Scion FRS/Subaru BRZ Thread

[Phl0xed]

Just moved into my new development in McKenzie Towne a couple of weeks back and saw a pearl white FR-S parked in the guest parking. Such a beautiful color for the car. Always been more of a BRZ fan, myself, however the FR-S front end is starting to grow on me. Just can't get over the how terrible to FR-S interior is compared to the BRZ. Obviously not huge differences, but the differences are enough to turn me off of the FR-S.

Anyone know if there's any BRZ test mules yet? Or at the very least, a BRZ or FR-S test mule that has the manual gearbox? I refuse to purchase (or consider purchasing) a vehicle when I have not driven what I would be getting.

[Khyron]

Sit in it first. Other than the HVAC/Center area it's no worse than any BMW. The dash, wheel, and instrument cluster would be at home in a 60K car IMO. And I like the black pattern to the silver as well.

The blue frs tester at South Pointe is manual, as was the white one making the rounds (not sure who ended up with it).

[Phl0xed]

Originally posted by Khyron
Sit in it first. Other than the HVAC/Center area it's no worse than any BMW. The dash, wheel, and instrument cluster would be at home in a 60K car IMO. And I like the black pattern to the silver as well.

The blue frs tester at South Pointe is manual, as was the white one making the rounds (not sure who ended up with it).

Ah, great to hear. Might have a pop in for a test drive, then. Really been looking forward to driving this vehicle. Don't need something with buckets of hp that I'll never use. Anything will feel better than the "Slow-balt" DD I have anyways. Haha. Any clue how the aftermarket support is starting with this? Obviously a little early to really judge, but I'm hoping it gets a strong base. Would love to iron out that 3k - 4k rpm range dip.

[Chester]

After market support is great. Check out http://www.ft86club.com/forums/, tons of vendors battling over there.

[Kg810]

Originally posted by Khyron
Sit in it first. Other than the HVAC/Center area it's no worse than any BMW. The dash, wheel, and instrument cluster would be at home in a 60K car IMO. And I like the black pattern to the silver as well.

The blue frs tester at South Pointe is manual, as was the white one making the rounds (not sure who ended up with it).

I understand you love your car, but to compare a Toyota/Subaru interior to BMW is a little nutty. Yeah both can go under the "spartan" look but there is no way a FRS/BRZ interior is capable of being in a 60k car...


» Click image for larger version


» Click image for larger version

[Mibz]

Originally posted by Khyron
Sit in it first. Other than the HVAC/Center area it's no worse than any BMW. The dash, wheel, and instrument cluster would be at home in a 60K car IMO.

Statements like these are how I know you're still an ass over tea kettle fanboy for this car, haha. It's not that anything you've said is -that- wrong. You're right, the dash, instrument cluster and wheel aren't bad at all. It's the fact that you COMPLETELY IGNORE how terrible the center console and HVAC are. That area is mind blowingly bad and brings down the rest of the vehicle.

It's not the mole on Cindy Crawford's face. It's the face on Brook Hogan's body.

[I had to search for famous butterfaces and that's the best I could come up with]

[benyl]

The E9X interior is low rent compared to the E46 and other BMWs, but not Subaru low rent... haha

[heavyD]

Originally posted by Khyron
Sit in it first. Other than the HVAC/Center area it's no worse than any BMW. The dash, wheel, and instrument cluster would be at home in a 60K car IMO. And I like the black pattern to the silver as well.

The blue frs tester at South Pointe is manual, as was the white one making the rounds (not sure who ended up with it).

I have to agree with others here as the interior quality is better than average for Subaru but we are talking about a very, very low bar here as Subaru's have always had some of the worst interiors in automobiles. I understand you love your car and that's great and all but that statement is just a little outlandish as the BRZ interior isn't bad but it's still not at the level of say the GTI.

[vtec4life]

Can anyone comment on the auto transmission??

everyone's been praising it in the reviews... apparently "as quick as a dual clutch" and it rev matches

I'd have to drive both before buying

[Khyron]

I JUST had a couple over on the long weekend, WITH a 330i and we did a full side by side comparison, because HIS exact words after sitting in the FRS were "I thought you said the interior was crappy"?

I even pointed out the shitty sunvisors - and guess what, the BMWs were pretty much the same. Wheel, shifter - same quality. Even the door arm rests were similar, though the frs was thinner. Even the dash is soft squishy (which I thought was hard plastic in the pics). His girlfriend pretty much agreed though she didn't like the small wheel. Remember, I came from a MK4 Jetta which is pretty much the benchmark for dash strokers.

Gauge cluster in daylight - FR-S looks amazing - better than anything I've been in, and that includes 997, Panamera, Boxter.. but maybe not the S4. For comparison the Mustang GT has one of the worst gauge clusters - total garbage.

Everything else, the trunk liner, the back seats, the glove box, the overhead light/switch, the center console is Ford/Toyota Corolla spec. But they did use non-obtrusive trunk hinges!

I have no brand loyalty - I like cars in general. I can give you a laundry list of things I dislike about the car as well.

[gpomp]

Originally posted by vtec4life
Can anyone comment on the auto transmission??

everyone's been praising it in the reviews... apparently "as quick as a dual clutch" and it rev matches

I'd have to drive both before buying

I've driven both the auto and manual and I'd buy a manual. I'm not an auto hater or anything as current car is automatic but I find the manual a lot more fun to drive.

[Mibz]

Originally posted by Khyron
I can give you a laundry list of things I dislike about the car as well.

I would genuinely like to hear it, if for no other reason than to try and sway me away from it, haha.

[benyl]

Originally posted by Mibz
I would genuinely like to hear it, if for no other reason than to try and sway me away from it, haha.

browny points have no shelf life. neither do screw ups. Buy now, or forever hold your peace.

[Mibz]

Haha, I don't need permission from the wife, how do you think I ended up with a motorcycle? I'm just nervous that winter's going to hit and I'm going to start cutting myself if I have to keep driving this POS Jeep. But then I don't want to commit to two new vehicles in the same year. I'm not Beyond baller. Not enough equity to bust out the HELOC.

[Cos]

.

[Mibz]

Parents paid for most of our wedding, else we wouldn't have gotten married, LOL.

[Khyron]

Came from chipped 1.8T Jetta, 204/233 HP/TQ on dynojet. Also have 275hp Santa Fe, and crashed a 170hp Subaru Legacy (blech). Had a ZX6R bike so my thirst for 0-60 is kinda skewed.

Keep in mind I have 2 toddlers and take them to daycare before going to work so I'm using the backseat more than most.

On 2 tanks, Avg 8.5L/100km, and there is a sort-of hidden 12V plug in the glovebox.

I also used to never go out and just drive around. I do now.

Ok things that I don't like:

- Clutch point way to high: Solved by DIY thread - I fixed this with a 12mm/14mm wrench in 5 mins. Totally need to do.

- HIDs: 300 dollar retrofit with proper bixenon projectors. Looks OEM, have been ordered. Have to bake the lights and take them apart, grrr.

- Seat recline/memory: Have to readjust every time you use backseat. The head engineer said they did this to save 6lbs per seat. I want it back.

- Seatbelt into neck: Need to lower the entry, or get a proper plastic guide. Raising seat height helps a bit but still sometimes annoying. That's why that stupid guide strap they tacked on to the seat looks so out of place.

- Multi-color console (orange clock/HVAC controls) : This drives me wild. They took it right out of the Toyota parts bin and it's ORANGE. Solved by DIY if you can solder which I will pay to have done.

- Storage: Hopefully new center console addresses (listed on the toyota parts catalog as TBA). But right now there's virtually nowhere to put anything. The door has the tube for a drink bottle but that's it and the center console is 2 cupholders and a bunch of useless space.

- Ingress/Egress: I'm a skinny guy and yet getting in and out I still scuff panels with my shoes etc. Reviewers say this is not as hard as an R8/Elise but pretty close.

- Ignition keyhole is a bit awkward to use (for me). Car was designed for keyless, so the keyhole is kind of a stupid afterthought. Keyless aftermarket maybe, but whatever, I can cope.

- Rear Leg Room: 1-2 more inches would be great, even by making the rear seats not as long.

- Manual is 3K at 110km/hr - but at least it's quiet. Will see how it is on highway 2 140 cruising later.

- Seats only fold flat from the trunk, not the cabin.

As for driving around, I'm still 4K or less breakin, but no issues dodging around traffic even in the bad revband. I totally get the "slow" comments as there is NO torque push when you floor it. Some people will not be able to live with that. I find it more "drivable" than my Jetta (which was either bogging or super-thrust mode).

There, that take down the blind fanboi complaints a bit?

[azian_advanced]

Originally posted by vtec4life
Can anyone comment on the auto transmission??

everyone's been praising it in the reviews... apparently "as quick as a dual clutch" and it rev matches

I'd have to drive both before buying

i've never driven either but the auto has a much wider gear ratio than the manual. look at this graph to see a comparison. couple of things to note are the auto's 4th gear is the same as the manual's 5th, and the auto's 5th & 6th gear are both taller than the manuals 6th. huge difference.

[CalgaryBRZ]

Originally posted by Khyron
Came from chipped 1.8T Jetta, 204/233 HP/TQ on dynojet. Also have 275hp Santa Fe, and crashed a 170hp Subaru Legacy (blech). Had a ZX6R bike so my thirst for 0-60 is kinda skewed.

Keep in mind I have 2 toddlers and take them to daycare before going to work so I'm using the backseat more than most.

On 2 tanks, Avg 8.5L/100km, and there is a sort-of hidden 12V plug in the glovebox.

I also used to never go out and just drive around. I do now.

Ok things that I don't like:

- Clutch point way to high: Solved by DIY thread - I fixed this with a 12mm/14mm wrench in 5 mins. Totally need to do.

- HIDs: 300 dollar retrofit with proper bixenon projectors. Looks OEM, have been ordered. Have to bake the lights and take them apart, grrr.

- Seat recline/memory: Have to readjust every time you use backseat. The head engineer said they did this to save 6lbs per seat. I want it back.

- Seatbelt into neck: Need to lower the entry, or get a proper plastic guide. Raising seat height helps a bit but still sometimes annoying. That's why that stupid guide strap they tacked on to the seat looks so out of place.

- Multi-color console (orange clock/HVAC controls) : This drives me wild. They took it right out of the Toyota parts bin and it's ORANGE. Solved by DIY if you can solder which I will pay to have done.

- Storage: Hopefully new center console addresses (listed on the toyota parts catalog as TBA). But right now there's virtually nowhere to put anything. The door has the tube for a drink bottle but that's it and the center console is 2 cupholders and a bunch of useless space.

- Ingress/Egress: I'm a skinny guy and yet getting in and out I still scuff panels with my shoes etc. Reviewers say this is not as hard as an R8/Elise but pretty close.

- Ignition keyhole is a bit awkward to use (for me). Car was designed for keyless, so the keyhole is kind of a stupid afterthought. Keyless aftermarket maybe, but whatever, I can cope.

- Rear Leg Room: 1-2 more inches would be great, even by making the rear seats not as long.

- Manual is 3K at 110km/hr - but at least it's quiet. Will see how it is on highway 2 140 cruising later.

- Seats only fold flat from the trunk, not the cabin.

As for driving around, I'm still 4K or less breakin, but no issues dodging around traffic even in the bad revband. I totally get the "slow" comments as there is NO torque push when you floor it. Some people will not be able to live with that. I find it more "drivable" than my Jetta (which was either bogging or super-thrust mode).

There, that take down the blind fanboi complaints a bit?

Want to show me how to adjust the height for the clutch for my BRZ? lol

[Mibz]

Originally posted by Khyron
- Clutch point way to high: Solved by DIY thread - I fixed this with a 12mm/14mm wrench in 5 mins. Totally need to do.

Ha! Awesome. I thought it'd just been so long since I'd driven a manual that I'd totally lost it, but I constantly found myself hitting the gas way too early on shifts because the clutch wasn't catching where I expected. Then by the time I got used to it the test drive was over. I also felt that taking off sucked because my leg was bent more than was comfortable when near the friction point. I feel like more of a man now.