Built By Passion, Not By Commitee 2013 Scion FR-S

Written by: Kirby Quinto
Photos by: Kirby Quinto & 742 Media


Scion has been raving about the new 2013 Scion FR-S for a few years now.  Fan base on this car grew by the thousands.  With the First 86’s success, these FR-S fanatics will be the first to own the car and seen on the streets.  At last week’s media press release, I was one of the few privileged to drive the new 2013 Scion FR-S.  This event took place in Las Vegas, NV.  

Right off the bat, I knew this car will take Scion into the new dimension as VP Jack Hollis stated in our press briefing.  The FR-S has that attitude that “I will own the road.”  In Jack Hollis’ breakdown of the FRS being “Freakin Really Sweet”.  My ride partner and good friend Jeff Maldonado of 742 Media jumped into a black FR-S in automatic from the hotel and took off.  Took off we did.  


To get a good road experience with the FR-S we took a slight detour and hit Red Rock Canyon National Park for some picture time.

A few hours later we get to our destination, Spring Mountain Motorsports Park in Pharump.  This was where we test TEST the FRS capabilities.  When we arrived in the parking lot, my jaw dropped when I saw Jack Hollis' personal FR-S on display.

Scion had 3 test courses for us to challenge the FR-S.  They were: drifting, autocross, and road course.  When I heard the agenda, Jeff and I had a smile from ear to ear.  This was a dream come true!  With that said, it shows how much confidence Scion has in the FR-S.  Our first test was the autocross.  The FR-S handles exceptionally well!  With driving the automatic in “sport mode”, the FR-S gripped the sharp turns and had a remarkable acceleration.  

Our next test was the drift experience on the skid pad and that was lead by Mr Scion Drift master Ken Gushi.  I didn’t want to embarrass our host so I refrained from attempting to drift.  LOL!  So I just did a ride along with Ken.  This guy was holding a conversation with me and drifting like it was nothing.  Skills!  

Now in my personal opinion the best part of the day was the road course.  The track layout was about 1.9 miles.  At this course we were able to drive either the automatic or manual transmissions.  Majority of my drive was based on the automatic transmission and only once on a manual.  The FR-S accelerates well after turns, braking was excellent, FR-S did not break loose unless well of course with traction control off, and very well balanced.  

My overall rating for the 2013 Scion FR-S is 2 thumbs up and add 2 big toes to it.  With the starting price just shy of $25k, this is the best bang for the buck overall.  The 2013 FR-S lives up to its hype and I am now a true believer of this car.  With all the fans that were a part of the First 86 and pre order buyers, you will not be disappointed.  Look out for the 2013 Scion FR-S late June.  Just be aware that there is a long list so I would suggest to get with your nearest Scion dealer and get with the program.  


Thank you Scion for allowing Scionlife.com and Alpha SQUAD to be a part of this event.  The FR-S is amazing!

Personal Notes:

Engine:
- FA 2.0 4 cylinder boxer engine naturally aspirated
-200 HP @ 7000 & 151 ft lbs torque
-Redline at 7400 rpm

(Planned Accessories)
- Rear spoiler, fog lights, TRD (intake, lowering springs, air filter, front strut bar, sway bar, brake kit, and pads)
-Scion Optimize Accessories: OEM Audio + & 5 Axis Kit


For other features and full specs, please visit http://www.scion.com/

Links:
Scion:  http://www.scion.com/
Scionlife:  http://www.scionlife.com/
742 Marketing/Media: http://www.facebook.com/#!/742marketing
Scion Racing: http://www.scionracing.com/

A Night With Scion Racing @ Far East Cafe 3/29/12

Written by: Kirby Quinto
Photos: Javier Taizan (Contributor)  

Another exciting season of Formula Drift is upon us and I’m pretty excited to see what this season brings.  One team that will be delivering the goods this year is Scion Racing.  One of the most anticipated vehicle models to hit the streets is going to be unleashed at Stop 1 of the Formula Drift series in Long Beach, CA on April 6-7.  The new Scion FRS will be driven by none other than Ken Gushi.  

Fredric Aasbo will be returning this year with the Need For Speed 2nd Gen tC and new Scion Racing driver Tony Angelo will be taking over the old Ken Gushi tC with a whole new look and performance additions.

The FRS driven by Ken Gushi was built by the world famous company Greddy.  The folks at Greddy sure put in the work on this car.  From the motor work, suspension set up, body adjustments, and perfect styling.  This car looks amazing!  Now I didn’t get into many details about modifications other than the car being very nice.  

The event was a lot of fun.  Media outlets from all over was present.  Seems like anytime Scion mentions showing the FRS, people swarm from everywhere.  Which is great and the public is anticipating to get their hands on the FRS.  What I can’t wait for is to see how the privateer builder puts one together.  The FRS in my personal opinion is the car you can definitely personalize into your own monster race car.  

It was good seeing some old friends and acquaintances at last night’s event.  Thank you Scion Racing for hosting another fun and memorable event.  Till the next one.  Cheers!

Links: 

Scion: http://www.scion.com/
Scion Racing:  http://www.scionracing.com/
Nos Energy: http://www.drinknos.com/
Formula Drift: http://www.formulad.com/
AE Performance: http://www.aeperformance.com/
Greddy: http://www.greddy.com/
Dayuum: http://www.dayuum.com/
742 Marketing: www.facebook.com/#!/742marketing

Scion iQ "Go" Presented by Scion @ K1 Speed

Hey everyone.  Sorry we haven't logged into the blog in awhile, but things have been really busy with everything in life.  Our photographer Leo has been pretty busy as well launching his photography buisness, but now we got time to get back into the swing of things. 

On March 17, we were invited along with other Scion folks for "Go".  This event was a promotion event held by Scion to promote the new Scion iQ.  The setting for the ride and drive experience was being held at K1 Speed in Irvine, CA.  K1 Speed is also known as a go cart facility.  So we were already wondering, how the hell is this going to happen.  So I told Leo, LET'S DO THIS! 

The morning of the event, rain was already in the forecast.  It sure did rain.  We saw at least 7 accidents on the way to K1.  That didn't stop us and our friends from making it.  We soon arrived at K1 right when the event started.  As soon as we rolled up, there was already a small group ready for the ride and drive.  Right in the front, Scion had a fully equipped 5 Axis iQ.  This thing was badass!

Covered under the rain of course is the new Scion everyone is waiting for, the FRS:

That right there we was already all about the event and we haven't even got inside yet.  We soon entered K1 and said hello to our good friend Jackie Ling of Urban Racer.  As soon as we finished registering, we went straight to what we wanted to expierience.  The go cart ride and drive.  We had to wait in a bit of a line because everyone wanted to see this go down too.

As mentioned before I said the ride and drive portion was on the go cart track right?  It sure was!  This iQ had more than enough room inside the track.  During our ride along, it was me, Leo, and his brother Geo.  First off, there was 4 of us including the driver.  The iQ was going 35 mph on the track.  I was screaming like a little girl.  The 2 laps he took us on was amazing and shook the driver's hand for not killing us! 

As soon as we were done with the ride along, we were told that the food had arrived and said that they are outside serving.  As the rain stopped for a brief momment we saw the famous Kogi truck.  One word best described it.  Yummy!

After killing the 3 tacos, we wanted to physically drive the Scion iQ.  Scion had set up a small track directly in front of K1.  We waited for a very brief momment to get our hands on 1 of 2 iQ's on the lot.

As short as the track was, it was a lot of fun to drive.  Never got it going going, but got the whole idea of what the car can do.  It was so much fun, a few of us rode it a few more times.  The iQ overall is a great car and worth checking out at your nearest Toyota/Scion dealership and judge it for yourself.  I will say this: its not like a Smartcar for all those wondering.  This car feels more stable, feels like a Corolla or small sedan, and of course Toyota.  Nuff said. 

Leo and I would like to thank Scion and Urban Racer for the invitation to K1.  It was a fun experience and glad the event went well regardless of rain.  For those that didn't make this event, you missed out.  For more information regarding the Scion iQ or Scion FRS, please view http://www.scion.com/

We have a lot of reviews already in the works, so stay tuned!

http://www.scion.com/
Add Scion to your Facebook for latest news/events: http://www.facebook.com/#!/SoCalScion
http://www.urbanracer.com/
http://kogibbq.com/


Written by: Kirby Quinto
Photos by: Leo Bor (WLB Photography)