Scion FIRST DRIVE event in Charlotte

[speedrye]

I'll start this by saying that I am not an automotive journalist, but only an average guy with an enthusiasm for vehicles in general. Earlier this afternoon, I went to the very first of sixteen Scion FIRST DRIVE events (held in Charlotte). I'll go over my first impressions, comparisons to other vehicles I've owned, and happy answer any questions I can.

Part I:the FIRST DRIVE event
The event is essentially a basic information session followed by two laps on a tight ~30 second autocross course. You'll have the chance to ask any questions you want, really pour over the car with your hands and camera, and then drive the cars.
The downside is that all of the cars were automatics, with the traction control buttons blocked off so that you were only in standard mode. The upside is that the cars were wearing Enkei wheels with 225/45-17 Yokohama S-Drive tires, TRD exhaust system and TRD springs/shocks.
The autocross course is a tight course with smaller than regulation gates, but it is very well marked. I've autocrossed numerous cars and even a truck before, and this course was straight forward, but you'd have a heck of a time trying to fit a Mustang through it due to the narrowness.

[speedrye]

Part II: The FR-S

First impressions of the car: it's small, very small. The interior is very similar in size and feel to my late 91 MR2. The backseats are only a little bigger than the lack thereof in the MR2. I'm only 5'-7" tall, and with the seat moved forward for me, you'd be hard pressed to fit someone my size back there. Don't believe the reviews where they say they could fit someone back there. The only way that will happen is if you hack them up with a hatchet and stuff their parts into a Hefty bag. Even then, they'd only fit if they weren't too big to start with. It is big enough back there for my 50 lb dog, which is all that matters for me anyway. On the outside, the car is again similar to my old 91 MR2. The FR-S feels a hair taller and shorter in overall length, but those could be illusions.

The front seats are awesome, with great side bolstering. The only cars that I've driven with this kind of support are my 84 and 85 Celica GTS's. While the older cars had fully adjustable seats, the FR-S is limited in adjustment to up/down, front-rear and rear recline. I think that's enough though for most people that will drive this car.

There is plenty of headroom for taller drivers, though the ingress and egress will be tough. The seating position is low and it's tight to slide in between the wheel and seat bolstering. Again, I like it. It fits like a glove and that is what I'm wanting.

With the seats folded down, the trunk area is plentiful, but it's very limited in height. I'd say it's big enough for two people of my height to sleep in overnight if needed (assuming your feet are in the trunk, otherwise you'd get very claustrophobic quickly).

We didn't really get to play with the stereo, so no reviews there, but it appears there are a pair of 6 1/2" speakers in the door, and a 3" mid and 1" tweeter on each side of the dash. The rear speakers are in the side panels and I'd guess they're 4" or 5 1/4".

Everything feels quality, both inside and out. Honestly, it's nicer than most cars that I've seen in this price range as far as fit and finish. As others have said, it's clearly designed as a driver's car, but they still spent money so that it doesn't feel cheap.

[speedrye]

Part III: The quick autocross

As I said above, I've raced a decent variety of cars on autocross courses in the past. With that said, I'd be very surprised if a racing series with only FR-S's doesn't appear. Awesome car!

The simple explanation is that this car has soul!! You know, that something that's been missing in Toyota cars for a long time. A good comparison here is with the BMW 135i I had. The BMW was a machine, all the way through. It did everything with precision. Shifting, steering, braking, all of it. Precise. Unfortunately precise also means no feel, no character, no spirit. The FR-S blended all aspects of what a car should be seamlessly and the result is a car that you become one with. The car is so hunkered down that you feel one with the pavement. Body roll is virtually gone and considering how rough the parking lot was, the car soaked up everything with no negative side effects. This car is accurate in all aspects, but not a machine because, as we all know, machines don't feel!

Back to the course and the drive. With such a narrow course, I took the first lap easy and drove it at 7/10s to learn where things were and feel out the car. Simply put, you point the car where you want it and it goes there. Also, did I mention the car was quick?? Even in automatic guise, there was no shortage of horsepower for the course. It got you from point A to point B in a hurry and did so happily. The brakes are adequate, with good feel both in response to what the wheels are doing and actual pressure required to get the desired reaction. The steering had incredibly telepathic responses, but didn't give too much feedback. This was probably good since the course was a little bumpy in spots and a little gravelly in others. It steers where you want without bothering you with input that's not needed.

On the second run, I pushed the car to a full 10/10s. Rev limiter and stability control intrusion were very very smooth and did not upset the drive at all which was very surprising. The stability control does a good job at staying in the background, but if you want to spin it with it on, you certainly could, though I'm not sure how it would react. Even with the stickier, wider Yokohama rubber underneath, the tires were still the limiting factor on the track. The car was incredible and was the easiest car I've ever gotten into and been able to drive fast. It did everything right and if I do get one, I'll have a hard time not looking for an autocross every weekend because it shines that brightly in this enviroment.

I know this part will be a very odd comparison, but... the FR-S was the first car that I've ever driven that was more neutral on the track than my 2001 Ford Ranger (Edge 4.0L). Unlike other cars, I never felt a predominant sense of oversteer, or understeer. It would push some, it would want to rotate some, but you had control of which one it was doing at all times. Incredible balance. Great traction with the rear differential. Great point and shoot mentality as a general rule.

You can see how little body roll there is in this sweeper:

[speedrye]

Part IV: Upgrades

As I mentioned earlier, the car already had some upgrades courtesy of Yokohama, Enkei and TRD. The exhaust had a healthy note to it without sounding too rice at all. It was a deep, mellow tone that sounded very good. Not as nice as a nice twin turbo BMW inline-6, but still nothing to be ashamed of either.
The tires were what they were. I've had Yoko S-Drives on my Mini Cooper S and MR2 and like them since they're a very grippy tire that's also progressive at the limit and communicates exactly what it's doing. After driving with them, I'll probably put a set on my FR-S after I burn up the stock set in the first 5k miles.
Now for the good parts. As seen in the picture below, there is certainly room for an intercooler above the engine with a hood scoop to provide fresh cool air over it.


This picture is taken above the front of the engine looking down. There is room between the front of the alternator/serpentine belt and the electric fans for a compact supercharger in my opinion. The small tube running off of the intake in front of the alternator is the resonator tube that routes the sound to the inside of the cabin. I'll remove this before my first day of ownership is up most likely. Hey, less weight, right?


Supercharger not your thing? How about a turbo? This picture is looking down in the rear passenger side of the engine bay. Between the battery and main engine, there is a large area looking straight down on a section of exhaust between the end of the header and the catalytic converter. Looks almost like it was left empty for a possible future turbo!


The intake looks like it could be opened up, since I have no idea how that 90 degree bend and the sonic tube could possibly provide smooth airflow to the engine. I'd say you could likely gain a little power with a more free-flowing intake, but that is merely speculation.


Aerodynamics: I don't think much will be needed here unless you're running very high speeds. The underside is very smooth and you can see how sleek the body is. This picture is looking under the front of the car towards the rear.


This one is from the rear looking forward:


Questions? Thoughts? Ask away and I'll answer what I can based on the limited time I had with the vehicles...

[speedrye]

Oh, and one more cool thing. Number 87 was here:

[evox_]

how did you get invited to the "First Drive" Event?

[speedrye]

I have no idea. I've been looking at the 86 for two years now and I signed up for the first 86 promo/contest. I've been a member of another forum for about that time as well. Those are the only things that I can think of that could have possibly led to an invitation.

[Marloon]

thanks for the review!

[Oriental Life]

Great review! Thanks!

[tripjammer]

Bro! Awesome info! It does look like there is some room in the engine bay! I wish you had some video of the event!

[keiri]

Short video I took today:

[Sport-Tech]

Wonderful review, but of course the driving part of it doesn't really apply to the base car given the tire/spring/shock upgrades.

[kanundrum]

Great thanks for the review. I will try and cover something from Bmore event as well

[speedrye]

Originally Posted by Scion FR-S

Wonderful review, but of course the driving part of it doesn't really apply to the base car given the tire/spring/shock upgrades.

Sure it does!! A lot of us plan on upgrading these parts anyways, especially the ones of us who would autocross it. Now the parts about driving it at 100% probably won't apply to the vast majority of people, but again, for the people who plan on truly driving the car... The most impressive part of the drive to me was the hunkered down/planted feel along with the utter neutrailty on a track.
I guess a big part for me was that it was never out of control or even unbalanced. Keep the power on through turns and it stays planted as it should. Lift the throttle in those turns and it starts thinking about which end you want facing in which direction. Drive hard into a turn while braking, it'll push some, but not so much that the Yokohamas can't make up for it. In a fast sweeper with consistent throttle, it's a completely controllable four wheel drift. No understeer or oversteer. Keep in mind that this is all done in an automatic car in normal mode with all traction control on. Very cool. This is very smart of them because the course was too narrow to let me drive a manual without any nannies on. I would've been punting the outside cones on almost every corner with the tail swinging out. The drive reminded me the most of my 85 Celica GTS on the autocross course. That car had the suspension goodies and some R1 race tires and weighed in just over 2200 lbs. The FR-S was tossable like that but with a lower CG and much higher limits through the corners.

A note on tire wear:
The cars were wearing new tires as of the morning and had probably run about 30 laps on the course. Front tire wear on the tread blocks was very even on both inside and out of the inner blocks. On the outside of the tires, the outside seemed to have a little more wear than the inside and since this was on both front tires, I doubt it was from the course layout. Overall though, most of the other drivers I saw were not pushing the cars too much.