Tuesday 23rd June 2015

Lexus RC F GT Concept for Pikes Peak

Lighter, faster RC F to race in Colorado this weekend. Now about a road car...

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Alright, we probably bleat on about making road cars from competition vehicles a little too much but the prospect here isn't so far-fetched. That's because Lexus's RC F GT Concept, racing at Pikes Peak this weekend with Justin Bell, uses both the road car's engine and transmission. Furthermore, Lexus has developed the program to "Serve as Key Developmental Tool for F brand Engineering [sic]". Which sounds promising.

IS F CCS R: lots of letters, lots of smoke

But first an explanation of what the RC F GT Concept is, because it's sometimes a little hard to keep track of Lexus's motorsport exploits. We've had the RC F GT500, a four-cylinder racer for Japan's Super GT touring cars, and the V8 GT3 car. Both look spectacular. This car keeps the V8 but in a less loopy state of tune than the GT3, and aims to build on the lessons of the IS F CCS-R which competed at Pikes Peak in 2013. It will race in the Time Attack class.

Officially Lexus says the 5.0-litre V8 and eight-speed auto are identical to the road car but with "states of tune adjusted for the competition environment". So quicker then, for everything. Just as interesting are the weight reduction measures implemented for the GT Concept. The standard RC F's rather corpulent 1,840kg kerbweight has been trimmed by 400kg through a carbon bonnet, roof, boot lid, door panels, wings, spoiler and dash. There's also a polycarbonate window but the tweaks are surely even more severe than that to result in such a loss. Let's see if Lexus releases any more details.

We're told that motorsport "remains a top priority for Lexus", with the opportunity there "to develop more than concepts and components for F brand products". That's according to group Vice President Jeff Bracken, which has to be a good sign. An RC F with c. 500hp, a chunk less weight and some motorsport pedigree? Sounds good to us!

[Itsallicanafford]

...well this one hasn't really set the internet on fire.

I for one (and i would appear to be one), really like to idea of a fast Lexus, it's so wrong it's somehow right...