2015 Lexus RC F

Typically, when full-line car companies set out to develop a coupe, they start with a sedan from the current lineup, trim two doors, and rewrap the package in a sleeker body. A shorter wheelbase is optional. Lexus rolled up that memo and burned it before going to work on the RC. Instead, to form its new coupe’s structure, Lexus combined the front clip of the GS sedan, the center section of the old IS C convertible, and the rear end of the IS sedan, using adhesives and welding and a fancy technique called laser screw welding, which allows for more frequent tacks and thus greater rigidity.

The three-piece approach makes more sense once it’s explained. The GS front gives engineers the extra track width they wanted for handling. They deemed the IS rear sufficient to keep the car’s dimensions tidy, and the IS C center section necessary for its inherent stiffness and shorter wheelbase. Compared with the current IS sedan, the RC coupe is roughly 1.5 inches longer, wider, and lower, but with a 2.7-inch shorter wheelbase.

The RC F we have here is the hot-rod version of the RC, and the car Lexus is using to effectively replace its IS F sedan, which does not have an analogue in this new IS generation. (Lexus’s hi-po four-door will be the GS F, bigger and likely more expensive than the old M3-baiting IS F.) But the RC F is not trying to be a direct BMW M-whatever knockoff; it has its own thing going. The snug cockpit swaddles the driver with information and controls in what seems like an appropriate techno-modern, Tokyo-by-night design scheme. A high center console features an optional touchpad that is part of the $2840 navigation and up­graded stereo package, and the instruments showcase a morphing LCD center tach, similar to the LFA’s. Nearly everything in the car can be adjusted with the haptic infotainment control pad, but there are also redundant buttons with knobs for volume and tuning, just as in the current IS.

The LCD tach changes its appearance between the four drive modes (eco, normal, sport, and sport plus) and is flanked by another screen on the left, which displays tire pressures, radio stations, g-forces, and just about everything else. A smaller analog speedometer lies to the right.

There are few occasions in life when we’d say that 467 horsepower isn’t enough. This is one of them. While the IS F’s old 5.0-liter V-8 got thoroughly overhauled for this new RC F, the car weighs 4048 pounds, 200-plus more than the old sedan.

Mass is the RC F’s millstone. It has 400 pounds on a BMW M4 and weighs as much as the four-wheel-drive Audi RS5. In a three-way drag race, the Bimmer walks away, with the F and RS5 keeping pace through the quarter-mile. By 130 mph, the RC F has eked out a nearly two-second lead on the RS5. Keep your foot in it and a governor abruptly halts acceleration at 171 mph.

With all the data crunched, the RC F proves no quicker than the old IS F. Nor is it slower, though. We recorded a 4.3-second zero-to-60 and a quarter-mile time of 12.8 seconds, identical to a 2008 IS F. Identical, too, is the naturally aspirated V-8 wail. While muted in the cabin, pedestrians will flinch when the intake’s noise flap opens and the camshaft timing changes the engine’s rumble into a sweaty roar.

Lexus gets credit for adding 51 horsepower to the V-8 with something more than a software update and without resorting to forced induction (cough, cough, BMW). Titanium valves, all 32 of them, along with a lighter crankshaft and con-rods, allowed engineers to lift the redline by 500 rpm to 7300. Only the 8300-rpm Audi RS5 can rival the F for aural gratification; the M4’s turbocharged and overly enhanced soundtrack is no match. If only the RC F were quicker for it.

More revs equals more power, but it also requires more air and fuel. Thus, the 2UR-GSE, as the V-8 is coded, gets a larger throttle body and higher-flow fuel injectors. Max power comes at 7100 rpm, while the torque peak of 389 pound-feet, up 18 from the IS F, is available at 4800 rpm. That’s 400 rpm earlier than the old engine. Compression also increases to 12.3:1, from 11.8:1.

Enabling the extra power are wider-range cam phasers, giving the V-8 Atkinson-cycle capability. This improves the RC F’s efficiency during cruising and under low loads and gives the RC F a 2-mpg boost in EPA highway testing over the old IS F, to 25 mpg. City fuel economy is unchanged at 16. Thirsty, the RC F chugged a gallon of premium every 15 miles during its stay here.

All the work that went into the structure is apparent from the first few turns of the wheel. An astonishingly stiff unibody means the cowl never quivers because of the stiff central section’s origin as a convertible. The rigid architecture succinctly telegraphs all communication from the chassis, which is both good and bad. Push the front axle past its limit and tire chatter shimmies up the steering column, as it’s supposed to. But a mercilessly pitted road sends some shudders to the spines of passengers as well. The car feels as supple as a Lexus ES on a smooth road, something the rigid, tense M4 can’t claim.

The F’s seats come stacked with large bolsters in the front buckets, appropriate for a car capable of 0.95 g on the skidpad. Considering the Michelin Pilot Super Sports wrapping 19-inch forged BBS wheels, that’s lower than we expected, but the car comes set up with a healthy amount of understeer. Lexus admits that it didn’t want to build an intimidating car. Its goal was a PG-rated performance coupe, fun for all skill levels, and on that it has delivered.

Despite the four drive modes, the steering offers only normal and sport options. The latter, active in sport and sport plus, adds heft but no feedback. Like a stubborn toddler, the wheel communicates clearly only when its diaper is full, when the tires have gone over the edge.

Transmission logic will adapt to a particular driving style, but the eight-speed auto, another IS F carryover, responds to manual inputs without protest. Robust 15.0-inch front rotors and 13.6-inch rear rotors do an impeccable job of erasing speed without fade, though we’d prefer a pedal that wasn’t muddy-feeling at the top. A 154-foot 70-to-zero stopping distance is just longer than the M4’s. Considering the RC F carries extra poundage, that’s a commendable performance.

Unlike its curb weight, the RC F’s base price has gone down, and at $63,325 it is $1200 less than the 2014 IS F. Our test car came with the Performance package, which is a big investment at $5500. With it you get an M4-style carbon-fiber roof, carbon rear wing, and a torque-vectoring differential. The diff, a first for Toyota, has three settings independent of the drive modes: normal, slalom, and track. Slalom offers the most-aggressive torque swings. The diff effectively mitigates understeer but works only when you are on the throttle. Unadvertised is the package’s 50-pound weight penalty. The carbon-fiber pieces save about 15 pounds, but the unit, with its electric motors and clutch packs, is 66 pounds heavier than the standard Torsen limited-slip diff.

In the ultrabright Molten Pearl paint, the RC F looks more brash and busy than flowing and elegant. It leans hard on the Japanese comic-book robot-superhero aesthetic. And indeed, its power-to-weight ratio is the only thing keeping the F from being an actual superhero. It may not have the outright thrust or balance of an M4, or even the style of an RS5, but the new F has a personality all its own, a Japanese Camaro with lots of buttons and displays and a boisterous voice. The IS F made its debut in 2007 as a fast but otherwise unexceptional Lexus, though quiet improvements meant that by 2011 the car was near the top of its class. Four years later, the RC F enters the market firmly planted there.

2016 Ford Mustang Shelby GT350R

The all-new, all-awesome Shelby GT350 picks up where the Boss 302 left off, with more power, performance, and poise. Power comes from its 5.2-liter V-8 with around 500 hp and 400 lb-ft. A six-speed manual is the sole transmission; a Torsen rear diff is also standard. Giant brakes promise eye-popping deceleration while magnetic ride control keeps handling and ride sharp yet civilized. For the ultimate Stang, the 350R reduces weight by deleting the rear seats and rolls on carbon-fiber wheels.

At the L.A. auto show in November, Ford unveiled the highly impressiveFord Mustang Shelby GT350. A track-focused pony, the GT350 is powered by a naturally aspirated flat-crank 5.2-liter V-8 that revs to the stratosphere, packs Ford’s first adaptive magnetorheological suspension, and wears unique, aero-massaged bodywork. To say it’s prepared to slay apexes would be an understatement.

But what if you want, you know, more? More unique features, more capability, more focus? Well, first off, you’re insane. But thankfully so are the folks at Ford Performance, so feast your eyes on the Ford Mustang Shelby GT350R—the R doesn’t stand for “righteous,” but it might as well.

Incredibly Focused

The R keeps all the components that make the GT350 great and throws out pretty much everything else not required by law or structural integrity, all in the interest of destroying road courses. So the flat-crank 5.2-liter V-8 stays, still eclipsing both 500 horsepower and 400 lb-ft of torque. (Final output for the engine has yet to be confirmed.) The electronic, adaptive MagneRide suspension goes to work under the GT350R, too, but gets new, track-oriented programming and is teamed with revised spring rates and anti-roll bars, a lower ride height, and unique alignment settings, as well as revised bushings, bump stops, and cross-axis ball joints.

The bodywork is an optimized version of the basic GT350’s. As on that car, everything ahead of the A-pillars has been massaged, and the headlamps sit about one inch lower than they do on the standard-fare Stang. To maximize downforce, the R gets a revised front splitter and a huge carbon-fiber rear wing. Ford says the latter piece moves the center of pressure rearward and improves the balance between downforce and lift.

The brake calipers are painted red, and the badging and body stripes get red pinstriping. The racing seats have red contrast stitching, and the steering wheel has a red centering stripe. Red is racy, after all. The only transmission is a six-speed manual transmission, and the car is fitted with dedicated coolers for the engine oil, the gearbox, and the 3.73:1 Torsen limited-slip differential.

Diet for the Track

The GT350R, like the Camaro Z/28 that Ford’s engineers no doubt had taped to a dartboard in the break room, is about as stripped-down as a street-legal car can get in 2015. The GT350R buyer gets no air conditioning, no stereo, no rear seats, and no trunk upholstery or cargo floor. There’s no backup camera for reversing, and neither a spare tire nor a can of sealer can rescue you if you suffer a puncture. Ford also deleted the resonators from the exhaust system, a move the company claims saves weight. That’s undoubtedly true, but the resulting motor music is justification enough for us. Not that the garden-variety GT350 needs any help in that department.

And then there’s the rolling stock: The GT350R rolls on carbon-fiberwheels, a first for any major automaker and a rarity even among exotic supercars. Ford says that the composite wheels—sized 19 by 11 inches up front and 19 by 11.5 out back—save an astounding 13 pounds per corner and are stiffer than any aluminum wheel. And they’re wrapped in hyper-sticky Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 tires with a rubber compound and construction unique to the GT350R.

All the weight shaving adds up to a car that’s 130 pounds lighter than a GT350 with Track Pack. An optional Electronics Package means buyers can get a GT350R with dual-zone A/C, touch-screen navigation, and a seven-speaker audio system, but while those people will have turned their GT350 into a slightly more livable commuter, a bunch of weight has been piled back into their track car. Which makes those people ninnies.

Really, if you’re at all interested in what the GT350R is cooking, you’re the kind of magnificent masochist who relishes the idea of an interior that looks as if it were abandoned on the assembly line at the end of a shift. Even if you’re not a track-day hero, you probably went googly eyed at the sight of the huge chin splitter­ and the fixed wing—and the dead-eyed apex-hunting they promise.

We continue to be amazed that, in this heavily regulated era, major automakers can keep cranking out these sorts of bonkers track machines. The fact that Ford can take a vehicle as extreme as the Shelby GT350 Mustang and make it even more insane, and then sell it in showrooms next to Fiestas and Fusions, points to a bright and glorious future for all of us. And speaking of showrooms, Ford says the limited-production GT350R will arrive in one near you later this year. Get in line now.

Ford GT 2017 The Star-Spangled, 600-plus-hp Hypercar!

You can’t buy a Ford GT yet, but if you want one, start saving now. This is an honest-to-goodness exotic, to be built right here in the U.S. of A. One look at its stats tells you all you need to know: a mid-engine twin-turbo V-6 good for more than 600 hp, full carbon-fiber construction and body panels, and active aerodynamics. Power will be sent to the rear wheels courtesy of a seven-speed dual-clutch automatic; sadly, a manual will not be available. The all-new GT starts production in 2016.

Engineered to keep company with exotics” is how Ford modestly refers to its bombshell 2015 Detroit auto show debut, the GT hypercar. The concept’s appearance wasn’t a huge surprise, as we learned months agothat Ford was taking a new GT to Le Mans in 2016, and such a car must be homologated. But as it slinked onto a stage at Detroit’s Joe Louis Arena, Ford kept feeding us a host of stats that had our jaws opening wider by the second. It packs more than 600 horsepower. It utilizes full carbon-fiber construction and body panels. It has active aerodynamics. The new GT is poised to not only keep company with other exotics, but perhaps also force them to up their game.

Grand Theft Auto Show

It bears repeating: After a year full of astonishing high-performance and supercar launches that included the Chevrolet Corvette Z06, Chevy Camaro Z/28, Porsche 918 Spyder, Ferrari LaFerrari, McLaren P1, and Ford’s own Shelby Mustang GT350, we were floored. It’s not just the Ford’s sultry styling—we’ll get to that shortly—it’s the sheer brassiness of the thing. To the carbon-fiber monocoque Ford’s engineers bolted front and rear subframes made from aluminum. The active aerodynamic elements include a multiposition rear wing that mimics the caboose-tamers of the P1 and LaFerrari to help keep Ford’s mid-engine supercar planted at speed. The suspension is active and uses inboard, pushrod-actuated damping, and ride height is adjustable.

Power comes not from a supercharged V-8 as in the previous GT, but rather Ford’s next-generation twin-turbocharged 3.5-liter EcoBoost V-6 engine. We’re promised it will produce “more than 600 horsepower.” We have to imagine that the GT’s EcoBoost six likely shares at least some componentry with the new 3.5-liter EcoBoost V-6 in the 2017 F-150 Raptor, meaning it should have plenty of torque; we’d wager at least 500 lb-ft. So far as we can tell at this point, there is no hybrid componentry, no complicated electric-boost function, and no kinetic-energy recovery system, just pure, unadulterated horsepower from a beastly gas engine feeding the rear wheels via a seven-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission. Carbon-ceramic brakes haul the prototype down from speed, and 20-inch wheels wrapped in Michelin Pilot Super Sport Cup 2 tires are tasked with keeping the car stuck to the pavement.

Stunning, Future-Think Design

All of the chassis porn is matched by the visual titillation of the GT’s body, the flying buttresses of which manage to disguise what is essentially the shape of a Le Mans prototype racer. The wide front end is reminiscent of the classic Ford GT40, but the rest of the design is fully supercar-modern. The tight, two-seat passenger cell tapers to a point above the two cannon-sized central exhaust outlets, and the rear fenders sit entirely apart from the main fuselage. (Credit the laydown, pushrod suspension for making the channels between the wheels and body possible.) Unlike last decade’s GT, the doors hinge up and forward and don’t incorporate portions of the roof; they still, however, grant access to a simple, businesslike cabin. A digital gauge cluster is augmented by a central color touch-screen display with Ford’s just-introduced Sync 3 infotainment setup, while the slim center tunnel houses the starter button and transmission selector buttons. A pair of paddle shifters sprouts from behind a squircle-shaped steering wheel, and we can’t get over the awesome door-mounted HVAC vents.

The previous GT was amazing and a supercar by every standard, but it was also fairly conventional and done more to pay homage to Ford’sFerrari-slaying GT40s of the past than to advance the breed. This GT, on the other hand, reads like those original GT40s in that it’s an unmistakable shot across the bows of the world’s preeminent supercar makers. It’s as if Ford’s engineers got punch-drunk on performance after churning out the Shelby GT350 and the new F-150 Raptor, turned to one another and asked, “What’s next?” The answer, of course, was to once again take aim at the big guns from Europe.

While the Detroit car is technically a concept, as we said up top, the GT will be produced starting next year. The 2017 Ford GT’s natural nemesis will be Chevrolet’s mid-engine Corvette that’s due roughly two years from now, although Ferrari’s newly twin-turbocharged 458, the second-generation Audi R8, and possible even loftier supercars will be in play, too. Keeping company with exotics, indeed.