Hey guys
On Monday June 7th I bought a new 2015 FR-S in pearl white.
I am 23, single, originally from Atlanta, Georgia.
I have been longing for this car since it was first introduced. At the time (2013) I was graduating with my BS in nuclear engineering from Georgia Tech and decided to go to grad school rather than take a job. I spent the past 2 years in school making a paltry $20,000 research assistant salary and obviously could not afford a new FR-S. But that didn’t stop me from wanting one.
In August 2013 I was at a fair on the quad of Virginia Tech and the local dealership had parked on the field a new Hot Lava FR-S. I had seen the car in person a couple of times before then, and read all about it in the magazines, but that was the moment it took me. I was smitten. My roommates tried to pull me away from the car after a few minutes but I didn’t want to move. There was a raffle to win a car from the dealership and I pulled out my wallet and lustily threw every dollar I had after it. I went to the dealer shortly thereafter to drive the car, and loved it. Just couldn’t afford it. I graduated with my master’s in nuclear engineering this May and took a very solid job as a reactor operator with Duke Energy near Raleigh, North Carolina.
On my automotive history: I have owned a number of beaters over the years, mostly to flip: 1993 Olds Cutlass Ciera, 1986 Pontiac 6000 STE, 1995 Toyota T100, 1982 Datsun 720, 1993 Buick Park Ave, 2002 Chevy Blazer. Still have my first car, a 1996 Olds Cutlass Ciera wagon (I was 16 and I had $1000), which is great for hauling stuff around and makes owning a car like the FR-S more practical.
In 2012 I bought a 1985 MX73 Toyota Cressida. It is a straight car. I bought it from an old Toyota mechanic who rebuilt the engine (5M). I entirely rebuilt the chassis (every bushing, ball joint, you name it), swapped the transmission to a 5-speed, and swapped the rear to an LSD. Also, Celica Supra wheels. This was my daily driver before the FR-S. Awesome, amazing car. No plans to sell. In grad school I owned a 2005 ap2 S2000 for about a year. I bought it cheap with a salvage title and rebuilt it mostly out of frustration for not being able to afford an FR-S. Great car just not my style for a number of reasons (convertible, high-strung nature). Couldn’t force myself to fall for it the way I had for the FR-S.
I have put 2,400 miles on the car so far.
Impressions: This is a fantastically behaved car. I have no real desire for more power. Anyone who says this car is underpowered, in my opinion, doesn’t ‘get it’. I consistently drive with stability control in sport mode. Cornering is amazingly flat and the chassis is damn near perfectly balanced and neutral. This impresses and satisfies me more than high skidpad numbers ever will. And that just about sums up the magic of this car right there.
Ride is very compliant for such a handler. Seat is supportive and well bolstered. Interior material quality is very good despite a hint of hard plastic cheapness in the center stack, and that’s big in my book.
Room for improvement: Steering wheel could telescope further toward me. This could be solved with an aftermarket wheel. Torque dip on either side of 4000 rpm is noticeable to me, particularly coming from the near-perfect linearity of the 5MGE in my Cressida. I read that a tune and headers can help this, but I am hesitant about voiding the warranty. Again, no desire for more power, just that feeling of linearity would be nice. I have Toyota front and rear emblems for the car which will be painted black and installed Monday.
Also test drove: 2014 V6 Mustang (new) in Sept. 2014. Car was not bad and very cheap at $15,900 before TTT. 2015 Genesis R-spec coupe: had many of the things that I like from an objective standpoint like good seats and linear engine pull but failed to come across as fun and tossable. 2015 Mustang GT (new bodystyle, slightly used) I drove this back to back with the FR-S shortly before buying. The new Mustang is very tight and controlled-feeling but still too big and isolated for my tastes. Wish the 2016 Camaro was on sale to compare, but pretty sure it would not have swayed me from the FR-S.
I will stop here. Sorry for the information overload. Thanks to everyone who participates in this forum; I have found forums to be awesome resources for helping me get the most out of the cars I have owned over the years. Still have a lot to learn about this one.
