Saturday, 6 September 2014

Lexus RC F first drive Review | Autocar

Lexus RC F first drive <b>Review</b> | Autocar

Lexus RC F first drive <b>Review</b> | Autocar

Posted: 04 Sep 2014 08:01 PM PDT

What is it?

The RC F loosely replaces the old IS F, and essentially it's Japan's intriguing and undeniably striking looking alternative to a BMW M3/M4.

Look beyond its arresting new nose and browse what's on offer objectively in the new £59,995 RC F, however, and you will immediately be struck by two thoughts. One, that it appears to represent an awful lot of car for the money. Two, that it is, despite what Lexus might claim, very much an old school kind of sports car.

Thought number one is entirely positive, of course, and arrives courtesy of the fact that the RC F looks a million dollars - both in photos and in the metal - and appears to be bursting at the seams with potential.

Lexus claims the car can hit 60mph in 4.5sec and has a top speed of almost 170mph but that it is also one of the stiffest and most refined sports coupés the world has ever seen.

The gradual realisation of thought number two, however, is rather less welcome today than it might have been 10 years ago.

Back then, a brand new rear wheel-drive coupe that's powered by a 5.0-litre V8 engine with 471bhp would have seemed like a mouth watering proposition.

Nowadays, such He-Man credentials no longer seem quite so relevant, and they certainly don't feel very cutting edge beside what's on offer from the faster, more economical, less polluting competition from Germany.

And perhaps the most baffling statistic of all about the RC F is its kerb weight - because at 1840kg it is a full quarter tonne heavier than the BMW M4/M3 with which it is so obviously intended to compete.

To be blunt, sending the RC F into battle with a compromise such as this to bear - against competition like that - almost seems like harakiri on Lexus' behalf.

What is it like?

Key question here is therefore - can the Lexus RC F belie such apparent technical antiquation by being all warm and cuddly where it counts - on the road? The answer is both yes and no.

In many ways, what you see is what you get. The RC F makes a fabulous noise and goes as hard as you'd imagine it might given that it has 471bhp and 392lb ft but weighs two tonnes with two people on board.

In a straight line it's at least a seven out of 10, with a snappy eight-speed gearbox that features all sorts of different drive modes plus that NASCAR soundtrack doing all it can to enhance the excitement factor whenever possible. But even in a straight line, a BMW M3 it is not. Not by a long chalk.

But that doesn't matter because it goes round corners beautifully and has delicious steering and handling so can be forgiven for weighing a bit too much because the driver involvement it provides makes an M3 seem boring by comparison, correct? Not quite.

On the track we drove on in the USA, which had been chosen specifically by Lexus to demonstrate the car's abilities, the RC F felt surprisingly clumsy near the limit, with shuddering brakes and nowhere near enough precision to its handling.

It was, to be honest, a bit of a disappointment at eight tenths and beyond, with neither the composure nor the thrill factor you'd hope for, despite featuring a new Torsen differential.

As a road car, though, the RC F makes much more sense. Its ride is supple in all but the most aggressive drive mode, of which there are four in total to choose from.

Its electric power steering is also accurate and precise without ever delivering much in the way of genuine interaction between your palms and the road below. And the noise and thrust from its V8 engine is pretty magical on occasions, while even the handling seems more incisive at lower, less strenuous road speeds. 

As a pure road car, in fact, the RC F is a highly desirable, rapid, and really rather lovely thing to drive - with a mostly brilliant new interior and a level of quality inside that few if any cars at this level can match.

If Lexus made a little bit less of a noise about the RC F being a great track car, it would be far easier to accept it for the soothing and refined sports GT car that it unquestionably is. But as a track weapon alone it lacks teeth, and in this class that's either a major drawback or a mild disappointment, depending on what you expect from such a machine.

Should I buy one?

Overall the RC F struggles to compete with the M3 on too many levels to be classed as a genuine contender. Like the IS F it loosely replaces, it's an intriguing outsider, nothing more, even if it is powered by one of the most naughty sounding V8s money can buy. 

And for the 170 people who Lexus hopes will buy one in the UK next year, none of this will matter much because, if nothing else, the RC F looks so compellingly different from the herd. This alone will make it appeal to a certain kind of customer; to someone who wouldn't be seen dead in an Audi or an M3. And that's absolutely fine by us.

Lexus RC F

Price £59,995; 0-62mph 4.5sec; Top speed 168mph; Economy 26.2mpg; CO2 252g/km; Kerb weight 1840kg; Engine V8, 4969cc, petrol; Power 471bhp at 7100rpm; Torque 392lb ft at 4800-5600; Gearbox 8-speed automatic with paddle shifters

Nissan Pulsar 1.2 DIG-T Tekna first drive <b>Review</b> | Autocar

Posted: 05 Sep 2014 12:50 AM PDT

What is it?

Eight years after Nissan gave up making its conventional C-segment five-door hatchback, this is the Nissan Pulsar: a wholly conventional C-segment five-door hatchback.

Nissan's boldness almost a decade ago, in favour of making crossovers like the Juke and Qashqai – the latter now built in triple-shifts at Sunderland, has been a resounding success Europe-wide. But not quite resounding enough to tempt everyone. 

It seems there are those, for whom a Qashqai – or any other crossover/SUV – is just a bit too daring. They want a conventional small hatchback, darnit. So Nissan is giving them one.

What is it like?

The Pulsar is based on the Renault-Nissan Alliance small platform (think Note, etc), but has an impressive 2700mm wheelbase relative to its conventional C-segment 4.3 metre length. There are MacPherson struts at the front and a torsion beam at the rear. 

And it comes with lots of stuff: an LED headlight option, emergency braking radar, internet connection and DAB radio, automatic parking, a reversing camera that cleans itself, lane-departure and blind-spot warning, and more. All in a car priced from £15,000-£20,000; about 10 per cent less than a Volkswagen Golf, by Nissan's reckoning.

Also by Nissan's reckoning, the Pulsar isn't really a Golf rival. Nissan is thinking more along the lines of a Hyundai i30 or Kia Cee'd. The kinds of cars whose makers, 10 years ago, tried to tempt buyers in with lots of stuff at low prices, but who now tempt them by offering pleasing baby-premium interiors, multi-link rear ends and extremely capable dynamics. 

The Pulsar doesn't quite have all of those. Oh, it feels well-assembled enough inside, but the brightwork is a touch clumsy – real metal components don't look like that – and there are too many hard plastics. 

Ergonomically it's generally good, though – there are wide armrests on the doors and the driving position is sound. And there's bags of legroom in the rear. The entertainment system and the like is mostly lifted straight from the Qashqai.

There are two engines first of all; a 1.5-litre diesel and a 114bhp 1.2-litre petrol turbo tested here. It's the same engine as in the Qashqai, so is pleasingly quiet and only modestly powerful, but willing above 2000rpm – as is the experience generally. This is a pretty refined car.

The ride is generally smooth; better in the 1.2 than the heavier-engined, 1.5-litre, 109bhp diesel we've also driven. But look for anything beyond mediocre smoothness, towards the kind of mild involvement that make a Golf or Ford Focus – or even a Cee'd or i30 – compelling, and you'll be searching a long time.

The steering's light and inert (again, heavier in the diesel). It's an easy car to rub along with. To sit in and drive, the Pulsar is one of the least interesting cars in the segment.

Should I buy one?

It's hard for those who like cars to truly bond with. But not everybody cares about cars, after all and, crucially for Nissan, there are some fleet clients who won't consider Nissan unless it offers an ordinary family hatch. Besides, cars of this type are still worth five million sales a year in Europe.

So it makes the right noises and will bring in the right revenue. But for people who enjoy cars and driving, it feels like a product that Nissan knew it should have, rather than one it revelled in making.

Nissan Pulsar 1.2 DIG-T Tekna

Price £20,345; 0-62mph 10.7sec; Top speed 118mph; Economy 56.5mpg; CO2 117g/km; Kerbweight 1304kg; Engine 4cyls in line, 1197cc, turbo petrol; Power 114bhp at 4500rpm; Torque 140lb ft at 2000rpm; Gearbox 6-speed manual
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