Although a relatively common presence on the roads of North America, the Lexus RC is an exotic, bar the blue blood, on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean.
The reason is simple: most customers looking for a premium compact sports coupe tend to stop at the two-door versions of the BMW 4 Series and Audi A5 or the more recent Mercedes CLE, which retired the shorter variants of the old C-Class and E-Class.
Most of the time, the Lexus RCs that call the Old Continent home are stock with not a single bit of aftermarket touch. However, there are a few exceptions, like the one pictured above in the gallery, which came from JMS Fahrzeugteile, a German tuner, to parade its upgrades.
As you can see from the images shared above, the work was kept to a bare minimum, hence why we're fans of this project. One important upgrade, namely the fresh alloy set, came from Barracuda. The wheels measure 8.5x20 inches at the front and 10x20 inches at the rear. They were wrapped in 235/35 tires at the front axle and 265/30 at the rear one and have a concave and deep concave look, respectively.
Photo: JMS Fahrzeugteile
A Hyper Silver finish was chosen for this new wheelset, which provides some well-deserved contrast to the overall red look of the car. The center caps and brake calipers were painted red, and there are a few black accents here and there. As for the final aftermarket update performed to this Lexus RC, it is a coilover suspension. KW's Variant 3 brings the body closer to the asphalt while leaving room under the arches for the wheels above.
JMS Fahrzeugteile states that all accessories have TUV certification, so they are road-legal. The only version of the RC on sale in Germany is the track-focused RC F, with its 5.0-liter V8, priced from €96,050 (equal to $103,478). In contrast, the pictured example is in the 200t specification, enjoying a little over 240 brake horsepower from its 2.0-liter turbo-four.
The 2024 Lexus RC 300, which is the base version of the series, starts at $45,920 in the United States, packing the same lump as the aforementioned 200t with 241 hp. The RC 300 F Sport also uses this mill and starts at $50,540. The RC 300 AWD and RC 300 F Sport AWD bring a 3.5L V6 with 260 hp, priced from $48,610 and $52,830, respectively.
The RC 350 has 311 horsepower from its 3.5L mill and kicks off from $48,850 with RWD and $51,015 with AWD. The RC 350 F Sport uses the same engine and comes from $53,470 and $55,195 with rear- and all-wheel-drive, respectively. Last but not least, the RC F boasts 472 horsepower and has an MSRP of $68,295.
After a series of unfortunate events put an end to Cristian's dream of entering a custom built & tuned old-school Dacia into a rally competition, he moved on to drive press cars and write for a living. He's worked for several automotive online journals and now he's back at autoevolution after his first tour in the mid-2000s. Full profile
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