FR-S or MS3?

[Juan@aePerformance]

buy my rx8 lol.

[cyphersk8]

Originally Posted by flawedchemical

I also just went from a liquid silver MS3 to the Argento FR-S haha...The mazda like stated above is a beast in the midrange and a roll on monster. It also handles quite well and responds very well to minimal mods. I autocrossed mine for 2 seasons and was always at the top of my class locally against evo's and sti's. The torque steer is manageable and mine became nearly nonexistent when I had an alignment done and took all the retarded toe out of the equation. Made the car MUCH better. Having the FR-S has been on my agenda for years tho, so I made the jump. Already missing my backseat and hatchback practicality, but I'm loving all the broken necks I'm causing and getting to listen to that flat four spin up to 7k. In the 3 I usually got 22-25 around town and mixed driving...and I think I pulled 31 one time on strictly interstate. It does ride rougher than the FR-S though. And is much louder. MS3 had better brakes I think...at least touchier initially and a little more feel in the early part of the pedal. Both transition quickly from side to side. Of course the aftermarket is huge for the 3 compared to the FR-S but I'm sure that will change quickly.


Having said all that...whew...RWD is a game changer and I just never loved the 3 like I thought I would. It is an amazing car and will trounce anything in a bang for the buck contest.

Also...my personal opinion...if you're going to get an auto FR-S you might as well go buy a Grand Marquis and be done with it. No self respecting car guy would buy this car with a slushbox! Bumper to bumper traffic be damned!!!

Good insight, I appreciate it! Sounds like you enjoyed your ms3. I've heard the AT in the frs is quite good which keeps me going back to that as my choice car. If I didn't drive 44 miles each way to and from work, in LA, I'd definitely consider the MT. I don't autocross and don't plan on any heavy mods, I just like cars

How reliable was our ms3? I see tons of scions on the road with parts falling off, think the frs will hold up?

[FT86Katsu]

Fr-s. I don't car what kind of hp the ms3 has, its so ugly..

[flawedchemical]

It was good...never had any issues over 25k miles and I drove the piss out of it. Over 50 drag strip passes and 40 autocross passes. The stock tires wear out at 20k miles no matter what, so be prepared. I had a persistent plastic rattle from the gauge pod, but that was probably more from my motor mount than a build issue.

The one thing other than the FAIL wheel drive that I built a strong dislike to was the tranny. They have documented issues and somewhat slow syncros. Everyone does a fluid change immediately and some people like me still have issues. I eventually got to where I could deal with it but there was still the occasional missed shift.

Now for the FR-S. It seems quite well built to me. The doors shut with a good thud, all the textural interfaces seem good, excellent ergonomics, and much nicer paint. If you're a big...well let me say...wide guy.. you probably won't like the seats. I've noticed the door doesn't open very far either, so ingress and egress are kind of a pretzel act.

It has an AMAZING transmission. One reason I fell in love immediately. Nowhere near the power of the Mazda but my worst tank of gas so far was 31mpg and that was with quite a bit of flogging it, so the tradeoff was kinda worth it. Overall I don't think it'll be like Scion's of old.

Let me know if you have any more specific questions haha.

[flawedchemical]

Originally Posted by FT86Katsu

Fr-s. I don't car what kind of hp the ms3 has, its so ugly..

Purely opinion. I had tons of people who loved it. I liked everything but the damn smiley face

[Thunderchicken]

Originally Posted by cyphersk8

Hey all,

I'm looking to get a new car and I've always been a 2D hatchback guy/coupe kind of guy. I used to mod but I've never actually joined any autocross events, just attended to spectate. I like having power, but to be honest all my driving is to and from work in the daily grind of LA traffic.

I was test driving all the available performance cars (genesis, ms3, abarth, rx8, sti wrx) but I have yet to drive the FR-S. I actually have a deposit hold on one coming in this week, but unfortunately it's argento and I'm not sure I'll love the color.

Anyways, I was looking into getting the FR-S AT as my daily driver, hoping that it brings back the fun in driving for me. I also fell in love with the Ms3 that I drove, except manual in traffic is no fun. I also feel that I'd never really get the full appreciation of the power without landing myself hefty tickets... Or joining autocross events. They have a few at angels stadium near my house, but I've never been big on actually racing my cars. I just like to baby them and enjoy a few weekend drives .

What are your thoughts? MS3 and enjoy the power when I can, keeping my beater focus as a Daily... Or FR-S and having the option of using the AT as my daily. They have the same sticker price, too. Decisions!

Talk me into it. Please

To tell you if you want a very sporty car the MS3 won't let you down. My wife has a '12 MS3 and it's a blast to drive... I find it more enjoyable drive than my '08 STi. The power comes on quicker and smoother than the STi and gets way better MPG on the street and highway. I was able to get 320+ miles on a single tank with the wife telling me to go faster to pass traffic. The steering is not as heavy, on the STi you can feel how heavy the car really is when you turn. That being said the STi is a beast the wife can't keep up, but now your talking big ticket if you are caught.

If you don't mind having less power then go with the FR-S you'll be able to red-line it more often without going triple digits, like I find myself doing from time to time.

Also look in to operating cost between the 2 cars.

Oh don't forget the MS3 has a fair amount of torque-steer you won't have that in the FR-S.

[track_warrior]

FR-S just because its more of a drivers car plus RWD ive driven both and the FR-S hands down will win it with just the driving experience. Im out of town right now and i have a hard on just thinking tomorrow i will be back driving my car thats how much i like it.

[cyphersk8]

Originally Posted by Thunderchicken

To tell you if you want a very sporty car the MS3 won't let you down. My wife has a '12 MS3 and it's a blast to drive... I find it more enjoyable drive than my '08 STi. The power comes on quicker and smoother than the STi and gets way better MPG on the street and highway. I was able to get 320+ miles on a single tank with the wife telling me to go faster to pass traffic. The steering is not as heavy, on the STi you can feel how heavy the car really is when you turn. That being said the STi is a beast the wife can't keep up, but now your talking big ticket if you are caught.

If you don't mind having less power then go with the FR-S you'll be able to red-line it more often without going triple digits, like I find myself doing from time to time.

Also look in to operating cost between the 2 cars.

Oh don't forget the MS3 has a fair amount of torque-steer you won't have that in the FR-S.

Definitely will be checking out the cost of ownership between the two before I decide. I don't mind torque steer because I've always had FWD cars and after a few days you learn to adjust for it and adapt.

I had a fairly fast V6 ford probe that I loved to death and the FR-S screams to me the way that 2d coupe did too. Never raced it and never will for any car... I prefer to just enjoy driving when I can! We shall see! Both have ups and downs for me. Ultimately, cost of ownership and my test drive of the fr-s will determine the outcome. I have a deposit on an argento AT so when I get back from vacation I'm going in to check it out!

I should add, if I buy the Fr-S I'm sure I'll be the first to hit that 60k mark :P I drive an average of 36k miles a year.... Yikes.

[Tbomb 25]

I must say this is trully apples to oranges cars you have chosen here....but very very good 1's as well. Personally for a sporting car i would never get a AT,but it does seem like the FRS/BRZ have the very best auto tranny in this pricerange.Perhaps if its not 1 of these 2 you should check out the Hyundai Veloster Turbo its a FWD hatch thats supposed to have a very good auto tranny to. But for pure driving pleasure other than the Miata your not gonna get any better than the FRS/BRZ maybe the mustang but its much bigger and heavier though Its extremely hard to beat a well designed RWD car for fun, very very few FWD drive cars can even get close to a car like the lightweight well balanced FRS/BRZ drives even very few RWD cars can, even some that many 1000's more.

[dori.]

Originally Posted by flawedchemical

It has an AMAZING transmission. One reason I fell in love immediately. Nowhere near the power of the Mazda but my worst tank of gas so far was 31mpg and that was with quite a bit of flogging it, so the tradeoff was kinda worth it. Overall I don't think it'll be like Scion's of old.

Let me know if you have any more specific questions haha.

probably since its a Subaru

[cyphersk8]

Just test drove the AT frs and I'll be honest, it lacked a bit of oomph for me. The interior seemed very flat for a modern car. It was ergonomic, but lacked some necessary features. I suppose for a track car that wouldn't matter though! I was hoping for a little more in terms of output as well. Don't get me wrong, the car was an absolute blast to drive... Quick, nimble, and fun - but it didnt have much pick up once it's already at freeway speeds. It could be the auto, maybe I should wait and drive an MT too.

Loved the look, loved the feel of the car, but something just didn't live up to the hype I'm a bit sad haha. I'll never track it or mod it, so may e it's just not for me.

Great community though - so ill do what any responsible person should do and I'll sleep on it!

[thill]

I would also drive the new Ford Focus ST. More power, and supposedly strong handling.

I loved the MS3 when I test drove one, but I was not sold on the exterior styling and did not love the interior (felt cheap, steering wheel was super busy with all the buttons).

[cyphersk8]

I'll check out the ST but I don't really like the exterior of the new focus. Thanks for the tip though. I need to find a MT frs and drive tht. I'm sure I'll love it way more.

[ubersoph]

Did you check out a DSG GTI yet? DSG is better than any traditional AT trans...