Finally, Lexus’s accursed computer mouse has met its replacement: a touch-sensitive pad that gives occupants of the new RC and RC F fingertip control over the onboard navigation/infotainment screen. At the 2014 Detroit auto show, we spoke to Lexus about how its new infotainment interface behaves, and we also stumbled upon what we believe is an industry first.
Sliding your finger over Lexus’s Remote Touch Interface moves the on-screen cursor through menus and scrolls the nav maps. The pad pulses as the cursor passes over selections, what the industry calls “haptic feedback,” and the driver presses down on the pad to make a selection. The graphics and menus are largely unchanged from previous Lexus models, and because the complicated menus and small buttons are unchanged from before, it’s only a small step forward rather than a great leap. But it is progress.
The hot 5.0-liter V-8 of the RC F also features all-electric cam phasing that allows the engine to go in and out of Atkinson-cycle operation to save fuel—a first that we know of in a production engine. Instead of being powered by oil pressure, as most variable cam-timing devices are, the Lexus’s V-8 has four electric solenoids to vary cam timing. On the intake side, the solenoids can hold open the valves longer to effectively reduce the compression ratio and lengthen the power stroke, which reduces the amount of fuel needed—and power produced—by the engine.
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Thus, Atkinson-cycle operation is best utilized to save fuel in low-speed, low-load situations, when the driver is applying light throttle or none at all. When power is called for, the intake cams go back to their normal settings so the engine can deliver its full circa-450-hp wallop. The net effect, says Lexus tech specialist Paul Williamsen, is a power increase to the 5.0-liter without an accompanying increase in fuel consumption, a requirement by Toyota’s management before it would approve a power increase for the RC F.
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