Owning an FRS for a year...

[krulux]

I've been hanging around the forums for a while now, but only posting in a few of the technical threads. I figured I'd share my FRS "story" with you folks and share my /2cents about these awesome little cars. The following paragraphs are a little something I put up on the Youtube Autocar FRS/BRZ review comments - It seems there are a lot of folks out there that really don't like our cars, so I felt the need to post a bit about one old guy that really likes these cars!!!


I own an FRS. I've had mine coming up on a year now. If someone would have asked me a year ago if today I would be driving a 4-cylinder tuner car I would have laughed at them. I'm at the age where men start looking at cars most others would see as a "mid-life-crisis" purchase.

Last year I started looking for something fun to drive. My budget was 35-40K which is used territory for the upper end sports cars, at least for what I had my eye on. You know the type, old guy in a Corvette or Porsche. Eventually I decided against buying used and started looking at options a rung or two lower.

I grew up on classic muscle cars and have owned a few over the years. I do like the retro look of the SS Camaro or GT Mustangs. I even fancied the RT Challenger. But after seeing the prices on some of those cars and having crazy insurance prices quoted I decided to look in an entirely new direction.

My friend told me to check out a WRX. Subaru. Ok. Enter the Subaru WRX. Now this was something different! 4 cylinder boxer engine. Turbo. All wheel drive. Price is good. My new obsession. I started reading about the performance of these little banshee's. I was hooked. I went and test drove one. Loved it. Almost bought it. Then I saw the BRZ for the first time as another customer was returning from a test drive. Whoa. What is that? I asked the salesman. Oh, the BRZ.. do you like it? Uhh.. yes! How much is it? 28K? WTF? That car is 28K?

Unfortunately, it was the only one on the lot at the time. I did not get a chance to drive that BRZ. The guy on the test drive decided to buy it, so all I could do was check it out. He did tell me that Toyota made the same car. Toyota? Yup, under their Scion badge. Scion? Yup, and it's less than the BRZ. WTF?

And so I switched gears and started researching the BRZ and FRS. When a reviewer, especially those like Autocar or Top Gear, favorably compare a sub 30K car to those that cost 2 or 3 times as much that is a win! A win for us the driver and those that love to drive. I like to think of the BRZ/FRS as a poor man's Porsche. All the fun for way less cash.

Naturally, I wanted the Subaru version but at the time they were back-ordered for weeks. I wanted one right then. So I found a Toyota dealer that sold Scion's and found my FRS. It was the only one on the lot. A beautiful Whiteout FRS 6MT. I bought it immediately after the test drive. I can say without a doubt it is the best driver's car I've ever driven. Hands down. This car makes other "performance" cars feel like boats. This car is a switchblade in a world of pen knives.

No, the car is not the fastest thing I've ever driven. Not by a long shot. I've owned a number of muscle cars over the years that would pummel my little FRS on paper and 0-60 or down the 1/4. None of those cars comes close to the sheer handling and driving capability of the FRS. Beyond **** measuring, which I'm way past at this point in my life, it is an awesome car for the money. It follows the old mantra of going fast by not having to slow down.

I know what it means now when someone says "it's on rails". You simply point this car where you want it to go and it goes there. It carves up the back road twisties like a Ginsu through a tomato. It's handling will make even sloppy drivers look good. In the hands of a good driver this car is magnificent. Viagra wishes it worked this good!

Since I've owned the car for a while now I've started to mod it to my tastes. The modding scene for this car is growing and there are plenty examples of those putting down real respectable numbers if that is your thing. By simply upgrading the exhaust, adding a header and running a stage2 tune improved my own car by 25bhp, which is considerable for a car this light.. which is leading me to upgrade the tires now. That Prius rubber ain't cutting it anymore (although it is fun to power slide!!)

I just recently ordered some 18x8 wheels and 225/40 sticky tires.. and a set of lowering springs to drop it a bit. All in all, I've been very satisfied with my choice to drive an FRS. It has been easy on the pocketbook and it is a freaking blast to drive everyday. It's the only car I've ever owned that makes me look forward to driving it and to think about driving it when I'm not. It may not appeal to everyone, but to those that get it, this is a real deal driving machine. Enjoy!

[Slash]

I appreciate your passion!

Sent from my SGH-T999 using Tapatalk 2

[utekineir]

If you ever decide to get back into **** measuring i've got a nice ruler

[corry29]

This post literally made me get up from my computer chair, walk down to the garage, and turned on the lights and just stare at my FRS for a good 10 minutes and admiring it.

Weird and creepy huh?

[krulux]

Originally Posted by utekineir

If you ever decide to get back into **** measuring i've got a nice ruler

Haha.. nah - all I need is a $100 bill long ways. If that does not work for her.. the $100 bill usually does.

[Carlitoz3]

Viagra wishes it worked this good...

[Turbo95eg6]

Refreshing read compared to all the threads about future upgrades and double parking

[Freshfrs86]

Great post! My thoughts are exactly the same.

[Shaolin]

Now there's someone who knows how to appreciate the good things in life

[reeves]

I drive 2-2.5 hrs to & from work everyday, and I enjoy every minute of my commute. My ONLY regret after a year of owning this car is: I'm not financially able to purchase a 2nd one... yet.

[soundman98]

i took a 5 hour drive today with no apparent destination, intentionally trying to get lost on backroads, just for the fun of it. my last car, it took $2k in stereo mods to enjoy a 2 hour drive like that...

[Turkish]

Originally Posted by krulux

Viagra wishes it worked this good!

I am going to say this to next person who asks me how I like my BRZ.

[Turkish]

Originally Posted by soundman98

i took a 5 hour drive today with no apparent destination, intentionally trying to get lost on backroads, just for the fun of it. my last car, it took $2k in stereo mods to enjoy a 2 hour drive like that...

I found myself realizing my bluetooth failed to connect the other day. That realization was about an hour into my drive! Love, it's what pumps in the FA20 horizontally opposed pistons.

[BobRickel]

Totally agree. I have owned/restored 422 vehicles (110 were motorcycles) over the 45 years that I have been working on cars. That included a lot of exotic and muscle cars. Porsches, Lotus, Jags, and most anything else you can think of including 46 Corvettes. The FR-S provides the most smiles per mile of any of them and gets great mileage too. I picked up my Whiteout A/T on Dec. 27th and have put over 7k on it already. Not one problem yet. I am well over 6' tall and 285 pounds and find the interior roomy and comfortable even on a 10 hour drive to Atlanta and back. I can even put my grandkids in the back seat if I have to. I love driving this car so much I sold my Porsche 928 as it was languishing undriven since I have bought this car. The FR-S does anything I ask of it and is incredible value for the money.