To familiarize ourselves with the 2015 Lexus RC F — built alongside the RC — we challenged it on two racetracks including the high banks of Atlanta Motor Speedway with Adam Andretti and NOLA Motorsports Park 20 minutes outside of downtown New Orleans. Performing admirably and by far beyond my expectations, the coupe is elevated by a 467-horsepower 5-liter V8 distributing 389 lb-ft of torque between 4,800 to 5,600 rpm and revs to 7,100 rpm. With a top speed of 170 mph and accelerating from 0 to 60 mph in 4.4 seconds the RC F is absolutely vitalizing. The advanced powerplant is paired with an 8-speed close-ratio Sports Program Direct Shift (SPDS) transmission with steering wheel mounted paddle shifters. At NOLA the super coupe was light and fluid through turns and switchbacks and stored enough reserved power in each gear when acceleration was required.
