Lexus RC 350

Some people search for their soulmates in love, but Lexus reckons it can replicate this affection with a sports coupe. It’s done it before with the LFA, but the new RC 350 is a little more affordable. 

Which probably explains why there’s a fair bit of recycling underneath the RC 350’s dramatically styled body. A GS platform is used from the front shocks forward for engine versatility. The IS Convertible’s platform makes up the middle section, for rigidity, while IS sedan brings up the rear.

The hand-me-downs don’t stop there as the centre stack and dashboard are pretty much identical to the IS, too.

Interior and spec do change slightly as you progress through the RC 350’s three-tier line up. Strangely, the $66K ‘Luxury’ is the base, with trinkets like digital radio and power front seats standard.

Summon another $8K for the F Sport and you’ll get Mark Levinson audio and an LFA-style electronic speedo.

Another $12K for the Sports Luxury gets you Lexus’s fancy shimamoku wood trim, semi-aniline leather and sunroof.

In our eyes, however, the middle child of the line up is the real pick as the F Sport’s sack of dynamic treats is stuffed a lot tighter than other trim levels. Its front calipers clamp bigger two-piece rotors while on top of adaptive dampers it’s the only trim with variable-ratio steering and Porsche-style rear-wheel steer. This gamut of tech makes it freakishly agile in low-speed direction changes. Which is a surprise at 1740kg it weighs more than a Nissan GT-R and works hard to keep that mass in check. 

As the road starts winding, however, weight becomes just a number. The F Sport shrinks around you, able to be positioned with precision before turning in with a confidence backed by good grip, balance and clear steering... with some help from Lexus’s white coats.

Its adaptive dampers are continuously changing in hardness, and the rear bags are turning in either the same or opposite direction as the fronts.

It’s this suite of clever chassis tech that allows you to coax an extra tenth or two out of the RC 350 quite comfortably as you lean into its reserves of lateral grip.

But it’s also what brings us to the RC’s fatal flaw. The car is good value, well appointed and quite capable in F Sport trim. But while it ticks all the boxes, any real visceral connection seems buried beneath layers of attempted perfection. And we suspect there, under these layers, is the soulmate Lexus wants to offer.