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Originally Posted by Jordo!
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Though i sense some bias from the author... I can agree that the FR-S does not appeal to me in price. If this car started at $19,990 like it was supposed to while in its thought stage? It would be a drivers dream. If they met the increased expectation of $22,000 while the car was a prototype. This car would have been a good value for the money and excellent bang for buck factor.
Sadly, @ $25k, you're buying a RWD novelty, that pulls off seriously good handling with no thrill. I'm sorry, you can justify true sports cars are handlers and don't need to be fast all day. But, if a sports car can't minimally hit 6.0/14.5 on a NA out the gate??? Why waste your time??? If the FR-S was a turbo that did 6.7/15.1, i'd say fvck it and get one, Only because modding the turbos would make it that much more fun. 7/15.6 is pathetic and making that kind of power on a non-turbo SPORTS car makes the car useless. I'd rather slam and mod a juke awd. Which happens to be 2890lbs on an awd.
The FR-S has some kind of value as a sporty fun car as an auto simply because, the huge jump in mileage. 25/34 auto vs 22/30manual. i would buy the auto to go back and forth to work to have fun in the corners and twisties.
With 22/30 fuel econ, there are better or more powerful cars to drive and have fun that match econ.
FWD- mazda3, volkswagen gti, altima coupe 3.5sr, can all be bought and provide more power for the mileage.
RWD- mustang v6, camaro v6 and gencoupe 2.0TURBO provide either over or pretty close to 300hp while maintaining rwd
Then there's the mazdaspeed 3. even though its fwd and guzzles more gas than all these cars combined. it provides an incredible driving experience for the money... And upcoming cars like the focus st are crowding the $25k with interesting FAST performance...
There's no real replacement for rwd in the overall performance spectrum. but a proper low-slung fwd can be just as fun in the right drivers hands.
THE FR-S IS OVERPRICED... And it will feel the grip on the competition by 2014 if it doesn't, lower pricing by @ least $1500 (something the mustang has done in a competition crunch) and introduce a turbo model.
The interior may look cheap, but thats the least of it's problems. Also, after all the enthusiasts buy them up and normal buyers become the main market... They will have to consider at least squeezing out 24/33mpg's out that manual. 300hp cars can do the same or better than the manual fr-s? Not a good selling point OUTSIDE of the enthusiast world where econ is secondary or third.