Lexus is getting ready to launch its first ever global racing program. The news was buried in the Detroit Auto Show press conference, overshadowed by the launch of the GS F sports sedan, but it marks a significant shift in Lexus philosophy.
The car at the heart of the new racing program — called, appropriately, Lexus Racing — is the new RC F sports coupe. We’ve covered its exploits in the Japanese SuperGT series and in the European FIA GT3 leagues, but now we have official word that Lexus will compete in a yet-to-be-named North American championship. The first hint of such an expansion came at SEMA, where Lexus showed its gleaming chrome-on-white race car, but now its officially official.
The preliminary specs of the RC F GT3 are as follows: A 5.0L naturally aspirated V8 tuned to 543hp, nearly 100 more horses than the street legal version. The overall weight of the race car is just 2,756 pounds, but further information was not revealed just yet.
The move indicates Lexus is serious about shedding its conservative blazer for a sleek three-piece suit. For years the brand has struggled to be taken seriously as a performance alternative. Despite some sporty models like the original SC coupe, IS sports sedan, the snarly 2007 IS F and the LFA supercar, those attempts always seemed to dead end with out a second act.
With the new announcement, the division is finally committed to investing in an expensive motorsports program that will, hopefully trickle down into the street car DNA. Lexus officials at the Detroit Auto Show said that 2015 would likely be a real-world testing phase with the full effort to launch in 2016.
Live images by Ben Hsu.
Leave a Reply