First the good news: Lexus is currently hard at work developing its challenger to the new BMW 4 Series and M4, the RC and the high-performance RC F. Our spy photographers managed to snap a few images of the latter testing at the Nurburgring a few weeks back, and from the sound of things, it's going to be a hell of a car. An inside Lexus source told Motor Trend a few details recently, and BMW may have reason to worry. The RC F will be powered by a 5.0-liter V8 that'll generate around 455 horsepower and 401 lb-ft of torque.

It'll also be built on a new chassis that's being specially tuned for high-performance both off and on the track. Design wise, it'll draw heavily from the LF-CC concept from the 2012 Paris show, and it'll include carbon fiber body parts for the hood, roof and trunklid. Now the not so good part: it'll cost just over $100,000. The base RC, on the other hand, will come with a base 2.0-liter turbo four and will start out at about $40,000. It'll also have a 2.5-liter hybrid and 3.5-liter V6 options. Basically, the RC F will be the new halo car from Lexus, taking over the slot previously filled by the now discontinued LFA. What's more, it'll likely be built by the same engineering artists who handled the LFA.