Quote:
Originally Posted by s2_slow
If only toyota could have stayed true to its roots and developed their own 2.0 with individual throttle bodies and like an 8500rpm redline making even 220 hp this car would have been perfect from the factory.
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I like to think of this engine as coming from the factory de-tuned. Only 100hp/liter seems low by Japanese performance standards. They expected this car to modified. Remember the S2k had 9k rpms which is wonderful but it was GUTLESS under vtec (former AP1 owner). In fact it was that specific reason they switched to the 2.2 in 2004.
Quote:
Originally Posted by s2_slow
I think the frs could have been better/faster than the s2000
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It is, sort of. Do the math.
The s2000 MSRP'd for $32-33k and there were big markups at first. The real reason the S2000 is faster than the FRS is because 2 things and 2 things only. Tires and HP. If you put the OEM S2000 tires (Potenza S-03) on the FRS with identical staggered sizes as the s2k and added 40hp, do you think the FRS would be as fast as the S2k? I do, and those things can be done for a hell of a lot less than $33,000! Plus you get more storage room, more torque, more speakers, more passengers and better fuel economy; all with $$ left over.
So you see, it would have been easy for the FRS to be faster from the factory than the S2k, but then it wouldn't have MSRP'd at $24,900. So to make this car as fast as the s2k from the factory would have made it cost more (and there's lots of people who are happy with the 200hp) and thus they would have sold fewer cars to fewer people at the same margin.
Say it with me folks... Cost Benefit Analysis.
In this case, the consumer won.