2019 Lexus RC

Buyers of upscale vehicles have their reasons for spending more money than they have to for a car: they either want a premium driving experience; the kind of luxury features only money can buy; or they’re after a car that looks like it costs more than the average daily driver.

We suspect that last reason drives sales of entry-level luxury coupes like the Lexus RC, a two-door that sacrifices some practicality to the already compact IS sedan.

Lexus has refreshed the RC for 2019 with styling tweaks and aerodynamic and suspension changes aimed at improving the car’s handling and high-speed stability. There’s also a newly named Signature entry point that comes with a lower price and, we suspect, fewer standard features than the 2018 model, but Lexus doesn’t specify what they might have cut out for the lower price.

Exterior updates are subtle. There’s a new version of the spindle grille and L-shaped taillights, and some models get new, stacked triple-LED headlights. Aero changes include a new side window molding and rear bumper duct that smooth the flow of air around the car and keep it better planted at highway speeds.

Lexus has left alone the RC’s powertrains. As before, the coupe skips over the IS sedan’s four-cylinder engine to go straight to a 3.5L V6 that makes 260 hp and 236 lb-ft of torque in the RC 300 and 311 hp/280 lb-ft in RC 350 form. Both trims get standard AWD and a six-speed automatic transmission.

Changes to the high-performance RC F have not yet been announced; when they are, they’ll be detailed in a separate buyer’s guide article.

RC 300 AWD Signature is equipped with bi-LED headlights, 10-speaker stereo with the Enform infotainment system and Apple CarPlay, cornering lights, dual-zone automatic climate control, split-folding rear seat, heated steering wheel, leather-trimmed steering wheel and 18-inch wheels.

Also standard across the line is the Lexus Safety System +, which comprises a pre-collision system with pedestrian detection and automatic braking, lane departure alert with lane keep assist, radar cruise control and automatic high beams.

The RC 300 AWD Premium brings driver's seat memory, power-adjustable steering wheel, sunroof, 19-inch wheels, ventilated front seats, automatic wipers and blind spot monitor with rear cross traffic alert.

Next up is the RC 300 AWD F Sport Series 2. It’s based on the Premium package and gets a drive mode select system, sport-tuned steering, adaptive variable suspension, trim-specific 19-inch wheels, ventilated front sport seats, navigation and a variety of F Sport touches, like triple LED headlights and a sport gauge cluster.

Atop the line is the RC 350 AWD F Sport Series 3, adding the more potent engine and a 17-speaker Mark Levinson stereo.

Both RC 300 and RC 350 models share fuel consumption estimates of 13.1/9.8 L/100 km (city/higway).