Dadhawk's FR-S (6AT Firestorm)

[gen3v8]

DEARG

[Dadhawk]

Hard to believe it has "already" been 10 years (and over 200,000 miles) since I picked up the FR-S. (5/11/2012)

For that matter hard to believe I've been relatively active on this forum that long, having first registered in Feb 2012 after I signed up for the First 86 event and went looking for other kindred folks as well as more info on the car. This is the closest I come to having a "social media presence".

After 10 years, I still have no intentions of getting rid of the FR-S although it is likely that it will be replaced as my daily driver sometime in the near future but who know?

There is little about the car I can say positively that I haven't already said. It's just an overall joy to drive (and if it wasn't I wouldn't still be driving it). The 200K miles were completely trouble-free with no repairs that were not planned maintenance or recall related items.

It's been over 3 years, and 80,000 miles since the valve spring repair, so I think I'm good on that one as well.

If pushed I only have a few minor complaints on the car that could be fixed put probably aren't worth the effort:

1. The paint. It sucks. Absolute worst paint I've ever had on a new car. OK, second worse. I did have a green '77 Honda Civic that was repainted under warranty because the clear coat spider-webbed at less than 30,000 miles. Technically though, that was not a new car since I bought it used at 20,000 miles and the spider-webbing happened in the next 10K miles. Still paint bad.

2. Cabin noise. It's not the loudest car I've ever driven, in fact its relatively quiet compared to most I've owned, but still it does drone on after a while, particularly on a 12-hour driving day when you realize you keep turning up the audio so you can hear it.

3. The seat adjustments, or rather the lack of any position memory. It's to the point where I refuse to move the driver's seat for anything because you never get it back exactly right until after about 4 days of adjustments, even if all you did was fold it down to get something out of the back seat.

4. The doors and their insatiable appetite to take out your legs. I mean really, did they never test the bloody door stops? I find myself seeking out parking spots on uneven ground just to make getting in and out of the car easier.

Well, here's to the next 10 years!

[Dadhawk]

I've been without my FRS for a week now, and it will likely continue for at least another week. It's still happily chugging on the road though, and through no fault of it's own.

My youngest son has a 2014 Ford Focus SE that threw the dreaded "Service Transmission Immediately" code. We took it to a local Ford dealer and sure enough it is a bad TCM, the bane of Ford's existence with this particular transmission. To Ford's credit they are replacing the TCM as a warranty item even though the car is over 8 years old and has 98K miles on it. The bad news, is they can't make the TCMs fast enough to keep up with demand, so the dealership is having the current one rebuilt.

My son is working an internship to finish up his Master's program and had to have transportation so he has my car and I'm driving "Barbara Jean' our Suburban for the next couple of weeks.

[Teseo]

Originally Posted by Dadhawk

I've been without my FRS for a week now, and it will likely continue for at least another week. It's still happily chugging on the road though, and through no fault of it's own.

My youngest soon has a 2014 Ford Focus SE that threw the dreaded "Service Transmission Immediately" code. We took it to a local Ford dealer and sure enough it is a bad TCM, the bane of Ford's existence with this particular transmission. To Ford's credit they are replacing the TCM as a warranty item even though the car is over 8 years old and has 98K miles on it. The bad news, is they can't make the TCMs fast enough to keep up with demand, so the dealership is having the current one rebuilt.

My son is working an internship to finish up his Master's program and had to have transportation so he has my car and I'm driving "Barbara Jean' our Suburban for the next couple of weeks.

If he totalled it, remove him of the Last Will and when he graduates he should bring GR86 Track Red for you.

[Dadhawk]

Originally Posted by Teseo

If he totalled it, remove him of the Last Will and when he graduates he should bring GR86 Track Red for you.

The FRS has already been hit twice and repaired, so with 210,000 or so miles on it, I think just about any scratch would end up being a total so won't blame him.

That said, I would miss it.

[ls1ac]

I too have my 13 DD during the summer, I let it rest during the winter in my partially heated garage in Wi.
I have other cars to drive in Fl. during the winter but look forward to getting back in the BRZ, It really is great fun to drive.
Side note: The last tune i got included a driver training setting (slightly modified valet)
It has been great for driver training grandchildren for stick.

[Dadhawk]

As mentioned above, I was without the FRS for about 3 weeks while my son's Ford Focus was in the shop for transmission (TCU) issues. The good news is the parts finally came in for his car, and it was repaired about 10 days ago.

The bad news is that yesterday, his Focus threw the same code again (Service Transmission Now) and went into limp mode, so it's back in the shop.

In the mean time, I was able to get desperately needed new shoes on the FRS. The previous tires (Bridgestone Etopia) had over 70,000 miles on them. They were beyond EOL, in fact one of them wore through causing a flat.

This time around I ended up with Firestone FireHawk AS tires. Primary reason was because I needed tires NOW and that is what the shop had that fit and were on sale. We have similar one's on MomHawk's Mustang and she's been happy with them.

After about 200 miles I can say they are noticeably quieter than the Ectopia and the Primacys were, at least on most roads. On roads with expansion joints, or patched surface, they have a tendency to "pop" a bit.

These are also a bit softer than previous tires, so I don't expect they will last as long, and I'll likely see a drop in gas mileage.

[villainous_frx]

Originally Posted by Dadhawk

This time around I ended up with Firestone FireHawk AS tires. Primary reason was because I needed tires NOW and that is what the shop had that fit and were on sale. We have similar one's on MomHawk's Mustang and she's been happy with them.

After about 200 miles I can say they are noticeably quieter than the Ectopia and the Primacys were, at least on most roads. On roads with expansion joints, or patched surface, they have a tendency to "pop" a bit

Oooo thanks for posting about these! They've been on my radar, as I am searching for a set of tires for the daily in 225/45/17 (x7.5 wheel). Will be following your fuel economy posts over the next few weeks

[Dadhawk]

Originally Posted by villainous_frx

Oooo thanks for posting about these! They've been on my radar, as I am searching for a set of tires for the daily in 225/45/17 (x7.5 wheel). Will be following your fuel economy posts over the next few weeks

It may be a while, since I don't have the car right now, and my son isn't tracking mileage for me. I'll report back as soon as I'm able to drive the car for a couple of weeks though.

[Clipdat]

Originally Posted by Dadhawk

In the mean time, I was able to get desperately needed new shoes on the FRS. The previous tires (Bridgestone Etopia) had over 70,000 miles on them. They were beyond EOL, in fact one of them wore through causing a flat.

Why did you wait so long to replace them?

[Dadhawk]

Originally Posted by Clipdat

Why did you wait so long to replace them?

Stupidity mostly, and procrastination. I had been meaning to do it for a year. Ultimately, there was no rational reason.

[Clipdat]

Well, I'm glad you didn't have a catastrophic tire failure while driving.

[Dadhawk]

Well, for all intents and purposes, I've turned the FRS over to my son today and am driving our Suburban.

Short version of the story, his 2014 Ford Focus (as I've reported before) has a transmission issue. It has now been in the shop four times, and most of six weeks. The first two times were the AT controller. Original failed, then the replacement failed. The 2nd replacement threw a code and went into limp mode. After some electrical troubleshooting, the code cleared, they test drove it for two days, returned it, and it threw the same code within 100 miles.

So, since I have the extra car, I've given him my FRS until this get straightened out. Going to the shop on Tuesday and insist it be escalated to a factory rep (it's a warranty service because the transmission in these cars suck that bad) and see what we can get done.

[soundman98]

the benefits of having an extra car laying around!