Lexus RC review

The base RC starts at £38,800, rising through RC F Sport (£42,300), RC F Sport with Takumi Pack (£44,300) all the way to the full-house RC Takumi at £45,800. The RC gets 18s, Nav and some decent standard kit, F-Sport ups that game with 19s, a spindle grille, sports seats and orange callipers, adaptive suspension and LED headlamps. Takumi - the top dog - adds on the Mark Levinson sound system, different 19-inch wheels and a few other extras. This sounds a bit strong, but when you factor in that the way that these Lexus hybrids are configured means that they can actually run up to 53 per cent of the time in zero emissions EV mode (in city traffic, for example), you genuinely have a car that’s likely more efficient in real terms that a limited-EV plug-in hybrid - and 114g/km is not to be sniffed at when you’re playing tax-game roulette.

The more pressing issue if you’re reading Top Gear, however, is that with a top speed of just 112mph, a 0-62mph time of 8.6s and a total system output of 220bhp-ish in a 1,750kg car, that you’ll feel a little short-changed in the dynamics department. If you’re willing to forgo some of the hybrid greenness, there are a lot of genuinely interesting cars to drive for similar cash - and we’d be tempted away from the RC300h pretty early.

The problem is that you feel that you’re buying into something that’s slightly at odds with itself. A sheep in wolf’s clothing. It essentially feels like a sexy Prius. Which isn’t something we want to imagine.