Got to inspect the Scion FR-S today...
 

**UPDATE: I've now test Driven the FR-S, see last paragraph for write-up***

I drive by a Scion dealership everyday on my way home from work and today they finally had some FR-S's on the lot so I stopped in to check them out. They had two whites and a red. White looked great, but was hoping to see a black one.

First impression: Car is small and compact, looks nice and tossable.

Sits very low and overall seems smaller than our Z, though not by much. Lines look great in person, the front is sharp and looks aggressive but the rear really needs a lip spoiler (which TRD offers). Wheels are nice, but not great.

Sitting in the car:

Seats feel excellent! Hug tight and are comfortable, however the model I sat in didn't have the leather/alcantara inserts and the cloth felt VERY cheap. Didn't feel quite as "cockpity" as our car does, but looks nicely laid out. Love the look of the gauges and tach, nice and large. The cabin is nicely laid out and very simple. While it feels quite a bit cheaper than our car, it's not bad at all and serves its purpose - to keep the driver focused on driving. Dash is made of decent plastics that are not too hard. Shifter feels good and the throws are fairly short (very similar to our Z but with a much less mechanical feel). Clutch is very easy and light feeling, was expecting it to be a bit more sporty.

Got to fire up the car and rev it a bit. Revs quickly and drops back down faster than our car. Exhaust note was poor, but has potential with some aftermarket goodies.

Trunk is very small and possibly less practical than our car believe it or not due to the small opening and overall space. Also the back seats are super tiny (smaller than a mustang) and likely not practical, didn't even attempt to get in them and i'm 5'10".

I hope to return to drive one of these because I know it will be a blast. If you are in the market for a $25k car, this thing is going to be hard to beat.

If I were to buy one I'd need to get new wheels ($2K+) and would option for the leather interior ($2k) which puts me at $29-30k, that's when you start to realize the Z is really a great deal for what you are getting. Granted I have a 40th that has leather, even the base Z feels much more upscale on the inside than this car.

Would I trade my car for this? No. It's great but would really feel like a step backwards. I'm sure the driving experience is excellent, but so is our Z and it has a LOT more grunt. While I love my Z in the corners, I also love how it pulls like a train when I need it to. My F.I. exhaust surely adds to that sensation as it's monsterous. Plus the Z simply can't be beat in the looks department. I love our car's curves!

Final Point: If I had some extra cash lying around, this thing would be a fantastic 2nd car but since I can only have one the Z stays.

http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b2...0/IMG_5042.jpg

http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b2...0/IMG_5044.jpg

http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b2...0/IMG_5045.jpg


Engine bay had a surprising amount of extra room, especially when you consider what the underside of a Subby hood normally looks like. Those things are crammed in there (at least in the Sti).

http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b2...0/IMG_5043.jpg

Took a picture of it next to this Prius to show the low roofline (good 7 - 8" difference)

http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b2...0/IMG_5046.jpg

You write well-- I'm looking forward to your driving impressions & your pictures.

Thanks for posting. I'm curious about driving an FR-S, though I don't know whether they're in stock locally yet. I doubt I'd want to trade my Evo for the car, but I would like to see where the car stands & see what all the pre-release talk was about. I cannot remember a "cheap" car that was so universally discussed prior to hitting showrooms.

Good review.

If they release the twincharged version of this that Gazoo is testing I will be all over it, but at the moment, it just cant touch the Z on performance or potential.

Thanks.

The only reason a trade might be tempting would be due to the money savings... but it's not enough to make it worth it.


^Agreed. Anything this small that's boosted would be amazing. I really hope Nissan brings a TT Z or 240 in the upcoming years. Something like that would make an excellent addition to the stable.

Anyone seen these in motion yet? While I saw 3 on the lot (which were all gone the next day) I haven't yet seen one on the road.

Curious if any of you have? Thoughts?

I saw one rolling out of a Toyota dealership last week as I was leaving Baker Nissan and just coasted so I could see it roll by.
It is low already so all it needs is some better offset wheels and the car will have a good stance to it. I like the car rolling, certain angles when it is not moving I don't like but when it was rolling it all looked good.

how was the head room sitting in the driver seat? would you destroy C1 vertibrae if you ran over a twig or a pebble? because looking at that roof line next to the prius makes me think there is no way to vertically spread a spine in there unless your tailbone had ball bearings on it and there was a hole cut in the floor for your a$$ to drag the pavement!

Saw one on the road the other night. It looked great in person. I would be considering this car (the subaru version) if they made it a little more powerful.

i really dig the looks of this car

humm... that car just looks wrong.

Its a great looking car with awesome chassis and performance features but lacks about 75hp and 100lbs of torque for me to even consider it for any true sporting intentions. This car needs a turbo and a bbk. That being said. That would add about 220lbs to its 2800lbs.

If they found a way to keep it @ 2900lb max and have a turbo 275hp/280lbs tq? This car would be speaking volumes to the masses. Keep the price @ 33k max. And this car would rule

Nice write up! A Subaru dealer by me just got two new BRZ's, a white and grey one. I will definitely have to stop by and check em out. From what I read the BRZ is the better car vs. the FR-S.

They are literally identical cars aside from the front fascia. The Subaru offers a version with an upgraded interior, but as for performance the difference should be negligible. I know a lot of people are tuned off by the Scion badge, but who really cares? That shouldn't mean anything to a true car enthusiast.

Personally I think the Scion looks a good deal better

An article I read compared the two head to head. It said the only noticible difference in performance was that the suby pushed more and the scion oversteered more. The difference being slightly softer springs in the scion.

I prefer the scion front bumper to the suby, but would get the suby over the scion because of the interior upgrades available.

Either way, they are just a little too whimpy for my tastes and I felt it would be a downgrade from my S2000 (god I wish Honda still made them, best car I've ever owned hands down!!!!)

Curious as to why it needs a BBK? More power I definitely agree with, but the itty bitty brakes on my S2000 have no problem keeping up with the car. I think the stock brakes on the FRS/BRZ would be more than enough for spirited driving.