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" &amp;quot;High achievement always takes place in the framework of high expectations,&amp;quot; so said the noted inventor Charles Kettering. If that&amp;#039;s true, then future compact sports car is going to be one impressive machine. The buildup the company has created for the car, which began more than two years ago, transcends that of the release of a Hollywood blockbuster or even a royal wedding.   We first saw the compact front-mid-engine sports car at the 2009 Tokyo Motor Show as the FT-86 Concept, and no less than three other variations have appeared since, the latest one called the Scion FR-S. Spy photos reveal that the final production model, which will make its appearance at this year&amp;#039;s Tokyo Motor Show in October, will look very similar to the Scion FR-S show car. It&amp;#039;ll be approximately the same size as the last-generation Celica.   While we&amp;#039;re excited by the release of the production FR-S, scheduled to reach dealerships in the summer of 2012, we wonder if the car can meet the high expectations cast upon it by Toyota and the media, or end up being the automotive equivalent of Waterworld.            The concept of the FR-S was borne from the passion of Toyota CEO Akio Toyoda, a car enthusiast of the first order. He stressed when he took the top job in 2009 that &amp;quot;excitement&amp;quot; and &amp;quot;passion&amp;quot; were missing from the company&amp;#039;s products and needed to be restored quickly. One item on his short-term to-do list was to bring back an affordable sports car, one that embraced the spirit of a car called the AE86.   Among import-car enthusiasts, the AE86, produced from 1983 to 1987, is legend. While there have been other sporty cars in Toyota&amp;#039;s history, the AE86, dubbed the Hachi-roku (the numbers &amp;quot;8-6&amp;quot; in Japanese), stood out because of its inexpensive price and rear-wheel-drive layout. In today&amp;#039;s world of high-performance sports machines, the car&amp;#039;s specifications were nothing to write home about. The Japan-market AE86 (Levin and Trueno) came powered by a 1587-cc inline-4 that produced 130 bhp, which translated to a 0\u201360-mph time in the high 9s. That said, the lightweight car possessed features that were only seen on more expensive cars in its day, such as dual overhead cams, an optional limited-slip differential and vented disc brakes. As a result, it became a favorite for tuners and racers, developing a cult following among import enthusiasts who didn&amp;#039;t like that Toyota had switched to front-wheel drive for its replacement.   When it came time to plan for a new AE86 for 2012, Toyota pulled an ace from its sleeve. It turned to Subaru to develop the engine and chassis for its car. This collaboration is the result of Toyota&amp;#039;s investment in Fuji Heavy Industries, the parent company of Subaru. So why did the world&amp;#039;s largest automaker turn to Subaru? We asked the folks at Toyota, but they were not forthcoming with a clear-cut answer.   &amp;quot;The car is still being developed at the moment so we can&amp;#039;t comment on exactly how much they did and how much we did. The team at Subaru has a lot of experience in motorsports through the participation in World Rally Championship. They have developed innovative and original cars with a pretty unique engine, which is one of their core technologies,&amp;quot; a spokesperson for the company stated.            Translation: Toyota felt could make a better high-performance sports car in this price segment.   The heart of the FR-S will be Toyota&amp;#039;s version of Subaru&amp;#039;s FB20, a water-cooled flat-4. Although Toyota hasn&amp;#039;t released technical specifications on the FR-S yet, we were able to dig up quite a bit of information about the car. Displacement will be 1995 cc, and it will feature Toyota&amp;#039;s D4-S direct- and port-injection technology. The 16-\u00ADvalve powerplant will produce about 200 bhp at 7200 rpm and 150 lb.-ft. of torque at 4600. It will come mated to a 6-speed manual or a conventional torque-converter 6-speed automatic. The obvious choice for enthusiasts will be the manual gearbox. According to Toyota, it will feature short throws, which will help the car hit 60 mph in roughly 7.5 seconds, making it as quick as the Hyundai Genesis Coupe; however, go the automatic-transmission route, and it&amp;#039;ll take you nearly 9 sec. to get to 60 mph. We expect the car to tip the scales around the 3000-lb. mark.   The future Toyota sports car promises first-rate handling. With the anticipation that many FR-S owners will increase engine performance, the car&amp;#039;s suspension and body structure are being over-engineered to handle the possibility of added power. We predict that the suspension will be similar to that of the Subaru Impreza, consisting of MacPherson struts up front and upper and lower A-arms at rear. Spy videos of testing show the production FR-S to look sport-tuned, but not overly stiff. Based on what we saw on the skeleton model Subaru showed at the Geneva show in March, the FR-S will have a limited-slip differential, the same one found on the Impreza.   While the car&amp;#039;s official name hasn&amp;#039;t been released, we found out at the New York Auto Show that the FR-S will be marketed as a in the U.S. So why does it wear the knife-blade &amp;quot;S&amp;quot; here instead of the three-oval &amp;quot;T?&amp;quot;            The vice president of Scion, Jack Hollis, would only comment by repeating his statement on a press release at the New York Auto Show: &amp;quot;The FR-S is a perfect fit for Scion. Scion owners are the youngest in the industry, and I would argue with anyone that they are the most passionate about their cars.&amp;quot;   Translation: At the time of the decision, Scion was losing momentum. With sales down consistently since 2006, the division needed a stronger halo car than the current tC, a front-wheel-drive sports coupe. Having the FR-S in its lineup would invite slightly more mature buyers (i.e., those with better credit to get car loans easier) and more enthusiast-oriented customers to the brand.   That said, for 2011, Scion sales are up from last year, thanks to the all-new 2012 tC that&amp;#039;s leading the charge.   It&amp;#039;s evident that the FR-S has been designed with the aftermarket in mind. We predict there will be plenty of body and turbo kits available as the car establishes itself in the marketplace, including from Toyota itself via TRD (Toyota Racing Development) and Gazoo Racing (Toyota&amp;#039;s aftermarket arm in Japan). And don&amp;#039;t rule out the possibility of a super high-performance &amp;quot;F&amp;quot; version somewhere down the line. That said, the stock version of the car will be tame enough to appeal to a wide range of customers, from beachgoers to weekend drifters. The FR-S&amp;#039;s price tag is also expected to generate broad appeal; we&amp;#039;re hearing it&amp;#039;ll run in the $20,000 to $25,000 range.            On paper, the FR-S looks like a sure winner\u2014stylish, quick, rear-wheel drive, tunable and affordable. But what will ultimately determine the fate of the FR-S will be something that can&amp;#039;t be measured or seen on paper, namely personality, charm and a unique character\u2014the same traits that defined the AE86. Toyota&amp;#039;s sporty cars have lacked these qualities in recent years, but with Subaru&amp;#039;s help, perhaps it can recapture the magic that spawned cars like the AE86, the Sports 800 (nicknamed Yota-hachi) and 2000GT; if so, the FR-S will definitely meet the expectations of car enthusiasts everywhere. "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.roadandtrack.com/new-cars/future-cars/news/a17399/scion-fr-s-concept/>