Car Review: 2013 Scion FR-S

 

When you think of a true sports car, you think of a manual transmission with rear wheel drive. You also want think of something that looks good and feels comfortable but not too comfortable. Unfortunately, it's very hard to find a true sports car. Most cars have front wheel drive and the manual transmission is slowly dying. Exotic cars are only fun when you go triple digit speeds, so they're useless on real roads. But now, Scion has built something that is not only a true sports car, but something you can have fun in without going over the speed limit.

 

Known as the Toyota GT-86 in Europe. In the U.S., it's called the Scion FR-S. Despite the name change, it's exactly the same. You get great looks, a leather and carbon fiber interior, plus a manual transmission and rear wheel drive. Powered by a 2.0 liter four cylinder boxer engine, this is not the fastest car in the world. 0-60 mph is an average 6.2 seconds and the top speed is just 125 mph. But the feeling you get every time you change gear and put your foot down is so intoxicating, the numbers just don't matter.

 

The ear piercing sound of the engine makes you think that it's revving at 8000 rpm when your really revving at 4000 rpm. Then when you get pushed into your seat, you think your going triple digit speeds when you're really only going 40mph.

 

 

 

 Then there's the sport button. Push the sport button and everything gets even better. Besides the usual extra power and firmer suspension, the traction control also turns off when the sport mode is on. This makes for some fun cornering. This car is so easy to drift around corners that you can do it with one hand behind your back.

 

 

 

It's been a while since a true sports car has arrived, yet alone one that costs less than $30,000. You can finally have a fun and exciting drive without breaking the law. It will be a while until another car as great as this will come along to make driving even more exciting.