Lexus RC F Track Edition in the super test: What can the naturally aspirated V8 do on the racetrack?

A naturally aspirated eight-cylinder engine, five liters of displacement, 464 hp – and here comes the kicker: It's 2025. While most of the powerful mid-size dinosaurs have long since died out, one in particular has endured to this day: the Lexus RC F, which we're celebrating today in the winged Track Edition. Unfortunately, it will also be a farewell party, because production of the Lexus coupe will cease at the end of November 2025.

Let's get the party started. Full throttle for the first time, enjoying the intake noise for the first time – acoustically, the voice of the Lexus five-liter engine is somewhat similar to another naturally aspirated classic, the four-liter naturally aspirated V8 of the BMW M3 Coupé of the E92 series.

The RC F Track Edition's emotional character catapults you back to another decade, and not just acoustically. The cockpit design, with its clearly arranged buttons and the mix of Alcantara and blue-black carbon fiber trim, feels like a journey back to the 2010s.

Given today's cockpits, which are often overloaded with digital displays and touchscreens, I long for a control center like the one in the Radical Coupé (abbreviation RC), which first saw the light of day in 2015. Traditionally, all high-performance Lexus models bear the F abbreviation in their name.

From 2015 to 2017, the RC F launched with a 477 hp naturally aspirated V8 engine. To reduce emissions and ensure compliance with stricter emissions standards, the eight-cylinder engine has been producing "only" 464 hp since the 2018 facelift. The special Track Edition model has been on the market since 2019.

The instrument cluster of the RC F Track Edition is sure to bring a smile to your face. The centrally positioned digital tachometer, which can be configured with three different graphics, is strongly reminiscent of a truly legendary Lexus sports car. That's right, the V10 supercar Lexus LFA (built from 2010 to 2012).

Back when I wasn't yet in office at the Supertest, I once had the privilege of driving the LFA from our editorial office in Stuttgart to Hockenheim on the Autobahn. Those 116 kilometers of Autobahn in the LFA's characterful sports car were more memorable than many of the fast Nordschleife laps I later completed in my Supertests.

What good is a fast lap time if a car doesn't captivate you emotionally? And that's exactly what I consider the most crucial aspect of a sporty car, especially from a buyer's perspective: the vehicle's character. The Lexus RC F Track Edition is one of those character actors you'll never forget.

Right next to the striking tachometer, the RC F Track Edition features an analog speedometer that feels no bigger than a conventional wristwatch. It's actually too tiny for an instrument cluster, but it has that certain something. The analog speedometer needle, for example, starts at the 6 o'clock position. While the small speedometer isn't ideal for reading, it's also wonderfully exaggerated. Or why does a vehicle with a top speed of 270 km/h have a speedometer scaled up to 340 km/h? It makes no sense, of course, but every time you look at the speedometer, it feels a bit like a super sports car.

And what exactly is behind the "Track Edition" suffix? First of all: sharper aerodynamics with a modified front splitter and a fixed rear wing. According to Lexus, the rear wing is said to result in 26 kilograms of downforce on the rear axle at 270 km/h.

Not only the splitter and rear wing, but also the hood and roof of the Track Edition are made of black carbon fiber. Visually, the RC-F special model certainly looks like a track-day hero. The goal of the extensive use of carbon fiber is to reduce weight. The Track Edition also features a ceramic brake system from Brembo and forged 19-inch wheels from BBS.

According to Lexus, the unsprung mass on the front axle of the Track Edition has been reduced by 25 kilograms thanks to the brake discs, brake pads, and wheels. Overall, the Japanese developers promise a weight reduction of between 70 and 80 kilograms for the special model.

It's not quite that much on our wheel load scales. Compared to the last RC F test car, the Track Edition's weight savings is 61 kilograms. But the fact remains: with a total weight of 1,744 kilograms, the RC F Track Edition is still anything but lightweight.

Turn the dial on the center console to the right to "Sport S+" mode and press the ESP button. Attack, out onto the Nordschleife. Rarely has a glance at the lap time display on the measuring equipment been as irrelevant during a super test as it was today during the super test of the Lexus RC F Track Edition.

Yes, at the end of this Nordschleife lap, the Lexus will be significantly slower than the assembled mid-size competition or even some compact sports cars, but that doesn't really matter. The RC F Track Edition still perfectly fits one of my favorite football sayings: "I had a good feeling about it."

Feeling is what the Lexus excels at. In the RC F Track Edition, you feel considerably faster on the Nordschleife than you actually are. Why is that? First of all: its sound. Just before a beep warns you to upshift near the rev limit of 7,300 rpm, the throaty V8 naturally aspirated engine of the five-liter engine, known internally as the 2UR-GSE, sounds like a great sports car cinema.

The RC F once again demonstrates the impact sound has on us at the limit. In our perception, a distinctive engine noise is associated with speed. A whisper-quiet electric vehicle automatically feels slower at the limit than it actually is. When it comes to emotions, there's no need to argue: I'd rather have a slow lap time with the magnificent sound of a naturally aspirated engine than a fast electric lap with wind noise and no engine sound.

Not only does the RC F Track Edition feel like an old-school rear-wheel drive car in terms of sound, but also in its handling at the limits. While modern suspensions increasingly filter out the topography of the Nordschleife with sophisticated spring and damper tuning, automatically making you faster with superior driving stability, the RC F Track Edition moves around the Nordschleife like many other sports cars did a decade ago.

Modern development concepts may be faster in terms of lateral dynamics, but the limits are also becoming increasingly narrower. The RC F Track Edition boasts a comparatively wide limit and compliant handling at the limit. This makes the RC F well-suited for beginners switching to a rear-wheel drive car for the first time – provided they have the necessary cash.

Overall, the RC F Track Edition gives you honest feedback at the limit. Starting with the steering, which is free of synthetics and offers good feedback. In "Sport S+" mode, the steering also offers a firmer hand torque than in Normal mode. Whether on curbs, bumps, or the concrete slabs of the carousel, the steering provides largely unfiltered feedback.

In long, drawn-out corners, the Japanese coupe initially behaves largely neutrally at the limit. Towards the exit of long, drawn-out corners, the RC F's front axle tends to swerve slightly into understeer, thereby limiting the maximum possible cornering speed. With -0°40' of negative camber on the front axle, the tolerance range of the manufacturer's specifications (front axle camber: -1°13' to 0°17') was not fully utilized. Comparable mid-size competitors offer significantly more aggressive camber values.

When exiting tight corners (Adenauer Forst, Kallenhard), the RC F sometimes pushes the rear end under load. The slight and easily controllable power oversteer brings a smile to your face under your racing helmet, knowing that valuable tenths of a second are being lost on the racing line.

The topography of the Nordschleife also repeatedly encourages the RC F to perform body movements, which, for example, prevent you from leaving the accelerator pedal at full throttle in the Fuchsröhre due to the compression, or from launching yourself even faster over the large jump into the Bellof S. The "Track Edition" name would have been expected to offer more bite not only in terms of the chassis but also in terms of tires. Instead of the Michelin Pilot Sport 5, for example, a Cup tire with more grip would be recommended.

The ceramic brake system also performs reliably on the racetrack, with no trace of fading. However, both on the racetrack and during warm-up braking, the deceleration values ​​are very mediocre. There's a tuning issue somewhere between the ceramic brake system, ABS control, and the Michelin Pilot Sport 5 tires. Therefore, the RC-F driver shouldn't even think about late braking points when visiting the racetrack, otherwise the coupé will slide blindly over the front axle when braking.

253 km/h at the Schwedenkreuz, 224 km/h at Kesselchen, 214 km/h approaching Schwalbenschwanz, and 272 km/h on the Döttinger Höhe are hardly walking pace on the Nordschleife's top-speed sections, but compared to today's turbocharged competition, the RC F Track Edition can't quite keep up. Acceleration from zero to 200 km/h in 16.4 seconds is, of course, no longer a feat for a powerful mid-size coupe these days. No wonder, considering the Maha performance measurements show the five-liter V8 is 27 hp short of its rated power.

Even though the RC F Track Edition cannot keep up with the modern mid-size competition on the Nordschleife, it is at least 11 seconds faster than the Lexus IS-F sports sedan in the super test.

Ultimately, it's its character that speaks for it as a sporty everyday car. And anyone driving a Lexus RC F Track Edition can be pretty sure they're not driving a mass-produced car, but something very rare. In 2021, only 28 RC models were registered in Germany. Since 2022, the Federal Motor Transport Authority (KBA) no longer publishes model-specific registration figures for the coupé.