Sexy RC 350 sport coupe adds pizzazz to Lexus showrooms - Chron.com
As hard to believe as it may be, the last time Toyota's luxury division offered a proper sport coupe with fixed roof - the SC300/400 - Bill Clinton was president. Propulsion comes from Toyota's 2GR V6 with familiar stats: 306 horsepower at 6,400 rpm and 277 lb. -ft. of torque at 4,800 rpm. The Lexus/Toyota equivalent to the 300-horse/350 cu. in. L48 small-block Chevy V8 of yesteryear, the 2GR is one of Toyota's bread-and-butter engines, found in everything from the Sienna minivan to the Camry. For the RC 350, Lexus went with the 2GR-FSE version that incorporates both direct fuel injection and port fuel injection for better performance and fuel economy. The2GR-FSE won a place on Ward's Best Engines rosters from 2006 to 2009. Speaking of lists, the RC 350 is proof that manual transmissions remain endangered-species. The only transmissions offered are automatics: a sport-tuned eight-speed with steering-wheel-mounted paddle shifters for rear-wheel-drive RC 350s and a six-speed auto for AWDs. Introduced in the IS F sedan, the eight-speed auto has three modes: normal, sport and manual. Brake hard entering a corner and this "intelligent" transmission will automatically shift to a lower gear for control and then select a gear to exit smartly. Source: www.chron.com
