| Autocar

Posted: 09 Sep 2014 07:50 AM PDT

The Lexus 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.

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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 coupé 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.

The key question here is whether the Lexus RC F can belie such apparent technical antiquation by being suitably capable on the road, where it really counts.

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.

Overall the RC F struggles to compete with the M3 on too many levels to be classed as a genuine contender. Like the Lexus 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 a BMW. 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 between 4800-5600rpm; Gearbox 8-speed automatic with paddle shifters

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