Every Olympian carries the weight of their country's hopes and dreams on their shoulders, but none more so than the "gold-medal hopefuls." While I cheer on all our athletes with enthusiasm, the pressure they must feel beggars belief.
Sometimes that pressure is a crystallizing force, producing a brilliant performance. Other times, the expectation is truly too great, and the audience groans over a fourth-place finish, not realizing what a huge accomplishment even making it to the competition is.
And that's the problem with expectation: it's great to set goals, but when you've been touted as the great hope of a generation, the next biggest thing, the one we've all been waiting for, the sure-fire winner, well, heaven help you if you stumble. So it is with this car, the 2013 Scion FR-S. Part of a pair of cars developed jointly by Subaru and Toyota (Scion is Toyota's youthoriented sub-brand), this machine has been shown in concept form multiple times; teased and hyped and praised with flowery prose in long-lead pre-launches.
Well, here in my hands, I have the keys to one. Let's run it through the decathlon and find out if we've got a medallist.
DESIGN
Right off the bat, the FR-S certainly looks the part. With strong, angular creases and flaredout quarters, it'd put you in mind of a teenytiny Maserati Gran Sport coupe.
Like most modern cars, a gaping maw is part of the front grille treatment and while the car was purportedly shaped to echo the 1960s Toyota 2000GT (you might remember one of these appearing in the Bond flick You Only Live Twice), it's quite a busy design. Still, folks who find the Mazda MX-5's friendly face too cutesy will no doubt warm to the Scion's fighting-fish demeanour.
Twin exhausts around back stand ready to trumpet your passing to the world, and are encompassed within a black surround that mimics the air diffuser of a race car. Standard 17inch alloys are the only wheels on offer, and they look good from the side. Catch the FR-S's rear profile, and you'll get a surprise at how skinny these tires took: just 215-mm in width. And wait, Michelin Primacies?
Yes, the FR-S is shod in the same rubber that's available on the Japanese-spec Prius. A bit unusual for a sports-car, but a little more on that later.
ENVIRONMENT
Clambering into the FR-S requires finesse, it being so low to the ground. Once inside, it's immediately time to start talking about price point. This car is inexpensive at $25,990, and that means something's gotta give.
Where they haven't skimped are in the seats, which are excellent, perhaps the best thrones I've sat in outside of a Porsche product. Comfortably squeezed in these race-bolstered buckets, take a good gander around at the Plain Jane interior-but it's not all bad.
In fact, it's a bit Porsche-like here as well in the sense of the earlier, spartan interiors. The small-diameter (365mm) steering wheel is blissfully devoid of buttons. The dash is plain black without affected fake carbon-fibre trim.
A centrally mounted rev-counter dominates the instrument panel with a digital read-out displaying forward velocity. Everything is uncluttered and simple, although the optional Pioneer sound system is a bit of an afterthought. It looks like an aftermarket head-unit, but doesn't really perform like one.
Unlike some competitors, the FR-S has usable rear seats. I say "usable." Adult passengers will only fit comfortably if they've been minced into a fine pâté. However, kids in booster seats will fit, pleasing moms and dads who need their sports car to suit dualpurposes, and the seats do fold down to create more hauling capacity. Keep them up, and you'll find that trunk quite small.
PERFORMANCE
So far, the FR-S has made compromises on tire-size, interior capacity and in-cabin materials. The payoff must surely be in the drive, no?
It is. While there's just 200 horsepower on offer from the 2.0L boxer engine (Subaru's blueprint with Toyota's direct injection system), the FR-S makes the most of it with a feathery curb weight of just 1255kg.
With the engine fired up and the traction control in sport, the FR-S leaps off the line and... wait, is that all?
Modern family sedans now have close to 300 horsepower, and turbo-charged hot-hatchbacks have torque to match their peak power. With just 151lb/ft of torque on tap, the FR-S is going to require some mental readjustment. Some folks are going to come away from a test-drive feeling non-plussed that the sporty look seems at a disconnect with the driving experience.
But persevere. Get off the traffic-snarled roads and let the FR-S gallop a little. It's not happy in the mid-range, this car demands to be driven and driven hard.
Here's where those skinny tires actually become a feature rather than a liability. There's a tremendous amount of grip with the low-centre of gravity provided by the low-slung flat-four engine, and the reduced amount of rubber allows the FR-S to pivot a bit rather than simply sticking constantly.
Track-day addicts are going to want to slap on stickier rubber (and bolt-on brake upgrades would not go amiss either), but those interested in a fun-to-drive car that can occasionally pinch-hit to pick up the groceries are going to appreciate the FR-S's focus on outright driving pleasure over maximum grip.
The electric power-steering is great, though perhaps not quite as good as mechanically assisted varieties, and the six-speed manual is quick-shifting and easy to operate. Pretty much the only mechanical fault to be found with the controls is the long clutch-travel and high engagement point-fixes for this issue may already be on the way.
FEATURES
Scion doesn't sucker you with a low base price and then drive up the MSRP with options packages; rather, the basic car is set up with everything you need. Choose the upgraded Pioneer Audio for $515 (or not), and all that's left to do is pick the six-speed manual or the paddle-shifted six-speed auto ($1180).
Pick your colour? Well, maybe. Due to frenzied anticipation, the FR-S is in short-supply (its Subaru cousin is reportedly sold out for the year). Be patient or don't be fussy.
Fuel economy figures are very good at 9.6L/100kms city and 6.6L/100kms highway for the manual-the automatic is about 10 per cent better. Realistically though, flog this car like it's meant to be driven and not only will you burn more gas, but the FR-S requires premium fuel only. Still, after a week's hard shifting, my tester returned reasonable numbers, and not a drop was begrudged, considering how much fun each kilometre had been.
GREEN LIGHT
Balanced handling; nimble, rear-drive handling; moderate level of practicality.
STOP SIGN
Low-torque engine requires maximum revs; still too small for some daily-driving duties; noisy at times.
THE CHECKERED FLAG
Might not quite be the sports-car hero we've all been anticipating, but certainly finishes on the podium.
