Scion may be no more, but you’ll still see the sporty, rear-wheel-drive FR-S around…sort of. Once the youth-oriented brand gets absorbed into Toyota, certain models will live on and receive tweaks and new badges. The FR-S is one of them.
At next week’s New York International Auto Show, Toyota will show the world the newest incarnation of its “hachi-roku”: the 2017 Toyota 86. The company won’t just throw its own badges on it and call it a day, though. The 86 will wear a larger center intake, revised lighting, and a different bumper up front. Out back, the 86 will feature LED taillights and a new bumper.
Like the exterior, the interior will be decorated with 86 logos. New “Grandlux” material will surround the instrument panel and be used on the door trim, giving it a soft feel. The seats will also feature new material.
Most importantly, the Toyota 86 will be slightly more powerful than the FR-S. According to Toyota, “On the manual version of the car, additional performance comes from a gear ratio change and a torque increase to 156 lb.-ft, as well as a five-horsepower increase to 205 hp.” Retuned shocks and revised spring rates should make the 86 a sharper-handling car than the model it replaces.
The FR-S won’t be the only Scion Toyota makes one of its own. The iA will become the Toyota Yaris iA and the iM five-door will be turned into the Toyota Corolla iM.
There’s no official word on when exactly those will arrive in dealerships, but the 2017 Toyota 86 will appear on showroom floors this fall. The production version of the C-HR Concept will follow in the spring of next year as a 2018 model.
Derek Shiekhi's father raised him on cars. As a boy, Derek accompanied his dad as he bought classics such as post-WWII GM trucks and early Ford Mustang convertibles.
After loving cars for years and getting a bachelor's degree in Business Management from Texas State University, Derek decided to get an associate degree in journalism from Austin Community College as well. His networking put him in contact with the editor of the Austin-American Statesman newspaper, who hired him to write freelance about automotive culture and events in Austin, Texas in 2013. One particular story led to him getting a certificate for learning the foundations of road racing.
While watching TV with his parents one fateful evening, he saw a commercial that changed his life. In it, Jeep touted the Wrangler as the Texas Auto Writers Association's "SUV of Texas." Derek knew he had to join the organization if he was going to advance as an automotive writer. He joined the Texas Auto Writers Association (TAWA) in 2014 and was fortunate to meet several nice people who connected him to the representatives of several automakers and the people who could give him access to press vehicles (the first one he ever got the keys to was a Lexus LX 570). He's now a regular at TAWA's two main events: the Texas Auto Roundup in the spring and the Texas Truck Rodeo in the fall.
Over the past several years, Derek has learned how to drive off-road in various four-wheel-drive SUVs (he even camped out for two nights in a Land Rover), and driven around various tracks in hot hatches, muscle cars, and exotics. Several of his pieces, including his article about the 2015 Ford F-150 being crowned TAWA's 2014 "Truck of Texas" and his review of the Alfa Romeo 4C Spider, have won awards in TAWA's annual Excellence in Craft Competition. Last year, his profile of Wagonmaster, a business that restores Jeep Wagoneers, won prizes in TAWA’s signature writing contest and its pickup- and SUV-focused Texas Truck Invitational.
In addition to writing for a variety of Internet Brands sites, including JK-Forum.com and Ford-Trucks.com, Derek also contributes to other outlets. He started There Will Be Cars on Instagram and Facebook to get even more automotive content out to fellow enthusiasts.
Derek can be contacted at autoeditors@internetbrands.com
