RC300h

[lockhart leitch]

Hi,been looking at perhaps getting RC300h but most motoring press dont seem to rate it ! Any owners like to give me a first hand run down on handling and performance please ?

[NemesisUK]

Whatever we say isn't going to help much. Suggest you take one out on a test drive, experience it for yourself?

[R07ARY]

Ditto. Just remember this is a seriously luxurious cruiser that can be swift when required. It is not a sports coupe. However I do prefer the RC on longer spirited road trips as it is just so comfortable compared to the weekend thrasher......

[Nicholas128]

I've had my RC for about 18 months now and as others have already pointed out it's designed to be a GT car rather than a sports car. Having said that the car has good predictable handling though there's lots of intervention from the electronics when pushed hard. The computer nannies will rarely let you get messy unless you turn them all off (and in fact you can't fully disable it all - it will still kick in if you get into real trouble). The steering is quite direct and the 4 wheel steering is lovely for carving corners at speed once you get used to the feel of it. However  be careful what tyres you put on it. I currently have Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 tyres on the car and they are not a good choice for driving around town, outstanding grip in the dry but prone to tram tracking and not great in the wet. If you are buying the car from brand new the Bridgestones that come as standard will be fine. Otherwise, go for the Michelin Pilot Sport 4 tyres - the car has no camber adjustment of course so the choice of tyres really matters. The car will under steer when pushed to the limit around corners and that's when you really notice the fact that its a relatively heavy car at around 1700 kgs, but its fairly predictable and rarely twitchy, so you can have confidence in it. The ride is in my view the perfect compromise between sporty and luxury, though the tyres will make a difference of course. The active damping suspension seems to work well on rougher roads. Note that the suspension in the RC is different to the IS.

As for power delivery I have an RC 350 which is a V6 so I don't have experience of how the power train in the 300 performs.  The 8 speed Aisin transmission is a traditional torque converter type that shifts reasonably quickly with useful ratios and no hunting or confusion in changes, even when driving around town in stop start traffic.  The brakes are excellent but bite a bit faster in my experience that other cars I have had, but you adapt quickly.

Comfort is great, I really love the seats and the cabin is wonderful. The back seats are in my view really too small for adults (this car is really a 2+2 rather than a 4-seater) and if you are tall its almost impossible to get into the back. Doors are fairly long but that rarely causes me any dramas. There are really very few annoyances indeed - I find the infotainment system clunky to use but voice control works well and helps you avoid some of the need to dive into menus. I don't like the adaptive headlights and just turn that off, and I also don't like the indicator switch - they have gone for that silly BMW style switch where the stalk doesn't stay in the on position. These are however minor annoyances, otherwise I am really loving the car. Its my first Lexus and I look forward to driving it more that the German cars I used to buy in the past. The build quality is really superb.

Hope you find this useful in helping you choose.

Cheers

Nicholas.

[lockhart leitch]

Thanks for that,great info,i am around a hundred miles from nearest dealer hence looking for an owners prospective,you cant always go by the motoring press 😃Didn't realise they made a RC350.

[NemesisUK]

10 hours ago, lockhart leitch said:

Didn't realise they made a RC350.

Unfortunately not available in the UK ☹️