Subota - or is that Toybaru?

You'd think if Toyota and its new semi-captive partner Subaru were to get together to build a sports car, they might take a nice reliable Toyota engine (like Lotus does) and put it into a sophisticated Subaru chassis to make an affordable all-weather four-wheel drive sports car.

Nope - they pretty much did just the opposite, putting a Subaru flat-four engine enhanced by Toyota's direct fuel injection system into a purpose-built rear-wheel drive chassis.

Variants of the car are being sold in Canada as a Subaru BRZ or a Scion FR-S; Toyota has a version for USA and various RoW (Rest of World) markets called GT86.

I had my first chance to sit in a FR-S, let alone drive one, this past Saturday at a slalom event organized by the 'Push It To The Limit' solo racing series.

They invited Scion, Toyota's youth-oriented brand, to bring some cars and toss some journos into them.

For those who don't know how a slalom works, a bunch of orange plastic pylons turn a parking lot (in this case, Bramalea's GO Train Station South Lot) into a mini-road course, the cars negotiate the circuit one at a time.

Hence, 'solo'!

Timing is by electronic beam, so there are no arguments.

Precision is critical. Hitting pylons costs you a second per cone, and the competition is typically so tight this will be enough to drop you out of contention.

(In Driver Training programs, we call pylons “lawyers' children”, to focus students' attention on the importance of NOT hitting them.)

Like most of my motorsport endeavours, I have one year of slalom experience forty times; it seems I get about as fast as I am going to get after a few laps, and it never gets any better, so no need to flog the thing to death.

Now, three laps of a pylon course, taking in the neighbourhood of 45 seconds each, is hardly enough to take the measure of a car.

But I can tell you that the FR-S feels decently quick, it turns in well, the gearbox is sweet, clutch engagement is very good, the seats are comfy yet supportive, the HVAC controls are maybe a shade too economical looking, and the traction control system seems perhaps just a shade too effective for this sort of thing, cutting power just when you think you might need it most.

That said, one of the best laps of the day in a FR-S - 42.0 flat - was apparently done (not by me...) with the traction control system active, suggesting something I have long suspected, that there may be a different driving technique needed for a car using these chassis control systems.

I hope to get a longer-than-two-minute test drive in an FR-S or BRZ soon.

Another interesting aspect of solo racing - several of the cars here had their licence plates blanked out with tape. (I actually had to download a Free Trial version of Photoshop to blur this plate further; I could make out the number underneath the original green tape. I'm sure the owner of this car would have been thrilled if he had tried to mask his plate, only for me to turn him into an Internet star...)

I understand this is due to paranoia about insurance companies finding out that these drivers might actually be having fun in their cars, might be learning how to become better drivers by improving their car control, and might have made their cars safer by installing roll bars.

Well-based paranoia too, because - well, having fun, better drivers, safer cars: insurance companies couldn't have any of that, now could they?

I personally know one chap with a perfect driving record who had his insurance cancelled just because he had a roll cage in his car.

Must be a hooligan - no other possible explanation...

 

Comments

[Christopher Umali]

Running a 42.0 shows how competitive the frs is. That time was posted by someone who stepped into the car for the first time, only got one chance, and yes with traction control on (the scion rep had to ride along with the non-media type, to make sure all the nannies are on). The fastest times in the 39's are cars with dialed in suspension and r-comp tires. The all season meat on the frs test cars did nothing for grip. A driver comfortable in the car with better tires could compete with the best of them. Not to mention modifications to set up a car for auto-x.
Speaking of auto-x, it is the perfect venue for anyone who really wants to learn to drive regardless of the car. I competed in a vw jetta tdi. Learn how the car handles at its limits. The "racing" gets out of your system to the point where the excitement I get on public roads comes from the 3.9L/100km I get from a highway run. I attribute my skill as a driver and my safety on the street to the Push it to the Limit Solo series.
Chris (the driver of the 42.0 in the frs)

[Symonsez]

Legalized robbers = Insurance Companies, Banks, Gas Stations/Companies, Traffic Police (with their quotas, Lawyers and of course all levels of Government...

The establishment is not really interested in safety, all they want is the esy buck and extra taxes.. if they were truely interested in safety we would have better roads, yearly safety test for vehicles 3 years old and older ( less wheels flying off), harder driving tests.. and if you fail you need to wait at least 6 months before getting another chance...and my biggest beef, speed limits .. we have the infrastructure.. why not copy the UK and Euro countries and have variable speed limits based on condtions and traffic loading .. why cant i do 140 when the 401 is empty???? funny how they say speed kills .. tell that to the Taxi drivers in Munich Germany .. they take you from the airport to downtown on the autobahn at at least 180km/h if conditions permit ...felt totally safe ..ahhhhh

[Truck Lowering Suspension Parts]

Great car. Such sweet performance.