The Lexus RC-F 5.0 liter V8 is an engine exclusive to the brand with a very high feature content compared to the 5.7 liter V8 which is shared with some Toyota products. It’s got a lot of expensive hardware and a high-tune.
To that it offers up 472 naturally aspirated horsepower and 395 pound-feet of torque. It achieves this through a number of technologies and operation modes starting with both port and direct-fuel injection systems that can operate separately or together. In this car it comes mated to an 8-speed automatic transmission.
Furthermore, dual variable valve timing has a wide-band range which can operate the engine in both an Otto and Atkinson Cycle. This means it can be a high-performance monster for power with a 12.3:1 compression ratio and dial back to a Prius style combustion mode for higher fuel economy.
So that’s why with the engine cover off you can see why there is one, there’s a lot going on here and it’s not all that pretty.
Following the airflow, a large filter box up front pulls air in from both ahead of the grille and ambient from the engine compartment. A controlled flapper at the side inlet controls where it draws from for optimum air temperature.
From there it leads to a single throttle body up into the composite blue painted intake manifold and then down into the engine. Because the fuel system features both port injection and direct fuel-injection you can see fuel rails under all of this if you look hard enough.
The high-pressure direct-injection fuel components are hidden underneath its aluminum valve covers and each bank has its own fuel-injector control unit mounted right onto the valve cover on top. With all these systems, a great deal of wiring is routed virtually everywhere.
Underneath it, the all-aluminum 32-valve V8 does have high-revving lightweight hardware like forged connecting rods and titanium intake and exhaust valves. All of this affords its high-revving nature with a 7,300-rpm redline. And yes, it wants premium fuel.
Looking around the engine compartment, the packaging is pretty tight here but servicing the engine remains straight forward. The oil filler cap is located at the top driver side of the engine and oil dipstick on the passenger side.
The 12-volt battery and secondary fuse and relax box is found close by against the passenger side firewall. The main fuse and relay box is found on the driver side up front and comes with its own handy fuse puller inside. The main engine control unit is aside the fuse box.
Both the coolant and windshield washer fluid reservoirs are located right up front for easy check and top off. The brake fluid is up at the driver side firewall, easily reached and seen. Aside it is the ABS controller, hidden away by a small plastic cover.
Our test car was a Fuji Speedway edition with a carbon fiber hood. It has a vented appearance on the outside but a quick look underneath reveals that this is not at all a functional vent, though a small drain hole is provided so water doesn’t pool up in it.
