Lexus uses Oculus Rift VR tech for 2015 RC F test drives

By Stephen Edelstein Published October 3, 2014

What if you’re looking to buy a high-performance car, but can’t find a track to really wring it out on?

Lexus applied a bit of virtual-reality tech to that problem, building a driving simulator for the 2015 RC F using Oculus Rift’s Development Kit 2.

Recommended Videos

Called the RC F Rift, it uses the car’s actual steering column and an Oculus headset, allowing test drivers to put the RC F through its paces on a virtual racetrack.

Related: 2015 Lexus RC F and Lexus RC 350 first drive

The simulation does a decent impression of the Lexus’ 476-horsepower 5.0-liter V8 wail, but it may not produce the feedback one experiences when piloting an actual car around a track.

This isn’t the first automotive application of virtual reality of simulation. Lexus uses a sophisticated simulator of its own for vehicle development, and Ford uses VR headsets to let designers and engineers to do virtual walk-arounds of cars.

However, the Lexus RC F Rift is more about fun than research. It will be touring auto shows for the next several months, so maybe you’ll get to strap on the headset and go for drive without leaving the local convention center.

Stephen Edelstein

Former Contributing Editor

Stephen is a freelance automotive journalist covering all things cars. He likes anything with four wheels, from classic cars…

Topics

Virtual Reality

Cars

Porsche’s 2027 Taycan gets virtual E-Shift gears hooked to real paddle shifters

Porsche’s is trying to solve one of the most prominent EV hardware problems with software.

Car, Coupe, Sports Car

While electric performance cars have gotten quite fast, especially when it comes to driving in a straight line, they still struggle to replicate the engaging feel of a regular sports car. Missing are the gear changes, the rev build, and the physical feedback that make a sports car feel alive.

Porsche thinks it can fix this with software, and the 2027 Taycan update is its most serious attempt yet. The car comes with something called E-Shift, a system that adds eight virtual gears operated using the paddle shifters behind the steering wheel.

Cars

China has new EV safety rules ready. The US needs to follow in its footsteps

Mandatory battery fire protections and hard power cutoffs show what a tougher EV safety playbook could look like in the U.S.

China's EV safety rules are about to make automakers prove their cars can fail safely, not merely warn people before trouble spreads.

Starting July 1, 2026, two mandatory national standards will require stronger battery safeguards and a physical one-touch way to cut high-voltage power during an emergency. The pressure points are the ones drivers, firefighters, insurers, and regulators can't brush aside for much longer, including battery fires, crash damage, smoke exposure, and rescue access after a severe incident.

Cars

Mercedes’s Chinese partner made an EV that costs under $10,000 and looks deceptively stylish

At around $10,000, the Arcfox Beta T1 has a feature list that embarrasses several $30,000 US EVs.

Car, Transportation, Vehicle

BAIC, the Beijing-based automaker that produces Mercedes-Benz vehicles in China, has launched the refreshed Arcfox Beta T1 on June 16, a compact EV priced roughly between $9,200 and $11,700, depending on the trim.

It's not coming to the United States, but the fact that its most affordable version undercuts the cheapest new car sold here by roughly $13,000 and the cheapest EV by almost $20,000 deserves some attention. What BAIC has built here is a direct indictment of the higher EV costs here in America.