Lexus plotting hotter RC F

Lexus' new RC F Coupe doesn't hit Australian showrooms until earlier next year, but further developments for the all-new V8 coupe are already in the pipeline -- led by a CCS-R club racer scheduled for launch later in 2015.

Speaking in the US at this week's international launch of the RC F, our first drive review of which will be published at 1:00pm on Friday, chief engineer Yukihiro Yaguchi declared development of the BMW M4 Coupe rival would be ongoing.

“We are already thinking about some changes to make for next year,” he confirmed via an interpreter.

But while that statement instantly conjures up images of a more powerful version of the RC F to take on a future Black Series edition of the Mercedes-Benz C 63 AMG or a hotter M4 CSL Coupe from BMW, Yaguchi says the emphasis will be on making the car more enjoyable, not necessarily more powerful.

“The objective is to make the car more fun to drive. If you make the car go too fast then the human being won't be able to catch up with it.

“It will be a different approach from other manufacturers… We see their components and our components are quite different … and really it all depends on what sort of technology will evolve at the time and have to match the pace of that.”

While the embargo on RC F details means we can't say exactly what the key specs of the two-door coupe are, we can confirm earlier reports that its naturally-aspirated 5.0-litre V8 engine will produce in excess of 335kW in launch form, exceeding the M3/M4 and Audi RS5, but falling short of Merc's run-out C 63 AMG 507 Edition's 6.2-litre V8.

Intriguingly, he did concede there was more power to be eked from the engine, without resorting to forced induction.

“We think we can get a little more out of it,” he said.

“It's really about increasing the rpm to be able to gain more horsepower, so if we were to increase the rpm then we would have to look at using what components to be able to meet the rpm increase… so at that time we would also have to review the cost etcetera. So right now it is set.”

Yaguchi made the point that continual evolution of the RC F follows the path of its IS F sedan predecessor, which he also chief engineered.

“That car actually had some model changes each year and that would most likely happen with the RC F,” he confirmed.

Significantly, the IS F's power and torque outputs of 311kW and 505Nm never varied from launch in 2008 through to its recent demise. It went through a suspension geometry change in 2010 and changed dampers in 2012.

The RC F CCS-R (or Circuit Club Sports Racer) will take over from the IS F CCSR, which has been around in one form or another since 2010 and gained global publicity when it won the exhibition class at the legendary Pikes Peak Hill Climb in 2013.

Yaguchi told motoring.com.au last November that the enjoyable and accessible dynamics of the IS F CCSR were the basis of what he aimed to achieve with the RC F driving experience.

It follows that the RC F CCS-R will give us a clue on where Yaguchi would like to head with the standard RC F.

Yaguchi confirmed the two RC Fs would share the same engine and eight-speed automatic transmission and the same outputs. If it follows the example of the IS F CCS-R, then the RC F version will be considerably lightened, have bigger brakes and substantial suspension tuning capability for motorsport.

“The CCS-R will carry over the stock engine and transmission and basically be suited for track driving, but for someone to be able to hop in and drive quite easily and be able to get comfortable.”

The CCS-R will be the third motorsport-oriented RC F derivative, following on from the Japanese GT version and the GT3, which will start racing in 2015.