Scion News: Not Going To Happen: Scion FR-S Convertible and Turbo

[William Maley]

For the past couple of years, we have reporting on countless rumorpile stories concerning the Scion FR-S. Most of these stories have dealt with a convertible and turbo power, and whether or not they are off or back on the table. Well it might be that two things may never come.

Wards Auto spoke with Doug Murtha, senior vice president at Scion. Murtha explained that Toyota couldn't make a business case for either proposal.

“So on the convertible we went down swinging,” said Murtha. “I think we were pretty aggressive on our (submitted plan), but we looked at what we would have conceivably lost on the product and said, ‘We’re not going to even push it further.’ Nobody was more disappointed than we were.”

This isn't the news the FR-S wanted to hear. At the moment, the model has been experiencing sales drop for most of the year. This is due to the phenomenon of sports car sales falling off halfway through the lifecycle of the vehicle, something Murtha admits.

“You get 24 months out of those products and they tend to have a steep fall-off (and) we’re seeing a little bit of that. I don’t think that’s necessarily a surprise. I think the challenge is back to us to do some interesting things that keep the vehicle fresh.”

For now, Scion is hoping the recently launched FR-S Release Series 1.0 will be able to bring back some interest in the sports coupe.

Source: Wards Auto

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[Drew Dowdell]

The convertible I can understand because that is a fairly substantial redesign that could potentially compromise the lightweight and balanced character of the car.  The turbo I'm less sympathetic to their reasoning on... it's not like they don't have a turbo flat-4 at their disposal.  I don't think the FR-S must have a turbo, I enjoyed driving the current one, but I do think that a bit more power would be welcome. 

[Cory Wolfe]

Power would definitely be a welcome addition. Driving the BRZ for the first time was definitely eye-opening. Before driving it, I was looking forward to it as it was on my list of eventual replacements for the Avalon at the time. Perhaps I've become too accustomed to the V6 and Turbo powertrains of my last two cars, but that BRZ sure was gutless below 4k rpms. While I could definitely live with the power (My 92 hp CRX wasn't particularly fast and I loved it), it would be hard to justify at its price point. Base Camaro/Mustang or a WRX/GTI/Focus ST are all about the same price and could be just as much fun. Even some midsize sedans with their optional engines are about the same price, though clearly lacking in the fun factor (save for the Mazda6, but its stuck in the same boat as the BRZ).

[G. David Felt]

DEAD CAR DRIVING. This car will be gone I suspect in the near future. To limited in appeal and to narrow of a market. Bulk of people just do not car for a limited use 2 door sit on the ground auto anymore.

[Drew Dowdell]

Diagree.  I think Toyota is going to take this platform and expand it into more sports cars for Toyota and Lexus as well.  Which means that its base form is going to remain.

[Z-06]

And the new BMW and Toyota platform is going to use the bones of this one too.

 

The platform has potential, too bad Toyota is playing defensive.

[A Horse With No Name]

Power would definitely be a welcome addition. Driving the BRZ for the first time was definitely eye-opening. Before driving it, I was looking forward to it as it was on my list of eventual replacements for the Avalon at the time. Perhaps I've become too accustomed to the V6 and Turbo powertrains of my last two cars, but that BRZ sure was gutless below 4k rpms. While I could definitely live with the power (My 92 hp CRX wasn't particularly fast and I loved it), it would be hard to justify at its price point. Base Camaro/Mustang or a WRX/GTI/Focus ST are all about the same price and could be just as much fun. Even some midsize sedans with their optional engines are about the same price, though clearly lacking in the fun factor (save for the Mazda6, but its stuck in the same boat as the BRZ).

 

 

Pretty much this.  At 25K, it is hard to pick the FRS over the WRX, GTI, Mustang, or even maybe the Camaro.  as a real world car, it is lacking compared tot eh rest.

[William Maley]

 

Power would definitely be a welcome addition. Driving the BRZ for the first time was definitely eye-opening. Before driving it, I was looking forward to it as it was on my list of eventual replacements for the Avalon at the time. Perhaps I've become too accustomed to the V6 and Turbo powertrains of my last two cars, but that BRZ sure was gutless below 4k rpms. While I could definitely live with the power (My 92 hp CRX wasn't particularly fast and I loved it), it would be hard to justify at its price point. Base Camaro/Mustang or a WRX/GTI/Focus ST are all about the same price and could be just as much fun. Even some midsize sedans with their optional engines are about the same price, though clearly lacking in the fun factor (save for the Mazda6, but its stuck in the same boat as the BRZ).

 

 

Pretty much this.  At 25K, it is hard to pick the FRS over the WRX, GTI, Mustang, or even maybe the Camaro.  as a real world car, it is lacking compared tot eh rest.

 

 

Heck I would throw in the Miata. Despite being somewhat capable as the FR-S, I found myself not crying uncle whenever I climbed out of the Miata.