Like An Iron Fist In A Velvet Glove: The 2020 Lexus RC-F

The 2020 Lexus RC-F.

If you haven't been paying close attention to Lexus in the past decade, it may surprise you to know that the brand has expanded from its original mission of immaculately made isolation chambers and now also offers immaculately made lust objects. 

Two of those, the Lexus LC 500h, and the identically bodied LC 500 (no "h" means it's powered by a 471-horsepower V8 instead of a hybrid), sit atop the TireKicker's Best Cars list at the top of this page.

The Lexus RC 350 is also a stunner, though milder, at 311 horsepower.  But the RC-F we're here to talk about today....that's a different kind of RC.

Smooth Operator: The 2020 Lexus ES 300h

The 2020 Lexus ES 300h.

In this time of uncertainty and stress, it's nice to know there's the 2020 Lexus ES 300h.  If you comb through the back posts of TireKicker (now that we all have some extra time), you'll find frequent praise for this car over the past 12 years, and the new one is the best yet.

Status, Symbolized: The 2020 Lexus LS 500

The 2020 Lexus LS 500.

There's a difference between a display of extravagance and a status symbol.  The first merely shows you have (or can borrow) money.  The second, ideally, shows both wealth and taste. 

Compact Is The New Mid-Size: The 2020 Lexus NX 300h

The 2020 Lexus NX 300h.

Perception is a funny thing. Four years ago, when Lexus introduced the NX, a smaller companion to its long-running, best-selling RX crossover, I thought it was kinda small. Its proportions haven't changed at all---but it has grown on me.

Especially if your life is lived in urban traffic, a tighter, more compact vehicle is a worthwhile thing---easier to get into tight spaces on a freeway or in a parking lot, no wasted space for extra stuff you don't carry around anyway and, usually, some savings on gas.

Good Thing, Small Package: The 2019 Lexus UX 250h F SPORT

The 2019 Lexus UX 250h F SPORT.

"Little" and "luxury" have a hard time co-existing in American minds. Houses, cars, diamonds, boats---bigger means more expensive and more expensive means luxury.

Or so it went. There's a new generation of luxury buyers coming into their peak earning years who realize that luxury is an experience, not a physical measurement. If a small crossover SUV that gets good gas mileage makes sense for them, then why can't there simply be a luxurious version of that?

That's where the 2019 Lexus UX 250h comes in. It is the smallest of Lexus' three crossovers---the big RX, the medium-sized NX, and now the UX---and there are a lot of good things that come in this small package.

"Hybrid Lust Object" Is Not An Oxymoron: The 2020 Lexus LC 500h

The 2020 Lexus LC 500h.

Meet my current dream machine. The "if I had all the money in the world, I'd buy..." car. I am, as I have said  before, a beauty addict. It's why I love living in Northern California. Beauty surrounds us. And for my money, the Lexus LC 500h is the most beautiful car on the market today.

This is the kind of car that people stop and stare at. I came outside on the fourth day I had the LC 500h to find a neighbor I've never met before standing in my driveway in alternating states of awe and bliss. I have a new friend now. We bonded over the LC 500h.

Part of it is the LC's rarity. So far, there are only about 3,000 of them out there after two years in production.

Grand Tourer: The 2019 Lexus RC 350

The 2019 Lexus RC 350.

There's a time and a place for everything, and I'm one of those guys who can't quite see a brute-force beast as a daily driver.  Regular readers will recall that about a year and a half ago,  Mrs. TireKicker and I took the 467-horsepower Lexus RC-F to Yosemite and had a blast hammering the winding, twisting roads of California's Gold Country that lie between that beautiful national park and TireKicker World Headquarters in Folsom (suburban Sacramento).

Day in, day out, the styling of the RC-F with a less-frantic personality sounds just right.  Which brings us to the 2019 Lexus RC 350.  I likened the RC-F to the Batmobile.  This is Bruce Wayne's tux.

Choosing Form Over Function (and loving it): The 2019 Lexus LC 500

The 2019 Lexus LC 500.

True confessions:  I am a beauty addict.  Nature, art, music, elegantly designed objects---all inspire a sense of awe in yours truly.  Apart from "I love you", the three words my wife hears most often from me are "look at that".  It helps that we live in a beautiful place (Northern California), that we're both passionate about music and art and that my job brings a steady stream of objects to my driveway, some of which are elegantly designed.

Of those objects in the driveway, the Lexus LC 500 tops them all.  It is, in my book, the most beautiful new car you can buy today in America.  And it sits very nicely on my list of the great car designs of my lifetime, which include the first-generation Jaguar E-Type,  the original 1963 Corvette Sting Ray and the 1965 Buick Riviera (yes, the '63 and '64 are the same design, but the hidden headlamps on the '65 seal the deal for me).

ES Goes F: The 2019 Lexus ES350 F SPORT

The 2019 Lexus ES350 F SPORT.

For those of us who remember when the Lexus brand first appeared and the ES series was little more than a very nice Toyota Camry, it's a surprise to learn the 2019 is the seventh generation of the ES.  The new-gen ES350 is lower and wider, adapting the design language of the stunning LC500 coupe and LS500 sedan. 

Longform Luxury: The 2019 Lexus RX450hL

The 2019 Lexus RX450hL.

As strong a seller as the RX series has been for Lexus, one can't help but wonder how many sales were lost for want of a third row.  For 2019 (and 2018 before it), that lack of wayback seating has been rectified with new "L" models.

The one we drove is arguably our favorite of the RX lineup, the RX450hL hybrid.

They Grow Up So Fast: The 2018 Lexus NX 300 F SPORT

The 2018 Lexus NX 300 F SPORT.

Three model years ago, when Lexus rolled out the NX series, I remember thinking that it was awfully small.  That came from a quick comparison with the familiar RX, which had been the only Lexus crossover for literally decades.

Now, there's a thoroughly refreshed NX and after a week with it, the NX seems exactly right.

R-E-S-P-E-C-T: The 2018 Lexus ES 300h

The 2018 Lexus ES 300h.

One of the hardest things to do is a smaller, reasonably-priced luxury car.  Mercedes, BMW, Jaguar...they've all had swings and misses on that score.  Arguably, the Lexus ES 300 originally fell into that category.  It was, largely, a Toyota Camry with richer-looking paint colors,  a leather interior and copious amounts of sound deadening insulation.

That changed five years ago, when the ES was moved to the Avalon platform and took advantage of the greater interior room to create a true luxury car.  We've been a fan ever since.  And of the available trims of the ES, our favorite is the ES 300h hybrid.

Silence Is Golden: The 2018 Lexus GX460

The 2018 Lexus GX460.

It's been four years since our last week in a Lexus GX460.  So what's changed?  Virtually nothing.

And that's a good thing.

More Motivation: The 2018 Lexus LS 500 F SPORT

The 2018 Lexus LS 500 F SPORT.

It was a few days into the week that I had the all-new 2018 Lexus LS 500 F SPORT.  Mrs. TireKicker and I were walking back to the car in a parking lot, and about 50 paces away, I saw the entire car from the side for the first time.

"Damn", I said, "that is just gorgeous."   And Mrs. TireKicker agreed.

It is the second time in three months that Lexus has grabbed both of us by our sense of aesthetics.  Regular readers will recall our Thanksgiving week trip to Los Angeles in the 2018 Lexus LC 500h hybrid coupe...which we still want, $101,385 price tag be damned.   That review was entitled "Motivation", since I'd need (using my dad's formula of never buying a car that costs more than half your annual salary) to make $202,770 a year (minimum) to buy one.

Motivation: The 2018 Lexus LC 500h

The 2018 Lexus LC500h.

There are many cars that I can admire for their beauty alone.  Most are classics.  The first one I can remember is the original 1961 Jaguar E-Type.  My father pulled over on Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood one evening so five-year-old me could press his nose against the glass of Hornburg Jaguar's showroom and marvel. 

Batman Goes To Yosemite: The 2017 Lexus RC-F

The 2017 Lexus RC-F.

On the day the 2017 Lexus RC-F was delivered to my driveway, I walked out, saw it there, all menacing in black (Lexus calls the color "Caviar") and I said to Glenn, the delivery guy "...and then one morning, I wake up and I'm Batman".

Seriously.  This IS the Batmobile.  Okay, so I'm not Batman (tragically) nor is Mrs. TireKicker Robin (thankfully).

We did have an adventure planned.  One that didn't include crimefighting.  We were off in search of beauty unknown in Gotham City.  And, as regular readers know, for us, that usually involves a lot of twisty back roads.

Sweet Spot In A Hot Segment: The 2017 Lexus NX 200t F SPORT

2017 Lexus NX 200t F SPORT.

In this third model year of the Lexus NX series, it is without question a success.  Sales are good, outpacing those of direct competitors like the BMW X1 and Mercedes GLA-Class.   In fact, the NX has sold nearly as many copies this year as BMW has the midsize X3.  It is only a couple of thousand sales away from the bread-and-butter BMW 3-series.

30 Minutes With: The 2017 Lexus IS 200t F SPORT

The 2017 Lexus IS 200t F SPORT.

Publisher's note:  Normally, the cars you read about here at TireKicker are loaned to us by the press fleets of the various manufacturers for several days.  Seven is typical.  Occasionally, we'll get a longer period of time, and sometimes it'll only be three or four days.  Our "30 Minutes With" series are cars that we spent half an hour behind the wheel of during the just-concluded Western Automotive Journalists Media Days in Monterey, California.

Day one of Media Days is a driving program, with journalists taking cars from the staging area at Quail Lodge in Carmel Valley to Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca via Laureles Grade.  Once there, you swap cars with another journalist for the drive back, and then swap cars again once back at the Quail. Apart from an hour's lunch, this is your day from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.  Each run is about half an hour, and driving 10 to 12 cars back-to-back-to-back gives you interesting points of reference about the next one.

My fourth car of the day was one the Phoenix Bureau liked a lot when they reviewed it at the beginning of last year...the Lexus IS 200t.

Two Liters, Lower Price Tag: The 2017 Lexus GS200t

The 2017 Lexus GS200t.

Lexus is by no means a bargain-basement brand.  But for the second time in just under two years, I find myself reviewing a Lexus GS with a lower price tag.  Then, it was a $2,195 price reduction on the GS350 F-SPORT from 2014 to 2015.  This time, changes come with the price adjustment, because this is an entirely new GS variant.

Hybrid Unassailability: The 2017 Lexus ES 300h

The 2017 Lexus ES 300h.

Less than a month ago, I wrote that the 2017 Lexus ES350 was "the unassailable choice"...one of a handful of cars that there is no plausible downside to buying.  The hybrid version of the ES350, the ES 300h---yes, there is a space between "ES" and "300h", where there is none in the "ES350"---is the same car with the added benefits of lower emissions and higher fuel economy estimates, without the financial penalty that often comes with hybrid ownership.