Cons

[FR-S89]

Too much fun - spend way more than i budget for gas each month because i go on cruises at night for "fun".

[daiheadjai]

FYI... If you're anywhere that uses road salt, less than one year and you will have a nice coating of rust under your car on damn near everything... But if you're OK with rattles and creaks, I think you'll be fine with whatever this car can dish out. You will need a low profile jack if you change your own tires

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[raven1231]

Originally Posted by BankerBalt

Hey all. New to the group and looking to buy an fr-s in the spring. I'm coming from a decently powered cobalt but looking for an affordable rwd, good handling car. I'm mainly looking at cons right now. So please let me know what you guys hate about these cars and/or any major problems you've had. With my cobalt, I've blown the motor from boosting it, as it was n/a, and i want to make sure these things don't have any common problems while putting down power. I've seen the fa20 is a pretty durable motor but I'd rather hear it from the daily drivers. Full blown motorsports is literally a block away, so any tuning will end up being done by them. Thanks

none..... except it should have come with 700hp from the factory....especially for 25k.....then there's the non luxury interior, and cheap paint. What a rip off IMHO

[raven1231]

Originally Posted by campy

Other than the TSB problems (which I'm guessing you've read most if not all of them) some issues you may notice:

*The transmission sometimes fights back under heavy load/acceleration. When shifting from 1st>2nd or 2nd>3rd at WOT, the gear stick sometimes won't go into gear, and you get that bad grinding sound.

*Some parts rust pretty quickly. My exhaust was a PITA to work on.

*If you're considering FI, keep in mind that the rule-of-thumb limit for this car is about 300hp. In that range, you'll need to upgrade the clutch, injectors, and fuel pump at a minimum.

*Maybe because it's a new car, but cost of horsepower is pretty high on this car. I was quoted $10k for a turbo kit install which would get me to the 300whp range. In contrast, a Mitsubishi Evo X can get an additional 100awhp for about $300.

Those are the only mechanical issues I can think of. All around, the car is very solid. When you start modding this car, you have to realize that it's somewhat unrealistic to make it straight-line fast. Remember that this engine isn't a V8. I see lots of people who throw a turbo kit on this car, then sell the car almost immediately because it isn't as fast as they wanted.

Just my $0.02. Your mileage may vary.

evo x is turbo though... Also 10k for a turbo install?!? where was the dynosty? That seems really high

[FR-S89]

Originally Posted by daiheadjai

FYI... If you're anywhere that uses road salt, less than one year and you will have a nice coating of rust under your car on damn near everything... But if you're OK with rattles and creaks, I think you'll be fine with whatever this car can dish out. You will need a low profile jack if you change your own tires

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Is there any way to fix this rust issue underneath?

I used krown rust protection last year, and when changing my exhaust i still noticed tons of rust (couldn't get my old exhaust off without a torch!) Is this bad for the car? The salt here is ridiculous but it's my DD

[Braces]

25000 miles and NO issues with my stock FR-S. PROS: 7400 redline, light agile handling, perfect neutral seating position and great MPG for DD. Cons: torque dip although I've read that a tune can eliminate this. Build quality is questionable although this is what you get for a light weight car that costs 25K. Chirping has never bothered me.

[campy]

Originally Posted by raven1231

evo x is turbo though... Also 10k for a turbo install?!? where was the dynosty? That seems really high

I put the evo on there to show that you can get similar gains for waaaay cheaper on other platforms, since I had the impression OP might have been interested in making a high-hp turbo build. If that's what you're going for, getting a car that's already turbo'd and buying a flash tune is the way to go.

Here's the estimate for my turbo build back when I was talking with the shop. Hopefully they don't mind me posting this. I censored the individual prices but everything should have been roughly street price or MSRP. This should give you an idea of all the random stuff you will need. (Of course, if there is a problem, feel free to PM me and I'll take it down)



As you can see, things add up. This build would have gotten me around 290-310hp. Yes, there are cheaper equivalents for many of these parts, but I'd rather spend the extra money up front so I don't have to worry about it catching up to me later on. Also, when I was speaking with other turbo owners, it seemed like $10k was generally what they all paid for their builds.

All in all, this would have increased the money spent on the car to $35k, then my wheels/suspension and catback which bring it up to about $40k. And if we're talking $40k cars here, may as well get an Evo with a $300 flash tune

[BankerBalt]

I would never pay a shop to install anything... Most of your money would have went towards labor. Also, I know how to shop for parts, and going to a shop directly is not the way to go when you're trying to find deals

[humfrz]

Originally Posted by BankerBalt

I would never pay a shop to install anything... Most of your money would have went towards labor. Also, I know how to shop for parts, and going to a shop directly is not the way to go when you're trying to find deals

"With my cobalt, I've blown the motor from boosting it,"

hmmmm.........maybe THAT is what happened to your Cobalt .......

Hi BankerBait ..... jest ah messen wich ya .....


humfrz

[Wise]

My pros and cons

PROS

Amazing driver position
Great lightweight chassis
Good looks
Easy to mod and work on
Nice interior (Australian Toyota model has awesome seats)
Good transmission
Big boot (trunk) for a small sportscar

CONS

Cheap easily scratched interior plastics
Torque dip (Fixed with header and tune)
Rear seats are pointless

[Tcoat]

Originally Posted by Wise

My pros and cons

PROS

Amazing driver position
Great lightweight chassis
Good looks
Easy to mod and work on
Nice interior (Australian Toyota model has awesome seats)
Good transmission
Big boot (trunk) for a small sportscar

CONS

Cheap easily scratched interior plastics
Torque dip (Fixed with header and tune)
Rear seats are pointless

Rear seats over here mean a pretty good insurance reduction! Makes the difference between "2 door coupe" and "2 door sports"

Besides loads of fun when you tell your 6'7" buddy to ride back there!

[tennisfreak]

Rear seats are not pointless. I have 3 teenage boys varying in height from 5' 10 to 6' 1 and all but the 6 1' can and do get in the back seats.
Is it the most roomy and comfy ride? Hell no.
Does it work? Hell yes.

Cons for me:
Not typical toyota fit and finish quality. No one major thing but tons of little things.

• door rattles
• dash rattles
• rear deck popping
• platics scratch easy
• speaker rattles
• sometimes window auto up when closing door does not work
• cheap ass floor mats

HPFP chirp
Torque dip
Transmission not smooth - grinds and/or shifts hard when cold, shifting into gears quickly at high rpms

Not listing it as a con because I knew this when I bought it but I do, at times, wish it had more power.

[TStafford]

Biggest con I have is that it sits low to the ground and I am 6'4" so need the door to swing fully open to get out and in. Fit inside fine but getting out with a close parked car is a pita. I have pushed it back a few times to get in.

[fatalelement]

Originally Posted by TStafford

Biggest con I have is that it sits low to the ground and I am 6'4" so need the door to swing fully open to get out and in. Fit inside fine but getting out with a close parked car is a pita. I have pushed it back a few times to get in.

Oh god someone understands my struggle. I'm a bit over 6'3" and I have to get lower than sitting and swing myself in, or just toss my ragdoll body into the seat in a heap and try to readjust. Love the car but getting in and out is a struggle. Getting my legs past the doorframe when exiting always looks hilarious.

On topic:

Rear seats are fine. The car isn't a 4 seater, it's a 2+2. All 2+2s are the same. My 6' friends sit in back all the time. It's not a hummer but whatever. It makes for good cargo space as it's about 3x taller than the trunk.

HPFP issue is an issue with a huge amount of HPFPs in general. Nothing they can really do. my 2015 has crickets too. If you can find non ethanol gas, great.

Stock exhaust is awful and the fact that the trunk's valet button is in a perfect position to be pressed daily by cargo are the two things I hate most.

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