Lexus isn’t always the first brand that comes to mind when one thinks about high performance, sporty GT cars. But that ought to change. In addition to a proud lineage that includes the IS-F, LFA, and current LC 500, they’ve also been producing the RC F since 2014. It’s been around a while, but is often overshadowed by its European rivals.
However, two RC F trims, last year’s Track Edition and this year’s Fuji Speedway Edition, were engineered to outperform the competition and offer a very hardcore-enthusiast driving experience.
I never got my hands on the Track Edition, but I did recently spend a whole week with the 2021 Lexus RC F Fuji Speedway Edition. It’s a limited-run, extra-modified version of an already fun car that’s undergone a strict diet and has some pretty wild race car engineering mixed into its DNA.
Does it check all the boxes as a rowdy, purpose-built, dual-duty (street and track) GT car? Without giving too much away just yet: I had a ton of fun with it.
Thanks very much to Lexus USA for lending me this 1 of 60, Sonic Chrome 2021 Lexus RC F Fuji Speedway Edition for a whole week. It’s total price comes out to $102,510 after a base price of $97,100, a $2,725 navigation system upgrade, $1,160 triple-beam LED headlights, $500 parking assist, and a $1,025 delivery fee. Special thanks to Chris Rosales for providing the photos for this review.
As far as high performance intentions, the RC F Fuji Speedway Edition certainly looks the part
Its hood is made of molded carbon fiber that’s absolutely beautiful and indeed weighs next to nothing considering its size. The roof is full-carbon fiber as well, which might be the first of its kind this side of an LFA. Wait, scratch that, it’s available on a well-optioned LC 500 as well. Though one big hunk of carbon that the LC doesn’t have is a massive wing like the RC F’s. This wing looks stunning for being factory-equipped, with a deep finish and F badging woven into its winglets. Additionally, blacked-out and graphite-colored trim pieces adorn its grille and bumpers, and even more carbon comprises its massive front lip. The RC F has always appeared a tad portly, but these sporty accents, combined with its forged BBS wheels and massive, multi-piece carbon-ceramic Brembo brakes give it a much more trim, and muscular look.
These all contribute to its svelte (by RC F standards) 3,737-pound curb weight, so it indeed practices what Lexus preaches about it being serious performance business. Though going one further, there’s even more performance engineered into its exterior: functional vents at the back of its fenders to remove built up air pressure and improve overall aerodynamics.
Between its front lip, rear wing, and vented fenders, I’m not sure if any other car on the market has this amount of factory aero engineered into it at this price point.
I’ve said this before about the RC F, but it’s especially true with the Fuji’s comprehensive exterior accents: it looks more like a GT3 car for the road than anything else. Lexus Racing actually fields a couple GT3 cars in IMSA’s GTD class via Vasser Sullivan, and they’ve been pretty damn successful at it.
Opening the RC F Fuji’s big driver-side door reveals a handsome, performance-oriented interior
With some typical Lexus fare -the trackpad (or rather, Lexus’ Remote Touch), center screen, digital dash, analogue clock, and lots of physical buttons (which I always appreciate)- it’s easy to hop in and start configuring stuff. While the trackpad always takes me an afternoon-or-so to regain familiarity with, it’s an infotainment system that just works. It’s been around for a while but I wouldn’t call this a bad thing. Its big, Circuit Red leather-trimmed sport seats are incredibly comfortable and have a good, low-slung driving position. Substantial leather and Alcantara surfaces populate the interior throughout, handsome red carbon accents finish off the door trim, and the steering wheel is thick and quite comfortable.
As far as fitment goes, the Fuji’s telescoping steering wheel can be brought in nice and close to help one play pretend-VLN race car driver (especially with its big paddle shifters), and the seats have just as much bolstering as they do comfort. The interior is spacious and very airy for a coupe with good visibility all-around. Though, it doesn’t accommodate my 6’3” stature very well; with the seat all the way down my head sits barely below the headliner. This causes some annoyances while rolling over undulations and bumps at speed. The fit is right at the limit of what I’d call do-able; tall people with track intentions might have to seek an aftermarket seat solution. Though, anyone shorter would be just fine for sure.
Under the hood: Lexus’ 5.0-liter, naturally-aspirated 2UR-GSE
This has been their go-to, high-revving power plant for a number of years, but it's far from overstaying its welcome on the production line. This angry-eight sends 471 horsepower and 391 pound-feet of torque to the rear wheels, the bulk of which comes on around 3,000 RPM and stays strong all the way to its 7200 RPM redline. It revs up faster and smoother than most V8s, and is pretty multi-faceted; it’s happy to be easy-going and benign with light and lazy throttle inputs, but it quickly jumps into action with any input past half-throttle. Any degree of mild-to-spirited launch produces a glorious roar from its dual exhaust, with a wonderful induction sound to boot. This engine is much appreciated in this day and age of increasingly-stringent emission regulations and new EVs debuting what seems like every month.
When courageous throttle inputs aren’t one’s intentions, the exhaust has a nice, understated-yet-menacing tone around town in Sport and Sport Plus modes. It makes its presence known, but with some restraint.
Thanks to the significant diet that Lexus gave the RC F Fuji Speedway Edition, it reaches 60 MPH in just under 4 seconds (3.98 to be exact). This is pretty darn impressive for such a bulky-looking sled, and Lexus went to great lengths to drop weight in addition to all its carbon fiber. Installing hollow half-shafts, a lightened, compact A/C compressor, and more. Its curb weight tips the scales at just 3,737 pounds. This is around 100 pounds heavier than the lightest trim of last year’s BMW M4, though around 100 pounds lighter than all trims of the new 2021 BMW M4.
There’s gotta be a joke in there somewhere; Lexus does its thing with the RC F for six-whole-years, sometimes being made fun of for how hefty it’s been, but then the brand-spanking-new M4 comes along and surpasses it to become the new portly sport coupe. The RC F’s 8-speed automatic gearbox has been the ol’ standby in their lineup for a while now. But for 2021 standards it still shifts pretty quick in Sport and Sport Plus modes, and includes some nice blips to accommodate its snappy downshifts. Its shift times hold up against those of competing ZF automatics and dual-clutches, but just barely. Enjoying the hearty, 5.0-liter V8 to the fullest requires keeping it in manual mode on tight, technical, and twisty roads. Automatic shifting is a tad awkward in scenarios like these; it doesn’t want to hold revs through sweepers that require a little maintenance throttle before a hearty, foot-down exit.
Around town the RC F rolls along pretty comfortably for a performance car in Normal and Sport modes (I never put it in Eco mode, what’s the point?) despite its teeny-sidewalled, 35-series Michelin Pilot Sport 4 S tires. It deals with Southern California’s worst stretches of tarmac pretty well; any jarring topography is luckily cushioned by its big comfortable seats. You never forget that it’s a performance-oriented machine, but it still has good compliance.
However, highway cruising it where it really shines. My loan with this carbon fiber-clad beast actually included a trip to Lexus’ High Performance Driving School at Weathertech Raceway Laguna Seca. It was quite optimal for the jaunt up there and back on California’s 101 and 5 freeways. The comfortable ride joins its brilliant power curve to make one awesome highway sled. It’s as comfortable at 90 MPH as it is at 65 MPH, with a quiet, well-insulated interior to help drown out road and wind noise. Radar cruise control is easy to toggle and makes longer, boring jaunts much easier to deal with. Finally, its excellent 835-watt Mark Levinson Audio sound system makes the most of both poorly-recorded podcasts and finely-engineered pop hits on any number of SiriusXM satellite radio stations. Just like its ride quality, it’s as crystal-clear at 90 MPH as it is 65 MPH.
The RC F Fuji handles its size very well, with remarkably neutral handling and very little body roll
Standing next to this Sonic Chrome beast, one might assume it handles a bit lazy or wallowy when the road gets tight and twisty. But actually, it's quite the opposite. The strict diet that Lexus engineers put the Fuji on certainly paid off, as it feels just as sharp and confident in tight corners as it does on long sweepers. It changes direction with ease, and its massive, 14.9-inch rotors and 6-piston front/4-piston rear calipers never hint at any degree of fade. Driving with precision is rewarding, as is driving with a little extra throttle at corner exit with traction control off; this thing is so freaking fun to lightly rotate and slide around. The chassis is immensely communicative and controllable, and what’s communicated through the steering wheel isn’t bad for a modern, electric steering rack either.
This translates to all the grin-inducing, tail-out rascality on public roads (as long as the coast is clear, of course). Dipping the nose into a right-turn with a stab of the throttle creates the easiest, most-hilarious little drifts, as long as there’s a wide runway downrange.
The RC F Fuji handles its size very well, with remarkably neutral handling and very little body roll thanks to its F Adaptive Variable Suspension. In addition to these Sachs-sourced dampers it’s all multi-link, fully-independent engineering under its arches. No wonder these things make such great bases for GT3 cars. The front end feels light and sharp, as if the engine is well-behind the front shock towers (even though it clearly isn’t), and you really feel like the majority of its weight is centered right in the middle of the chassis.
Slicing through tight canyon roads is a ton of fun at the helm of the RC F Fuji. 255-width front and 275-width rear tires ensure all the grip in the world. A small downside is a grabbier-than-average brake pedal, though that’s quite made up for with its other inputs, such as its good steering feel, solid, variable steering weight, and confident paddle shifter feel.
Is it worth its lofty $97,100 MSRP?
The 2021 Lexus RC F Fuji Speedway Edition is a special car indeed. While I didn't get a chance to wheel it on track, its brilliant driving experience on the street told almost everything I needed to know. The Fuji nameplate is a fitting homage to the legendary track where all of Lexus’ performance vehicles are engineered. Its body has more carbon fiber bolted and epoxied onto it than most other performance-centric cars under $150,000.
Its production numbers are quite miniscule, too; just 60 units are being sold in the USA. But is it worth its lofty $97,100 MSRP? That’s very much up to the eye of the beholder. It costs way more than its main rivals the BMW M4 and Mercedes AMG C 63 Coupe, but then, if one were to think of it like its distant-cousin the Toyota Land Cruiser, it costs so much because Lexus/Toyota are known for engineering their cars for reliability and longevity. There’s a good chance the ol’ faithful 5.0-liter 2UR-GSE will withstand the test of time better than any high-strung, turbo power plant from Europe. Or at least do so with fewer service intervals.
My hope is that the people who do buy the Fuji actually take full advantage of it by having all the fun in the world on the road and on track. It comes from the factory with some impressive performance equipment that just begs to be used. The sum of its parts is quite special, and it’d be a shame if any current or prospective owner stashes theirs away in a collection, only to see the light of day when it’s rolled across the auction block in twenty years. And never routinely revved out for the world to enjoy.