Used Lexus RC 2015-2020 review

Getting out on the open road in the Lexus RC

The Lexus RC is quite big and quite heavy. Just as the RC F is significantly heavier than the BMW M4, the RC 200t F Sport is 170kg plumper than its closest Bavarian counterpart, the 420i, and a fun-size Mars bar longer.

Faced with a 1675kg payload, the engine's 242bhp can only manage 7.5sec to 62mph - a metric that's at odds with extrovert styling that's not unlike a swollen, extra-terrestrial Toyota GT86.

But healthy speeds are reached pretty swiftly - albeit to an innocuous soundtrack of restrained growls and whines - and following a beat of lag, the engine pulls smoothly and consistently from 3000rpm to the redline just past 6000rpm. At a cruise the engine hushes, but ask for yet more steam and progress eases as the RC 200t's weight begins to tell.

The torque-converting eight-speed mirrors the engine by favouring smoothness over sharpness, doing so even in Sport S+, when kickdown can still be hesitant. The brakes, no different to the RC 300h hybrid's, are nevertheless progressive and effective.

Benefitting from a lighter nose than the RC F, the RC 200t's steering impresses. It's accurate, responsive and well weighted, and while feedback is muffled, this is one electric system that doesn't feel at all artificial, bolstering the cornering confidence lent by the Torsen differential.

To keep reins on the car's heft and in line with Lexus's conscious shift towards sportiness, the ride is firm but not crashy, and some motorway jitters and the occasional urban thump aren't overly unsettling. Body control is respectable at speed, and while there is some roll and dive, the car isn't undone by damp, rippling backroads, subject to the odd flutter of traction control.

The interior is familiar from the RC F, offering quality, comfort and many, many buttons. To nitpick, some carbonfibre-effect surfaces feel surprisingly cheap, and the optional touchpad multimedia interface is over-complicated and unintuitive.

The sculpted leather seats are firm, snug and supportive, and comfort was easily found for this frame in the front, although knees and head were both impeded enough to make the rear quarters - dimly lit thanks to thick B and C-pillars - practically untenable. Splitting and folding rear seats add flexibility to the deep but high-lipped 374-litre boot.