Drove a Scion FR-S today/owner drove my car

[ronmcdon]

I think the torque steer is relative to my experience. I am spoilt coming from a civic hybrid with no power or torque and azenis rt660 tires (stupid idea), the fiesta st is my only experience with a relatively higher torque fwd car and it was more noticeable than I'm used to..

oh yeah already have a bunch of TB braces, vibra technics rmm, wavetrack waiting to be installed in Dec or Jan. get to address torque steer and added traction together.

 

[Dpro]

I think the torque steer is relative to my experience. I am spoilt coming from a civic hybrid with no power or torque and azenis rt660 tires (stupid idea), the fiesta st is my only experience with a relatively higher torque fwd car and it was more noticeable than I'm used to..

oh yeah already have a bunch of TB braces, vibra technics rmm, wavetrack waiting to be installed in Dec or Jan. get to address torque steer and added traction together.

Damn I am jealous you have your Wavetrac thats like my last link. lol You gotta check out how fast my car is lol. The S280 is silly. The car goes like bike.

 

[ronmcdon]

yes yes and the cost of an lsd, installation and braces for the fiesta is probably higher than a header and tune for a BRZ. this is both the good and the bad with these cars. they can be money pits.

will be happy and excited to check out your car when pandemic is over. if you can bring out to streets or buttonwillow even better.

 

[Dpro]

yes yes and the cost of an lsd, installation and braces for the fiesta is probably higher than a header and tune for a BRZ. this is both the good and the bad with these cars. they can be money pits.

will be happy and excited to check out your car when pandemic is over. if you can bring out to streets or buttonwillow even better.

Ya but the thing I found was for the 5-6k I have put into it . I have a car that performs at a level of cars twice its price even with the money put in it. I picked mine up with the Recaros for under 20K new.
I mean usually we could easily spend way over 10k outfitting a 240sx all said and done. I am spending way less on the FiST, thats the amazing thing. I knew guys that were at over 20k in on 240’s.

I suppose one could say that about the BRZ except it will cost you 26-27K at least new and your still fighting a deficit in the HP department that in my opinion is not a easy win.
So I feel I am ahead of the game.

I will be selling the M3 and replacing it with another RWD drive though. Though I do want something that comes with plenty of power stock. Oh and of course I am really a RWD guy at heart as well if the FiST was not so damn fun to drive I would not be here.

 

[ronmcdon]

the fiesta st was going for really good prices when i was browsing between 2018 to early '19. I'm always going to regret buying a camaro instead. I could have gotten a fiesta, paid it back aggressively. I think the used model fiesta st now is nowhere near as good a deal.

I totally get what you're coming from in terms of making this an outright performance car and I can see how thats tempting. for me, most of the joy comes from having different cars with their own personalities. short of looking at 90's fwd compacts like a crx, se-r it is hard to find something that compares to the fiesta. no offense to cars like the gti, focus st, mazdaspeed 3, current civic Si/ctr, veloster N, but those heavier fwd cars don't offer the same personality and fun.

 

[Dpro]

the fiesta st was going for really good prices when i was browsing between 2018 to early '19. I'm always going to regret buying a camaro instead. I could have gotten a fiesta, paid it back aggressively. I think the used model fiesta st now is nowhere near as good a deal.

I totally get what you're coming from in terms of making this an outright performance car and I can see how thats tempting. for me, most of the joy comes from having different cars with their own personalities. short of looking at 90's fwd compacts like a crx, se-r it is hard to find something that compares to the fiesta. no offense to cars like the gti, focus st, mazdaspeed 3, current civic Si/ctr, veloster N, but those heavier fwd cars don't offer the same personality and fun.

Yup that is exactly what got me to purchase one new. I stumbled across the car in 16 got kinda busy with my Dad as he was starting to go. He passed in Sep of 17. I ordered in March of 18 paid the car off in a year. Healthy down payment. I mean used ones are going for good prices now if they have some mileage on them. Yet low mileage ones they are trying to ream on.
There are quite a few members here that own more expensive cars but bought these things as well.
Not dissing the BRZ its cool if you can live within its engine limitations. I just did not want to go down the road of getting a newer car and doing the same thing we did in 240sx’s . Which is either add a turbo to a non turbo engine or throw a whole other engine in the car to make it more powerful.
Dropping the bigger turbo in my car has literally turned it into a rocketship lol.

If I am gonna do a engine swap usher in the S30 240Z!

 

[ronmcdon]

I get that with the expense of adding a lot of power. spent way more than I'd like getting a sr swap, bolt ons and z32 new tranny because had really bad luck with used ones. adding more power on a stock car already with a turbo usually is less of a headache. honestly I am pretty happy with stock power levels of the fiesta.

having more power is nice but takes the fun of flooring the car all the time. with my zl1, I barely step on the gas to pass someone and before I know it hit 120 unintentionally and thats not always a good thing.

 

[M-Sport fan]

having more power is nice but takes the fun of flooring the car all the time. with my zl1, I barely step on the gas to pass someone and before I know it hit 120 unintentionally and that's not always a good thing.

I get this as well, since not being able to put enough tire under these little rockets to handle the added power (even with a limited slip it seems, in some cases) has me re-thinking the S280 option/route for this car.

The boosted LTxes are just flat out INSANE, but at least one can put up to a 335/345 (?) section width, gumball sticky tire under them if needs be, correct??

 

[ronmcdon]

oh wow really? even with an lsd (and I'm assuming decent summer tires) you're struggling with traction? i'm going to stick to a few bolt ons, forgo any tuning and play it safe power wise. interested in AP later to montinor temps maybe but thats about it.

the 19x11 & 19x12 staggered wheel setup, believe it or not, offers very limited tire selection. the stock r compounds realistically don't get to heat up adequately for street driving. there are no 200tw summer tires that fit the wheels w/out aggressive stretch and the best I can do are michelin ps4's. car is surprisingly great canyon carver, but at times have to be careful not to lose traction there. steering and handling are great but I'm not so confident with the throttle. idk why people feel the need to add more power.

 

[Dpro]

oh wow really? even with an lsd (and I'm assuming decent summer tires) you're struggling with traction? i'm going to stick to a few bolt ons, forgo any tuning and play it safe power wise. interested in AP later to montinor temps maybe but thats about it.
.

He does not have an LSD, a stock engine with LSD and Summer tires has plenty of traction trust me I know .
If one tunes for boost by gear you can get traction even with an S280 the only time my tires break loose is when I romp on it. Otherwise at light throttle I can roll down the street in first. Its when I romp on it that things change and I do not have a LSD yet. Trust me even with tunes you will be fine. I will have my in car cam in soon so maybe I can get some video of this.

I should add my car hooks up a flies. I took my friend who has fully built RB25DET in a 72 240Z with a T4 for a ride and he was like oh shit this thing hooks up. He was really surprised we were doing 50 from almost a dead standstill to two car lengths in Mexico.
This is with RS Pros 205/45 on 16x8 Konig Dekagrams and ya Feddys run real wide so these are almost like running 215‘s.

 

[CSM]

brz/86 torque dip is an issue for sure but not like a header and tune can't fix..

True, but keep in mind a lot of us 86 owners don't want to go to that route (like me for SCCA class reasons). Would be nice if next gen fixes that torque dip issue, and based on initial results, it looks like it will

Fair assessment you’re the first person here I have seen answer the issue with a solution rather than just ignoring the fact. I got into it with several members in another thread because I made a big deal about. They were happy it had a bit more power and TQ and I was meh! not enough.
I will probably catch flack for that statement but so be it its true

I mean, different strokes for different folks. You say you want more power, I own both cars right now and I think the power/tq bump looks decent on the next gen and will have me considering upgrading my 86 for the next gen. But I have always thought the current gen has enough power for what it is, a car about balance and the best chassis available for the price. But I have hated the tq dip from day one of ownership so I'm happy about the elimination of the dip.

Also, I was a bit of a realist and knew the next gen 86 would NEVER have a turbo because of the Supra, so maybe I just wasn't as dissapointed in the reveal as some

 

[M-Sport fan]

oh wow really? even with an lsd (and I'm assuming decent summer tires) you're struggling with traction? I'm going to stick to a few bolt ons, forgo any tuning and play it safe power wise. interested in AP later to monitor temps maybe but that's about it.

the 19x11 & 19x12 staggered wheel setup, believe it or not, offers very limited tire selection. the stock r compounds realistically don't get to heat up adequately for street driving. there are no 200tw summer tires that fit the wheels w/out aggressive stretch and the best I can do are michelin ps4's. car is surprisingly great canyon carver, but at times have to be careful not to lose traction there. steering and handling are great but I'm not so confident with the throttle. idk why people feel the need to add more power.

Yes, Dpro is correct in that IF one tunes for boost by gear, AND has an LSD and 200 tread wear tires of a decent tread width, you will be fine as long as you do not go for those crazy 'goals' of close to/over 400 to the wheels.

Does anyone make W-I-D-E 18" diameter wheels which will fit over the factory Brembos on the ZL-1 (like CCW, Forgestar, Fiske, etc.)??
Those would probably give you many more tire choices, especially in the 100/200 tread wear categories.

And yeah, I just do not get the whole 'not satisfied until we are well over 1100 to the wheels' mentality of all of the boosted LTx and Hemi power hungry modding freaks out there, when they cannot possibly use/put down the factory power as it is.

 

[Dpro]

True, but keep in mind a lot of us 86 owners don't want to go to that route (like me for SCCA class reasons). Would be nice if next gen fixes that torque dip issue, and based on initial results, it looks like it will


I mean, different strokes for different folks. You say you want more power, I own both cars right now and I think the power/tq bump looks decent on the next gen and will have me considering upgrading my 86 for the next gen. But I have always thought the current gen has enough power for what it is, a car about balance and the best chassis available for the price. But I have hated the tq dip from day one of ownership so I'm happy about the elimination of the dip.

Also, I was a bit of a realist and knew the next gen 86 would NEVER have a turbo because of the Supra, so maybe I just wasn't as dissapointed in the reveal as some

I can understand this, and I think you speak more from personal experience than some of the other people in the other thread. Also you have to realize that the 86 was marketed to my crowd in specific when it was brought out.

I went to the exclusive unveiling at a Studio lot here in Hollywood. The car was marketed to us as our next drift car. A lot of us were there. Yet they did not reveal the engine‘s . ]

Much like how Nissan ran the IDX around on a S15 chassis and engine to gauge enthusiasm. Like they are doing with the Proto Z

We loved the IDX and even with the overall positive response they got they shelved it. Mainly because the FRS/BRZ had come out around a year and a half before and sales were dismal due to the power . Nissan saw that and said screw it we are not going to take a chance.


We were already dealing with cars that had great chassis yet were underpowered with the 240SX. I would have had a GT86 if they had put the right engine in it.

Some of us did buy it though and were somewhat happy. While others drove it and said no I had the same type of thing with AE86 or 240sx why am I am gonna do this again. Thats the perspective, I and several others come from. Oh and there are quite a few 240 owners who have FiST’s. lol

I feel the 86 chassis can handle more power and still have balance even your chassis is pretty stout and the new one is supposed to 50% more? Ya they could have given it more power in my opinion.

In Japan the s13 and s14 240sx’s aka 180sx and Silvia‘s came with 2 liter turbocharged engines that could be uncorked like our FiST engines and they were seeing 275HP and 300whp. That actually worked well with the chassis. So I get the balance thing.

I just do not think the modern version of your car does it for me and its not just about the power its the looks as well. I actually feel the looks of your generation of the car are better than the new ones and do not see the new ones as a improvement.

I am not a Suburu engine fan from the get go though. The only boxer engines I have respect for come from Stuttgart.