Jack Baruth puts the Scion in third place behind the Miata and the Genesis Coupe.
I haven't driven the Scion yet, so I don't know for sure whether I agree with the conclusions or not. In any case, I found it entertaining.
Jack Baruth puts the Scion in third place behind the Miata and the Genesis Coupe.
I haven't driven the Scion yet, so I don't know for sure whether I agree with the conclusions or not. In any case, I found it entertaining.
the first ad for one completely turned me off of them.
"the worlds first horizontally opposed boxer 4 cylinder..........with this stupid acronym we just made up, multi point fuel injection, and blah blah blah marketing speak"
Article said: What better way to do it than with a $25,000 sports car, paid for with Mommy’s mad money or an afternoon shift at the Barnes & Noble record counter, mostly spent furtively spinning a Ra Ra Riot disk instead of the recommended Diana Krall Christmas album and checking Facebook on one’s iPhone? And after twenty-five years of receiving awards for participation and surfing along on a wave of grade inflation, Gen Y has enough self-esteem to view a full-priced sporting car with a healthy dose of ironic contempt. A Corvette is “trying too hard”, and trying too hard is something one simply never does, you see.
lol
Article said: I don’t want a Subaru engine in my FR-S. To some extent, that’s like putting a Northstar in a Lexus: hey, it’s boring, but now it will blow up and die! I don’t want to become an expert at swapping head gaskets. I don’t want to do all my maintenance from underneath the car.
awesome
article said: It’s a bunch of sound and fury signifying that you’re about get passed by a Hyundai which costs less.
These quotes are great. I still like the FRS/BRZ and would buy one over a Genesis though.
Color me more than surprised at the small difference in laptimes between the FRS and the Gen Coupe. I would have expected the Gen Coupe to be much faster, if i must be honest.
I'd still rather have the FR-S then a Genesis.
I find too much body roll to be disconcerting, not fun.
hyundai is too big to interest me.
i can make cars more powerful. it's more challenging to make them smaller.
Article said:
I don’t want a Subaru engine in my FR-S. To some extent, that’s like putting a Northstar in a Lexus: hey, it’s boring, but now it will blow up and die! I don’t want to become an expert at swapping head gaskets. I don’t want to do all my maintenance from underneath the car.
awesome
I think this nailed my main issue with the car. Give me a newer more refined version of the old GT-S engine instead of the Subaru, and I'll be happy.
I would have preferred an inline engine as well and I can't believe it would have made a huge difference to the CoG, I think the added underhood room and ease of maintenance would have been worth it. The only real downside is that it would have required a longer hood.
Article said: If I am willing to do my own head gaskets, I can buy an STi for similar money, crank the boost, and humiliate the FR-S both down the freeway and on the racetrack.
I would like the author to direct me to this mysterious land where I too can buy a brand new STi for 26k or roughly 1/3 off the sticker price. I would gladly buy one at that price.
The article does make some good points but it's the same old argument about the Genesis being too big and I don't want a drop top Mazda.
I think he means a used STi. Which also puts it in competition with used C5s and S2Ks.
In reply to GameboyRMH:
Which completely puts aside the point of buying a new car. If I had 25k and wanted the most car for the money I would buy an STi or a C5 in place of a FR-S. If I wanted a new car those are not even within the realm of possibility.
Edit: Anyhoo round and round with the new vs used argument again. Off I go then.
The0retical wrote: In reply to GameboyRMH: Which completely puts aside the point of buying a new car. If I had 25k and wanted the most car for the money I would buy an STi or a C5 in place of a FR-S. If I wanted a new car those are not even within the realm of possibility. Edit: Anyhoo round and round with the new vs used argument again. Off I go then.
Yep that was my point, it's kind of unfair to compare it to used cars.
Otto Maddox wrote: Article said: I don’t want a Subaru engine in my FR-S. To some extent, that’s like putting a Northstar in a Lexus: hey, it’s boring, but now it will blow up and die! I don’t want to become an expert at swapping head gaskets. I don’t want to do all my maintenance from underneath the car. awesome I think this nailed my main issue with the car. Give me a newer more refined version of the old GT-S engine instead of the Subaru, and I'll be happy.
and I don't want a crappy Toyota engine in my Lotus-reason enough to ensure I won't buy one.
Did ya hear the one about the guy who did not race his daily driver?
The fact of the matter for me is that I bought the FRS for the OFF Track driving. You know, the regular boring commute to work or to pick the kid up after work. The stuff I do 99% of the time.
The reason I bought the Scion was because it was LESS boring to operate than the Mustang or the Genesis in this role. I can attest from behind the wheel experience in all three cars that neither the Genesis nor the Mustang offered any more boredom relief than a Buick Riviera on the day-to day grind.The Miata will always be the winner in this contest if you can live with the extra 5k cost and the two seat limit with no usable trunk. Besides, been there did that for 13 years with a Miata, wanted to try something new.
For me, only time and seat time will tell if this is a great car. Reliability of drive-train and what does or does not fall off will be a deciding factor. How it acquits itself as a used car will be crucial. If the cars last, has some reasonable resale value, does not rot out in winter driving and there are a bunch of them around in reasonable shape for the next rung on the food chain, it will develop a following.
Where I think the car will fall down is in the styling department. I don't see the pointy front end as having the "timeless" look that is important in that niche. Once again, only time will tell.
NOHOME wrote: Did ya hear the one about the guy who did not race his daily driver?
As someone who daily drives a Mustang, I can kind of relate to this line of thinking. My Mustang's limits are normally WAY above what's sanely carried out on the street. You really need a track or at least a really open road to wring it out. Curves that were exciting at 65 in my past vehicles don't get interesting until I'm running 85+. Some days I think about selling it and getting an MR2 or something I can really hammer around town.
And then I find that open road with that perfect corner, and as all 350+ ftlbs slams me back in the seat and the tires are just thinking about a slip angle, I realize why I still have it. Sometimes I like quality over quantity.
The0retical wrote:Article said: If I am willing to do my own head gaskets, I can buy an STi for similar money, crank the boost, and humiliate the FR-S both down the freeway and on the racetrack.I would like the author to direct me to this mysterious land where I too can buy a brand new STi for 26k or roughly 1/3 off the sticker price. I would gladly buy one at that price.
you can spend 26k for a brand new WRX, which is just slightly slower than the STi, and also crank the boost (or not) and humiliate the FR-S both on the freeway and of the racetrack.....
irish44j wrote: you can spend 26k for a brand new WRX, which is just slightly slower than the STi, and use that crappy turn-in to drive around for hours understeering all over the place and wish that engine wasn't two feet forward of the front axles.....
FTFY
In reply to SlickDizzy:
Meh...
I would buy a new Evo for $32k instead of those
And crank the boost
If everyone loves something the easiest way to get attention in a review is to hate it.
Clearly the FR-s is the worst car ever made. I predict toyota going bankrupt and shutting down with the next 12 months. Subaru will remain in business due to their strong sales in Vermont, but times will be tough.
Hopefully they buy back all FR-s/br-z and crush them since the poor souls who were scammed into buying one are probably too embarrassed to even be seen driving one.
B430 wrote: Clearly the FR-s is the worst car ever made. I predict toyota going bankrupt and shutting down with the next 12 months. Subaru will remain in business due to their strong sales in Vermont, but times will be tough. Hopefully they buy back all FR-s/br-z and crush them since the poor souls who were scammed into buying one are probably too embarrassed to even be seen driving one.
"Say What" worthy. 
You guys are thinking about this right now, aren't you?
B430 wrote: Clearly the FR-s is the worst car ever made. I predict toyota going bankrupt and shutting down with the next 12 months. Subaru will remain in business due to their strong sales in Vermont, but times will be tough. Hopefully they buy back all FR-s/br-z and crush them since the poor souls who were scammed into buying one are probably too embarrassed to even be seen driving one.
I guess when you read the article, you missed this part -
your humble author kind of loves the FR-S. I tried to buy one, even. I like the way it looks, inside and out. I like the proportions, the size, the interior.
Otto Maddox wrote:B430 wrote: Clearly the FR-s is the worst car ever made. I predict toyota going bankrupt and shutting down with the next 12 months. Subaru will remain in business due to their strong sales in Vermont, but times will be tough. Hopefully they buy back all FR-s/br-z and crush them since the poor souls who were scammed into buying one are probably too embarrassed to even be seen driving one.I guess when you read the article, you missed this part - your humble author kind of loves the FR-S. I tried to buy one, even. I like the way it looks, inside and out. I like the proportions, the size, the interior.
I don't think he's making fun of the article. 
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