Posts tagged FR-S

A Thousand Miles in a 2014 Scion FR-S

MANjr writer Jeremy Johnson takes the Scion FR-S through the best and worst of driving in and around Los Angeles.

LOS ANGELES- It’s been nearly ten years since Toyota submitted a car for the sports category. Somewhere in the 90’s they put away their leather jacket and retired the supercharged Supra and MR-2 Spyder. Toyota settled in nicely into responsible adulthood, releasing sensible car after sensible car inspired by economy and reliability. Rinse. Repeat. One reasonably priced car after another rolled off of the automakers assembly lines, filling driveways and carports and city streets with practical and dependable options for every walk of life.

That’s nice. Commendable even. Cars impact people’s lives like few other consumer products can. We count on them to be there at the ready for work and play. We trust our lives to their safety standards and our finances to their dependability. Toyota understands that and hits the sweet spot over and over again.

Though… when done properly, cars can be all that and so much more. Shoot, they can even be fun! Thankfully, in Toyota President Akio Toyoda passionate drivers may have the staunch ally they need. Toyoda-San demanded sport and excitement from his engineers and developers and we are just now beginning to see the fruits of their efforts. The Scion FR-S embodies this mission.

The Look

Sexy. The car is extremely low to the ground. Its athletic stance and aggressive curves stand out from blocks away. I took and accepted stare downs from pedestrians and drivers alike. The FR-S is not marketed aggressively and only has two model years under it’s belt so it remains a novelty to many. Upon entry to your new Scion FR-S you become initiated into an unofficial ownership club. FR-S owners nod at each other. They like each other’s Instagram photos. A woman blew me a kiss. Questions you should prepare yourself for include, “Is that the new Scion?” “What is that thing?” and especially, “Is it fast?”

The Drive

To answer question number 3, YES! Not Lamborghini goes 60 in 1st gear fast, not even Subaru WRX STi human catapult fast. But yes the FR-S is fast and it is glorious. You will be hard pressed to have more fun between 0 and 80 miles per hour. The car is so successfully tuned and so tightly suspended that each one of it’s 6 manual gears hits like a sling shot pulled to its firing length. It manages to feel fast from the moment you let your foot off of it’s snappy clutch. This car is not just sport mode “go kart handling” like that foresaken mini Cooper S. The 200hp Boxer engine emblazoned with the Toyota and Subaru name helps keeps the weight of the car flat to the ground and the optional exhaust roars with thanks each time you bury the throttle.

The “R” in the FR-S of course stands for rear wheel drive. This means at any moment in your drive you can switch off your safety hat and drive like a stunt man. Go ahead and let that rear end slide out or chirp your tires. Oh yea… it looks good on you. It’s not dangerous if you do it in the right place at the right time. Don’t be a dummy! Look twice!

Speaking of looking twice, if you manage to get your hands on one of these awesome cars your first stop should be the auto parts store for two of those 5 dollar blind spot mirrors. Save your neck the pain. In fact just bring them with you to the dealership and stick them on before you drive off the lot.

The drive is an A+. Next time you see a FR-S drive by take a look at the driver. 9/10 times they’re smiling. I know I was.

Interior

Spartan. Nothing here you don’t need except for maybe the standard touch screen 7 speaker sounds system. Built in AUX and USB jack, obligatory clunky 3rd party app suite

and an interesting cup holder design that I think I like. Irrelevant. The car’s interior is built around the driver, the seats are bolstered high enough to be called sidewalls. You will not be thrown around in this car’s warm embrace. An extremely stiff yet comfortable suspension and the near absence of moving parts contributes to a very tight and rattle free ride. The back seat can barely fit two duffel bags. The trunk can fit a set of golf clubs. Good enough for me. Track guy? Put down the seats and slip racing tires in the trunk.

Price

Dare I say cheap? Brand new drive off the lot for just under $25k. Lease it for $300 a month. It drives like a car twice the price.

Overview
It’s a home run. Sure it could use a little more torque. Yes, a turbo engine would be incredible. Blind spot mirrors sure… But that’s really all I’ve got. I drove this car in canyons and on freeways, up the coast and in bumper to bumper. It’s fun pulling out of my driveway, it’s fun changing lanes downtown. It’s really, really fun searching for an apex on a winding road. I grew attached very quickly and separation anxiety set in hard on my last day. I didn’t want to give it back. In Los Angeles you spend far too much time in the car. May as well enjoy every minute of it.

FR-S Stats

22 / 30 m.p.g.
2.0L 4 cylinder Boxer Engine
200 Horsepower
2,758 lbs
0-60 in 7.6 very quick seconds
MSRP $24,700

Apr 16th

Posted by Jeremy Johnson in Cars

Drifting with Ken Gushi and Scion Racing

IRWINDALE- The sweet stench of burning rubber and al pastor tacos filled the air as I shoehorned myself into the passenger’s seat of Ken Gushi’s 1000 horsepower Scion FR-S. He waited patiently while I fumbled with my 5 point restraint. Click. Click. Click.

I’m suddenly confused as the sound from the gentle rumbling of the engine is replaced by the roar of some sort of screaming banshee and we must have just been shot out of a cannon or something because I am pinned in my seat and all I can smell is burning rubber and I am wishing I was wearing some sort of adult diaper because holy crap we are flying through the air.

Oh. No cannon. We’re cool. That’s just hot laps with Ken Gushi.

Ken Gushi is a legend in drifting circles. He was drifting his fathers Toyota AE86 by the age of 13, and won his first race before he even had a drivers license.

By race I mean a drifting race, which aside from quadruple digit horsepower and disintegrating tires bears more resemblance to March Madness and figure skating than NASCAR.

Drivers in the Formula Drift series race head to head in a bracket style competition. Each driver is given a score by judges based on optimum line, angle and style. The highest scoring driver moves on to the next round until one remains.

Wait, back it up. What exactly is drifting?

Yea. Now take your Dramamime and check out my view from the passenger seat.

Pretty bad ass. See it in person this weekend as Formula Drift kicks off their 11th season on the streets of Long Beach, California.

Apr 2nd

Posted by Jeremy Johnson in Cars

2014 Toyota Scion Primer

HOLLYWOOD, CA- Though I’ve observed the Scion brand for years I’ve enjoyed very limited interactions with the cars themselves. This all changed last week on assignment for MANjr at the luxurious W Hotel in Hollywood, CA. Members of mainstream auto and lifestyle media descended upon Toyota’s Scion Experience to learn about and drive the 2014 versions of the tC, xB, xD, iQ and the sporty FR-S.

Scion gives their customers exactly what they want. The “Pure Price” philosophy gives the buyer one price for each model. There is no bundling of features, no trim levels, no interior packages. One car, one price. No haggling, no sneaky sales techniques. Which is not to say that the Scion cars are homogenous in any way. Whether online or at the dealership each individual buyer can tailor their new car to exactly the features and specs they want and can afford. The dozens of options available have the potential for countless variations and customization, all done in a simple, straight forward and accessible way.

If only ordering cable was as satisfying of an experience.

The ever changing nature of Scion’s buyers make them very nimble in their marketing. What was once a brand focused on hip hop and graffiti evolved quickly with it’s customers to adopt dub step and retail art. Authentic relationships have been forged with young artists, producers, clothing and shoe designers to continue to not only reinforce the brand’s place in the youth marketplace but to also learn from and adapt to the shifting economics and desires of Generation Y. Flash has been replaced with practical. Transporting people has become transporting things, premium sound systems become standard, fuel economy becomes paramount. Though the Scion brand is proudly associated with the boxy xB, they go beyond the square with these three models in 2014.

2014 tC

The best selling car in the Scion flock, this sporty coupe comes loaded with features and drives great. You sit low to the ground and feel wider than you are thanks to numerous design accents. The steering wheel fits around you, bolstered seats hold you in tight. Like all Scions, it comes with a banging sound system with bluetooth and aux input standard. The tC has tight handling and rides smoothly. It accelerates quickly and efficiently to the top end of city driving and does it without jerking you forward and back as the engine shifts up and down. At about $20,000 you get a lot of new car for your buck, with Kelley Blue Book’s top 10 resale value, you retain that buck over the life of the car. Check out some of these standard features

Panoramic Moon Roof
18” Alloy Wheels
8 Speaker 300 Watt Sound System with 6.1” Touchscreen Display
2.5 L 4 cylinder engine
172 HP
31 highway MPG
$19,965 MSRP or $189/MO 36 month lease

2014 iQ

If we’re giving out awards for the launch, most surprising would have to go to the little Scion iQ. This diminutive car is so small you can fit two in one standard parking space and do u-turns on residential streets. Parallel parking is so simple it feels almost foreign. Here’s the surprising part. This car, on the inside, doesn’t feel tiny at all. It has a reasonable amount of legroom, decent headroom and an acceptable amount of cabin space for a driver and his passenger. The little engine showed some spunk at city speeds and navigating through Hollywood and Koreatown’s congested streets made for a simple and fun drive.

6 speaker 160 Watt Sound System with 6.1” touchscreen display
37 combined MPG (best non hybrid fuel economy)
50/50 split fold rear seats
2 Year, 25,000 mile free maintenance program
11 Airbags, including an industry first rear window air bag
$16,420 MSRP or $139/MO 36 month lease

2014 FR-S

Here’s the car everyone’s asking about. The FR-S represents the culmination of a partnership with Subaru to design and engineer a front engine, rear wheel drive sports car for both brands. This car could quickly become a cult classic. Front engine rear wheel drive cars make great track cars for drifting enthusiasts and Scion knows it. Knows it so well in fact that one of the demonstrations made sure to mention that 4 racing tires could be fit in the back with the seats folded flat. Shifting and gear management was made easy thanks to the engine’s growling internal sound creator. The car has some fire in it’s belly for sure, the low center of gravity and tuned suspension gave it great handling in and out of the winding roads of the Hollywood Hills. The car has a good push off the line and gets up to speed quickly and efficiently. Stay tuned for more on the FR-S, we’ve put in a request with Scion for more time with this little beauty.