Finally test drove the FR-S
 

As most of you have, I've been following this car for a year or so now, and I've been itching to drive one. So I went over to my local dealer in Springfield, NJ (Autoland) and drove a red manual. They also had a hot lava auto in the showroom.

Just as other people mentioned, the clutch is weird. It's way too light and the engagement is very high. I got used to it after a few shifts, but I wish it was lower because in relation to the gas, it seems off. The shifter felt great. I didn't get the full experience because they had the shift knob off - but it was short and direct. It felt like an aftermarket short throw kit without the stiffness.

The steering was much heavier than I anticipated, which I like. But in all honestly, I was expecting a little more from it based on the reviews, comparisons to the Cayman, and of course the HYPE machine. I have to compare it to my old spyder and the MR-S handles MUCH better and is way more responsive to the wheel. It just didn't seem tossible, which I'd hope it would.

I took it up to about 5.5k in 2nd (sorry next guy) and I was a bit underwhelmed. Perhaps I'm too used to the speed now that I daily a 300 HP V6, but you don't really feel the car pull you into the seat. It's been a long time, but I'd say that the old RSX-S and Celica GT-S both "felt" faster. Maybe it's the VTEC/VVTL-i, who knows. If/when I get my own, there will definitely be boost, so power's not a huge issue - I guess.

The best part of my drive was that the sales woman (Marleen) was super nice and helpful. Unfortunately she wasn't very knowledgeable about the car. But I can't blame them when they have other, more popular cars to sell (Toyotas). They sell the car with 0 markup which is nice. The price on the site, is exactly what you get. My dealer also was giving away free money just to come in! I made $10 which covers the gas it took me to get there. What struck me as odd was that there were no floor mats and there doesn't seem to be an option for them.

So I'm not quite ready to purchase one yet as I've promised myself that property is my priority, but maybe after I close. I'm also hoping they come out with a Toyota variant with all the 86 GT goodies - hey let me wish!

A lot of people complain about the clutch but compared to many clutches I have felt on newer cars, which are pretty bad, this one felt fine to me. Maybe my opinion will change after driving it a while though. But I think it's just something to get used to like anything else.

Yeah, it's not the most tossable car out there. It feels more stable rather than responsive, which is fine, but not what I was expecting either. I also noticed the dip in power as I got it around 4k RPM. The low end torque feels good though so I think I can learn to work around the power dip.

The floor mats were probably in the trunk as they don't come pre-installed.

For people who have owned mid-engine sports cars like the MR-2/S and Porsche Boxster/Cayman, I am not surprised they'd be a little disappointed. But people coming from FWD or even AWD cars should be pretty impressed by it.

Yeah of course an FR car, with a heavy engine in the front, cannot match the turn-in responsiveness of an MR car, but the point of an FR car is all about balance and adjustability at the limit, which an MR car cannot match. It all comes down to your personal preference.

Well, I was actually comparing it to some AWD and even FWD cars out there. It's just not very responsive/reactive to small inputs. You have to turn the wheel more than most cars to get it moving and it doesn't really jerk around to quick inputs at lower speeds. Some of that may be due to the low center of gravity but I think it has more to do with the suspension/steering setup. It's not a bad thing though, just unexpected.

Weird. I felt the FR-S's steering was more responsive/quick than any car I've ever driven. Just the slightest movement had me changing lanes during my short test drive.

Agreed. I had to dodge left quickly to avoid a bus stopping for a stop at the last minute a few days ago and I was floored how quickly it moved. It was like it read my mind.

I saw a BRZ on cars.com in my area. Asphalt, Automatic. I traveled through rush hour traffic to test drive it. ..It was in the showroom, already sold. Kind of pissed me off since it was still on cars.com and i traveled through Mt. Doom to get there.

What cars are you coming from? The Evo for example is much more responsive in this manner.

My local Subaru dealership wouldn't even let me test drive the car because it's so limited. I basically begged them to OPEN the doors of the car in the showroom!

Ever driven an miata or s2k?

There a diy your change the clutching point on here but i'm not going to do that until the car is broken in by switch I may have gotten use to it or the feel had changed due to break in

Don't want to jump the gun

This is the electronic steering rack. You're not actaully connection to the wheels at all.

The MR-S was also electronically assisted.

Not true. Nearly every car has a mechanical steering rack connecting the steering wheel with the suspension in case of failure and for better feel/feedback. The electric assistance is only for the power steering to lower the force needed to turn the wheel.