First Spy Pics of Scion FR-S / Toyota FT-86 Production Test Mule! (Updated 5/17)

[Aki]

Originally Posted by TomGT

honestly, comapring the LFA´s Erlkönig



to the production series



there are going to be a few changes!

You cannot look to the LF-A mule as a sign/clue that the FR-S prototype can change much to production. Why? Because of a lot of reasons:

1) Development timeframe: the LF-A mule running around the ring in the first pic dates back to 2007, and was much earlier in the development process. That's 4 years before the car got released. If you tracked the LF-A development, you'd see that the design was basically locked down in 2009, about two years before its release. The FR-S is going to be released in a year. Can't completely overhaul the sheet metal without a very strong reason.

2) Speaking of strong reasons, whether the LF-A project would proceed hit a lot of stalls, setbacks and questions of when/whether it'd come out. In that timeframe it's not surprising changes would happen since the development situation was very fluid.

3) The cladding on the 2007 LF-A mule didn't look anywhere near production-ready. The FR-S running around looks pretty close to a production car.

Highly unlikely they're going to go back to the drawing board and release the Five-axis FR-S, if that's what you're hoping. Even the reps said the MKII concept was 90-95% of what you'd see in the production model.

[nate89]

I thought it looked familiar... I wish they would keep the concept tails. The rest of the car looks great though

[Fortunate Few]

THANK YOU!!!! i've been trying to figure out where i've seen this tail light shape since these photos release!

[serialk11r]

lol where have you been? It's been mentioned at least 3 times that it looks like a Z4 taillight (aka not as good as the concept).

[Snaps]

There are some things on the pre-production prototype I think are just there because it's not a production model yet... namely the terrible offset wheels (most cars now have reasonably good offsets), the red + white lights on the diffuser, and the antenna on the roof (will probably be inside the car, or built into/beside the demister), so I've 'shopped those things out to hopefully get a better idea of how it might look!

[Chokonen888]

Originally Posted by xrs

Wow, the taillights were almost a deal breaker for me. I was thinking oh, back to my evo aspirations but it's definitely grown on me. I like it. Can't wait to see it without camo.

P.S. still trying to figure out how the trunk would open with it jutting in into the trunk line like the concepts.

The headlights appear to have been butchered too but my thought is even if this version comes out fugly, there will be two, maybe three versions of it, with most of the parts being interchangeable. Then there's the aftermarket.....but yeah, ideal to start with what you like from the dealer.

[Abflug]

Originally Posted by Aki

You cannot look to the LF-A mule as a sign/clue that the FR-S prototype can change much to production. Why? Because of a lot of reasons:

1) Development timeframe: the LF-A mule running around the ring in the first pic dates back to 2007, and was much earlier in the development process. That's 4 years before the car got released. If you tracked the LF-A development, you'd see that the design was basically locked down in 2009, about two years before its release. The FR-S is going to be released in a year. Can't completely overhaul the sheet metal without a very strong reason.

2) Speaking of strong reasons, whether the LF-A project would proceed hit a lot of stalls, setbacks and questions of when/whether it'd come out. In that timeframe it's not surprising changes would happen since the development situation was very fluid.

3) The cladding on the 2007 LF-A mule didn't look anywhere near production-ready. The FR-S running around looks pretty close to a production car.

Highly unlikely they're going to go back to the drawing board and release the Five-axis FR-S, if that's what you're hoping. Even the reps said the MKII concept was 90-95% of what you'd see in the production model.

^ That´s not the point I am talking about. Maybe you get me wrong!

That was just an example. But espacially for you, I show you an other one:

this is 2011 Opel Astra:


this is Opel Astra GTC 2011 MULE (picture is shot in March 2011):


(same car except for 3-door and 5-door model, but that´s not the point)

Take a look at the rear lights! Get it?! and this is just an example for the rear lights...

[Matador]

Originally Posted by TomGT

^ That´s not the point I am talking about. Maybe you get me wrong!

That was just an example. But espacially for you, I show you an other one:

this is 2011 Opel Astra:


this is Opel Astra GTC 2011 MULE (picture is shot in March 2011):


(same car except for 3-door and 5-door model, but that´s not the point)

Take a look at the rear lights! Get it?! and this is just an example for the rear lights...

Excellent example.

[nate89]

Originally Posted by serialk11r

lol where have you been? It's been mentioned at least 3 times that it looks like a Z4 taillight (aka not as good as the concept).

Oops… durn really feel like readin through 31 pages. But now it's been mentioned 4 times lol

[zigzagz94]

Originally Posted by nate89

Oops… durn really feel like readin through 31 pages. But now it's been mentioned 4 times lol

You know you can change the amount of post displayed per page in your user cp panel right. I'm on page 12 of this thread...lol

[iff2mastamatt]

Originally Posted by TomGT

^ That´s not the point I am talking about. Maybe you get me wrong!

That was just an example. But espacially for you, I show you an other one:

this is 2011 Opel Astra:


this is Opel Astra GTC 2011 MULE (picture is shot in March 2011):


(same car except for 3-door and 5-door model, but that´s not the point)

Take a look at the rear lights! Get it?! and this is just an example for the rear lights...

The shape of the covered tail lights are the same though. I'm not a big fan of the FT-86's tail lights' shape.

[Aki]

As for the Opel Astra, those tail lights look very mule-like and obviously aren't part of the design. The bumper is different though. My point wasn't that nothing would change, but that any changes would likely be very minor. Doubtful sheet metal would change (sheet metal is same on the Opel mule)

Originally Posted by Snaps

There are some things on the pre-production prototype I think are just there because it's not a production model yet... namely the terrible offset wheels (most cars now have reasonably good offsets), the red + white lights on the diffuser, and the antenna on the roof (will probably be inside the car, or built into/beside the demister), so I've 'shopped those things out to hopefully get a better idea of how it might look!

I was thinking the offset was like that cus' they were prob going to test a bunch of different wheel/tire combos, including very conservative fitments.

[Snaps]

^ Doesn't mean they aren't going to have a good offset when the wheels are actually produced Most cars now have good offsets.. Unlike the 90's where most of the were too high.

[Kage]

Originally Posted by Aki

As for the Opel Astra, those tail lights look very mule-like and obviously aren't part of the design. The bumper is different though. My point wasn't that nothing would change, but that any changes would likely be very minor. Doubtful sheet metal would change (sheet metal is same on the Opel mule)



I was thinking the offset was like that cus' they were prob going to test a bunch of different wheel/tire combos, including very conservative fitments.

Sheet metal doesn't really need to change...its almost the identical to the ft-86 II concepts. For the headlights it the bottom round part that would need to be sharper and that would be changing the bumper. For the tail lights its the same, the top is flat just like the concepts and the ugly parts touch the bumper so that's an easy fix.

Honestly the more I look at this mule I dont see a difference from the concept. This thing just needs a drop and it'll get its sexy back. Hell the concept even had the small front side window it was just tinted.