Sold my 2016 Scion FR-S

[damnitBobby]

Like the title says, it's gone. I wanted to leave a review of what I liked and didn't like about the car. I had the car for 2 years and put 40k miles on it. It was my daily driver.

For reference some of my previous sporty cars:
2007 Nissan 350Z
2012 BMW 335i coupe
2005 Mazda RX-8
2005 Infiniti G35 coupe
2002 Honda S2000

Dislikes first:

For a daily driver driving roughly 90 miles each weekday, the seats aren't ideal. I noticed if you raise the seat up it almost feels like the seat is tilting ever so slightly forward putting pressure on my tailbone. The easy fix for this was to drop the seat height to the lowest setting so it sort of cups you into the seat.

The engine is meh. The dip in the power curve actually didn't bug me like it does a lot of people - it actually put me in the habit of downshifting to avoid it altogether. Which is always fun. But the thing that did bug me was the general unrefinement of the motor. Every time I would hang revs it just had this buzzing shakiness to the whole car that wasn't very pleasant. And it isn't exciting to wind out like my RX8 was. Just not a thrilling car to rev out at all. Does it need more power? Yes. It's not a good feeling losing to V6 accords. But full disclosure: I was never a fan of Subaru's glass motors to begin with. It won't be missed.

The exhaust note was lacking. Most aftermarket options sound too ricey and the header modification to give it the boxer rumble IMO doesn't fit the personality of this car at all. I played it safe and bought a TRD exhaust. It did increase the sound but that's about all it did. The exhaust didn't have any particular character just a slightly loud hum. I did like the way the triangular exhaust tips looked though.

Rear seats are practically useless. Should have just removed them and saved the weight.

While I'm not one to complain about tech options the fact that my car came with halogens was a bit disappointing. Even Corollas come with Xenon's now. Not really a big deal just nit picking now.

Fuel mileage isn't bad, but for being so low on hp and curb weight you would think it got better mileage.

Alright now the Likes:

The car handles better than anything I've owned. It really is so much fun to toss around. Pretty much any farm road I will drive 9/10ths and I will have the biggest smile on my face. I'm not too big on drifting, but anytime the rear end stepped out I purposely kept the gas pedal floored and counter steer just for sh!ts and giggles.

The car looks good. I got many compliments on my paint choice (Oceanic Blue). It looks a lot more expensive than it actually is lol. The side profile is spot on and the rear end looks wide and low. Overall it's one of my favorite looking cars that I've owned.

Reliability was rock solid as expected from Toyota. Not a single thing went wrong with my car.

The 6MT actually held up to my abuse. I know some transmission don't like to be rushed, but this one never missed a gear, or caught a synchro, or felt like I was shifting through rocks. It got the job done. I could count on it when I drove 10/10ths.

Overall for the price, this a great little sports car. While I didn't particularly enjoy the engine, it still managed to put a big grin on my face when I drove it hard. If future me ever has a son, I honestly think I will try to find a mint used one of these for his first car. I can't think of a better overall sports car for someone to learn driving dynamics.

All the best to you all and may all your dreams come true.

[Clipdat]

Cool retrospective review/writeup, but I found a strange juxtaposition in your post:

Originally Posted by damnitBobby

I was never a fan of Subaru's glass motors to begin with. It won't be missed.

Originally Posted by damnitBobby

Reliability was rock solid as expected from Toyota. Not a single thing went wrong with my car.

[SC10N]

Yeah, what's a glass motor?

[HachiRokuX]

Excellent write up, I've had mine for 6 months and yeah, there definitely is a lack of power, particularly for passing on the highway. What car are you replacing it with if you don't mind me asking?

Edit: Also, did you ever look into a turbo/SC? Why didn't you go that route if you wanted more power? Or even change up the gearing?

[chaoskaze]

OP sold it cuz his whole house had water damage. XD

ok sorry about my bad joke... >__> It's a really nice review.

[nikitopo]

The 3.5-liter V6 Accord is rated at 278-horsepower and 252 lb-ft of torque, which is pretty much for a family sedan. I don't know why you expected to not lose from such a car. Sometimes, we are fooled by the looks of our cars and expect much more on the performance side. Besides, Subarus are not considered anymore strong cars. They are focusing now on consumption and on safety features. Even the STI's performance has been surpassed by other manufacturers. Until they give us something else, we'll have to rely on modifications or otherwise change brand.

[stevesnj]

Originally Posted by HachiRokuX

Excellent write up, I've had mine for 6 months and yeah, there definitely is a lack of power, particularly for passing on the highway.

Downshift to 5th or 4th. Engine can handle the revs

[StraightOuttaCanadaEh]

Very very good review, agree with all your pros and cons

[Tcoat]

Originally Posted by HachiRokuX

Excellent write up, I've had mine for 6 months and yeah, there definitely is a lack of power, particularly for passing on the highway. What car are you replacing it with if you don't mind me asking?

Edit: Also, did you ever look into a turbo/SC? Why didn't you go that route if you wanted more power? Or even change up the gearing?

Originally Posted by stevesnj

Downshift to 5th or 4th. Engine can handle the revs

I will never ever be able to understand the oft made statement "I have problems passing" with this car. The vast majority of cars on the roads have between 90 and 150 HP yet they all manage to get past other vehicles with no issues. Did everybody that can't get past other cars all come from Mustang GTs or something where you just mashed the pedal? Hell just the other day I was doing 65 on a back road and a Mitsubishi Mirage flew past me with all it's 80HP, 74lbs torque. He didn't seem to be struggling even if he was a far braver soul than I to go that speed on the road we were on. Going turbo or SC because you "can't pass" is just a way your own brain is trying to rationalize your need for one. Downshift and pass.

[TommyW]

Originally Posted by Tcoat

I will never ever be able to understand the oft made statement "I have problems passing" with this car. The vast majority of cars on the roads have between 90 and 150 HP yet they all manage to get past other vehicles with no issues. Did everybody that can't get past other cars all come from Mustang GTs or something where you just mashed the pedal? Hell just the other day I was doing 65 on a back road and a Mitsubishi Mirage flew past me with all it's 80HP, 74lbs torque. He didn't seem to be struggling even if he was a far braver soul than I to go that speed on the road we were on. Going turbo or SC because you "can't pass" is just a way your own brain is trying to rationalize your need for one. Downshift and pass.

High end sports cars have just gotten to have so damn much HP that that is the new benchmark in performance. Comparing an 86 to a GTR or something is ludicrous. There will always be a faster car no matter what you drive (untill you drive the fastest car in the world) so you need to be satisfied with what you can afford and enjoy it and quit complaining.

[Tcoat]

Originally Posted by TommyW

High end sports cars have just gotten to have so damn much HP that that is the new benchmark in performance. Comparing an 86 to a GTR or something is ludicrous. There will always be a faster car no matter what you drive (untill you drive the fastest car in the world) so you need to be satisfied with what you can afford and enjoy it and quit complaining.

See that is part of my issue. Everybody compares it to the higher level cars and say how slow it is when in reality it is in the top percentile of the normal production cars. Most cars can't even touch it but to read here it sounds like everybody drives where there is nothing else on the road except high trim Mustangs, Camaros, Vettes and exotics all zooming around them as they plod along.

[stevesnj]

Originally Posted by Tcoat

See that is part of my issue. Everybody compares it to the higher level cars and say how slow it is when in reality it is in the top percentile of the normal production cars. Most cars can't even touch it but to read here it sounds like everybody drives where there is nothing else on the road except high trim Mustangs, Camaros, Vettes and exotics all zooming around them as they plod along.

I suspect the OP maybe was used to an auto trans?

[Cartman]

Originally Posted by Tcoat

I will never ever be able to understand the oft made statement "I have problems passing" with this car. The vast majority of cars on the roads have between 90 and 150 HP yet they all manage to get past other vehicles with no issues. Did everybody that can't get past other cars all come from Mustang GTs or something where you just mashed the pedal? Hell just the other day I was doing 65 on a back road and a Mitsubishi Mirage flew past me with all it's 80HP, 74lbs torque. He didn't seem to be struggling even if he was a far braver soul than I to go that speed on the road we were on. Going turbo or SC because you "can't pass" is just a way your own brain is trying to rationalize your need for one. Downshift and pass.

I have problems passing all the time... Fucking assholes at the track...

[jubella2]

A lot of your complaints would have been noticed on a test drive.