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[quote=“Big Boss”"]
(Press Release)
2015 Lexus RC
The all-new Lexus RC will make its world debut at the 2013 Tokyo Motor Show. Two RC models will be displayed - the RC 350 with 3.5L V6 engine, and the RC 300h hybrid with 2.5L engine.
The Lexus RC Line brings to life the luxury marque’s focus on emotional appeal through a dynamic and alluring two-door coupe. It has been developed to raise the brand’s profile with a broader audience and new-to-Lexus customers. It injects emotional appeal into the Lexus DNA that is synonymous with build quality, refinement and reliability.
Design Exterior
Lexus designers have infused the RC design with deeply contoured lines never before seen in the Lexus line-up. They have integrated the widest and lowest application yet seen of the Lexus spindle grille.
Triangular headlamps evoke the sporty characteristics of the LF-LC design while concept vehicle inspiration is evident in the unique three-lamp LED design. At low beam, the lamps adopt an L-shaped pattern as an expression of the Lexus identity.
The sharp, thin design of the rear combination lamps adopts the symbolic Lexus L-shaped motif.
RC’s aluminium wheels continue the concept-to-production design philosophy with two available combinations - a deeply sculpted 10-spoke 19-inch wheel or a muscular five-spoke 18-inch version, each precision-machined and finished with elegant black and platinum centre caps.
The hero colour is red - featuring brighter and more contrasting shade made possible by a new Lexus painting process that uses multiple layers of clear and deeper-coloured coating.
Design interior
Highly acclaimed sports concept vehicles have greatly influenced the interior of the Lexus RC coupe, with maximum use of contrasting colours, materials and lighting.
A purpose-built Lexus-first lighting package provides a great sense of occasion, with illumination that reflects upwards, rather than downwards, to envelop the cabin.
High contrast interior trim, including a startling new tone called Clove, emphasize design lines and accentuate the elegant cabin.
Genuine shimamoku wood highlights - the result of an intense, layered wood production technique refined by Lexus - are used to emphasize the surrounding trim.
The driver’s cockpit is divided into operational and display zones. The upper zone houses the instrument panel and a seven-inch navigation screen while a layered centre console integrates a new Lexus first Remote Touch Interface.
Importantly for a coupe, the seats utilize an integrated foaming construction method - much like the moulding of racing seats - to ensure optimum occupant comfort and support.
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[quote=“Big Boss”"]
2015 Lexus RC Revealed Ahead Of Tokyo Motor Show Debut
Lexus’ new RC luxury coupe has been one of the industry’s worst kept secrets, with patent filings of the car’s name discovered more than a year ago, and prototypes spotted in the wild for almost as long. Now, finally, Lexus has revealed its RC ahead of the car’s official world debut at the 2013 Tokyo Motor Show on November 20.
Two RC models will be displayed in Tokyo: the RC 350 with a 3.5-liter V-6 engine and the RC 300h powered by a 2.5-liter four-cylinder engine paired with a Lexus Hybrid Drive system. Some readers may recall that the latter was previewed in 2012’s Lexus LF-CC concept.
The LF-CC was intended to preview Lexus’ new 2014 IS sedan range, but its bodystyle was that of a coupe, indicating that a new two-door version of the latest IS wasn’t too far off. That car is the RC, which we’re expecting in showrooms around the middle of next year, as a 2015 model.
The styling of the new RC is impressive. Clean surfaces merge with aggressive lines that hint at the performance ready to be unleashed. The design team has integrated the widest and lowest application yet seen of the Lexus spindle grille. Aluminum wheels measuring 18 inches across are standard.
Note, the RC will form the basis of a new Lexus F model. This ‘RC F’ has been testing hard at Germany’s Nürburgring and is tipped to receive a naturally aspirated 5.0-liter V-8 rated at 455 horsepower. Lexus is serious about building a performance image and will also use the RC as the basis of its Super GT race car next year.
Lexus hasn’t mentioned powertrains specs for the RC range, but expect the RC 350 model to feature the same 306-horsepower rating as the IS 350 and the RC 250h to get the 300-horsepower rating of the IS 300h model sold overseas.
Inside the car, Lexus says there is room for four. The seats utilize an integrated foaming construction method–much like the molding of racing seats–to help provide support while keeping the seat’s backing thin.
The driver’s cockpit is divided into operational and display zones. The upper zone houses the instrument panel and a seven-inch navigation screen while a layered center console integrates a touchpad surface Lexus calls the Remote Touch. Trim options include leather for the seats and wood for the dash.
The RC measures in at 184.8 inches in length, 72.4 inches in width, 54.9 in height, and it has a wheelbase of 107.5 inches. This puts it into a similar size category of its key rivals, the Audi A5 and BMW 4-Series.
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[quote=“Big Boss”"]
RC 300h hybrid announced
Lexus has revealed the 2014 RC Coupe ahead of the car’s public debut scheduled for Tokyo Motor Show later this month.
Taking some visual exterior cues from the LF-LC and LF-CC concepts, the all-new RC adopts a lower and winder spindle front grille and an overall contoured shape. It boasts three LED lamps in the triangular headlights and is envisioned with 18-inch five-spoke muscular alloys or optional 19-inch deeply sculpted ten-spoke rims with both of them featuring black and platinum center caps.
The interior cabin is inspired by Lexus’ recent concepts and comes with the firm’s first ever lightning package with illumination reflecting upwards instead of downwards. The upper area of the dashboard incorporates the instrument panel and a seven-inch navigation display while the layered center console comes with a built-in Remote Touch Interface, a novelty in a Lexus model.
At the Tokyo Motor Show there will be two versions of the RC Coupe: RC 350 and RC 300h Hybrid. The first one will make use of a V6 3.5-liter gasoline engine while the other will be powered by a 2.5-liter engine working together with an electric motor.
Both versions are 184.8 inches (4693mm) long, 54.9 inches (1394mm) tall, 72.4 inches (1838mm) wide and come with a 107.5-inch (2730mm) wheelbase.
A range-topping RC F is already on the way taking into account Lexus has trademarked the “RC F” moniker. Under its hood there will probably be a V8 5.0-liter engine rated at around 455 bhp (339 kW) and 543 Nm (401 lb-ft) of torque. The car will allegedly be showcased in January at 2014 NAIAS in Detroit.
More details about the 2014 Lexus RC Coupe will be provided as we get closer to the Tokyo Motor Show set to open its doors to the public on November 23.
Source: Lexus
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[quote=“Big Boss”"]
(Motor Trend)
2015 Lexus RC First Look
If you believe – before seeing the 2015 Lexus RC – that Lexus lacks excitement in their lineup of hybrids and SUVs, then Junichi Furuyama, chief engineer of some of the Toyota’s luxury division’s most important projects, is right there with you.
The fact that the average Lexus customer is about ten years older than say, Audi’s, is not lost on the man behind the new IS. While all manufacturers are banging their heads on whiteboards hoping an idea that appeals to younger buyers rattles out, Furuyama has a pretty simple solution to sex up the big L: a really good-looking Coupe.
“Of the entire Lexus lineup” Furuyama tells me, “there are only two models in the sporty and specialty segment. The IS-F and the IS-C.” The IS-F is a fine example in the classic American practice of sticking a big burly V8 in a car it was not necessarily intended for. As well as this formula works in the IS-F it isn’t necessarily a sports car from the ground up. The IS-C is sexy only in that it catches your attention the same way a bawdy blonde on the beach does – by going topless. So to fill this hole in the lineup, Lexus developed a coupe designed to be a coupe from the beginning.
The 2015 RC is unmistakably a Lexus. Look no further than the family-staple Spindle Grille that stretches even further and more taught across the low, wide nose. The radical, detached Nike Swoosh/Fish-Hook LED DRLs from the new IS still sit separated by a hunk of the bumper below the primary projector housing. The new LED headlights comprise three ‘L’s for the low beam – a design element that, according to one designer, Lexus has been trying to incorporate for a while.
Beyond the love-it or loathe-it Predator grille everyone by now at least expects, and relatively busy headlight design, the RC is refreshingly restrained from the front fender flare on back. This is, of course, in comparison to extreme examples like the LF-LC or LF-NX concepts Lexus has introduced recently. One editor points out if you cover the nose of the car with your hand (go ahead, give it shot); the profile is barely indistinguishable from the Honda Accord Coupe, for better or worse.
Moving inside the sleek, two-door body, anyone that has spent some time with the contemporary Lexus line will feel right at home. Though they’ve been rearranged a bit, all the familiar switchgear is neatly laid about the cabin. The shifter from a GS sits aside the drive-mode select wheel and below them is the touch-pad that replaces the mouse-like control toggle introduced on the LFA.
This particular concept is fitted with the same “Integrated Foaming” seats found in the new IS Sport models. It’s a process Lexus recently adopted that ultimately involves placing the seat covers inside a mold to be filled, rather than molding the filling then placing the cover over it. This allows for more complicated seat designs and shapes in the cushioning otherwise not possible. Two rear buckets are suitable for smaller occupants or short rides. This may be just enough for the singles and couples in their 30s and 40s Furuyama says the RC targets.
So what’s on the docket to propel the potential four passengers in Lexus’ new Sport Coupe? The RC350 badging in these pictures is a good indication the tried and true 3.5-liter V6 will be a popular choice. A 2.5-liter Hybrid powertrain will also be available. When asked if it will be a performance-oriented hybrid system a la the Infiniti or Acura units, Furuyama said “The Hybrid system for this car is going to be the same as the Lexus Hybrid Drive System found on the IS”. So anticipate something closer to Camry Hybrid efficiency than NSX like acceleration.
Speaking of the IS, in asking Furuyama why Lexus wouldn’t use the brand awareness of their most popular sedan and just call this the IS-Coupe, he explained, “One thing I want to emphasize, the aim of introducing this new model RC is to add a new level of excitement to the existing Lexus lineup. This is not an IS Coupe, it is the RC, a new coupe in its own right. It is an independent model. It’s not a deviated version of the IS so it has its own unique styling and its own unique performance.”
See what else Furuyama has to say about the RC when the car is officially unveiled at the Tokyo Motor Show later this month.
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[quote=“Big Boss”"]
2015 Lexus RC Debuts at 2013 Tokyo Auto Show
Ever since the redesigned Lexus IS compact sport sedan debuted, we’ve been waiting for the coupe version of Lexus’ smallest sedan. Well, it’s finally here, and it will be called the 2015 Lexus RC when it makes its official debut at the 2013 Tokyo Auto Show. At the show, Lexus will show RC350 and RC300h hybrid models powered by, respectively, a 3.5-liter V-6 and a 2.5-liter four-cylinder engine and Toyota’s hybrid synergy drive – the same hybrid system as the Europe-only Lexus IS300h sedan.
The 2015 Lexus RC’s styling diverges from the sedan with a different take on the polarizing Lexus spindle grille. Up front, the RC has a wider, lower grille opening than the sedan with chrome trim and fog lights integrated into the lower edges of the exaggerated lower intake. The split headlight design with an L-shaped strip of LEDs remains from the sedan, but the triangular headlights are narrower and lead more into the bulging hood and flared fenders of the RC coupe. Moving down the side, the Lexus RC has a distinct character line that dips down below the side mirrors and then rises toward the rear fenders. These rear fenders flare out to meet aggressive-looking air intakes that flank the dual exhaust pipes out back; viewed from the rear, the 2015 Lexus RC looks especially low and wide. Although certain design cues from the IS sedan are gone, like the sharp-edged, sloping taillights, the overall look of the coupe is like a slightly longer, lower, and wider version of the sedan.
The 2015 Lexus RC in these early photos does not appear to have received the F-Sport treatment, so we wonder if these modifications might lend a more aggressive look to the RC as they do on the IS. We hope the Lexus LF-A-inspired gauge cluster from the IS F-Sport makes its way to the RC. The overall interior design of the Lexus RC is practically a copy of the IS sedan’s, with a cockpit-like feel thanks to the tiered dashboard. The center stack is made up of capacitive touch controls and small buttons for the audio system, along with Lexus’ mouse-like infotainment controller. Lexus does say that the RC will receive new interior colors, including a trim color called Clove, to provide a high-contrast look.
The 2015 Lexus RC rides on the same platform as the Lexus IS, but with a slightly shorter wheelbase and a wider track. The RC is also a bit lower and longer than the sedan. We expect the 2015 Lexus RC coupe to feature the same powertrain lineup as the IS in the U.S., which comes with either a 2.5-liter, 204-hp V-6 in the IS250 or a 3.5-liter, 306-hp V-6. All-wheel-drive should be an option with both engines as it is with the sedan, and an F-Sport package is expected for the RC coupe as well. Sedan models come with a six-speed automatic on all IS250 models and all-wheel-drive IS350 models, with an eight-speed automatic on IS350 rear-wheel-drive models. Lexus should be revealing powertrain details closer to the car’s U.S. on-sale date, which is also unknown at this point.
We’re also eager to hear more about the upcoming Lexus RC F high-performance model. Since the outgoing Lexus IS F sedan soldiers on for the 2014 model year, it could be a while until the RC-F debuts. Set to compete against the BMW M4, the RC F will reportedly feature a new 5.0-liter V-8 engine producing around 450 horsepower. For now, though, check out the gallery of the 2015 Lexus RC coupe and look for the newest Lexus to hit the floor at the 2013 Tokyo Auto Show in two weeks.
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