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| In the showroom, Toyota GT86 photographed in Paris by AC |
How does the New Scion FR-S/Toyota GT86 perform on the track, unfiltered, raw data?
Fantastic initiative by Traqmate and the owner of this brand new Scion FR-S who bravely handed it over to Mike Skeen for a lap of Virginia International Raceway three days after taking delivery from the dealer.
Mike's a hot shoe so this is a good measure of the full potential of the car in stock form and Thanks to Traqmate you can have invaluable comparison data as reference and comparison to your current car or any future performance upgrades to an FR-S.
You can find the raw Traqmate data HERE along with the free comparison software .
The Scion FR-S lap video is after the jump.
On track: Scion FR-S at Virginia International Raceway.
This is a terrible video perspective (bumper mount). I am spoiled by the usual Skeen vids which show him DRIVING the car! This shows no piece of the car, interior or exterior, and gives no accurate sensations of the car's body movement, etc. Also some quotes from Skeen about what the car's like at 10/10ths, or some kind of data analysis by TraqMate, would have been greatly appreciated.
ReplyDeleteBoo!
-Freep
Traqmate didn't setup this particular camera but we did talk with Mike briefly after the run and followed the car on track in another session.
ReplyDeleteMike said the car felt really good and would respond very well to a set of tires and brakes. He thought the suspension was setup well for the stock tire setup and seemed to enjoy driving the car. He didn't mention anything it 'needed'.
Ed Crowder who also drove the car a few times throughout the day said the car felt much more nimble than his track prepped Hyundai Genesis and it was an easy car to get to the limit and stay there. However he did mention that the car was much more twitchy at the limit and that it was more difficult past the point of grip than his more progressive setup. Owner and dynos have mentioned the torque 'hole' in the powerband, essentially there is an initial band of torque in the lower revs and a loss of torque in the mid range with more torque returning on top end. Most likely for emissions and mileage. Dyno's vary with 155 to 170hp to the wheels.
Under the hood the car is extremely well thought out from a mechanical perspective and looks extremely easy to work on. Everything is accessible and engine is far more forward that I would have expected. There is plenty of room for a turbo charger next to the bell housing and the exhaust system passes right through that area. Intake is well thought out and it appears to be piping sound into the interior of the car. It is a very simple car and would make a great spec series race car or a track toy. Personally I would do a set of unequal length headers, intake, exhaust, flywheel and a tune. Along with suspension and brake upgrades.
Following the car in a track prepped miata with RA-1's was revealing, the car rotates constantly and appears to have very little body roll and understeer. In fact it looks very oversteer prone from behind, it dances well through transitions and looks very 'fun'. It pulled the miata on the straights as it should but not in a dramatic way, 10mph more on the straights. FRS looked stable under braking and stopped well considering the stock pads. Definitely a momentum car in everyway.
FRS with Mike driving pulls 1g in many corners give or take. With peak speed on the back straight being 118mph.
Data comparison can be found here.
http://share.traqmate.com/tracks/united-states/virginia/virginia-international-raceway-vir-full/176004#data
Andre' @ Traqmate
Thanks Andre!
ReplyDeleteI learned nothing about the handling of this car from the video or data......
ReplyDeleteWell, do you have data from your car at VIR? A comparison helps. I will create a directory for all the Axis sourced data files. I have at least three different cars all decently driven. Now if I can only get decent Internet on this trip! :)
DeleteReviews so far seem to agree that BRZ is more neutral, FR-S looser. Seems consistent with description of suspension changes between the two (BRZ softer rear springs). Similar to S2000 running suspension changes, which were intended to curb...shall we say...unintended oversteer. (I can attest to AP2 in stock form being wonderfully neutral on track).
ReplyDeleteThe question is. What can the car lap with RS3?
ReplyDelete