I've actually started doing more work to my 2013 10 Series FRS, and because of that I have decided to start spending more time documenting her progress; where she started, where she is now and where she is going.
Charlotte isn't my first love; Sylvia was a whiteout FRS that unfortunately met her demise when a driver of an SUV decided to make a left hand turn from a Diner parking lot without creeping out to look at oncoming traffic. I happened to be cruising down the street in my, screaming my lungs out to the joyous sounds of taylor swift; to pick up my tuxedo for the day I share with my brother in his special day of love and happiness as he marries his second wife. Well as anyone who has seen an accident coming can attest. I knew what was about to happen. I moved into the median as far as I could; I knew i was about to have my car smashed in. I literally screamed "YOU STUPID F%$#ING C*NT" as I saw her face; she knew at this moment as our eyes locked. She done fucked up. *Insert sounds of airbags, and metal crushing*
About a day after my accident, the hunt was on. I was looking for cars within a 6 hour drive of me. I knew I would be free and clear of the accident as it wasn't my fault; however I did end up getting fucked out of a few thousand dollars. I did not know gap insurance was a thing.
An hour into my search I came across what was listed as a 2013 Scion FR-S, but something was odd about this particular one, could it be? My god yes its a 10 series. Why is it so cheap? It has pretty low mileage and there isn't a scratch on it.
Within 20 minutes; I had detailed pictures of 2 blemishes (minor) and I had a deposit down and told them I would be there by the end of the week to pick it up.
I drove 6 hours, and the team needed to get me on my way was kept late at the dealership to make sure I had a pleasant experience and was out of there with my new car quickly.
Here she is down the road the night we picked her up. Honestly I was beat and my wife is the one who took the picture. I was super excited to see that it came with the TRD Exhaust and TRD Springs. The windows were even tinted! Though, whoever detailed the car scratched the passenger window tint. However I talked them down to such a great price over the phone before I ever saw the car, i figured if that was the worst part, I did good.
A week after I got her, I was ready for my second drift event. Sylvia got to pop my cherry. The car felt even better with springs; my whiteout was completely stock as I opted to not touch it until I drifted it a few times. I bought my FR-S with the intention of it being a daily driven/weekend drift warrior.
Having a few drift events under my belt; it was clear my car needed a better suspension setup. I make decent money; but I like to "ball on a budget" and did not want to spend thousands of dollars on coilovers on something I was not tracking every weekend. After much debate, research and speaking with a few various respected members in this community as well as vendors, I opted to order the new Tein Flex Z's unfortunately they were not available in the US; but I was able to get them for a decent cost from overseas.
Now that I had a better ride, it was time to give charlotte some new kicks. I happened to be on craigslist and ran across a wheel I have never seen before. I dug the style, and the concave face sold me. They are heavy, but they look amazing. 3SDM's .006 wheels in 18x9.5. I drove an hour and a half to pick them up, unfortuntely they were slightly to big to fit in the car with both me and my wife while allowing us to sit comfortably. After about 15 minutes I pulled into a parking lot and changed these bad boys out using the scissor jack and lug wrench.
Last year that was pretty much all she wrote. I attended a few more drift events and honed my skills; playing with the suspension adjustments I could, trying to understand how the car handled. My biggest complaint is the lack of torque and steering angle. It takes a lot of throttle and the clutch takes one hell of a beating keeping the rears spinning. Much of that was hopefully remedied as i moved into this year and starting to install more parts and more properly setup my car.
The last event of the season was the most fun. I finally felt confident enough to tandem with a friend of mine. I was struggling to keep up and hold his line; but the excitement was so high and my nerves, with more seat time I can only imagine how much better and confident I can feel.
With this season approaching and winter coming to an end. It was time to order more parts and decide what was more important to me. I like having a nice car I drive everyday. At the end of the day it is just a car, and there comes a point when you have a daily driver that you also attend any sort of Motorsport event with, where you need to decide if you will sacrifice comfort or performance for the sake of road compliance or in my case; better skidz at the track.