First Drive: Scion Fr-s, Production Model Toyota Ft-86/gt-86

Don’t buy.

Simply put, the FR-S is a rear wheel drive version of the Scion tC. The price difference helps make up the few more horsepower pushing it to 200, and the driving dynamics. The suspension is absolutely phenominal, but she crawls everywhere. I only spent a few minutes driving, but from my experience she handled perfectly with no under or over steer.

Toyota planned to market the vehicle towards drifters, but I wonder why Toyota would make such an incredible suspension with no power behind it? If you stay within 2000-1500 of the redline you will feel some pull in first through third, but once you hit fourth gear it is much slower. On uphill climbs, you will be better off staying at 86-87 rather than shifting to firth. 65 mph is nice, just under 3000 rpms in sixth gear, but keep in mind how little torque there is: 150 ft-lbs or so.

If you are experienced with turbo lag, than this naturally aspirated engine will fit nicely, as its power line feels similar to an older EVO regarding the lag before the turbo takes effect.

So I ask myself, why would I buy the Toyota, excuse me, Scion FR-S for over 30,000 instead of the Ford Mustang for 23,000?
The Mustang gets 29-31 mpg at 65 mph, while the Scion is just under 3000 rpm. It might be a four cylinder, but that isn’t going to be better. And one loses 100+ horsepower.

So, if you want a car you can NOT drift in unless you extremely aggressively whip the car, would like to pay roughly 30% more, and would like poorer fuel economy, than Toyota’s model is right for you. Unfortunately, I have not experience the new BRZ from Subaru, but I am ready to be disappointed. I would excuse the supposedly weaker suspension for 250+ horsepower, and all wheel drive, but the front rear subaru will have the same 200 horses, and most likely suffer the same problems as the Scion. But I will always fail to understand why these vehicles have the ride and feel of a sports car, yet are easily out powered by a Mazda RX8 for thousands less. They left plenty of room to improve.