Rumor: four-door hatchback baby FR-S around $20,000 by 2016

[DIG1992]

The 2013 Scion FR-S provides rear-drive thrills and serves as a halo car for the Scion brand, but what’s left for enthusiasts who can’t afford the car’s $25,255 price of entry? As early as 2016, Toyota may have an answer that’s nothing like the relatively inexpensive MR2 that was discontinued in the 2000s.

A voice from someone close to Toyota tells us that while the new fun-to-drive car will be positioned as a little brother to the GT86, it will get four seats, five doors, a 1.5-liter engine developing around 150 hp, and be aimed at a global audience no sooner than 2016. The new car will totally redefine the company’s entry-level sporty cars by taking on a new hatchback-style shape, a rear-drive platform and a naturally aspirated four-cylinder engine.

With lightweight sports cars a difficult sell in Japan, and young customers on a more global scale wanting hatchback style vehicles with more seats and extra practicality, the car will employ a sleek hatch-style silhouette and be priced around $20,000. A source told us that the hatch will employ a revised version of Toyota’s Rush mini-crossover pictured above but that the new iteration will employ a lower ride height and four-wheel independent suspension; just how much say BMW’s handling department will have in this car’s final settings is still unclear.

Whether such a car will make it from the drawing board all the way to showrooms around the world – or in the U.S. – remains to be seen, but we’re hopeful Toyota can prepare an rear-drive four-door hatch for about the same price as a base Toyota Camry.

http://wot.motortrend.com/we-hear-to...#ixzz2KKanyq8d

[chenshuo]

a "baby" FRS? What's next FRS mini?

[Spaceywilly]

Source: Motor Trend

...maybe later if I am bored I'll link to all the Motor Trend "rumors" from 2008-10 about the ft86 having awd 260hp turbo and costing under $20,000. They just make stuff up for page views.

[GTB/ZR-1]

Uh... Why?

[Ninjin]

I'm doubting it. There a lot of packaging difficulties in making a rwd hatch, especially a cheap one.

Sent from my Nexus S using Tapatalk 2

[BlaineWasHere]

It would be cool, but I doubt it'll happen.

If they build a 2nd gen of this car I could see more body style variations, but they are not building a separate smaller hatch. Stretching the wheel base a touch to make a small sedan with the same powerplant is much more likely IMO.

[wbradley]

If the platform contunues to sell well for 2 or more years, I could see a second model as the FR-H (for hatch?)

[dem00n]

Why use the term baby FRS to confuse people?

People are going to think its going to look like an FRS then.

Just call it a 5 door hatchback for 20K coming out in the 2016.

Fuck.

[ebphoto]

rear wheel drive hatch? sick.

[ichitaka05]

4 door & hatch... but it's baby/mini FR-S? LMAO

[SubieNate]

Originally Posted by Ninjin

I'm doubting it. There a lot of packaging difficulties in making a rwd hatch, especially a cheap one.

Sent from my Nexus S using Tapatalk 2

Care to explain? Can't be any more difficult than an AWD hatch and Subaru and many others have been doing that for ages.

[OrbitalEllipses]

Originally Posted by Spaceywilly

Source: Motor Trend

...maybe later if I am bored I'll link to all the Motor Trend "rumors" from 2008-10 about the ft86 having awd 260hp turbo and costing under $20,000. They just make stuff up for page views.

Thank you.

I remember the last time this car was supposed to be under $20000. It's already out, let's quit it with the unsubstantiated rumors already.

[russv]

While it sounds interesting, RWD would be a difficult packaging proposition. But I'm interested.

[strat61caster]

So it's an xD/xB that doesn't suck.

(Pray for me, I had to go to Scion's website to figure out their other models)