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Hello everyone, I'm Michael Land, and welcome to another episode, of Nexccelerator.
And the vehicle that I'm sitting in right now, is in the all-new 2013 Scion FR-S.
And this the newest vehicle to be introduced into Scion's lineup.
But, does this brand new sports car have what it takes to be a very competitive
vehicle against the others that are out there? Well let's have some fun, and figure that out.
Now like I've said, this is the all new 2013 Scion FR-S (Which marks the first ever
automotive collaboration between Japanese automotive manufacturers, Subaru,
and Scion's parent company, Toyota).
So taking a look at the exterior of this sporty inspired coupe, the front of the
FR-S has projector beam halogen headlights with an auto-cut feature, that give's
the vehicle a fun-to-drive based aggressive look.
But also looking at the left, right, and top sides, that same aggressive feel
that was described just now is carried on over through the remainder of the
sports car.
Now looking at the back of the FR-S, there's a dual-exhaust system equipped with
one tailpipe each on the left and right side's with the aggressive styled
back-up lights located in between.
As for the taillights however, they not only fit perfectly well, but they also give
an awesome compliment to the rest of the sporty-inspired exterior of this vehicle.
Getting to the trunk of the FR-S, it has a nice high opening as you just now
witnessed. In terms of the trunk space however, it's capable of holding enough
items that would easily suffice your daily routine.
On a side note, there's a trunk opener function button located on the left side while
the glow in the dark trunk pull-release that you just saw recently is located on
the inside part where the trunk opens.
Now located underneath the trunk floor is where you'll find the spare tire to the
FR-S. In addition to that, the parts to install the spare tire are located on both of
the left and right sides underneath the trunk floor.
If you want more cargo capacity in the FR-S, it can definitely happen by having
both of the back seats folded down.
To fold the back seats down, just pull back on both of the two straps located in
the trunk. Then when you want to fold them back up, pull the straps back again,
until they snap.
So opening the door to the FR-S, it has a black sport red
color contrast stitched cloth interior with both a 6 way driver and a 4 way passenger
seat, all with manual adjustments.
On a side note, when you open either the driver or front passenger side door,
the windows automatically open in the down direction a little bit.
But when you close the door, they go back in the up direction, closing them up
completely.
Also, the gas cap release button is located on the bottom left side of the driver
seat.
Now to start the engine of this FR-S, just take the key that you see me holding up
in my hand. Then immediately afterwards, put the key with the fob buttons facing
up inside the ignition, and turn it clockwise to bring the engine to life.
As you just now witnessed, the FR-S starts right up like a charm without any kind of
mechanical issues at all.
Now getting to the engine area of the FR-S, it isn't only organized very well, but it's
also user friendly, in regards to the ease of access, in which I'll touch up more
on that here very shortly.
But focusing on the power-plant offering, the FR-S has a 2 Liter, 200hp, DOHC, 16V
Boxer engine with Dual Variable Valve Timing.
With that you get a respectable 25 mpg in the city and 34 on the highway,
but with the EPA combination, you get a decent 28 mpg overall.
Now focusing on the different parts of the engine area, the battery compartment is
located on the top-left portion, while the oil dipstick is located right in front
of the engine.
However located diagonally left across from the oil dipstick are both the radiator
and the engine coolant.
But located in front of the oil dipstick is the Subaru Denso Air In-Take system,
with the oil compartment located behind it and the Windshield Washer Fluid
Compartment next to it on the top right side respectfully.
However located on the top-right side is the brake fluid compartment.
So now taking a look at the interior of the FR-S, besides having the black sport red
color contrast stitched cloth interior seats that I mentioned earlier, the rest of
it doesn't only have it's own sporty inspiration, but it also manages to keep things
clean & simple throughout too, in which I'll touch more on that here in just a little bit.
Now the type of steering wheel that this FR-S has is a three spoke leather wrapped
steering wheel with both side bolstering extensions & red-colored contrast stitching
going all over it along with the cruise control settings being conveniently located
on the bottom right side.
Located on the left side behind the steering wheel are the controls for the both
the blinkers & headlights as well as the (-) paddle shift gear.
However, the windshield wiper controls and the (+) paddle shift gear are both
located on the opposite side just off to the right.
Now to adjust the steering wheel, just push down the lever, located right underneath
it.
You can either move it up, or down, as well as pull it towards or push it away from
you also.
When you're done adjusting it, just pull up the lever to lock it in place.
Conveniently located right behind the blinker & headlight controls are the buttons for
the km/mph mode, the ODO Trip Mileage switcher, and display mode.
On a side note, the trunk release button is located right under neath those three
buttons that I just now mentioned.
Now the transmission equipped on this FR-S is a 6-speed automatic transmission,
with the manual-shift ability feature just off to the side, with the electronic
e-brake being located right next to it on the left side.
So getting to the middle area of the FR-S, it has a unique storage area to
store small items of any kind that you wish to put inside there.
Alongside next to it on the right side are both the USB & AUX ports that conveniently
allows you to have the easy capability to let your music be played from capable
portable devices alike.
Now located in the middle area above the small storage area are the air conditioning
controls with the both digital clock and emergency hazard indicator being right
above it.
However, located right above it is the 300W Pioneer Stereo System.
Equipped with that are 8 speakers, with the first one being located on the bottom
portion of the driver side door.
In addition, the 2nd & 3rd speakers are located on the top-left portion of the
dashboard while the 4th & 5th speakers are located on the top-right portion of the
dashboard as well.
Also, the 6th speaker is located on the bottom portion of the front passenger
side door while the 7th & 8th speakers are both located in both the left and right
rear area's behind the driver and front passenger seat respectfully.
Now operating this stereo system is a piece of cake. Just gently push the on button,
and when it's in FM Mode, both the name of the artist & song title are displayed.
In addition, by pushing the scan button, you can easily scan in between radio
stations automatically, whether you're in the FM or AM radio modes.
Also, by pushing the List/Menu button, you can easily go through the list of
the different radio stations that are currently set as presets so you'll know
right off the bat on which preset button to push when you want to listen to the
certain radio station you choose.
Now located right behind the automatic transmission are both the traction controls
and the sport & snow driving mode functions.
However located behind both of those controls that were just now mentioned is a
12V power outlet, with the removable cup holders being placed right behind it.
Now proceeding on over to the top roof area of the interior, there are two sun visors
for both the driver & front passenger that feature their very own vanity mirror.
Right in between the sun visors, both the Bluetooth microphone & front interior lamp
are located next to each other.
Now you can either have the front interior lamp completely turned on like you're
seeing right now, or you can have it entirely turned off, if you wish.
Getting over the glove-box now, it has a decent amount of room to where you can
store information related to the vehicle, including the driver's manual like
you're seeing right now.
In addition to the airbag that you saw on the steering wheel eariler, there are
also a total of four side curtain airbags, in which two of them are located on both
the driver and front passenger side, while the other two are conviently located on
both the left and right rear sides.
Also, there are even two seat mounted airbags equipped with one being on the
driver's side, while the second one is located on the front passenger side.
Now moving on over to the driver's side door of the FR-S, it doesn't only contain
the controls for the side mirrors, door locks, and both power windows, but the
material quality is exquiste with soft touch materials on not just
the top and middle portion of the door, but the bottom portion is also the same way
as well.
On a side note, the material quality on the front passenger side door is exactly
the same, just like the driver side door.
Now as for the back seat goes for the Scion FR-S, besides having them completely
folded down for more storage capacity as I mentioned eariler, you can have them
put to use by letting passengers of a smaller height sit on them comfortably,
as the back seats do indeed have their own seat belts on both the left and right
sides.
In addition, there's also one map pocket that's conveniently located on the back of
the front passenger seat, for addtional convience.
So with everything that you just saw, including the optional equipment, the
MSRP price of this particular FR-S is $25,600. And that's the price with all
the safety features included, which is part of the Star Safety System. But if you
add the Delivery, Processing, and Handling Fee to the price that I just now
mentioned, the total MSRP price runs @ $26,405, which is definitely not a bad price
for a fun to drive sport's car that's able to offer a lot for a price that can't
be beaten.
So to reiterate the question that I asked in the beginning of the episode,
does the newly introduced Scion FR-S have what it takes to be very competitive
against the similar offerings that are out there?
The answer, it for sure does with no doubt about it.
Not just because of it's fun to drive sporty-based aggressive styling,
but also because of the generous amount of safety features that the vehicle offers
that no one can pass up, via the Star Safety System from Toyota.
In addition, the FR-S also provides a plentiful amount of both room and comfort for
the driver and passengers, without compromising both fuel efficiency and driving performance.
So with that being said, I hope you enjoyed this episode of Nexccelerator.
I'm Michael Land, & I'll see you next time.