Lexus will use next week's Geneva Motor Show to give its new RC coupé a first outing in Europe. We've already seen the hybrid RC 300h and V6 petrol RC 350, and even the super-hot 5.0-litre V8 RC F, at previous shows so Lexus is giving us something new to look at by bringing along the F Sport version of the RC 350.
F Sport (the F comes from the Toyota-owned Fuji racetrack, where much of Lexus' sporty development work takes place by the way) is rather like BMW's M Sport setup - there are no major changes to the RC 350's engine so performance remains much the same as standard, but there are chassis and suspension updates to make the whole car feel different.
So, the F Sport gets a muscular body kit, new wheels, upgraded instruments and sports seats. All visual so far, but underneath there are tweaks and changes to the chassis including an Active Variable Suspension (AVS) system that allows the usual switching between sporty and more comfortable damping settings. There's a Sport+ mode too that is even more aggressive and Lexus says that AVS constantly adjusts each corner of the car individually for the best performance.
That's backed up by a tweaked version of the Lexus Handling System, which includes four-wheel steering. We've tried this system on the bigger GS 450h F Sport (on whose chassis the RC is based) and it works exceptionally well - making a big car feel smaller and more agile. It should work wonders on the lighter, lither RC. As with most such systems the rear wheels turn in the opposite direction to the fronts at low speed to increase manoeuvrability while they turn in the same direction at high speeds to aid handling.
Anything else?
You won't mistake an F Sport RC for a humbler model - it will come in one of three unique colours - White Nova, Orange and Flame Blue and the wheels are also unique to the F Sport - 19-inch machine finished rims with a duo light and dark colour.