The Scion brand is a wholly-owned division of Toyota Motor Corp. sold in the North American market only primarily marked to "Generation Y". The FR-S is a front engine, rear wheel drive, sport type car; thus the name FR-S.

Why is this car so special in the Toyota family of vehicles?

What makes it so different?

The FR-S is the first front engine, rear wheel drive Toyota imported to North America since 1998, and the first rear wheel drive since the demise of the MR2 Spyder. The FR-S is also the first boxer type engine in a Toyota vehicle.


Now for some details of the FR-S engine:

The engine is a 2.0 liter, DOHC, 16-valve, horizontally opposed (boxer type) with Variable Valve Timing controlled by the engine control computer (VVTi) and Toyota D-4S sequential multiport fuel injection. The bore and stroke are both 86.0 mm and with a compression ratio of 12.5 to 1 makes 200 HP @ 7000 rpm and 151 ft-lbs of torque @ 6400-6600 rpm.

The high power output, 100HP/liter, of this engine is made possible because of three primary features: 1) 12.5:1 compression ratio, 2) the cylinder head / valve train design, 3)  the D-4S multiport fuel infection. To make it simple, the high compression of the engine compresses the air fuel mixture into a denser package making a stronger explosion when ignited. Bigger bang = more torque = power. The cylinder head uses a single rocker arm per valve with a roller that contacts the cam lobe; this setup in the hot rod world is called a roller cam. This feature reduces friction and allows an aggressive cam lobe design which opens the valves quicker that a normal valve train design which increases power output. Also incorporated into the engine design is D-4S fuel injection. This type of fuel injection utilizes 2 injectors per cylinder, one being a traditional type injecting fuel into the intake port and the other injector injects fuel directly into the combustion chamber of the engine. The advantages of D-4S fuel injection are higher power output, lower fuel consumption and lower emissions. The power produced by this engine is quite impressive for a non turbocharged/supercharged engine.


As for the remainder of the vehicle; the FR-S is well equipped with features like Vehicle Skid Control (VSC), Antilock Brake Control (ABS) and Traction Control (TRAC), a 6 speed manual transmission as standard equipment and a 6 speed automatic transmission optional. Power windows and door locks are standard as is electronic power steering.

Well that's enough for now, next week we will take a look at the FR-S VSC system and chassis features.