First test drive experience

[Mim]

Originally Posted by ichitaka05

My first time test driving was...

First thing I thought when I saw this pic was, you were so excited and overwhelmed by the experience, that you passed out and hit the ground next to the car in the top right.

[soulreapersteve]

Too lazy to do a tl;dr so copy and paste we go.

http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showp...&postcount=162

So instead of creating another thread and filling up the forum, I thought I'd post here. I also just got back from the dealership. However, totally different experience from OP's OP :P

As I said I would, I drove with my brother to the local dealership to take the FRS out for a spin. Instead of sending me a new-ish guy, the head of local Scion section came out and greeted me. Said he has been with Toyota/Scion for 12 years. Right off the bat, he asked if I already knew what the car was about. I said, "more or less, don't know everything but I've been obsessed for the past 3 months." He replied, "awesome, lets just take the car out and go!"

Since I don't know how to drive an MT yet, I asked for the auto. He first hopped in the driver's seat while I sat in passenger's and my poor brother had to sit cramped up in the back. At the first turn, he took that thing hard (about 25-30) and I thought, "what?!?!" Then at the next turn, he did the same thing and slid the back wheels out. At this point, I had to sit back in the seat so I wouldn't slide around. He kept doing it for a few more corners until we came to a shoulder and pulled over. Mind you, these were 90 degree-ish corners.

He smiled, got out, and we switched. First impressions after getting comfy was that it seemed like a cockpit of a fighter jet. Sorta cramped but everything was perfect. Then again, I daily my slushbox Corolla so it was an instant upgrade. Videos and pictures doesn't do the interior justice, or the full car for that matter. The dash was smaller than I thought, but was still within vision. I do agree with everyone that says the analog speedometer is not needed as I stared at the digital speedo the most.

Moving on, I pulled back onto the road and attempted to get acclimated to the pedals. Hit the brake pedal and instant stoppage. He then directed me to a street/area that was straight out of Initial D. Long straight with lots and lots of curves. Since it wasn't my car, I didn't attempt to push it much with the curves but I had some fun. There was one hairpin that I went in about 35-40 when speed warning said 10. I can see why people say the car can/does give you a lot of confidence.

After that side street action, he directed me to the on-ramp of the highway. It has a big U-turn before getting onto the main so I took it again at higher speeds than I would've in the slushbox. Right after merging, he says "floor it." Before I realized it, I'm going 75mph. It was about 5 minutes of fun until we decided to head back to the dealership.

Every person we passed on the street suddenly came down with rubber neck syndrome. The entire time from when I started driving to when we got back, I was probably grinning ear to ear.

All in all, it was an awesome experience. The sales guy wasn't pushy at all, just talked to me like a person. The car its self, videos and comments really does not do it justice at all. Turn the steering wheel, instant reaction. WOT, I'm happy. Looks, I'm drooling. I just don't know what else to say except I wish I had another hour with it.

To end this, I think I may break my original plan and get the car earlier (probably end of summer). I'd have to see if I want to do a 3-year finance deal or 2; depends on how much I put down. Got a few months to decide. Talked with my parents about financial plans and such since I'm doing this all with my own money.

/endcirclejerkpost

[Tcoat]

Originally Posted by soulreapersteve

Too lazy to do a tl;dr so copy and paste we go.

http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showp...&postcount=162

After all the events you have now attended you should go back and take the sales guy for another ride down the same road! See if you can make him faint.

[soulreapersteve]

Originally Posted by Tcoat

After all the events you have now attended you should go back and take the sales guy for another ride down the same road! See if you can make him faint.

LOL! I should. Wonder if he remembers me though.

[Mattstermh]

Got in the car, wanted a white one but it was Silver.

Started teaching the guy about how it was a Subaru/Toyota joint, showed him the boxer engine, and he was stunned to learn all this information. Kept saying "you did your research!"

I drove around with this elderly fella, and he started tellin me how he did heavy artillery in 'nam. Long story short, I ended up buying the car from a different dealership a week later with 50k miles on it. Car has some shit aftermarket brakes, but other than that I am enjoying it. I will say, I haven't found the handling to be that great... feels like it pulls. Perhaps I am just not used to RWD yet.

[Twinz]

Originally Posted by Mattstermh

I will say, I haven't found the handling to be that great... feels like it pulls. Perhaps I am just not used to RWD yet.

I would check the air pressure on each of the tires and if those are all correct, have the alignment checked.

[ichitaka05]

Originally Posted by Mim

First thing I thought when I saw this pic was, you were so excited and overwhelmed by the experience, that you passed out and hit the ground next to the car in the top right.

Haha, that would be funny... but I almost fainted seeing Tada-san & how he knew bout the forum.

[Mim]

Followed the cars development via our forums and eventual release so I was kinda sold on wanting to own one, even though I had never seen one with my own eyes, let alone taken a test drive.

Soon started seeing a few here and there on the road and, every time I did, I remember being full of awe and wonder. Almost like I was seeing a unicorn ride past. You could of parked it next to a Ferrari and I never would of noticed the Ferrari was there!

A few months after release I recall going on a family drive and passing a large Toyota dealership on the way to out so we thought, why not drop in on the way back?

At the time I was still two years away from paying off our Maxima so really wasn't in a financial position to do anything, but the family knew how excited I was about the twins, so figured they'd at least throw me a consolation visit to take a closer look at one.

I remember there being a red one in the show room and then two Lava 86's outside, a GT base model in A/T and a fully loaded GTS with M/T. I thought to myself no way they will let me take a test drive as I heard these things were so popular you had to book an appointment just to slot you in! Turned out it was a really quiet Sunday afternoon for them and they actually didn't mind if I took one for a spin!

Oddly I wasn't quite as enthused when climbing in. After being used to much larger and roomier family cars in the past, the interior felt a little cramped. Only a few years prior we had an S15/200SX in the family and that car oddly had more room inside with slightly larger seats so I wasn't expecting less room in a car that was of a similar size.

Sadly it was the GT so it wasn't spec'd out as nicely as the GTS. Back then there was no LSD on the base A/T GT, no push start and, the single greatest deal breaker of all, no digital speed display (just the shity analog one). Anyway the dealer climbed in next to me and asked if we wanted to take it on a freeway run? I looked at him with what must of been a bemused wtf look and asked if there were any twisty roads nearby? So happens there was a nice twisty mountain road not far away so we headed out that direction.

I remember immediately being oddly relaxed. The seats started to feel nice and comfortable, everything fell nicely to hand, even the interior started to feel a little roomier than I first thought. Changing lanes was easy in traffic and I had no issues with blind spots. Just a minute or two into the drive I remember this odd sensation. I was so in sync and comfortable with the car that it felt not like it was my first test drive, but like I had already owned it for a few months and it was just another drive!

We reached a down hill section with lots of twists and I recall just going easy and mostly breaking all the way down with few points where I could accelerate, but once we turned around (to go back up) I was able to really open her up and wow, what a cathartic experience. Being on 16" wheels the car rode better than expected and there was that angry sound track being piped into the cabin. It was hot outside so the aircon was pumping pretty hard and, even though we were riding two up, I never felt like the car was low on power. Perhaps it was a good thing we never took the highway route

We got back to the dealer and I really thanked them for the test drive. We exchanged details and all that, but the real outcome was that experience became the turning point for me. From that point on I started saving like crazy and managed to pay off the remaining two year loan on our Maxima about 10 months later. Soon after I organized a great loan with ADCU a military credit union. They actually take in regular civilians (who knew) and, with some good old thumb screw twisting, managed to land a good deal for my CWP BRZ. And so we lived happily ever after.

[Knshro13]

Originally Posted by ichitaka05

My first time test driving was...

Test drove in figure 8 and go side ways. Checking to see how it feels to get the rear out.


Ken made it look easy, but it's not as easy as AWD snow drift (which I'm used to)


Testing in Autocross to see how this car handles in the tight corners. See the car's stabilities and balance.


Moto-san show how's properly done (both grip & drift)


Testing out in the track to see how much FRS can handle it at the hot sunny day at the track. Slide here and there have little fun.


Meeting some legends for some Q&A and some story of making the car. (Left is Moto-san from Club4AG. Right is CE Peoject FT-86 Tada-san)

See other awesome cars.


No biggie lol


Sent from my mind

WHOA... talk about a throwback. Good times! Spring Mountain Raceway will forever be a special place for me.

[ichitaka05]

Originally Posted by Knshro13

WHOA... talk about a throwback. Good times! Spring Mountain Raceway will forever be a special place for me.

Throwback Thursday right

[Mattstermh]

Originally Posted by Twinz

I would check the air pressure on each of the tires and if those are all correct, have the alignment checked.

Just had it aligned, it's all good there. Got 40psi in each tire, drove it on the highway for 10 hours. What do you recommend?

[Tcoat]

@FX86
Great thread idea dude. I am enjoying all these stories and the extremely varied experiences that we have all had.

[Tcoat]

Originally Posted by Mattstermh

Car has some shit aftermarket brakes, but other than that I am enjoying it. I will say, I haven't found the handling to be that great... feels like it pulls. Perhaps I am just not used to RWD yet.

Originally Posted by Mattstermh

Just had it aligned, it's all good there. Got 40psi in each tire, drove it on the highway for 10 hours. What do you recommend?

Make sure something isn't dragging.

[Mattstermh]

The front brake hardware is all lubricated.. it shouldn't be. Need to replace pads and shims.