What's the difference?
If it wasn’t for this review appearing on your screen right now, would you have even remembered the Lexus RC was a thing?
At the time of writing, the RC is actually the fifth most popular model in its sports car segment. Yep, only the two-door versions of the Mercedes-Benz C-Class and E-Class, and BMW 4 Series and Z4 sell better.
So, why is the RC seemingly invisible? But more importantly, does it deserve to be? Let’s test the RC 350 F Sport to find out.
You want a V12 Ferrari, but you have growing responsibilities. A strictly two seat supercar just isn't quite right when kids start to arrive.
Sure, you can add a Ferrari F12 to your collection, and pick up a Merc-AMG family truckster to cover the functional stuff.
But it's not the same. You want to have your Italian torta, and eat it, too. Enter the Ferrari GTC4Lusso, the prancing horse’s latest take on a rapid, luxurious, four seat coupe, able to leap continents in a single bound without so much as a bead of perspiration forming on its forehead.
It's fast, suitably furious, and able to accommodate family or friends on a fast blast to anywhere you choose to go. And as usual with Maranello’s finest, the name says it all.
'GT' stands for Gran Turismo (or Grand Tourer), 'C' is short for Coupe, '4' relates to the number of people it accommodates, 'Lusso' means luxury, and of course, Ferrari is Italian for fast.
If you’re a buyer that thinks with their head, the RC 350 F Sport is the obvious choice when compared to its direct rivals.
After all, it looks great (at least to these eyes), feels luxurious in more ways than one, and is unrivalled when considering value-for-money.
But, if you think with your heart instead, it’s clear it is isn’t on the same level dynamically and therefore doesn’t feel as sporty to drive as its name suggests.
So, don’t let its sports car classification fool you, the RC 350 F Sport is more of a grand tourer, or a comfortable cruiser, to be precise, and an underrated one at that.
The Ferrari GTC4Lusso is a properly fast, beautifully composed, and supremely luxurious four-seat coupe.
Sadly, evermore stringent emissions regulations have put atmo V12's on the knife edge of extinction, with Ferrari, Lamborghini, Aston Martin and a few others hanging on for grim death.
In fact the twin-turbo V8 Lusso T (powered by the same engine used in the California T and 488) will arrive and be sold alongside this car in Australia later this year.
But we’d like to propose a captive breeding program to keep the big V12s alive because this engine’s soundtrack and the GTC4Lusso’s overall driving experience is magnificent.