My First Sports Car
Printed From: Tippmann Paintball
Category: News And Views
Forum Name: Thoughts and Opinions
Forum Description: Got something you need to say?
URL: http://www.tippmannsports.com/forum/wwf77a/forum_posts.asp?TID=191268
Printed Date: 21 November 2025 at 3:14pm
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Topic: My First Sports Car
Posted By: DeTrevni
Subject: My First Sports Car
Date Posted: 18 June 2013 at 8:11am
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On Saturday, I purchased a sports car with nothing but my good word I'd pay (and a sizeable down payment), and threw myself into considerable debt for the next 4 years. If you ask me, I'm livin' the dream! Social commentary aside, I walked out of the dealership with a brand-spanking-new Scion FR-S, with the optional "Whiteout" color. It's that pearlescent white that Toyota has. I love that color... Firstly, pics!    Yeah, already dirtying up the floor mats. Such is life:     And now for my thoughts on the car! First and foremost, this is my first manual transmission car. That was on my list of requirements for my next car; a list which this FR-S filled out perfectly. Basically, I wanted a manual, RWD, customizable sports car that I could fit in (6'3", 230 lbs). The Toyobaru 86 series offered several subjective benefits as well: aesthetics, "mojo," and driving character. There are some less-than-thrilling quirks about it, though. I may be new to motoring proper, but even I wish it had some more punch. Fortunately, there is already a sizeable aftermarket that can satiate that hunger before too long. On the flip side, the ~200 hp ~160 ft/lb boxer motor definitely feels ample for its 2,700 lb curb weight. Continuing on, several reviews I've read mentioned the cheap-feeling interior, and I'll echo those thoughts. I suppose Toyota had to cut costs somewhere to keep this guy affordable, and it shows up in chincy trim. Fortunately for me, I didn't buy this car for interior amenities, so as long as I can prevent cracks and rattles, I'll be happy. As for drivability, well, this guy delivers by the truckload. The steering is sharp, the suspension is firm but not painful, the shifting is quick and easy for a newbie like myself, and the little Prius tires break traction oh so wonderfully. It's just damn fun. A complaint I do have, however, is the clutch. I probably would never have noticed had I not read about it, given my lack of experience, but it's super smooth. There is almost no engagement feedback, and for a newbie, that may present some challenges getting the feel for it. I'm picking it up well enough, though. I'll update this post with complaints/praises as they arise! ------------- Evil Elvis: "Detrevni is definally like a hillbilly hippy from hell" 
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Replies:
Posted By: JohnnyCanuck
Date Posted: 18 June 2013 at 9:19am
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Nice, that is a nice colour too. ------------- Imagine there’s a picture of your favourite thing here. |
Posted By: RoboCop
Date Posted: 18 June 2013 at 9:58am
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Lucky. Have fun with it. I'm waiting to have a job and for the newer models. Maybe waiting for the hybrid supra if more info is put out. |
Posted By: procarbinefreak
Date Posted: 18 June 2013 at 11:05am
| Nice, just don't pull and Rebs. |
Posted By: tallen702
Date Posted: 18 June 2013 at 11:06am
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What made you go with the Scion configuration over the Subie? ------------- <Removed overly wide sig. Tsk, you know better.> |
Posted By: DeTrevni
Date Posted: 18 June 2013 at 11:12am
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Tallen, since build quality wasn't an issue, I decided to go for the simplest model. I didn't want all that unnecessary nonsense Subaru decided to put in theirs. I also don't like leather seats. ------------- Evil Elvis: "Detrevni is definally like a hillbilly hippy from hell"
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Posted By: pntbl freak
Date Posted: 18 June 2013 at 11:34am
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Congrats on the car purchase! Are you parked in a handicap stop?  -------------  |
Posted By: DeTrevni
Date Posted: 18 June 2013 at 11:41am
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Yup. That's where it was parked at the dealership. :p ------------- Evil Elvis: "Detrevni is definally like a hillbilly hippy from hell"
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Posted By: SSOK
Date Posted: 18 June 2013 at 10:24pm
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The car isn't very "you". Going from an old Buick, to a Impala, to a Caravan you wanted to drag race. It's a bit too normal. ------------- 
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Posted By: stratoaxe
Date Posted: 19 June 2013 at 12:13am
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Very nice dude! I got in a highway race with one of those the other night. Was fun. ------------- 
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Posted By: __sneaky__
Date Posted: 19 June 2013 at 2:00am
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I'll trade you my Mazda Tribute for it. :( ------------- "I AM a crossdresser." -Reb Cpl Forum Vice President RIP T&O Forum |
Posted By: Kayback
Date Posted: 19 June 2013 at 2:34am
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/like. KBK ------------- Pedicabo ego vos et irrumabo. H = 2 |
Posted By: DeTrevni
Date Posted: 19 June 2013 at 7:13am
HEY. The Impala came AFTER the Caravan! But I'm impressed you remembered all that... And thanks for the compliments, folks! Manuals are a lot of fun to drive, as it turns out. ------------- Evil Elvis: "Detrevni is definally like a hillbilly hippy from hell"
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SSOK wrote:Posted By: DeTrevni
Date Posted: 19 June 2013 at 9:07am
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Updated OP! I realize I forgot the motor pic. I'll add it this evening! DUBBLE POSPOST ------------- Evil Elvis: "Detrevni is definally like a hillbilly hippy from hell"
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Posted By: tallen702
Date Posted: 19 June 2013 at 9:39am
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Yeah, the major difference is the trim level, some exterior changes, and the suspension. The Scion is a bit more over-steer happy than the BRZ is. You have to want to put the Subie into a drift, the FR-S will do it a lot more easily. Either way, nice choice! I'm not a big RWD fan. I appreciate it, but wouldn't want one for my daily driver given the weather we get where I live. ------------- <Removed overly wide sig. Tsk, you know better.> |
Posted By: DeTrevni
Date Posted: 19 June 2013 at 10:04am
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In Houston, inclimate weather is "hot" and "rain." The last one is fairly few and far between. Out here, AWD is a just-to-say-I-have-it thing, so I went for the most fun I could find on 4 wheels that met my requirements. Plus, the few extra grand I saved against the BRZ was a nice bonus. ------------- Evil Elvis: "Detrevni is definally like a hillbilly hippy from hell"
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Posted By: Shub
Date Posted: 19 June 2013 at 6:12pm
| Nice! congrats! |
Posted By: __sneaky__
Date Posted: 19 June 2013 at 7:07pm
------------- "I AM a crossdresser." -Reb Cpl Forum Vice President RIP T&O Forum |
Posted By: Yomillio
Date Posted: 19 June 2013 at 7:50pm
This, x100000. Don't get me wrong, I live further north than WV; AWD comes in handy during a few months of the year. However, the amount of fun you can have in a RWD platform is SIGNIFICANTLY higher than the average AWD platform, especially compared to an inherently understeery AWD platform like my Impreza. ------------- 
http://www.tippmann.com/forum/wwf77a/forum_posts.asp?TID=172327 - Forum XBL Gamertag Collection |
Posted By: SSOK
Date Posted: 19 June 2013 at 10:08pm
FWD sucks. Plain and simple. I live farther north than WV and I'm still alive. Decent tires and a few brain cells will get you through 90% of what AWD will. Plus a true 4x4 with a selectable low range transfer case is a zillion times better than AWD. -------------
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Posted By: Rofl_Mao
Date Posted: 19 June 2013 at 10:35pm
| Definitely jealous. That's one sexy car you got there. |
Posted By: RoboCop
Date Posted: 20 June 2013 at 12:09am
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Now ptuning needs to just hurry and finally release their turbo kit, and then you can get it and have a beast of a car. Ptuning has been working on this car the day it was released to the first 86. It still has yet to be finished. Taking a long time.
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Posted By: stratoaxe
Date Posted: 20 June 2013 at 4:50am
I think there's already a supercharger for it, possibly Vortech or Procharger. Really though, for what that car's made of, your first investment (right away) should be wider, stickier tires and a dyno tune. I'll bet you'll see the performance boost you're looking for from those things alone. I'm in the process of getting the turbo done on my car right now. I've got the turbo kit, intercooler, boost a bump, Crane cams, x-pipe, and cat delete that should boost me to around 450 horsepower to the rear wheel (around 510'ish to the crank) The catch, however, is that this is essentially a straight line build. I'll need to get suspension parts from a Shelby to put the car's handling where it needs to be to handle the extra horses, and at that point I'll probably just buy another car to drive every day. RWD cars are fun as hell, but you can quickly offset the balance of horsepower to suspension and over power yourself. Honestly, at this point, I'm toying with adding just enough mods to my car to get it to outrunning 5.0's and SS Camaros and then putting the turbo up for when I can rebuild the bottom end and pull the horsepower numbers up significantly (I'd like to get 500 to the rear wheels.) Again though, that's straight line racing. -------------
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Posted By: DeTrevni
Date Posted: 20 June 2013 at 7:21am
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I figure I'll be happy with about 260 horses and 200 ft/lb torque. Given that this thing is a few pounds lighter than a Honda S2000, I won't need a massive gain to get a pretty killer power to weight ratio. ------------- Evil Elvis: "Detrevni is definally like a hillbilly hippy from hell"
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Posted By: stratoaxe
Date Posted: 20 June 2013 at 7:55am
Yeah, I'd imagine that you could have a ton of fun and still keep it manageable on a track. I haven't had a chance to drive one yet, but I hear they handle somewhat like a Miata, and I've pushed my buddy's MX-5 pretty hard through corners and it felt great. -------------
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Posted By: DeTrevni
Date Posted: 20 June 2013 at 9:29am
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I added dash/console and motor pics. ------------- Evil Elvis: "Detrevni is definally like a hillbilly hippy from hell"
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Posted By: Ceesman762
Date Posted: 20 June 2013 at 9:57am
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Where are the half naked women on car picts????
------------- Innocence proves nothing FUAC!!!!! |
Posted By: tallen702
Date Posted: 21 June 2013 at 1:13pm
Screw that, I want the half-naked DeTrevni on car pics!   ------------- <Removed overly wide sig. Tsk, you know better.> |
Posted By: DeTrevni
Date Posted: 21 June 2013 at 2:18pm
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No. No you don't. Not ever. ------------- Evil Elvis: "Detrevni is definally like a hillbilly hippy from hell"
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Posted By: scotchyscotch
Date Posted: 21 June 2013 at 5:17pm
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With the new pics I am prettyimpressed mate. Nice brief. I'll likely never drive an auto again after slamming the brakes on a dual carriageway while attempting to change gear. I maintain I nearly died.
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Posted By: Hairball!!!
Date Posted: 22 June 2013 at 2:46am
| When's the LS swap coming? |
Posted By: DeTrevni
Date Posted: 22 June 2013 at 12:16pm
Thanks! This is my first manual car, but motorcycles are manual, and I've been riding for about 3 or 4 years now. It took some getting used to clutching in with my foot instead of hand, but I think my experiencing in motorcycles helped me pick it up fairly quickly. It took about 3 days for me to be pretty firmly comfortable with it, at least enough so to be willing to take the car wherever and carry passengers without giving them concussions from improper shifts. :p So it's mostly manual transmissions over there? I didn't know that. It seems like we Murricans just love our lazy, self-propelled, four-wheel boats. I wanted a car that would let me actually feel the driving experience, so I was looking for a light, rear wheel drive coupe with a manual transmission, i.e. a sports car. :) I still have my Buick for my pavement-boating needs. ------------- Evil Elvis: "Detrevni is definally like a hillbilly hippy from hell"
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Posted By: Mack
Date Posted: 22 June 2013 at 2:02pm
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Posted By: usafpilot07
Date Posted: 22 June 2013 at 2:09pm
Who says you can't teach an old dog new tricks? ------------- Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo |