Manual Shift Mode Falls Short of Competitors - 2015 Lexus RC F Long-Term Road Test

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Manual Shift Mode Falls Short of Competitors - 2015 Lexus RC F Long-Term Road Test

The eight-speed automatic transmission in the 2015 Lexus RC F works great for enthusiastic everyday driving, but for high-performance sessions, its manual mode leaves something to be desired.

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chol92594

This is just further proof that the RC F is better suited as a quick grand tourer with some sporting intentions rather than an all-out track machine.

throwback

My impressions of this car (I have drive one) is that it is a grand tourer for a Lexus buyer. As opposed to a high performance machine for german car buyers. Not that it is bad, In many ways it is fun to drive and sounds fantastic. If however you are going to the track, this is not the car for you.

desmolicious

Problem with its roll as a GT car, is that its ride quality is not up to par.

Is there anything that this car does better than its rivals?

cjasis

@desmolicious - it sounds worlds better than the M3/M4 (personal opinion) and it will likely be a lot more reliable than the Audi or BMW. Finally, the trade off for the slightly slower shifts is that in every day driving, you don't get the lurching or occasional clumsiness that comes with most dual clutch gearboxes.

And for the record.. I own and drive an M3 (E90) so I'm not a Lexus fanboy.

subatomic

I agree with pushing the transmission lever forward for upshifts, pulling back for downshifts. I know some people think this is backwards, but it makes sense to me. Thinking logically, I associate positive with up or forward, and negative with down or backward. I drive a traditional manual transmission on a regular basis and this arrangement for manual shifting on an automatic transmission makes sense to me.

legacygt

subatomic said:

I agree with pushing the transmission lever forward for upshifts, pulling back for downshifts. I know some people think this is backwards, but it makes sense to me. Thinking logically, I associate positive with up or forward, and negative with down or backward. I drive a traditional manual transmission on a regular basis and this arrangement for manual shifting on an automatic transmission makes sense to me.

The whole argument about forward/back for up/down shifts is just a silly one that auto journalists like to bring up. It would be nice if it was standardized for people who switch cars all the time but most of us have time to get used to our cars. There really isn't a right or wrong.
Most agree that an honest manual transmission provides the most satisfaction and I shouldn't need to point out that about half the upshifts you make involve pulling the stick back and the other half involve pushing it forward. Nobody complains about which is more natural or which is more logical or which is consistent with the momentum of the car. It just works and it's fine.