- Pour one out for another coupe biting the dust: the Lexus RC and RC F are going way
- The V8 will remain an option for this final 2025 model year, doling out 472 hp
- Shoppers have ’til the end of the year to get one, and while there’s a Final Edition, it’s only for Japan
Marketers at the Lexus brand have announced 2025 will be the final model year for the RC and RC F coupes. Calling it a “sonorous swan song,” the RC F Final Edition will be built with a specially assembled engine and trick rear differential. However, the send-off special will, unfortunately, be marketed only in Japan.
That specially assembled engine in it is, of course, a 5.0L V8 mill good for 472 horsepower. This Nipponese NASCAR is said to have been refined for this final model year for smoother revving and a hairier engine sound, though exact details are sparse. The rear diff has an adjusted backlash compared to 2024 in a bid to improve acceleration and deceleration responses.
With triple-beam LED headlights and what us old folks used to call “ground effects” (including a front spoiler and rear diffuser, plus an active rear wing) the 2025 RC F will be available in four different paint colours. Pro tip: get the Radiant Red.
As for the non-F models, the RC 300 continues to offer either the 2.0L turbo with 241 hp and rear-wheel-drive; or a 3.5L V6 with a handful more horses and all-wheel-drive — at least to Americans. Our market seems focused on AWD. Of the two, it is the turbocharged small-displacement mill which actually makes slightly more torque.
Or, one can step up to the RC 350, which packs the V6 as standard kit but is tuned to make 311 hp and 288 tq, and can be had with all-wheel-drive as well. For the 2024 model year, only the all-wheel-drive variants show up on the Canadian build-and-price tool; we expect the same for 2025.
It is worth noting the RC and RC F have been slowly vanishing from this planet, having already been yanked from markets in continental Europe and South Africa. Don’t be surprised if the LC and RC are eventually merged into one (electrified, but not necessarily electric) model, like Mercedes did by introducing the tweener CLE coupe to replace both the C- and E-Class two-door models.
Canadian pricing has yet to be mentioned, but 2024 models started at roughly $60,000 inclusive of fees for an RC 300 AWD; with the RC 350 AWD being a ten-grand walk up the ladder. The mighty RC F was listed around $94,000 inclusive, which seems to be the going rate for that model in America for 2025 — so don’t expect much change from a $100,000 bill if you pop for one here.
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