Newtechfresh | Consumer Electronics Guide: LEXUS RC

When the all-new Lexus RC Coupe will launch in 2014, it will be available with a striking red paint that brings more brightness and contrast thanks to an entirely new painting process.

Using a two-color base of both silver and red, the luminous red paint is achieved through a paint process using four base coats of paint, which are then baked twice.

Lexus says layers of colored and clear coating are used to control some of the color’s reflections and “establish a balance between the brightness and depth” – two elements that usually work against each other.

To prepare the color, the factory starts with a base coat of silver and then applies a clear coat that is covered by a translucent red coat, which is topped with another clear coat. The four coats of paint are then baked twice to set the color.

Thanks to this process, light hitting the paint reflects off the red layer and off the silver layer below, adding depth and a metallic highlight to the red coloration. Before using this new procedure that will debut on the Lexus RC Coupe, the factory used base coats with the same color tone (red and red).

PHOTO GALLERY

Leaving aside the exclusive, exorbitant and extremely limited production LFA and after fiddling around with coupe-convertible models like the second generation SC and IS C for more than a decade, Lexus has finally given in and presented a traditional coupe, one that a wider audienceshould be able to afford.

We've already provided you with a first taste of the 2015 Lexus RC, and now we can give a more detailed photo look at Lexus' BMW 4-Series and Audi A5 Coupe challenger, after several Japanese sites released a host of new pictures.

Speaking of the 4-Series, Lexus is following a very similar, if not identical path to BMW with the RC, which while based on the IS sedan, sports a more seductive body with different panels. The coupe also has a 70mm (2.8 inches) shorter wheelbase at 2,730mm (107.5 inches), but is both longer and wider by 30mm (1.2 inches) compare to the saloon.

Nevertheless, Lexus Chief Engineer Junichi Furuyama made it a point to tell Motortrend magazinethat the RC is a different car than the IS:

"One thing I want to emphasize, the aim of introducing this new model RC is to add a new level of excitement to the existing Lexus lineup," he said. "This is not an IS Coupe, it is the RC, a new coupe in its own right. It is an independent model. It’s not a deviated version of the IS so it has its own unique styling and its own unique performance."

As far as powertrains are concerned, Lexus mentioned the RC 350 featuring a 3.5-liter V6 and the RC 300h with a hybrid unit pairing a 2.5-liter inline four to an electric motor, without providing any other information, so we don't know, for example, if both or only one of these units (V6) will be sold in the States. For the record, both type of engines are available in the IS sedan (the hybrid not in the States).

Lexus didn't say it, but we know for a fact that it is preparing a high-performance F version to go against the BMW M4 (see the spy shots here, and our rendering here).