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Did Scion announce pricing for the 2013 FR-S at this afternoon's press conference? No, not yet. But it did say that the FR-S would be receiving an updated version of Scion's BeSpoke entertainment system.
Also unveiled was a 600-horsepower Scion Racing/Greddy FR-S drift car which will be competing in the 2012 Formula Drift series with Ken Gushi behind the wheel.
Yes...with some work. And a lot of handbrake. In the rain. And with pro drifter Ken Gushi behind the wheel.
Second video-- interior mostly-- added.
Last night Scion officially showed off the U.S. spec version of the Toyobaru, the Scion FR-S. We brought you pictures from the reveal, but trying to squeeze in between other photographers and the hundreds of Scion fanbois present left us with shots that looked, more or less, like they were taken in a warehouse filled with a few hundred kids who really, really love Scion.
These studio shots (provided by Scion) have a much cleaner feel and show off the car in a much more flattering light. I've provided them here in hi-res for all of your wallpapering / focus-on-the-details needs. There's also a video after the jump of the official reveal last night. Nothing new, but yet another image of a car you very well may already be sick of reading about.
After this week's reveals of the Toyota 86 and Subaru BRZ in Japan, it was only a matter of time before the States got some love in the form of the Scion FR-S (Front engine Rear wheel drive, Sport). We weren't exactly on the edge of our seat for this one, considering how similar the BRZ and 86 are, we expected the FR-S to be little more than the 86 with Scion badges. And that's exactly what we have here.
Like the looks, we knew what the specs would be, too. 200 horsepower, 151 pound-feet of torque from a 2.0-liter Subaru-built boxer engine (with bore and stroke of 86mm) with a Toyota-built D-4S direct port injection system. The 166.7 inch long FR-S rolls on 17s with the same crap inexpensive all season tires as the 86 Michelin Primacy HP summer tires (Sorry, had my Primacy tires confused. There are other Primacy tires -- MXV4, MXM4-- which are all seasons.) and sits on a 59.8 inch front track and a 60.6 inch rear track. The FR-S has a 101.2 inch wheel base. Transmission options include a six-speed manual or a six-speed automatic with rev-matching. We did not expect this car to have special 86 badges on the fenders, but it does.
They didn't reveal pricing (expect that at Detroit) but Scion boss Jack Hollis said that they've bumped up the release from summer of this year to spring.
Jack Hollis also announced that the Scion FR-S could hold four tires and a floor jack making track days that much easier. He didn't mention if it would hold a passenger with all that stuff, but it's still neat to know.
Yesterday we brought you photos of the Toyota 86 from its release in Japan. The car pleased with its pretty-much-just-like-the-concept looks and exactly-what-we-expected performance figures. Toyota has drawn some criticism for the name, though. They're ditching the alpha part of alphanumeric naming conventions and just calling it the 86 which is two worse than the Olds 88. And, of course, everyone's still all mad that they're going to market it in the U.S. as a Scion.
If it drives right and is priced right, those complaints will go away quite quickly. But until we get our hands on a U.S. spec one, we'll just have to sit back and watch. After the jump are the official, very high resolution photos of the Toyota 86. Dial up users beware.
In the next two weeks Inside Line will drive both the Scion FR-S and Subaru BRZ and all the waiting, the buildup and hype will come crashing down in two stories we hardly need the cars to write.
Meanwhile, here are two more videos...
Kids playing with model cars never fail to warm the heart, and after Toyota has sucked you in, the ad folks might as well be saying, see, see, we've got a real car here, the Toyota FT-86. It's a coupe. It's rear-drive. We're choosing wheels for it. Look, it's got a Subaru flat-4 in its engine bay. So, so, be excited.
OK, we kind of are (or rather, I kind of am), but what I'd really like is a modern-day remake of this Japanese-market commercial (also after the jump) for the Toyota MR2. Yeah, it's really dated (1985!), but look, that's the little, mid-engine, rear-drive car going around real corners on a real two-lane road and it looks fun. Nevermind, we'll shoot this footage ourselves once a Scion FR-S is available for testing.
Here's viral advertising, social media and a public mural all rolled into one on behalf of the Toyota FT-86 (and Scion FR-S). The production FT-86 will finally debut November 30 at the 2011 Tokyo Auto Show. To build hype for that momentous occasion, Toyota dispatched dozens of painters to the city's busiest train station, Shinjuku, over the weekend where they created the art for a new FT-86 website -- http://fpw.toyota-digital.com/.
The fpw in the URL stands for Fastest Painted Website. It took the painters 8 hours and 6 minutes (get it, 8 and 6, like eighty-six, like FT-86? Clever..) to complete the job and if you were up and online at weird hours over the weekend, liking or tweeting the under-construction website would result in your screen name being briefly displayed on a digital ticker above the mural.
Actually, you can still have your second of fame, as the URL will be live through November 26. It's kind of neat because the website is basically a webcam of the mural and you can hear all the street sounds outside bustling Shinjuku.
Making-of video after the jump. Is this an example of clever, off-beat advertising, in your distinguished/humble opinion, or is Toyota's confused ad team just throwing fragments of youth culture at the wall to see if they stick?
It's another busy day over at FT86 Club, where members have tracked down Toyota FT-86/Scion FR-S images from a TRD accessories catalog (yay, more clear-lens taillights) and what is apparently a dealer training guide for salespeople in Japan. The 86ers have translated much of the text from Japanese, teasing out a few more specs.
The training guide makes much of the car's low coefficient of drag and low center of gravity, the latter due to the engine being mounted low in the chassis. And we're still seeing that barely believable 6,600-rpm torque peak (151 pound-feet)... get ready for some serious heel-and-toeing, boys and girls.
In addition, the translated TRD catalog gives an idea of the go-faster, go-better accessories (hop over to the forum for the full list) Toyota is planning at least for the Japanese market. Among the items are a Brembo brake kit (6-pot in front, 4-pot in back), several choices of forged and cast 18-inch wheels, various suspension braces (including a tower bar up front), and a fully adjustable suspension setup that would let you change up the ride height and damping for track day use.
On Wednesday we were treated to some leaked photos of the upcoming Toyota FT-86 /Scion FR-S thanks to Toyota's in-house tuning company, Modellista. Today we have another leak, thanks to FT-86 Club, but this one is from a Japanese car magazine and shows a car without the Modellista dressings.
You'll notice this car doesn't have the goofy wheels, the embellishments on the front fascia, the chrome side stripe, the LED lights, or the massive exhaust. This one also features a real antenna instead of the sat radio one.
After years of speculation, spy photos and concepts, it appears that the final version of the Toyota FT-86 / Scion FR-S has been leaked by Toyota's in-house customization department, Modellista. But before we put too much into this image, remember that this is a Modellista leak and that things like the wheels, chrome accent strips, big exhaust and the pseudo canards up front could all be aftermarket pieces.
Beyond that, though, this looks to be a much more production friendly version of the concept we saw in New York.
The big surprise here is the interior which appears driver-focused and cool and reminds us in all of the good ways of a Mazda interior. There's also a central mounted tach and an LFA-inspired steering wheel.
I'm driving a 2012 Scion iQ for the holiday weekend. It's painted white, so I figured I'd "build" another iQ to my liking when Scion tweeted that its iQ configurator was live today. Unfortunately, there aren't many colors or wheel options yet, so I had to go with Old Man Merlot and the sole (16-inch) alloy wheel option. My car ended up at $17,809, though the configurator doesn't show my sassy roof spoiler.
Still, I like the map on the configurator that shows when you'll be able to track down an iQ depending on where in the country you live. All manufacturers should do this.
On a more serious note, I really am driving a 2012 Scion iQ for the holiday weekend. Anything you'd like to know about it?
When it first leaked out that the 2012 Scion iQ would be priced at $15,995, the internet was not happy. Throwback said, "The Fiat 500 will give this car a hard time." Moparbad said, "When Yaris is $13,915 and Corolla is advertised for between $15 to $16K on sale then Scion iQ is priced too high." and Toyota said something to the tune of "Hey, that's not an official number! We haven't released pricing yet."
Well, now they have. And it's still $15,995. Navigation is extra. A 94 horsepower 1.3-liter is the only engine option and it propels the iQ to 60 in a Toyota-estimated 11.8 seconds. Fuel economy is listed at 36/37.
There's a ride and drive of the 2012 Scion iQ happening in California today where they've just released pricing on the upcoming microcar. $15,995 will get you into a new iQ when it (finally) goes on sale this fall if you're on the West Coast, January in the South followed by the East Coast and then the Midwest.
For your money you'll get a 120.1-inch long car that's 66 inches wide with a 1.3-liter 4cyl and CVT transmission.
$15,995 seems like a lot of money for this when there are Fiat 500s and Mazda 2s available, right?
**Update: Scion has announced that the iQ will be "Below $16,000 and refuse to comment on the record about the $15,995 figure. **
(Autoblog)
Scion has FINALLy released pricing on the 2012 Scion tC Release Series 7.0. The 7.0 comes only in High Voltage yellow with black mirrors and black 18-inch wheels, the 2012 tC RS 7.0 will be priced from $21,625 when it goes on sale this summer. Get the automatic and you're paying $22,695.
Standard features include a Pioneer audio system with Bluetooth hands-free phone, Bluetooth streaming audio and HD radio, black and yellow seat fabric, Smart Key and TRD push-button start,
Scion is launching the 7.0 with a new ad campaign with Zeus, the God of Awesome who creates the 7.0 with his lightning bolt. Just like I remember from my classics courses.
Subaru's rear-drive sports car is sort of falling into the wake of the Scion FR-S. But as these spy photos show, the engineers behind the project haven't forgot Subaru gets a car, too and that car has to sit wheel-to-wheel in dealerships with the WRX. This latest round of Toyobaru spy photos shows the rear-drive Subie testing alongside a pair of WRXs which is stiff competition, even in base trim, the '11 WRX is a hoot.
Aside from the support vehicles, we can see a slightly different front fascia on this version of the car which looks to have some huge foglight cutouts flanking the lower sides of the gaping grille a-la the Subaru 2.5 RS. We also get our first look at the interior with shift paddles, three-spoke steering wheel, bank of rocker-switches and seriously bolstered seats.
Earlier today, we put up spy video of the Scion FR-S on the 'Ring and now we've got footage from FT86 club of the FR-S on the streets.
We don't learn anything new from the videos that we haven't seen in spy shots, but seeing cars moving always helps to gel the design-- even if it is covered in camo.
When we posted spy pics of the Scion FR-S yesterday, we got more than a few emails from readers and co-workers asking if we were sure that was the FR-S and not, say, a new Scion TC. It wasn't a new TC, but clearly people didn't think that was a very exciting sports car to look at regardless of how it may drive.
Toyota / Scion / Subaru seems to have anticipated that reaction and are currently testing a sport body kit complete with Supra/Celica not-quite-STI worthy wing. There's also a deeper, much more aggressive front splitter, side skirts and rear valance. It's a cool package (still torn on the horizontal bits off the wing) that adds some menace to the FR-S. Now we just need to ditch the 17" Subaru Forester wheels.
When we saw the Scion FR-S at the New York Auto Show, it was a concept car in every respect: goofy brakes, no interior, 2mm off the ground, massive wheels and show-ready front clip. Not sure exactly why anyone would expect any different, though, there haven't even been any near-production spy shots. The last time we saw the FR-S, it was dressed like an STi camper van and while that may work for the Subaru version of the "toyobaru" rear drive sports car, it probably wouldn't fly for Scion.
Now, however, we've got something much more Scion (with a little Audi and G37 thrown in for good measure) and much closer to what we could see in a production version. Like real brakes, dual exhaust and a sane rear wing. And would you look at that,the front brake calipers are front mounted which means -- altogether now -- rear-mounted steering rack. What that means, however is up for debate. Sometimes it means AWD -- except that Subaru still manages a front-mount steering rack with AWD because, well, better steering. Sometimes it means easier packaging.
Either way, check out the rest of the photos after the jump.
After a delay due to labor issues, the 2012 Hyundai Veloster is ready to ship to markets in Europe. The U.S. introduction is still scheduled for this fall. According to a report in Automotive News, the Veloster delay was caused by work stoppages in South Korea that started in Jan. The company now only expects to sell around 18,000 Velosters in its home market during 2011.
The Veloster is seen as a premium compact in Europe so its main rivals will be cars like the Mini Cooper and Volkswagen Sirocco.
Of course, here in the U.S., the Veloster will be considered an entry-level sport coupe. It will have to contend with the new Honda Civic Si and maybe even the Scion FR-S if that car ever actually becomes real. Should be an interesting fight.
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