Lexus Is Playing Around With A 600-Horsepower RC With A Stick

A very odd thing is going on within the confines of Lexus, a brand which many auto journalists used to lambast as painfully boring. With many automakers altogether ditching stick shifts in favor of faster, smoother, and more efficient automatic transmissions, Toyota’s luxury division seems to be onboard with saving the manuals while having a lot of fun in the process.

Guy riding a Honda Shadow runs from police, ends up eating asphalt.

The word on the street is Lexus has a prototype RC coupe with a 600-horsepower turbocharged four-cylinder engine paired with a six-speed manual transmission. That’s pretty wonderous if true and is something nobody would have imagined a decade ago.

As covered by Lexus Enthusiast, a Japanese car publication, Best Car, was at a press event in Japan where a 600-horsepower Lexus RC prototype was present. Journalists didn’t get to drive the vehicle, which was kept parked in a garage during the event.

However, Lexus engineers did disclose some information about the powertrain, which supposed was in development for racing. However, we’re not so sure it isn’t also being considered for consumers, like the Corolla GR.

We’ll see what finally comes down the pipeline, perhaps in a couple years or so.

At the same event, journalists were allowed to drive a 400-horsepower Lexus IS sedan. That reportedly used a heavily tuned version of the 2.0T engine paired with an 8-speed automatic transmission. Some believe it might be close to if not the same as the one used in the Corolla GR.

All this translates into one thing: Lexus is targeting performance enthusiasts far more aggressively than ever before. Even though the engines are getting smaller and V8s are likely gone for the foreseeable future, the luxury brand isn’t looking to soften up its product lineup.

Instead, expect more exciting models as the current-gen RC and IS retire and a new wave is upon us.

Image via Lexus