The Outstanding Lexus RC F

It’s a captivating car and not much else on our British roads looks like it.

The Lexus drives like a bat out of hell and it has a lion-like soundtrack to go with its rip roaring performance and “look at me and I’ll fight you” looks.

The front is all but taken up with a mesh-filled air intake under the swollen bonnet, and at each corner sit mammoth 19 inch alloy wheels. These are complimented by a wicked retractable rear spoiler and four lairy tailpipes.

This Lexus sports car is no BMW M4, but, so what? Yes, the Bavarian brand is its arch-rival, and the RC F is pricey, but the fact it is, it’s so different, it makes you yearn for it more. Honestly, take a test drive in the Lexus – if you dare – and you’ll find it grows on you every minute you sit in the jet-fighter-like cabin.

Indeed, the RC F’s interior is just as extraordinary as its exterior, with firm, supportive seats and a meaty, leather steering wheel that you can tell means business the moment you grasp it. Furthermore, the digital dials are set up clearly for a quick glance – because that’s all you’ll be able to give them when the car is at full lick.

On the move, you can take things easy of you want; the Lexus won’t try and harm you; in some ways it behaves like a gentle giant. It will only buck like a mad mule if you bury your right foot into the carpet.

The car is perhaps a little bit more forgiving than some of the other new kids on the block. This is because the RC F isn’t turbocharged – it simply has a V8 lump and five litres of out-and-out muscle. Accompanied by 471 crazy horses under the bonnet and an eight-speed automatic gearbox, the Lexus will tear tarmac off the line, doing the zero to 62mph benchmark test in only 4.5 seconds. Keep your foot on the gas and the RC F will punch you into the back of your seat all the way to 168mph.

In essence, the Lexus RC F is what the Americans would call a ‘muscle car’. The brute’s big lump under its front lid and its rear-driven wheels put it squarely in this category. This means you do have to watch out for any tail end waggle, but not as much as you might imagine. That is where you could get unstuck; get too confident and you’ll end up in a ditch the minute the roads get greasy. Otherwise, traction is remarkably forgiving and the RC F will slice through corners like a hot knife through butter.

As alluded to earlier, when not in nutter-mode the car is like a sleeping Lion. If you’re not in any hurry to wake the beast, the ride comfort is so good it will keep you munching miles until the car’s fuel needle gets low – and that will happen quite often. The RC F only does 26.2mpg on average.

But who on earth is going to but this car for its efficiency? This is a big boy’s toy – nothing more.