HORSEPOWER RIVALS! 2021 Lexus RCF Track Edition vs BMW M3 By TheStraightPipes

2021 Lexus RCF track edition, BMW m3 manual with launch control, I'm Yuri I'm Jacob. Acting this thing rips and the reason we're comparing both of these cars is because the performance figures are so similar, starting with the horsepower and torque. The BMW. M3 has 473 horsepower and 406 pound-feet of torque from a 3-liter twin-turbo, inline 6-cylinder, and the RCF track edition has 472 horsepower and 395 pound-feet of torque from a 5-liter v8. So by my math, that's exactly a one-horsepower difference: Yuri okay! We should probably get into drag racing and roll racing. Well, that's a good thing. We went to the track, and we know the YouTube algorithm is so good that our videos show up in your feed whether you subscribe or not.

But if you subscribe, that makes us feel a little better if you've watched at least five of our videos without subscribing. I think it's time for you to subscribe. How much harm could it do so? Every variation of launching the RCF, whether I did launch control or non-launch control, the m3 just kind of always beat it out, eat my dust, Germany. I got it pulling away that was way closer and even when we did a roll race, I was still faster in the m3, but depending on what gear we were in, it was like barely faster, but I did end up pulling away. Yeah, I mean if we did like an eighth mile, maybe this car would have won.

I was actually surprised at how fast the RCF was compared to that m3 yeah, because the m3 actually just feels faster, but on paper they're, almost identical and in reality, they're actually almost identical, but the m3 just inches out every single time. Okay, now, let's address the four-door elephant in the room, one's a four-door, one's a two-door one's manual, the m3, and this one only comes in automatic, and we've already driven the m4 competition. So we can verify that they just drive basically the same with a little less horsepower. So that's why these are completely evenly matched and even the 0 to 60 times are technically very evenly matched. The only thing that's really not matched is the price yeah.

So this is going to be the most expensive track, focused Lexus and that's going to be the least expensive, m3 m4 and the least track focused as well. So we wanted to compare the fact: what is the cheapest m3? You can buy versus the most expensive RCF you can buy. They also have the exact same tail lights. They also have double dual exhaust, and they also have big grills that people complain about, but people are going to love in four years so Yuri. What should we start with? So what makes this RCF a track condition compared to a regular RCF in the simplest terms, it's lighter weight.

It also has a ton of carbon fiber, which contributes to the lighter weight. We also have carbon ceramic brakes, the same horsepower as the regular one and a different mechanical differential okay, and then that BMW is just standard BMW, but it does rip on the track yeah. So if you wanted to get an automatic, m3 or m4, you actually have to get a competition. And then, if you got a competition, you would lose the silver badge. You would have a black badge.

Yeah, should we get into the looks for these two, what looks better a RCF or a m3 m4, the RCF no question, especially in track edition. I think this looks amazing a little awkward, because the wheels do feel a little small, but the RCF wheels are pretty sick. Your BMW wheels are also really amazing, because the m4 we drove didn't, have the cool wheels on it. Yeah, and I think these wheels definitely look better than yours and then what would be the continental recommended tire for both of these the extreme contact sport so then moving to the grills whoare got the better ugly grill. Oh, the Lexus definitely wins that.

Okay, if you're saying the better grill the Lexus wins, if you're saying the better uglier one, the BMW wins, I think they're both special in their own ways and then headlights. I kind of think the Lexus edges this one out, because this has the newer headlights yeah, the Lexus, just kind of looks a little angrier, but the overall front end of that Lexus, just kind of looks like a big puffer fish. Okay, we have a carbon fiber, huge hood on this Lexus, but we've got those really sculpted hood lines on the m3. I think both hoods get a tie. Now we both have a carbon fiber roof.

However, you have a carbon fiber wing which is rather large yeah, and I guess there is no m3 m4 GTS yet like there was in the previous gen, which would make it look more like this, so, so far with the wing. This is winning, but from the back end, what about exhaust tips? Exhaust tips are pretty good on both, but let's take a listen to the outside. I have to give the raw sound to the Lexus, but the m3 sounds perfect, and it's got like a lot of backfires and stuff, but it like hangs on so long after that last rev. I also got to give it to Alexis. It just sounds so nasty Yuri, let's get into the right gear, and I'm going to rip it.

Let's listen to the inside very smooth in the BMW and a little downshift. Oh, it's so punchy in here, and it's got that extra intake to really like pump more audio in naturally yeah. You have that crossover at 3000 rpm. That thing just definitely sounds better inside and out. Okay, but the look of the exhaust tips.

We got to give it to Lexus too, because it's like the ISF but real, and it's a titanium exhaust, exactly stacked deals, that's definitely a w okay and then we both have the exact same tail lights. Oddly enough- and these are both wider than their regular non-performance counterparts- which one gets the fatter booty on these okay, but they both have really wide rear fenders, where the m4 doesn't it's got the double dual body line. Yeah. That's why the m3, I think, looks way better than the m4, even though this one does have four doors and I pretty much just hate every sedan besides the Chevy SS. So I would prefer the m4 looks to more match this Lexus and considering that actually competes with that RCF a little better.

We're just going to assume that this is the two-door, yes photoshop, or we could just insert footage from our n4 competition, video and photoshop that yeah change the hue, and now it's gold, okay, uh paint wise. I don't really care about this dark gray color, but I think it looks better in dark gray than it does in white with the carbon fiber roof and hood, but donut media had a cool one. That was matte paint and I would love this in matte and then this paint compared to the gold paint gray is kind of okay, but that goldfish beige looks so awesome, and I definitely don't really like this goldfish base. So I'm going to give the w to the Lexus on that and moving back around to the side. We also have some fender vents on both of these.

We also have m3 and f badges on both of them and I think the fender vents on the Lexus are actually real, I'm not quite sure about the BMW ones. I don't think so. I think the f badge beats the m3 back. Oh, no, I think they're tied because they're, like the badges, equally get abused by not being real models. So it's a tie on the coolness of the badges yeah for f sport and m sport, and now there's even f performance, which is different from f sport.

Sorry, f, sport performance! That's how confusing it is so looks. Wise, Lexus, wins 100. So at the track performance wise, the m3 just beat the RCF. Basically in every single competition we did so now how about we go over some of the experiences we had at the track, doing some laps doing some slides, and then we'll switch drivers. Does a launch control talk about these wild interiors and then come up with the final winner? Okay, so I'm going to leave this in m dynamic mode, because I want to see how fast I can go, not necessarily how sideways I can go on the m3.

Okay, I lied about that. I'm going to leave everything off just so I can have full control and this thing is very tricky, but generally I can get it where I need it to go with a little of slip on the exit and I feel like I could probably pull away from you at any moment, but not that quickly, like I'd, have to get about half a lap, and then I could probably leave you yeah I'll, probably catch you, but I probably could outbreak it with these carbon ceramics. But I don't want to risk like you know, giving you a little bumper kiss yo. I really don't think you can catch me in the m3, we'll see when we hit the last straight. Okay, let's do a little of a roll race here, oh I got lag.

Oh, it's I'm slowly starting to pull away, but we don't have enough room. So then I guess overall, for getting through the track and through the turns the BMW is a lot easier. It's a lot faster and this RCF just kind of wants to slide, and it's a lot more difficult yeah. It's almost like they're matched for fun, but the m3 just definitely makes everything easier, but putting these cars in different people's hands a little more experience in the RCF a little less in the m3, they probably would even out pretty nicely nah man. I think whoever's in this m3 will pull away from that RCF track edition all day, all right.

Let's end it with a little clich? slide corner and back to the comparison. Okay, I'm in MDM, so I don't know how sideways I'll get here, but I'll try! That's, okay, okay, that was a nasty drip. From that thing, all right, my personal favorite is sliding the RCF. How about you? I think it's just so easy to slide this m3. It's so controllable, it's so predictable! I actually enjoy myself more in this m3, just because I find myself just more comfortable here.

Yeah, and everything on track has been more fun than this, because I feel like I'm just so much more focused. I need to be fully on my game at all times yeah, even though I do have everything off when I'm not in m dynamic mode. I still feel like either the chassis balance or something that just makes this car just easier to drift and drive when you're just trying to go fast, and I think you've nailed that from all the time that I spent on track with that m3 today. So let's get back to the comparison, and we had an amazing time on the track. We drifted the hell out of both of these.

We got some incredible drone shots. Let us know in the comments how much you guys like the FPV drone shots yeah and make sure you check out tmp Cayuga. You can go to the same track and drive on open lapping days when we go and do all of our tests and same with speed academy and shout out to both manufacturers for letting us take both cars to the track and understanding that both of us can actually drive cars pretty well to we're breaking through that Canadian ceiling yeah, and I don't want to sound like that. Guy, like oh yeah, I took my own horn, but like just watch some of the footage we're pretty decent literally not the worst is as good as I ever need to be. Yeah, yeah there you go manual, launch control, active, okay, that's really nice for a manual launch.

Okay, drive sport plus traction off press the launch button, and here we go. Let's see what happens, burn out and there's the power not the best launch, it's so hard to get a good launch in this car. Did it get into launch control for you? It sure did, but it just wasn't that good, because then it cut out after, and then it just cut power kind of like the Camaro settle one LE. It said it had a good launch time, but it just didn't put it down. Meanwhile, the c63s just kept drumming it yeah.

That's the thing zero to sixty on paper. This is faster by point one second, but in reality man that m3 just wins every time. So this has a lot more tech, let's get into the interior, starting with maybe the materials okay. So the materials in the Lexus are top-notch. I love these seats.

First, they are Alc?ntara, and they hug you like crazy. They are not heated and cooled for weight savings and this one's got orange sheets they're, not the same kind of sorties that we had in the m4 where there are holes in the back. These are super comfortable, heated and cooled, but, more importantly, the colors okay, the colors are both pretty wild. Well, especially more in the BMW, considering that's like a bright orange yeah. You think it's kind of beige in some photos, you're like now that's straight up orange, but the Lexus has red carpets to match all the red there and the red sides on the door panels.

It's like they almost both equally kill it yeah. They really do, and this Lexus also has this red black weaved carbon fiber. It looks awesome so, even though the Lexus has the nicer materials, the cooler carbon fiber, the fact that BMW threw orange in a traditional interior, I almost have to give it to these guys. For being so bold and the other fact is, you can get those optional track package seats on the competition as well, and you can get them in crazy, green. You have the optional seats so yeah I mean I think, BMW actually wins that one but Lexus you're, just as good yeah I mean these seats are actually legitimately more comfortable and more bolstered than those seats.

Oh, and from the front angle, when you see the Lexus driving, you see the red in front of the steering wheel, and that looks very cool. It's almost like when you like, grip and grain, except now it's like ripping red, yeah yeah. I love grip and grain. However, the funniest thing and best thing is seeing the interiors, especially on the m3, from the drone that orange just popped so hard from the drone shots. Okay enough about the interior, colors, let's get into interior tech.

The Lexus is old-school, it hasn't even have the touch screen. That's been upgraded in like the ls 500, but it has Apple Carplay and that's all I really care about, because the sickness of the car makes up for it and the Lexus doesn't even have android auto it finally got Apple Carplay and the BMW has both yeah. The BMW is just like next level tack. It's got the same drive kind of layout that everyone's always liked, except with more stuff. We got like the backup assist.

We've got different gauge clusters that change for different modes. Furthermore, we go over in every single review. This infotainment is pretty much perfect, and it's got the built-in drive recorder too. That can record 20 seconds before and after and record. When has an accident, this thing's unreal, yeah, infotainment, wise m3, definitely wins gauge wise.

I think the Lexus wins, because this gauge is so sick. All I ever want is a center digital attack or analog, and this one kind of does both okay, but the BMW has better shift lights in the gauge cluster and in the head-up display in reduced and in non-reduced mode. So I think for shift lights, BMW wins yeah. I don't even care about my shift lights because watch this, I'm just gonna downshift and just pinging it off the limiter and as good as it is in that RCF. It's not as good as the lc500, because this one actually makes you shift from first to second and automatically of shifting automatically I have automatic, rev matching.

So, let's just like driving on automatic yeah, it is really easy to drive that m3 with the rev matching on. So you do have a six speed manual. I have an eight-speed auto. I find this one to be relatively slow with the paddles, so downshift, it's okay, but when you're ripping it, I find that it actually shifts much faster. So now I'm going to rip it into third and pretty decent on the up shift, but did you notice, when you're on the track in the RCF the feedback for what gear you were in? Just like wasn't perfect.

You know you tried to downshift, it would beep and like the Camaro zl11le, that was like. I know what gear I'm in. I know what I need to shift to that was way more perfect yeah. This transmission does feel ancient in comparison to I mean basically every other company on the market. That has something comparable.

So, Mr, I always complain about stiff rides. Do you have a drive mode that softens that RCF up? Well, I do kind of have a couple modes that I can do that in so normal and eco will soften it up, and I also set my custom to have sport powertrain but soft suspension, because, yes, this is too stiff. You can just see me bouncing around on the track. I'll show you some clips of that. So I do find the suspension too stiff for the road, but because it's adaptive putting it to normal suspension, is totally fine and because that is called track edition.

I don't mind how bumpy it is on the road and I keep it in full sport s plus. So I keep the cool gauges, but in this BMW we have three modes of comfort suspension, and then we can change all the rest of our stuff and program it to our m1 and m2, just like all other cool BMWs and now. Finally, we can program our gear shift. Assist our rev match to the modes and turn that, on and off independently of our traction, it's a very good system, so the BMW definitely gets the win for customization and overall ease of use and the fact that your launch control is actually so easy to do and a thing that we noticed with that particular m3, maybe because it's manual, maybe because it's rear-wheel drive, we can continually do launches over and over. Unlike most other BMW m cars that we drive, we have to do one launch drive around so that it cools down, and then we can do another line and- and you know what we asked the engineers in a m3 m4 like video chat, we did with them, and I'm like, why can't you guys have like a quicker cool down rate like Mercedes does or whatever they had some like dumb excuses like oh, we want you to take the time to get better.

I'm like all right. Well, really, you're, just like not as good as Mercedes. In that way, yeah yeah they had a pretty good comeback. I forget what it was, but it was something along those lines, but that launch control in the RCF push the launch button, and you just need to ease it in and once it's eased in a bit, then you can put your foot all the way down, and it stays in launch. But if you just jab at it, it'll get out of launch because otherwise you just do a first second third gear burnout, and we should probably do the most important tests, starting with the visor test.

Three two one pass double pass and then the cup holder test they both fit small coffees, just fine and then back seat room. I do not fit behind myself in the RCF and in the m4. I also didn't really fit behind myself, but I do fit behind myself in the m3, so I just, just fit behind myself in the RCF and I fit behind myself perfectly fine in the m4. So if you're, five foot eight and a half is both are good and if you've got little kids, who cares toss them in there anyways right, yeah, pretty much. So is that everything with both of these? As far as I'm concerned, I think it's time we get to the price, so the RCF track edition that I'm currently sitting in is optioned out to 120, 000 Canadian.

So this m3 is probably around that too right. Oh yeah, you'd assume, so the final price of that m3 manual is 96, 150, okay. So there is a big price difference, but like carbon ceramic brakes on a RCF adds probably like 10 to 15 000, which would probably do the same. If you got the carbon ceramics on this m3, so who's buying that RCF track edition, I feel like that's what people with too much money who are Lexus fanboys buy for fun, and I feel like this m3 is what people with not too much money, save up for and buy as a gold car as much as I love my old school 5, liter v8s, because, yes, I love them so much, and I love this one. The price is just so out of whack that you don't get the performance value that you do, but don't, but the coolness is off the charts for that RCF track edition.

So for me as much as I love the m3, the m4, if it was a m4, maybe I'd be a little more team m4, but I'm going to go team RCF track edition. If we're awarding cool points, the RCF track edition gets all of them, so that definitely wins but objectively, that m3 is just a better car. So I have to give the win to the m3, but we want to know from the viewers which car wins which car is. The internet's choice leave a comment below whoever spams the most RCF or m3. That is going to be considered the winner and let us know what else you guys want us to compare, because we have an extra special comparison with this RCF track edition with the mustang mach 1, which is also a track version of a mustang, and what else you want to see us drift, because, apparently we can do that now.

Give us up give us up.

Source : TheStraightPipes