It seems like it was only in the last few years that people have really started to fall back in love with these. When they were released, they were seen (IMO) as a young kids wannabe car, and never taken seriously. "BUDGET" was the key word here. Now I'm looking at one in 2023, I find it amusing for myself that I was sleeping on it.
I agree it's really underrated. People love to hate on these and complain about the torque dip, but then place the S2000 on a golden throne when it was equally as gutless before hitting VTEC. Mine is still mostly stock and I've been going back and forth if I want to add headers or not. On one hand, it's a good way to cut down the torque dip and add some good power, but the other hand would be dealing with emissions would be a pain, and I'm kind of leery about if it will actually sound good or like ass. I know catless can get pretty raspy without the right catback.
I have a 2013. The shops are 5 minutes down the road, with 2 roundabouts in between and a 50km/h speed limit. If I never drove further than that, I'd still love it. Perfect upgrade from my '89 Honda CRX. Cheers from Australia.
Honestly stock wise the car was so much fun to drive granted I owned the autotragic version. I bought my rebuild wrecked 15 FRS at Copart way before covid for cheap it was 26K miles and owned it for 2.5 yrs sold her at 60K miles. There certain cars that you don’t frankly need to modify and this is one of them.
@@ivanzavala307 as a manual guy myself I was actually impressed by the Aisin Toyota based 6 Speed auto it shifts fast enough for torque converter auto and dare say the best one minus ZF/DCT.
Upgraded to a 22 BRZ, but miss my 13 FR-S from time to time. It occupied a nice space in between the contemporary NC Miata and S2000 in terms of being a raw and focused driving experience, while doing something neither of those cars did (have an actual roof). Agree that the 2nd gen feels more refined than the 1st gen, but it's also significantly faster so you gain way more than you give up IMO. That said, I'd love to see the 2nd gen get a "Type-R" kind of trim. Lose 100-150 lbs (rear seat/radio/hvac delete, lighter battery/flywheel/exhaust/wheels), add the 4.3 FD off the 2017, and camber/caster adjusting front top hats. Probably $40k. That'd be a ton of fun and a future classic, even if nobody would buy it new haha.
Wonderful review! I can tell your love for this car. Why selling it for the new GR86, which is less raw and less visceral? You can save 30k cash for the IS500 and convert your FRS into a dedicated race/track car (something I plan to do to my BRZ in the future).
I’m getting a 22 BRZ this October and was wondering if you have a list of things you should do to preserve the car the same way you did your older FRS?
Hello friend, I liked your video, there is a 2013 FRS for sale with 106,000 miles with clean title that has had two owners, in its record it appears that they applied the recall in 2019, the car feels great, do you think it is a good idea to buy it?
I own a 2019 subaru brz that I got new. It's my daily drive and a perfect everyday sports car. Its got the looks and is very practical. I live in the countryside and the roads are twisty and the tarmac can be poor. I don't need a sport car with a ton of power I can't use, it's more than enough fun at lower speeds on twisty roads. When the brz first came out its slogan was 'pure handling delight' and the car lives up to that. I am never selling it, one day it will be a highly sort after classic sports car when the vast majority have either been crashed, over modified or scrapped.
Man I miss my frs! When I lived in Chicago I bought one brand new, and I was in love with the car! To me it didn’t matter if it was underpowered! But it made up for its shortcomings with it’s drivability and handling! But the bad thing about living in Chicago at the time, was that the snow made it impossible for me to get around let alone driving almost one hour to work every day. And driving in the snow was next to impossible! Very dangerous for me! So the car spent every winter in the garage. So I had to drive my wife’s jeep to work in the winter, at the time I used to drive my wife to the train station and then proceeded to my work. But then it came the bad news that my wife needed to drive to work and her being on call at the time from her job! Made it more complicated for me to take her truck or had to try to drive my car in the winter to work! In which in that case made it impossible for me! So I had no choice after 3 years had to trade my beloved frs for a jeep wrangler! Don’t get me wrong! I enjoy my jeep every day! But I enjoyed more the Scion! I absolutely loved it!! Now that after retirement moved to Arizona, I want my old Scion frs back! Now that I live in a warm place I’m looking to buy a great low mileage used one, preferably one owner car. And you’re right! That car was very underrated and a lot of people like it because it wasn’t a speed demon! To me a sports car is the handling and the way it feels on the twistiest curves! And to be honest sometimes too much speed can get you into trouble or kill you! I really enjoyed watching your review! Hope that you enjoy your car for another 10 more years or more!👌😎👍well I guess you sold the car by now!
Hi Kevin, please can you tell us where you sourced the hitch/towbar for your bike? 1:16 I have looked everywhere for one of these in the UK/Europe. I don't believe they are available here. Many thanks in advance!
I've been hearing about issues with the 2013 vs a 2014+. Are they overblown and should I steer clear from 2013? The price difference is substantial, but I don't know if it's worth it to just get a 2014+
It depends on the manufacturing date. There are actually '13 model years that weren't affected by the recall. I think it was any car manufactured before May, 2013 that was affected.
I have had my 2013 FRS for 7 years, and I had the valve spring recall done back in 2019 and I never had an issue. Im at 200k miles now. I drive the car hard 24/7 365 and never an issue. Only reason I got the recall work done was so they could install new seals, gaskets, clutch and spark plugs at the same time. In the owners manual it states to use heavier weight oil if you drive the car at high speeds or if the engine is under "heavy load". I ran 5w30 since I bought it and now I use mobile 1 10w30.
