Great review of FR-S in winter driving

[Sport-Tech]

There's a nice test drive review by one of Canada's best auto journos here. He had it for a week in snowy conditions. A few good quotes, including comparisons to the BRZ and MX-5 (the TestFest referred to is an interesting annual event where all the Canadian auto journos get together and rigorously evaluate all the new/revised cars for the year over several days to rank them and choose cars of the year in different market segments):

Simply, Toyota and Subaru’s raucous little love-child makes the most sense, nay, provides untold gobs of motoring yahoo when it’s grabbed by the scruff of its neck and thrashed mercilessly. The rest of the time, driving the FR-S can be a bit of a chore.

Journalists got the opportunity to drive the Subaru BRZ and Scion FR-S back-to-back on the TestFest handling track and there are marked differences. The BRZ has slightly more compliant tuning, which translates to a more neutral disposition on the track. The FR-S is harsher and more tail-happy – tuned for the drifting set.

So why would you buy an FR-S or BRZ over the 167-hp Mazda MX-5 that starts at $29,250? Convertible top aside, the Subaru/Scion duo and Mazda certainly play in the same sandbox – lightweight rear-drive sports cars, quick steering, rifle-bolt shifters and a four-banger under the hood.

Indeed, these cars are fairly similar up to a point, but at about 7/10ths they take markedly divergent paths. Push an MX-5 hard and the tail end goes sloppy – it falls all over itself. Conversely, the BRZ and FR-S were engineered to dance on the edge of adhesion… and beyond.