my95tsi

iTrader: (2)

What would be the issue with a RWD Subaru? Their engine configurations are already a rwd platform. You're reasoning is not supported by any fact.

grabber2

The TRD quad exhaust is so hot!!!! With that TRD look....no way its below $30K
Damn, this looks good.

200HP, RWD, 6MT, & 2,500~2,600lbs.....I think I already have an idea how fast this thing go since the the RSX-s is 195HP, FW, 6MT & 2850lbs

Toyota is on the move to release the FRS --> then a Supra replacement in the $40K~50K?? Hope so

spwolf

well hopefully thing thing will be a deal faster than RSX and GTS because of the RWD, 10% less weight and nicer power curve, without crazy bumps like in VVTL-i and i-vtec where at 5k/6k rpm you get 20% bump in power (and below that you car drives as if it had 30 hp less).

stlgrym3

iTrader: (4)

the whimpy motor is a turn off for me. i wish it gets something similar to S2000's motor, 8k rpm redline, 220 + hp, torque doesn't matter since it's a high revving motor. i'm even willing to pay 30k for that car.

spwolf

well not sure... torque and power in FR-S, under 6000 rpm will be quite comparable to S2000.... after 6000 rpm, due to 30hp gain from i-vtec, it might pull ahead but not by much.... i think up to 10% weight difference for FR-S would actually make it faster than S2000.

heck another proof that someone like C&D/RT/MT might make FR-S go 0-60 under 6s :-)

spwolf

p.s. nothing against i-vtec or VVTLi... 2zzge was best 4cly engine i ever drove, let alone owned.
I had Corolla TS and after 6k it would scream like crazy, best experience ever... it was also very fuel efficient - I would spend less fuel in heavier and more powerful Corolla than in my MR-S/2 with normal 2zz engine.

Kostamojen

Its easy to explain, Subaru spent the last decade+ selling the idea of a brand with ONLY AWD in the U.S. Its been ingrained so deeply into people now via advertising that its impossible to think of a Subaru as anything else.

Its having an even worse effect on the Subaru forums, believe me...
A couple of us on the FT86 forums came up with the idea of using the shortblock from the FB25 motor with the FA20 motor (since the FA20 in the FT86 is a modified FB20) in order to get increase the displacement by .5 and also get a small compression bump! Might be good for another 20-30hp if it works.

spwolf

custom turbos are not expensive... wait for 6 months and there will be setups and group buys for less than 5k installed...

mmarshall

Here's the direct quote from the article. To me, that title says the chief engineer...but I guess you interpret it differently.

LexFather

Mike the chief engineer for this product is from Toyota. He's been interviewed in CAr/EVO as well.

mmarshall

Yes, the article mentioned Hirakawa as the Subaru-project-leader and Toyota's Toshio Masuda (probably the man you are refering to) as the senior project-manager for project-planning. As Toyota owns 16% of Subaru (not the other way around), I guess that puts him one step up in the pecking-order.

The article did make clear, though (assuming it is acurate) that The Subie engineers had free-rein (within cost-restraints) to design the chassis/drivettain/suspension, and then Toyota designed the body and interior around it, not the other way around, which is all-too common.

Have you actually had a chance to see one up front yet or test-drive one? I'd guess not, though, if even the ones shown to the auto-press are still disguised, pre-production models.

LexFather

Sadly no....they will debut at the Tokyo Auto Show which is late Nov/early December.

mmarshall

Maybe (?) we'll see it then at L.A. in December or Detroit in early-mid-January. I'd bet the monthly rent they show it off first at one of those two shows before the Washington, D.C. show comes in late January.....unless, as sometimes happens, they decide to wait for New York in April.

Kurtz

iTrader: (1)

AWD on a 200 hp street car is like putting a parachute on a stock Kia.

A really heavy, gas mileage sucking, parachute.

Kostamojen

The difference in weight between this drivetrain and a normal Subaru drivetrain is just the weight of two front CV's and a front differential.

And in case you haven't noticed, the 2012 Impreza fixed the mileage issues.

And 200hp in a 2600lbs AWD car makes it rather fast, ask me how I know.