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• • • ORDERED A TRUCK TODAY. • • •

Curious statement for someone who never answers ANY questions. Mr. Cerebral lol.

Got my ducks in a row; heading back to the dealer tomm. Crap... I just realized what this would do to my Average Model Year number. It's currently 1966.6... it'll go to 1968.9! Egads!!

Considering the number of Lexus RC coupes I have driven over the years, there has been a significant hole - the V8 RC F. Whenever I have asked for one, the vehicle either wasn't in the press fleet or someone else was driving it during the dates I had available. But I was able to finally get my hands on one for a week in early fall. It was good timing as I was feeling the effects of being home for the past six months due to COVID-19. Maybe this coupe could give me a bit of joy. The RC F is not a shrinking violet. From its bright yellow paint, blacked-out 20-inch wheels, and optional carbon fiber package that includes a retractable rear spoiler, this coupe is very brash and proud of it. I'll admit that I was worried about scraping or cracking the carbon fiber front splitter if I took a steep entrance ramp or bump a bit too aggressively. It looks cool on the car, but the existential dread of an expensive repair bill does sour the appeal. Not much changes on the inside for the RC F except for carbon fiber trim and a set of racing-style seats. Usually, I have a lot of trepidation on this type of seat because I don't fully fit in due to my slightly wide shoulders. But the seats conformed to my body within a day or so and I found them to offer the balance of support during hard-driving, and comfort for day-to-day - something I find to be hit and miss on seats from other automakers. Lexus Enform is still a frustrating infotainment system to use on daily basis. With a touchy control pad, it is easy to find yourself changing the song or end up in a different section of the system. This means you need to pay close attention to any change being made, which becomes a distraction hazard. Apple CarPlay is standard and does make using the system a bit more bearable. But I do wish Lexus would roll out their touchscreen system which makes it much more intuitive. Though, that likely will not come until a redesign, possibly in the next year or two. The main event for the RC F is under the hood. A 5.0L V8 engine with 467 horsepower and 389 pound-feet of torque - figures that slightly pale when compared to the BMW M4 or Mercedes-AMG C63. This is paired with an eight-speed automatic which routes the power to the rear wheels. The initial acceleration is a slight disappointment as the throttle response feels a bit sleepy. I'm not sure if this was due to improve fuel economy or throttle feel higher in the rev band. Thankfully, this sleepiness goes away as the car climbs up in speed and the V8 reveals its party trick. The noise that comes out of this engine sounds like a muscle car and you find yourself stepping the accelerator to enjoy it. Not much to say about the eight-speed automatic. It goes about its business smoothly and quickly. Fuel economy was surprising in the least, as I got an average of 18 mpg in mostly city and suburb driving. A set of adaptive dampers comes standard for the RC-F and gives it a split personality. Turn the drive mode knob to Sport+ and the dampers tighten up to make the coupe feel more agile than its weight of 4,017 pounds would suggest. Also helping in the handling are a set of Michelin Pilot Sport 4S summer tires, providing tenacious grip. But switch the drive mode into normal and RC F becomes a very comfortable and refined grand tourer. Ride quality is very good with only a few bumps making their way inside. A minimal amount of road and wind noise is present. One area where the RC F holds a distinct advantage over the completion is the base price of $65,925 - undercutting most by a few grand. The danger is going through the option list and deciding to go crazy, which explains the as-tested price of $89,654. You can chop off over $11,000 by skipping the Performance package which brings all of the carbon fiber bits. The RC F lacks the outright performance as those from Germany. But I'm willing to overlook it because sometimes you want a car that just shouts to the world and the RC F does that very well. During my week, I found myself reveling in the engine and the grand touring characteristics of the suspension. It brought me the joy which sometimes is all you need a car to do. Disclaimer: Lexus Provided the RC F, Insurance, and One Tank of Gas Year: 2020 Make: Lexus Model: RC F Trim: - Engine: 5.0L DOHC 32-Valve V8 Driveline: Eight-Speed Automatic, Rear-Wheel Drive Horsepower @ RPM: 467 @ 7,100 Torque @ RPM: 389 @ 4,800 - 5,600 Fuel Economy: City/Highway/Combined - 16/24/19 Curb Weight: 3,958 lbs Location of Manufacture: Tahara, Aichi, Japan Base Price: $64,900 As Tested Price: $89,654 (Includes $1,025.00 Destination Charge) Options: Performance Package - $11,400.00 Premium Package - $5,350.00 Navigation System w/Mark Levinson Audio - $2,725.00 Torque Vectoring Differential - $1,250.00 Premium Triple Beam LED Headlamps - $1,160.00 Flare Yellow Premium Paint - $595.00 Intuitive Parking Assist - $500.00 Illuminated Door Sills - $449.00 Orange Metallic Brembo Brake Calipers - $300.00 View full article

Can’t order a truck that doesn’t exist. No; getting me a tacoma!

Sure! What's a good "I dont give a shyte!" type of drink? Maybe a boilermaker? It dont matter as I dont give a shyte! We should get together, drink, have a few laughs not giving a shyte!

Congrats are finally due! Tacoma, huh? Then you better make sure you opt for that special undercarriage greasing thing they do over at the dealership. (I know you got a Chevy)

It’s fine.

Congradulations on yer brand new Cybertruck!

10-12 weeks. ?

Any fuel "savings" is mostly due to US (cough*socialism 101*cough) subsidies of the oil industry over the last hundred years. I get what you were saying but that was not the core part of the back and forth between Balth and myself. If we are going to bring up fueling fine, let's try this. The average EV with minimum 200 miles of range, cost roughly around $9 to full charge (some places are cheaper than and some are more). That is FAR cheaper than a gas fill up on any ICE outside of a hybrid that gets 50MPG. (based on the same 200 mile range) and all of that can be done from your home while you sleep. Even if you account for a 220V home charger installation (for quick charging), it would cost "slightly" more to hardline a gas pump to your home and do the same thing with that. Just offering a little "outside the box" thinking here.

Thanks! It was Monday the 21st, actually. Boy-o-boy, how time flies.

If you genuinely believe the same technology that's made truck engines more efficient WAS NOT also used to make every other vehicle's engine as efficient as they are, I truly believe you're delusional. Also, how is that showing MPG matches the 21 year old truck? Don't forget how much physically larger they are. It's a much larger chunk of metal busting through air.

Somebody local bought a new Chevy regular cab dually. It's white. It sure looks mean pulling up to a light at daybreak in the opposing lane, and the driver looks good too. Would love a chance to say "hi, bad-ass truck!"

I do not know when in December you got married...but... HAPPY FIRST ANNIVERSARY!!!

Well...Im fascinated. (maybe this should go in the "what are you listening to" thread?) (nah! its good in here too!) PS: Ill watch that inbred video sometime tonight...

Packard-Pontiac dealer ~

Excellent cars all of them. Took one of my kids to a junk yard for the first time yesterday....Lucerne that had stood up well to a collision was there. It had protected it's occupants well...had a moment of silence in memory of the car and thought of you. Shame because it was a nice car before it got hit....well maintained 07 IIRC. Neons handled extremely well, but all of them seemed to die young. Lots of fond memories of track days and autocrosses watching them race or racing against them. Again, good handling cars that seemed to die before their appointed times. I need to road trip a good bit this coming year. Maybe I will come to Lancaster.

Olds- I'd take issue with a number of your statements above, to the point I cannot agree that everything you stated is 100% factual. For one, toyoter has been selling hybrid autos for 23 years, not "10 =/- a couple". prius came out the end of 1997. I'll not go point-by-point, primarily because I cannot quantify your definition of 'perfected'. But I believe you are talking about the general 'ease of everyday use' of the auto (via the mention of interstates & commonplace gas stations). I am of the opinion that there was a point that the auto reached that FOR IT'S TIME. There... I believe that point came about circa 1920 rather than the year 2000 ('a century'). FOR IT'S TIME, the auto had evolved beyond a rare plaything / conversation piece, and had become more & more integral to life. Of course, it was the Model T (debuted in 1908) that afforded that; low price, economical, mass produced, easily serviced, multiple variants. No; there was no interstate in 1920... but there wasn't a need for such at that point. Infrastructure developments encourage alternate use. Prior to WWII, most folk stayed in their general area, and commonly produced a LOT of their own consumables & supplies. They never had to screech to Costco when a snowstorm was coming...

It took a century for the gasoline powered car to be perfected is what I said. To be almost perfect. I said it took decades for all that to be in place. And a century to be perfected. I said it took 2 bloody decades for the horseless carriage to be a car. Nothing I said is fakenews. All that I wrote is true. Nothing in the 1930s, was perfected for the gasoline powered car. No highway system. No autobahn. No gasoline stores at every corner. Automatic transmissions came in at the very end of the 1930s. 1930s gasoline powered cars were waaay better than what came before. A huuuge step forward from the previous decade and before, but still primitive. It took another 40-50 years for this to be perfected...to where we are today. Today...all the roads, the gas stations, the pumping of oil and refining and transport of the final gasoline product, the car dealership network, the marketing, the planning and execution of production of automobiles, is a reflex of everyday life. THAT is what I said. It took a CENTURY to perfect a near perfect system for the internal combustion powered car.... If you and Balthy (becausse he upvoted your mispoken and very ill informed comprehension of my post) well, nothing I could do otherwise... But here we are: A decade into a REAL engineering push for electric cars and its battery tech, as compared to even the 1890s-1930s comparison you are so proud of trying to show me up...and you still fail... 1890s-1930s is 40 years... Tesla and Toyota with Hybrid tech and its ONLY been a decade, give or take a couple of years... Even if you wanna include GMs EV1 of the mid 1990s, that would ONLY be 25 years... But hey... @ocnblu...way to teach me a thing or two.

If the average MPG in '76 was 12.1 and the average in 2010 was 17.5... that's an increase of 45%. For people who groove on percentages, that's unquestionably a huge increase. Now... an overall average is not an apples-to-apples comparison. So what is? '76 Corvette, based on 90 fill-ups on 6 different cars, returned a combined average of 9.9 MPG (~fuelly.com). In 2021 the Corvette is rated at 19 combined, with a bump in displacement from 350 to 376 CI, and a bump in HP from 180 to 490. The Corvette is possibly the most 'pure' case study for automotive evolution, as it's general size, mission, engine & curb weight are almost identical between those 2 distant years. BTW, that 9.9 > 19 is an increase in efficiency of 92%.

This is all I was commenting on. Which, we have had fuel savings passed on to us.

FAKE NEWS. It was barely HALF a century from the 1890's to the (give or take) 1930's for the gasoline powered car to come fully into its own.