TGIF[R-S]: Ten Things I Hate About the FR-S

[vh_supra26]

Welcome to the latest installment of our weekly series: TGIF[R-S], where Features Editor Sami Haj-Assaad details the ownership experience of the Scion FR-S. If you haven’t seen the latest articles, be sure to check out the whole archive of them.

By now you’ve probably heard of every single great thing about the FR-S, like how it has impeccable balance, superior driving feel and stunning value at $25k, but what about the thoughts of an honest-to-goodness owner. Make no mistake, I love this car, but it’s not perfect.

Daily driving has brought to light ten major flaws with the car, from comfort to convenience. Maybe in a few years when the FR-S is updated and includes some updates, I can look back and credit myself for bringing the perfect car to fruition. In the mean time I’ll just complain, like a stuck up automotive journalist.

1. Lack of Arm-rest



Some will say that as this is a ‘Driver’s car’ it doesn’t need an armrest and both hands should be on the wheel, but even with your hand resting on the shifter, your arm has nowhere to comfortably rest. Stranger still, the arm rest by the door is nice and padded and well spaced, meaning that there are some concessions in mind for drivers, but only for one arm. Rumors point to an arm-rest accessory, but who knows how much that’ll cost, and if it’ll take place of the storage area between the two seats, or render the cupholders (even more) useless.

2. Gas tank is too small



With the FR-S, I feel like I’m filling this car up every other day. With an average fuel consumption rating of 28 mpg so far, the FR-S isn’t a thirsty vehicle, it just seems to run out of gas more often than I’m used to. Now I attribute that to the size of the gas tank, which is probably small for weight savings and balance, but still, the car seems to be going only about 350 miles on a tank, when I’m always hoping for a bit more. Most cars with small tanks at least make it up to you with cheaper trips to the station, but the FR-S requires premium fuel, which means I’m spending upwards of $50 every visit.

3. Cup holders don’t work/are awkward



The FR-S has a little removable hunk of plastic that fits in the middle storage area, that has two circular holes to put your beverage in. Watch out though, they don’t really hold anything, as most cups are too thin to be held by these ‘cup holders.’ Additionally, when you do put your drink in this place, the cups are placed awkwardly, almost behind you so when you decide to grab your drink, you have to bend, or lean uncomfortably just to get at it. Putting it back in the holder is equally difficult, making for a potentially safety hazard when driving. Anyone planning to buy an FR-S should remember to bring along a tissue box to deal with all the spills.

4. Clutch slightly vague, high engagement point



While the rest of this car is very communicative to the driver, the clutch has a vague feel, with minimal feedback. Additionally, the engagement point is quite high up, which takes getting used to. If you switch between three pedal cars often, you’ll no doubt have to recondition your feeling for the clutch.

5. No range computer?



The car’s display has an average lifetime fuel-economy gauge, and an instant fuel economy gauge, but those aren’t really useful to me while I’m driving. With the car’s small gas tank, I’d like to see a range computer, telling me when I can expect to fill up during my current trip.

6. What is this pattern all over the car?



At first glance, the pattern on the dash looks like this cheesy fake carbon fiber. Then I found out that it’s repeated everywhere. It’s in the gauge cluster, on the floor mats and even on the front grille. I have no idea what it is, and what it references. Some people originally called it a space-invader shape, and others say it has some heritage to the older Toyota logo, but I don’t see it. Any one have a good explanation of this thing?

7. 86 logos aren’t cohesive



Enthusiasts understand what the 86 means, and international FR-S’s are even called the 86 or GT 86. However, here in North America, there is, and never was a car released to market as the ‘86’ which means every-time a casual observer asks about these badges, I end up giving them very a long-winded explanation of the AE86, and the GT 86. The problem is that this car isn’t called a Toyota, or a GT 86, so the heritage just isn’t there.

8. Noise generator



The boxer engine sounds great, especially in the higher end of the rev-range, but every once in a while it seems a bit too much, especially since it’s piping that tone into the cabin. On the track it sounds great and is handy for recognizing how close you are to the red-line, or when to shift, but at higher speed cruising it ends up drowning out the stereo. When looking in the engine bay, the piping also adds to the clutter, making the area look messy. And it is quite the mess in there.

9. Tailpipes are tiny for cut-outs



This wouldn’t be much of an issue if I never saw the rear-end of the international Subaru BRZ or Toyota GT 86 (top image) but it turns out that North American models got a bit of a snip-snip when it comes to the tail-pipes. The international models have these big beefy tailpipes that stick out past the rear valence, while the FR-S has these tiny pipes that hardly fill out the cut-outs. It looks wimpy in comparison, and is unbecoming of the FR-S image. If there’s a kit for the international look, it’s something I’ll be looking into.

10. Useless Speedometer



In a car where almost everything has its purpose, the speedometer seems completely out of place. The great looking tachometer is the focus of the information cluster, and is animated with every touch of the car’s throttle. The speedometer on the other hand is lazy, and only reaches a third of the way up at highway speeds. Making the speedometer even more useless is that the numbers are tiny, and impossible to read at a quick glance (especially in km/h.)

http://www.autoguide.com/auto-news/2...-the-fr-s.html

[Asphalt]

I believe the T's in the dash, gauge cluster, front of car (air intake) are all of this Toyota symbol

[dem00n]

I like the cup holders, its like the seat they arent meant for large things.
Also the pattern all over the car is pretty cool, i don't mind it. Something very different.

[Vladror]

the tail pipes are smaller in the US b/c the international ones didn't adhere to US safety regulations (they stick out too much and idiots could burn themselves by walking past the car - or something)

[empower-auto]

Cup holders are fantastic in my opinion, especially for a small car like this.

[Synack]

1. Arm-rest is being developed
2. Gas tank could use another 3 gallons, maybe
3. Cupholders suck in this car
4. Clutch can be adjusted
5. Range would be nice
6. Fake carbon fiber plastic does look silly, hasn't annoyed me yet though
7. It's fun giving explanations about why the 86 is there, take pride in your car.
8. Noise generator is stupid
9. Tailpipes are definitely tiny, wasn't Toyota's first priority though.
10. That speedometer is SO GODDAMN USELESS!!!!

[Nevermore]

It's a good thing the put the digital speedometer because number ten is pretty true. I can't say much about the rest, still don't own mine yet so won't try to pretend I know what's what. But as far as the speedometer goes, looking at the picture it's easy to tell it's well out of line-of-sight, takes more than a quick glance to find it, and iirc, the guage on my current car puts 60 where that one shows 100. It's weird that they'd make it come all the way around like that, putting 0 on the right instead of the left.

[Tt3Sheppard]

I love this article

[Sigh-on-Rice]

I agree with #9 and #10. I don't care about #1 through #8.

[rice_classic]

What you hate is what I like, or at least what I'm not bothered by.


1: Armrest: I'm 6'0" and maybe it's the way I sit but my elbow reaches the center console and "rests" on it. I feel like I already have an armrest. However, I typically drive with both hands on the wheel, you know... like you're supposed to, so it's not much of an issue anyway.

2: Gas tank isn't too small: Imagine if this car actually got the mileage the EPA said it would... then it would be too small but if I did a road trip and averaged 37mpg (Which I can) then I could get 400 miles before a fill up. Also, compare this car/tank with other cars similarly. I rarely got 400miles out of my Prelude, out of my S2000, out of my CRX, out of my Econoline, out of my Isuzu trooper. I get that this isn't a Prius, an Audi Turbo Diesel or the 1st gen Honda Insight but 350 miles per tank on a sports car ain't bad and is pretty much par for the course.

3: Cup Holders: Have you considered the giant one in both doors? I can put those large bottles of water in those (the 1 liters) which is really nice! Couldn't do that in any other car I've owned! As for the center console I think they did it well... Not only do I have room for 2 drinks but I have a little extra space for "junk". In my S2000 I got 1 cup holder and no space. In my 4th gen Prelude I only got 1 cup holder PERIOD! Now I have 4... that's a WIN in my book!

4: Clutch Engagement: I suppose it may be because my previous MT car had high-engagement but even though I have my race car set to low engagement I find this a non-issue. All cars are different and the driver should be able to adapt. Don't try to make your current girlfriend like your previous girlfriend... not a really good analogy I know but I've had my car on the race track several times now and the clutch is a complete non-issue and in track conditions the heel-toe is terrific. I love all 3 pedals in this car.

5: No trip computer: I'm a little surprised here, however unlike myself many other FRS owners may have come from cars with lots more fancy pancy gizmos, which I have not. For perspective; you have a fuel gauge AND you know how many miles you average per tank, plus you have an A and B trip recorder and an odometer... You have 4 things to tell you how soon you'll need to fill up again. Is a trip computer really needed? Isn't the point of a "drivers" car to remove the extraneous nonsense?

6: It's a Toyota/TRD thing. I actually like it both on the dash and the gauge cluster and it's the primary reason I like the FRS interior over the BRZ interior. The silver panel on the BRZ dash along with the boring gauge cluster pointed me toward the FRS.

7: Couldn't agree more! It's not a Toyota here and the worst part is I've already had several people ask my why I have a swastika on the side of my car to which I have to quickly explain the whole "86" history of the damn thing. While I personally like it, it is out of place and I'm no fan of the Nazis.

8: Noise generator: Yup... Seriously wtf is this thing and why is all this extra plastic needed?

9: Tailpipe: That's a "meh" thing.. It is what it is. My expectations on details as remedial as this would only come into play if I was paying $50k for the sports car, not $25k.

10: Useless speedometer: Agreed. It seems strange to have 2 speedometers. It would have been really neat to use that space for data such as oil pressure/oil temp. That would have been really neat!

[chulooz]

What whining!

1. Dont rest your arm, drive the car properly.

2. BooHoo, its a sports car not a SUV.

3. Dont use/need them, just drive the car.

4. Adjust it and adjust the driving style.

5. Range computer? Is this a space mission?

6. T symbols, focus on them for a second.

7. 86 fans dont care about cohesiveness.

8. Too much noise in your sports car, got it.

9. Aftermarket to the rescue. (hope it doesn't get too loud)

10. 'Lazy' speedo? Sure... if you want it to dance use the pedal.

[SubieNate]

IIRC the analog speedo is there because the base model in other markets doesn't include the digital one.

The exhaust is definitely puny. Other than those two I don't think the rest are worth worrying about. I prefer the Toyota dash to the Subaru's.

Nathan

[TennisHsu]

1) Arm rest would be a nice addition, but I'm doing fine without it.
2) Larger gas tank, more weight to haul around
3) Drinking and shifting= not a good combination. Cup holders hold my drinks, so can't really complain about it.
4) Adjusted my clutch, feels natural now
5) Average mpg x gallons in tank = my "range"
6) I respect the stylized "T" throughout the car. Just another fun styling cue from Toyota.
7) The 86 badge is the car's true identity.
8) I like the sound resonator. Most of the time I go by sound rather than watching the tach when shifting.
9) Replaced the USDM tailpipes
10) You have an extra Speedometer, is it really necessary to complain about it?!

[RRnold]

Originally Posted by Asphalt

I believe the T's in the dash, gauge cluster, front of car (air intake) are all of this Toyota symbol

I see what they did there! No wonder why the FR-S and BRZ have the issues they do! Did Toyota and Subaru secretly resurrect Pontiac and didn't tell us!