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Anyone else think the 86 logo is kind of pointless on the Scion? On the Toyota, I can see it because of the name of the car and the AE86 heritage...but on the Scion FR-S? Makes no sense to me.
As far as the 15 pages that came since last night/early this AM, it seems like a lot of people are unhappy about the interior, with another sizeable group saying "SO WHAT?!"
Just something to mention: The members of this forum are enthusiasts so comments like, "I want it as cheap and light as possible" are easy to understand among people looking to street race, drift and modify their cars. However, we are all entitled to our opinions but keep in mind that enthusiasts will probably in the vast minority of buyers for this car. More than half of the 370Zs, Mustangs, Camaros, Genesis Coupes, GTIs, I see are loaded-spec models driven by young to middle age women. I'm betting the FR-S will be no different.
The FR-S/BRZ/86 trio is interesting because it's a car that's been developed as a perfect tuner toy and a great driver’s car, meaning it will probably have more enthusiast appeal than your average automobile. There's a fine line between having something be a blank canvas for tuners and a decent drivers car for most of America – the ones whose wallets Scion is really after. To those of you wanting to ditch radios, ACs, and auto windows from the factory, I wouldn't count on it.
At face value, I think they have done a fine job of making the FRS into a (very) bare-bones RWD coupe that will be fun to drive. I think plenty of people will take to the car and probably buy it, be it enthusiasts or the average Joe/Jane. However, there will be a group of people, such as myself, who like the car a lot but want the premium features like LED headlights, auto climate control, nicer head unit, and heated seats. I'm ok with a few extra pounds if it will make me more comfortable, or make the car better to look at. Looking at the comments in this thread and considering the types of cars that most American’s buy, I think there is a sizable chunk of people who feel the same way. For these people, I'd personally like to see Scion release a higher spec model that has these features, not unlike how there have been different specs of tC in the past.
(Devil’s advocate: since most of the buyers won’t be enthusiasts, they probably won’t have any idea of what the GT86/86 offers that the FR-S doesn’t, so it’s not like they will be whining.)
The logical thing here is "go get the Subaru" but I don't think it's quite that easy. For 1, I hate the silver plastic going across the dash. It looks cheap as hell in all 3 cars, but the black/silver contrast in the Subaru is absolutely horrible. I also....just don't really want to buy a Subaru. For a lot of people in the U.S., Subaru is still a niche brand. Yes, they are getting bigger and more prominent, but they don't have the mass appeal of Scion/Toyota (then again, this isn't exactly a car for the masses, so take that for what it's worth).
My whole point here is that by offering a higher spec model, Scion could really broaden the appeal of the car. With a higher spec package, the FR-S could potentially appeal to a different demographic and become the poor man’s Cayman but as it is now, I think that title can be reserved for the BRZ, for those who can stomach the silver plastic dash. It seems like Toyota/Subaru might have agreed to this arrangement, but if so, I think that was a mistake on Toyota's part.
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