Part III: The quick autocross
As I said above, I've raced a decent variety of cars on autocross courses in the past. With that said, I'd be very surprised if a racing series with only FR-S's doesn't appear. Awesome car!
The simple explanation is that this car has soul!! You know, that something that's been missing in Toyota cars for a long time. A good comparison here is with the BMW 135i I had. The BMW was a machine, all the way through. It did everything with precision. Shifting, steering, braking, all of it. Precise. Unfortunately precise also means no feel, no character, no spirit. The FR-S blended all aspects of what a car should be seamlessly and the result is a car that you become one with. The car is so hunkered down that you feel one with the pavement. Body roll is virtually gone and considering how rough the parking lot was, the car soaked up everything with no negative side effects. This car is accurate in all aspects, but not a machine because, as we all know, machines don't feel!
Back to the course and the drive. With such a narrow course, I took the first lap easy and drove it at 7/10s to learn where things were and feel out the car. Simply put, you point the car where you want it and it goes there. Also, did I mention the car was quick?? Even in automatic guise, there was no shortage of horsepower for the course. It got you from point A to point B in a hurry and did so happily. The brakes are adequate, with good feel both in response to what the wheels are doing and actual pressure required to get the desired reaction. The steering had incredibly telepathic responses, but didn't give too much feedback. This was probably good since the course was a little bumpy in spots and a little gravelly in others. It steers where you want without bothering you with input that's not needed.
On the second run, I pushed the car to a full 10/10s. Rev limiter and stability control intrusion were very very smooth and did not upset the drive at all which was very surprising. The stability control does a good job at staying in the background, but if you want to spin it with it on, you certainly could, though I'm not sure how it would react. Even with the stickier, wider Yokohama rubber underneath, the tires were still the limiting factor on the track. The car was incredible and was the easiest car I've ever gotten into and been able to drive fast. It did everything right and if I do get one, I'll have a hard time not looking for an autocross every weekend because it shines that brightly in this enviroment.
I know this part will be a very odd comparison, but... the FR-S was the first car that I've ever driven that was more neutral on the track than my 2001 Ford Ranger (Edge 4.0L). Unlike other cars, I never felt a predominant sense of oversteer, or understeer. It would push some, it would want to rotate some, but you had control of which one it was doing at all times. Incredible balance. Great traction with the rear differential. Great point and shoot mentality as a general rule.
You can see how little body roll there is in this sweeper:
