Scion FR-S Price Released; Subaru BRZ Fuel Economy Reported
And a cool video, to boot.
Today saw several pieces of news regarding the Scion FR-S / Subaru BRZ sports car. A leaked memo to dealers pushed Scion to announce official pricing of the FR-S from $24,930, and fueleconomy.gov reported that the Subaru BRZ will return 34 mpg. Also, an awesome video of Ken Gushi throwing the Scion FR-S sideways around the Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca in Salinas, Calif., hit the Internet courtesy of scionracingtv at YouTube.Earlier in the day, FT86club.com published an email purporting to be one sent to dealers announcing a starting price of $24,200. Later, Scion.com went official with the the $24,930 price (seen below), which includes a $730 destination charge (note that some areas may charge a bit more), keeping the eagerly awaited sports car just under the $25,000 mark. There's also an official mini configurator that allows for a bit of customization, though option pricing isn't included.
Subaru's version, the BRZ, returns a maximum fuel efficiency of 34 mpg highway when equipped with the 6-speed automatic transmission, according to fueleconomy.gov. Combined, the 6-speed automatic delivers 28 mpg, with a 22 mpg rating in the city, while the 6-speed manual delivers 22 mpg city/30 mpg highway for a combined rating of 25 mpg. According to the site, manual drivers can expect to shell out around $2,450 per year in fuel costs, while those with automatics will spend a couple hundred less, at $2,200. And, with no explanation necessary: the FR-S laying down rubber and kicking up smoke around Laguna Seca.
I don't think you will see that much dealer markup. And even if you do, it won't last long. Anyone who is patient enough to wait 6 or 12 months will easily get one for sticker or lower. Keep in mind that it may not be dealer markup so much as it might be people offering more then sticker to get ahead in line (see Dodge Challenger). There is nothing Scion can do about that.
However, the ONLY problem I have with the car is the sticker price. $25k is a lot of money for a car that should be $20k. With that said, anyone who doesn't mind over paying will probably be very happy.
I think the fuel economy is about on par for a car of this caliber. Thank God it's a Toyota though. If a domestic car had numbers like that, people would be tearing it a new one.
Yes, that will be $24,930 sticker PLUS $5,000 added dealer markup due to.....well, because they can and will!
Any dealer that tries that would get in hot water with the Scion corporate office. Scion implements the Saturn no-haggle pricing model, and my understanding is that Scion is pretty harsh against any dealers that try to mark up models.
However, you can certainly expect a hard sell on any accessories instead of the classic mark up approach.
Sharp looking car though, and once someone comes out with a turbo or SC kit for it, probably lot of fun too.
Oh, I think it's probably loads of fun without a turbocharger or supercharger. Actually, the lack of forced induction is one of the "pros" in my shopping list. As for fun, I have decided that anything with a 0-60 of around 6s and a 1/4 mile of around mid to high 14's is perfectly fine. I figure anything faster than that is overkill for a street car.
As for gearing, given it's 8,000 RPM red line, the final drive is probably around 4.111:1 to 4.333:1. Maybe even higher, the 9,000 RPM RX-8 had a final drive of 4.777:1 for 2009-2011. My '86 RX-7 (7,800 RPM I think) has a 4.111:1 final drive.
I remember when shopping for my Cobalt a while back the Scion TC had a final drive of 4 and change:1 (can't remember the exact figure) for the manual version and I think 2.7:1 for the automatic. I would imagine the Scion FR-S is following the same idea.
Thats pretty good fuel economy for a little sports car! Can't wait to test drive one when they come out
Considering a 6 speed manual Vette with over twice the hp (and probably 3 times the motor) can come within spitting distance of 30mpg on the highway, it doesn't seem very impressive to me. Even with an auto, my 5.7L Firebird will hit 27 on the highway.
Interesting how the auto gets such better mpg. Probably gearing...I'm sure than manual is geared pretty low and probably screams on the highway. The auto probably has a better overdrive gear, which would account for the better highway mpg.
Sharp looking car though, and once someone comes out with a turbo or SC kit for it, probably lot of fun too.
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