2017 Lexus RC 350
2017 Lexus RC 350 This sporty coupe brings a few practical elements to the table. By Cherise Threewitt, Contributor, Car-ED.com | May 2018 What is this vehicle? As Toyota’s luxury brand, most of the Lexus lineup consists of, shall we say, elevated Toyotas. They’re far from the only brand to do this, yet the family resemblance sometimes looks and feels more obvious than it does with competitors. The Lexus RC is a slight departure from the formula. It features the high safety and reliability ratings that are common with Toyota, yet the look and feel of this two-door, four-passenger, rear-drive coupe are worth considering on their own merit. Though the Lexus RC 350 provided for this review is a 2017 model, this car carried over to 2018 mostly unchanged. However, a Wi-Fi hot spot and the Lexus Safety System+ suite of active safety features were made standard on every 2018 RC model, and V6 models (including the RC 350) gained a few more horsepower. Who is this vehicle for? It’s easy to describe the pros and cons of the Lexus RC 350, but piecing those perks and quirks into a sketch of a target customer is a little more tricky. For all its practical attributes — good safety test scores from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, reasonable fuel economy, strong predicted reliability — there are some drawbacks. The two rear seats [...]