Unfortunately, the Lexus RC F was never the sharp samurai sword to chop down the BMW M4. Even with a characterful V8 and left-field looks, it was undone by its chubbiness. At 1,800kg, it was 200kg heavier than an M4 but it looks like Lexus is addressing that for next year’s Detroit show with the RC F Track Edition.

Thanks to the teaser image above, we should see a harder, lighter RC F to take on the M4 CS in January. We don’t know too much yet, but given it’s got a fixed carbon fibre spoiler, lightweighting has obviously been the aim of the game.

It’ll more than likely follow the same lines and diet as the RC F GT Concept that we saw a few years ago. That made do with the standard car’s engine and eight-speed automatic transmission (with modified lubrication and cooling systems plus a performance exhaust), but the kerbweight was trimmed by a whopping 363kg, thanks largely to CFRP body panels and polycarbonate windows. We doubt Lexus would go that extreme, but every little helps.

Lexus quoted ‘over 460bhp’ and ‘more than 390lb ft’ of torque for the Concept, which is a number that slotted neatly into the range between the standard RC F and GT3 race car. Which we can’t complain about. Could this be the car to take on the might of the M badge? We’ll have to wait to January to find out.