Review: How Scion was True to Itself with the 2016 FR-S
Dear Scion,
This is goodbye. Although your days as a separate brand under the Toyota roof are drawing to a close, I want you to know that you weren’t a complete failure. I didn’t have the opportunity to get behind the wheel of your full portfolio of vehicles, but I did get a few chances to drive one of your early xBs. I enjoyed its cute cube styling and its compact and easily maneuverable dimensions. It will always have a place in my heart as “a little breadvan.”
Jim Lentz, the founding vice president of your brand and the current CEO of Toyota Motor North America, said, “I was there when we established Scion and our goal was to … engage young customers. I’m very proud because that’s exactly what we have accomplished.”
When it comes to the 2016 FR-S that I drove around Central Texas for a week, likely the last brand-new vehicle from your company that I’ll ever drive, Mr. Lentz is right. Your 1,004 dealers found buyers for more than a million Scions since you began selling vehicles in 2003. Half of your customers were under the age of 35. Although the FR-S I drove was a media review vehicle that you loaned to me, as someone in their early 30s, I fall into that demographic. So does my girlfriend.
The no-options $26,075 tester I had engaged me on the obvious levels. It was an “Ablaze” red curvy coupe with rear-wheel drive and a six-speed manual. My inner teenager loved the package on paper and didn’t mind the FR-S’s rough ride and loud yet not particularly satisfying engine noise, but my outer 32-year-old self did. The 2016 version of me enjoyed how little effort I had to put into moving the gear lever. Unfortunately, that was partnered with a clutch pedal that only seemed to engage near the very top of its travel. Like a high schooler, I had to learn patience.
Part of being young means knowing what it feels like to aspire to experience the finer things in life. Despite its accessible price, the FR-S’s interior provided a glimpse of what cars further up in the hierarchy of Toyota’s vehicles offer. There were soft-touch materials on the door arm rests, knee bolsters, and dashboard, as well as contrast stitching on the seats and the inner side of the steering wheel rim. Metallic trim and sporty silver pedals brightened up the abundance of black surfaces. No one would mistake the FR-S’s cabin for that of a Lexus, but it didn’t feel like a punishment for being of a certain age and income.
A combination of the FR-S and what my girlfriend and I experienced in it also engaged me. (No, we didn’t get in its back seat because neither one of us is a small bag of groceries.) As I can imagine many young couples want to, we hopped in your little red sports car and went out of town for a day trip. The plan was to go from Austin to San Antonio and spend hours touring the River Walk and sampling the local cuisine.
I wound up the 200-horsepower flat-four on the way down, properly starting off our fun-filled day with some brisk acceleration. At speed, the FR-S felt focused, but not frenzied. The steering was responsive without being in need of Ritalin. My sweetheart and I didn’t realize until we got closer to downtown San Antonio that we were driving right into the traffic that comes with Fiesta San Antonio, a yearly festival that raises money to provide services to people in the city. Everywhere we turned, there seemed to be signs announcing the streets we needed to go down to find parking were closed. I didn’t know the layout of San Antonio well and being in stop-and-go traffic in a largely unfamiliar car with a manual gearbox and a picky clutch had the potential to be stressful.
That potential was never reached.
My girlfriend expertly navigated us around the area and when we rolled up to a street closure sign, she thought of a quick solution. Outward visibility was not a problem, so I didn’t break a sweat when it came to changing lanes or merging. The teen within me appreciated that the FR-S still had a traditional e-brake handle and not a tiny electric switch (I don’t remember those being around when I was in high school). Traffic was hairy so I didn’t want to take any chances whatsoever of possibly rolling backward into someone; the presence of a large handle that I could grab and rip in an instant without looking gave me peace of mind.
My girlfriend and I eventually reached a parking spot at one end of the River Walk in the upscale Pearl Brewery district. After a sometimes discouraging amount of difficulty, we had arrived at our destination. Both of us had kept our cool. Neither one of us had raised our voices. We both found out we worked well together. As a team.
I felt like someone I’ve felt like many times since meeting “my person”: a lovestruck teenager. This time I had that experience in your FR-S, Scion. I’m sure many other young people have made such wonderful discoveries in your vehicles. I think they’ll remember them long after you’re absorbed by Toyota. I know I will. You and your cars won’t be forgotten, either.
*Price includes $770 delivery processing and handling fee
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