lane Departure Alert
- Dynamic Radar Cruise Control
- Park Assist
- Rains Sensing Wipers
- Premium LED headlights with automatic high beam
- Leather seats with memory
The RC 350 comes in either rear-wheel drive or all-wheel drive formats, these cars can further be customized by the “F Sport” package, which includes the mesh front grill, making the grill look even bigger. Our car wasn’t equipped with this package, but I have become quite a big fan of the mesh grill, to me it is a major selling point of these cars. In a world full of conservative looking European cars that can’t be differentiated from one model to another, Lexus cars are a breath of fresh air.
Styling
Continuing with styling, which is a subjective matter, a lot of people complain about the styling on new Lexus vehicles, these complainers are mostly teenage boys talking big on internet forums and car blogs, however, there are a lot more people out in the real world that actually love the styling on these cars. Living in Vancouver, BC, which is filled with expensive cars, our 2015 Lexus RC 350 had lots of heads turning, I got a lot of thumbs up and many people came up to me complementing “my” car.
The Lexus RC has a very sleek looking side profile, it looks like it’s moving at all times. There are lots of body lines, giving the car a dynamic look. The car is low to the ground and is very wide, the width is accentuated with the wide fenders, giving the car a very sporty look. The entire styling package is nicely complemented by 19” wheels and the five-layer paint, which is a first on a production vehicle. Our review car was silver, so it didn’t really show how good this paint looks, but I have seen some blue and red RC’s and the paint looks absolutely stunning.
Interior
The interior is another hotly debated part of the RC, I personally like it a lot; you have sit in it to really appreciate it. The interior looks to be inspired by the cockpit of a jet, you sit really snug inside it with a large center console/center stack, housing lots of buttons and knobs. It feels really sporty and makes you feel like you’re going on a mission rather going to the grocery store to pick up some milk.
I’m a big fan of minimalist interiors, but there’s just something special about touching actual buttons to change things. The interior layout is pretty straight forward and it didn’t take long to get used to all the buttons and how everything works. The RC coupe also comes with a touch pad, which kind of works like mouse, to move the pointer around on the 7” display screen. The touch pad works quite well and I became a big fan after using it for a few days.
The dashboard has quite a few different levels, which give it some depth and sporty feel. I do however wonder how hard it would be to clean some of the nooks and crannies in the long run, once it becomes dusty.
The interior is a very quite and comfortable place to be in, which is what we expect from Lexus. Every surface is soft touch and there’s even soft padding on the outsides of the center console to keep your kneed comfortable. The front seats are very comfortable and provide lots of lumbar support and come with what seems like an infinite number of settings to suit any size driver. These seats are heated and ventilated, with three settings for heating and cooling. The rear seats are not too hard to get to , and as a 2+2, they are a tight fit and should be used in emergency situations or for children.
Driving
The Lexus RC 350 is powered by a 3.5 liter V6 engine, producing 307 horsepower at 6,400 rpm and 277 pound-feet of torque at 4,800 rpm. Power is sent to all-four wheels via a 6-speed automatic transmission, with steering wheel mounted paddle shifters. The rear-wheel drive cars come with 8-speed automatic transmissions.
The RC 350 is more of a Grand Tourer and has a comfortable manner to the way it delivers power and the way the transmission acts. It comes with three settings “Eco”, “Normal”, and “Sport”, which changes the throttle response and the aggressiveness of the transmission. Cars with the F Sport packaged come with the above three settings and “Sport S+”, and an adaptive suspension, which probably gives the car more sporty driving dynamics.
The V6 engine is very smooth and quiet, it delivers power very smoothly through the 6-speed gearbox. The V6 has plenty of power for normal city and highway driving. However, if you want more power, you can always go for the very wild RC F, which is powered by a V8 engine, producing 450 horsepower and 383 pound-feet of torque. I think the V6 powered RC is good enough for daily commutes and long trips and should save you quite a bit at the gas station compared to the RC F.
Speaking of fuel consumption, according to Lexus, the RC 350 AWD should consume 12.6 L/100 km in the city and 9.2 L/100 km on the highway. We averaged (according to the on-board computer) 12.9 L/100 km in 80/20 city/highway driving and 9.8 L/100 km in pure highway driving. We weren’t too far off the claimed numbers, and of course, your driving style will have a lot to do with how much fuel your car consumes.
Safety
The Lexus RC 350 is full of safety features and the latest technology we’ve come to expect from modern vehicles. The RC comes with ABS brakes, traction control, 8 airbags, LED lights, blind spot monitoring, rear camera, park assist, and cross traffic monitoring.
Final thoughts
The Lexus RC 350 is a great looking car, in my humble opinion; it’s a different take on things and the car has a polarizing effect on people. It isn’t for everyone, but those who like will like it a lot. It will get you noticed, and I think Lexus has done a great job by creating a design that doesn’t just blend into the crowd like many of the European luxury vehicles.
The Lexus RC 350 coupe competes with cars like the Audi S5, BMW 435i, and the Infiniti Q60 Coupe (formerly known as the G37 Coupe); it has similar pricing and power figures as those cars. The A/S5 used to be my favorite car in this category, but it has grown old and Audi just changes the lights or some trim on it and call it a new car. If I were spending my own money on any of the above cars, I’d definitely go with the RC 350 coupe, mostly likely with the F Sport package, and no I’m not saying this because this is a review of a Lexus product.
If you are in the market for a luxury grand touring coupe, give the Lexus RC 350 a good look and you’ll see that this is a great little package. For more information visit lexus.ca
