Keeping in line with Scion‘s youth oriented branding, the company is holding a promotion which gets every new Scion iQ buyer a free Playstaion Vita handheld gaming system. 

Given that that the boxy xB is living on borrowed time and will not be continued with a next generation model, some wags now believe Scion could be heading toward a more mainstream future.

With its first true sports car heading to dealerships in June, Scion is looking to beef up its motorsports presence admits brand boss Jack Hollis.

Speaking at a press launch for the new rear-wheel drive FR-S in Las Vegas, Hollis commented Scion’s continued presence in Formula Drift and how the FR-S is making the brand more “authentic.”

“Let’s be honest,” said Hollis to the gatherer journalists, “with the TC we’ve done more than we authentically should have” referring of course to its transformation into a rear-drive NASCAR V8 powered drift machine. Scion now campaigns the FR-S in drifting, Greddy-built FR-S driven by Ken Gushi.

As much as the drifting scene suits the Scion brand’s sport compact origins, many motorsports enthusiasts consider it to be less of a form of motorsports and more of a spectacle. With the FR-S having all the makings of a budget road racer, when pressed, Hollis elaborated on the future of Scion in motorsports.

“Drifting is something we’ve been enjoying,” he said, and commented that Scion will take the next step into traditional competitive motorsports thanks to the FR-S. “We’re expanding our lineup and you should expect that we will expand our racing teams’ influence and participation.”

Aspiring Canadian racers have something to look forward to this summer as Scion announces its plan to sponsor motorsports drivers for the second year in a  row. 

While Subaru is targeting 5,000 units for its new BRZ sports car, Scion believes its version of the joint Toyota-Subaru project will more than double that forecast.

With all the media coverage that’s surrounded the Scion FR-S, it’s hard to say anything new about it, yet the bang-for-your-buck sports coupe refuses to leave headlines well enough alone. 

Back behind the wheel after our first drive several months back in Japan and we’re learning more about the Scion FR-S.

If you’ve been holding your breath for a Scion FR-S turbo announcement, it’s best to exhale now. The Japanese automaker has confirmed that the FR-S won’t see a turbocharged variant from the factory, at least for the time being.

This really isn’t a huge surprise, but we all kept our fingers crossed hoping that Scion would eventually come out with a turbocharged model to pump even more performance into an already great sports car. Currently the FR-S is powered by a 2.0-liter with 200 hp and 151 lb-ft of torque, and with a price tag of $24,930 with a manual transmission, it’s a great bang for the buck.

Subaru BRZ sales have already skyrocketed in Japan, and in America we can expect the same result, but the sales beg the question: is the BRZ really that good?

Well Subaru thinks so, and to back up its new RWD sports car the company has released a two part mini-movie detailing all of the design and engineer work that was brought together during development. Everything from chassis design to engine placement and even steering wheel shape is explained in the movie, leaving nothing to the imagination.

When Scion was originally launched in 2003, the automaker intended for its models to follow a “one and done” mantra, which meant each model would be canceled after a single life cycle.

Having finished third and ninth place in prior Pro Celebrity races, Adam Carolla was determined to claim the top podium spot at the 36th annual Toyota Pro/Celebrity Race.

It’s billed as an affordable sports car and at $24,200 it is. Unfortunately, if your bank account balance is more like $10 then the Toyota GT 86 ( Scion FR-S on our shores) is still out of reach.

The Scion FR-S will be heading to U.S. dealerships soon but before consumers even get a chance to drive their cars, a multitude of tuner packages are already prepped for sale.

For example, Japanese tuner TRD already released a full tuning package for the Toyota GT 86 and now American tuners are releasing their goods.

Earlier this year, Scion invited North American tuners to its headquarters to take measurements in order to develop new parts for the sporty coupe. FIVE:AD has been involved with modifying Scions since the automaker arrived on American shores, so it’s no surprise that the company is one of the first in to release an aero kit for the upcoming FR-S.

The four-piece aero kit is based off of the Scion FR-S Concept built by Five Axis and is constructed out of OEM-grade urethane for a perfect fit and finish. Those interested can do so through their dealership to get a new front lip, side skirts, and a rear valence. An optional rear spoiler is available and the dealership can also pre-paint it any factory color for an exact match.

Custom builders have been able to create some unique and exciting cars from Toyota’s dull model lineup in the past, so it only stands to reason that amazing things are happening as tuners tinker with the new Scion FR-S.

It’s not often that a game changing sports car comes out onto the market. The Toyota GT 86 / Scion FR-S is exactly that, and it’s clear that tuners and aftermarket product manufacturers are just as excited for the platform as automotive enthusiasts are.

There’s little to no doubt in our minds that the Scion FR-S will be a huge hit – you can read our review here – and the aftermarket will only make the vehicle better. Tuners in Japan have already been hard at work since they got their hands on the GT 86 earlier than America. But the Scion Racing / GReddy drift Scion FR-S driven by Ken Gushi (pictured above) looks ready to rock into action at the Long Beach season opener.

The Toyota GT 86 will be making its way to America soon as the Scion FR-S, and the Japanese automaker wanted to remind the general public that not only was the vehicle built with passion, but they would like us to drive with passion.

The clip is made to get our blood flowing in anticipation to the release of the FR-S, which will be one of the most affordable sports cars of this decade – you can read our review here. Out to prove that the GT 86 can do it all, on and off the track, Toyota has done an excellent job marketing its newest machine and we can’t wait until they’re on the street.

Watch Full Throttle – Drive with Passion below:

When last we spoke to Scion boss Jack Hollis, his interest in a small truck for the youth brand was undeniable. Now reports of increased production at the automaker’s RAV4 facility in Woodstock, Ontario have spawned new rumors about the as yet unconfirmed sixth model in the Scion lineup.

The official Canadian pricing for the Scion FR-S is out, and the new sports car from Toyota will start at a base MSRP of $25,990. When the car is equipped with the six-speed automatic transmission complete with paddle shifters the base MSRP will be $27,110.

Toyota Motor Sales has announced MSRP increases for select Toyota and Scion models with the price jumps ranging from $150 to $270 from its previous model year to its current one.

We fell in love with the Toyota GT 86 when we first drove it, so how could it get any better? Well, try more than doubling the car’s factory displacement by swapping out the Subaru-sourced 2.0-liter boxer 4-cylinder for a 5.0-liter V8.

Donated from a Lexus IS-F, this custom machine is the ride of choice for Japanese drift and road racer Max Orido, who will compete in the D1 drift series this year.

Watch the video below and we sure to check out our Scion FR-S First Drive here:

Insurance isn’t kind to teenage drivers. Rates are usually double the price of experienced drivers. Luckily CarInsure.com has provided a list of the top 10 best vehicles to insure for teenagers. 

The Scion FR-S has been on every car-enthusiasts mind for quite a while now. Today we find a video that will certainly help pass the time before the release. A Toyota GT86 (known to us as the Scion FR-S) Testing with full Toyota Racing Development (TRD) trim.

In this video you can spot a few upgrades to the stock GT86. TRD brakes, rims and a great sounding exhaust tone. Other TRD parts like front spoiler and upgraded headlights round out the TRD look.

Watch the whole video below.

In what is an obvious shot at its closest rival, Scion has announced pricing for it’s new rear-drive sports car, starting at $50 less than the 2013 Hyundai Genesis Coupe.

When it hits Scion dealers in June, the 2013 FR-S will be priced from $24,200 according to a leaked dealer document. That puts it just $50 under the 2013 Hyundai Genesis Coupe.

Excited for the new Subaru BRZ and Scion FR-S? We already know how the FR-S performs – read our review here – but up until now, we hadn’t a real clue what its fuel economy would be like.

Those in the market for the all-new Subaru BRZ and Scion FR-S ( Toyota GT 86) will be excited to hear that Yasuyuki Yoshinaga, president of Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd., has announced the production of the new jointly-produced sports car will hit 100,000 a year.

North American tuner companies were invited to  Toyota Headquarters in Torrance, California to measure the new Scion FR-S and take a closer look at the car to begin the process of drafting future tuning parts. Many tuners were present at the event and the response to Scion’s new sports car has been overwhelmingly positive across the board.

Earlier, we had reason to celebrate as production for the Subaru BRZ and Toyota GT86 had finally kicked off in Japan. The highly anticipated sports coupe will make its way to America as the Scion FR-S to hot anticipation.

But just in case we’ve all forgotten how great the Toyota GT86/Scion FR-S is, the Japanese automaker released a series of videos featuring Toyota design chief “Dezi” Nagaya at the 2012 Geneva Motor Show talking about the GT86’s design story. The four part series is accompanied with a video featuring Tetsuya Tada, Toyota chief engineer who is the main man behind the acclaimed GT86.

The videos offer insight to the inspirational design of the GT86, including how it pays tribute to the classic Toyota 2000GT. Nagaya also talks about the exterior and interior design, and even goes so far as to tell how the “86” logo came to usher in the new-generation sports car.

For more Scion FR-S news and info, visit  FR-Sforum.com and to discuss the Subaru BRZ, visit  SubaruBRZforum.com

Watch the five videos on the Toyota GT86 / Scion FR-S after the break.

Today at the Gunma factory in Ota-city Japan, a ceremony was held to celebrate the start of production for both the Subaru BRZ and Toyota GT86.

In a preview of things to come once the Scion FR-S goes on sale here and the stability control program gets switched off, here’s some video of a Toyota GT 86 crashing into a safety barrier.

The accident occurred at the Mega Web, which is billed as a “Look, Ride and Feel Car Theme Park” in Tokyo where Toyota lets prospective customers get up close and personal with their products.

Thankfully no one appears to have been hurt in the crash. In fact, the air bags didn’t even go off.

Watch the video below:

Each year, the city of Long Beach, California gets transformed into a motorsports-themed environment to make way for the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach. To kick off the festivities annually is the Toyota Pro/Celebrity Race and this year’s lineup of drivers has just been announced.

There is probably no better way to attract the attention of a different demographic than by offering something for free. And gamers love free things, especially when it’s an actual game.

Sony’s newest portable handheld, the PS Vita, has only been in America for less than a month and Japanese automaker Scion has cleverly teamed up with Sony to sponsor the MotorStorm RC game for the PS Vita, and making it free for a limited time. And this isn’t just some cheesy demo with a limited playtime or courses to race through, this is the full game for free.

But of course Scion has to get something out of this, and that would be the inclusion of the custom RC version of a Scion iQ in the game. We’re not even going to complain about that, since it’s just additional content that’s free.

MotorStorm RC packs 16 unique tracks with four different racing environments as players race with radio-controlled vehicles with hundreds of customization options. Sony didn’t announce how long the promotion will be running for, so if you’ve got yourself a PS Vita, you better head off to the PlayStation Store as quickly as possible to snag yourself a free game.

It’s also 646 MB, for those wondering how much space it’ll take up on your precious, overly priced, and proprietary memory card.

Watch a video about MotorStorm RC after the break.

Toyota may have a history in sports cars, but it’s not exactly the most impressive resume. So when the GT 86 (Scion FR-S) was announced and Toyota started explaining its heritage it was hard not to be a bit skeptical.

The first 86 people in North America to own a Scion FR-S are pretty lucky as it is, but their deal just got a lot sweeter thanks to some VIP treatment from Toyota.

Watch out Mazda Miata, there’s about to be a new roadster in town.

It’s still unofficial, but a source inside Scion’s Canada division has let slip to AutoGuide that when the FR-S goes on sale later this year it will start at $27,500.

Last week Scion launched a new online campaign that showed off their darling sports car the FR-S. Visitors were given the opportunity to interact with the car in several ways, similar to any car’s configuration site.

The Scion FR-S is hotly anticipated to say the least. When we test drove one,  it certainly did not dissapoint.

Scion’s Canadian FR-S website went live today and brought with it the release of some new video’s which add to the excitment surrounding the coupe. The videos showcase Ken Gushi drifting the FR-S, how the painting process works, lots of driving footage, an FR-S being assembled and even footage from the video game Gran Turismo. The clips aren’t all new, but they’re still fun to watch.

Scion even borrowed some AutoGuide footage of the FR-S reveal, yeah we’re that good.

If you’re a die-hard FR-S fan, these videos will get your heart beating a little quicker. We included the best ones after the jump.

When Toyota announced that the GT 86 would be available as a bare bones model ready for customization, tuners everywhere rejoiced. Unfortunately for Americans, we won’t be getting the option to buy a stripped down Scion FR-S.

We recently reported that Scion shot a new commercial for their upcoming FR-S sports car with Ken Gushi behind the wheel. What we didn’t know at the time was that Gushi had a hair raising experience with a deer while on the shoot.

And of course the cameras were rolling as he drove through some winding mountain roads in Northern California, and Scion has decided to share the video with the rest of the world. It’s crazy just how close of a call Gushi had with the deer while filming. Luckily Gushi, the deer and the FR-S were unharmed while making the commercial…at least as far as we know!

Watch the video clip after the break and try your best not to gasp.

Read AutoGuide.com’s review of the Scion FR-S here.

When you’re the CEO of a company, it must bring a sense of pride when a successful product is finally completed after years of hard work.

Steve Jobs over at Apple had great pride in every iPhone that was released, and probably had a huge sense of satisfaction not only using the product he helped develop, but seeing the benefits it has on all the people around him. Akio Toyoda, CEO and President of Toyota, must be extremely proud with their new GT 86 sports car, but boy does he reap all the benefits of being the head of one of the largest automakers in the world.

Toyoda got behind the wheel of their newest creation, but being the CEO means you get to do anything you want without having to answer to anybody. So what better way to really enjoy the newest toy your company has to offer than to take it out onto a dirt track and going sideways in it? Easy, take it out on a giant snow field and go drifting in it.

And judging by the huge smiles on Toyoda’s face in the video, he loves the new GT 86 as much as we did. Autoguide had the opportunity to put the Scion FR-S to the test – you can read our review here – and we would certainly be proud of it if we were in charge of running the famous Japanese automaker. Too bad we didn’t get the chance to take it sideways in the dirt and snow though.

Get more info and news on the GT 86/FR-S forum.

Watch the video after the break, that truly reminds us that the Toyota GT 86 / Scion FR-S will make it “Fun to drive: again.”

Toyota GT 86 chief engineer Tetsuya Tada is turning to the virtual world in hopes of making cars fun for the younger generation.

The Toyota GT 86, or Scion FR-S as it will be called in North America, isn’t available yet, but it’s already generating tuner buzz.

With the Scion FR-S destined to arrive on North American soil rather soon, it’ no surprise that the sub-brand for Japanese automaker, Toyota, decided to give its website a new identity. It appears that Scion hopes to give itself a more of a “grown up” image too with the FR-S’s arrival, which will undoubtedly be the first real sports car for the young brand.

Unless you’ve been living under a rock that’s inside a cave the last couple of months, you might have heard of the Toyota GT 86 which will be coming to America as the Scion FR-S. But in case you haven’t heard of the FR-S (you can read our review here), Scion went out and shot a commercial recently with drifter Ken Gushi behind the wheel.

Autoguide had an opportunity to test drive the Scion FR-S almost two months ago and was immediately impressed with the new sports car’s handling and performance.

Before the Toyota GT 86 was even officially revealed, the new sports car was out on the track competing. This particular car, on display for the first time at the Tokyo Auto Salon, was raced at the grueling Nurburgring 24 Hour Race in the Fall.

At the 2012 Montreal International Auto Show, Scion brought a trio of Release Series vehicles out to display for the Canadian market. This is the first time Scion’s Release Series vehicles have ever been to a Canadian auto show.

Build by Toyota motorsports partner Gazoo Racing, the GRMN iQ Supercharger is just the sort of concept car that’s too wild to ever become a reality. Right? Wrong!

Just a few weeks after the debut of the GT 86, Toyota tuners are getting a crack at the new sports car and showing what modified visions they can dream up at Japan’s largest aftermarket expo, the Tokyo Auto Salon.

If you followed our coverage of the North American International Auto Show, or you just keep up with car news, you’ve probably heard of the Scion FR-S.

Scion Racing has made its 2013 FR-S Drift Car official at the 2012 Detroit Auto Show. Less than a week ago, we spotted photos of the same car testing, and our assumptions proved correct: This is the Formula Drift race car for Ken Gushi and the 2012 drift season.

Scion will be doing away with their Matchbox-style vehicle display at the upcoming 2012 Detroit Auto Show to make way for their new “Thunderdome” experience.

Scion has announced it will show its new FR-S sports car to the public at the Detroit Auto Show next week. The new flagship vehicle for the youth-oriented brand, the FR-S is essentially a rebadged version of the Toyota GT 86 (or just Toyota 86), which will go on sale in other markets later this year.

We’ve been thoroughly excited about the upcoming release of the Scion FR-S – read our review here – but with any other sports car we hope that it’ll get a version with more power. A turbocharged Scion FR-S was recently spied testing out at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, but we shouldn’t get too excited yet.

We have reason to believe that the turbocharged Scion FR-S seen drifting is actually the drift car being built by GReddy for Scion drifter Ken Gushi. Gushi has been campaigning a rear-wheel-drive converted tC for the past few years in Formula Drift and it’s publicly known that he’ll be climbing into the cockpit of an FR-S for the upcoming season.

Previously, Gushi had teamed up with RS*R for the development of his race cars, but with RS*R taking a back seat this year, GReddy was called upon to execute a custom turbocharged powerplant and to get Scion’s new sports car ready to roll sideways.

We still have no doubts that Toyota will come out with a more powerful version of their new sports coupe, but we still believe it’ll come in the ways of a supercharger from TRD, rather than a turbocharged setup. For now, we can enjoy the sound of a turbocharged FR-S going sideways.

Check out the video after the break.

[Source: Motor Trend]

As another calendar year draws to a close it’s time to take a look back at the top 10 biggest stories of the year in the auto industry. It’s been a busy 12 months, starting all the way back in March when the Fiat 500 officially went on sale, marking the return of the brand to America. The last time an Italian car was sold here that didn’t cost six figures (or close to it) was 27 years ago. Since then, Fiat has introduced the 500C convertible model and most recently the Fiat 500 Abarth, aimed at enthusiasts.

Easily the highlight of this month’s video car reviews is our test drive of the Scion FR-S, the U.S.-spec version of the highly anticipated Toyota GT 86. In addition, we reviewed the V8-powered Dodge Charger R/T, as well as the Mercedes SLK350.

Read the AutoGuide new car reviews here and see all our video reviews at our YouTube channel here.

And watch the rest of this month’s video reviews below:

Back when we still called it the FT-86, a leaked brochure claimed to show what TRD had in store for the Toyota sports car. The boxer-powered machine has since been revealed (called the Scion FR-S in North America) and this lone photo of a TRD-equipped model has now emerged.

The Scion FR-S might be the most exciting sports car in years and it might also be the most important project Toyota has ever launched, helping change perceptions about an automaker that has become known for building appliances. But the back-to-basics enthusiast sports car almost never happened, according to Chief Engineer Tetsuya Tada, speaking at the car’s launch last week in Japan.

The concept for the car, originally the brain child of then Toyota VP Akio Toyoda (the man currently at the helm of the world’s largest automaker), was initially rejected by Subaru, which eventually went on to donate the engine to the project and even handle the lion’s share of the sports car’s development, resulting in both the Scion FR-S (also known as the Toyota GT 86 in Europe or just the 86 in Japan) and Subaru BRZ.

Shortly after Toyoda took the helm, Tada san was assigned to a planning division set up for the project. After studying what everyone else was doing, (seeing the use of turbochargers, all-wheel drive and high grip tires), Toyota decided to move in the opposite direction, instead opting to build a sports car that harkens back to the roots of machines like the AE86 – from which the GT86 gets its name. It occurred to Tada san that an ideal powerplant would be a boxer engine, due to its low center of gravity. Toyota had an historical precedent for the use of a boxer engine in the Sports 800, built from 1965 to 1969. Toyota also just so happened to have access to such engines through a recent purchase of shares in Subaru parent company Fuji Heavy Industries, and a shared project could help foster relations between the two rival automakers.

A proposal was penned, for a rear-drive, boxer powered sports car and presented to Subaru, which immediately axed it. Subaru executives had two major concerns says Tada san, the first being that a rear-drive machine doesn’t fit with Subaru’s all-wheel drive brand message. The second reservation, and one that speaks to Toyota’s newfound attitude of taking ownership of its beige-to-drive past, is the admission that Subaru didn’t think Toyota could build a sports car. And while harsh, it’s not entirely surprising, after all, the last sporty Toyota was a Celica GTS in 2006 and the last rear-drive Toyota car to roll off an assembly line (at least for US consumption) was in 2005.

The project was then suspended for six months but eventually the team involved at Toyota helped convince the powers that be at Subaru. Exactly how that happened remains a mystery, although one possible conclusion can be drawn from a graph Toyota revealed to AutoGuide and a group of journalists gathered to drive the car at Sodegaura Forest Raceway, just outside Tokyo. On it is a breakdown of who handled what in bringing the GT86/BRZ to market. In the end, teams at Toyota were responsible for planning and design while manufacturing and development were handed over to Subaru. The concept may have been Toyota’s, but Subaru, a company with plenty of recent and current enthusiast-targeted models, was tasked with ensuring the FR-S/BRZ was a fun-to-drive, dynamic handling machine. Toyota representatives steered clear of confirming as much, but it would seem a compromise was struck, with Subaru bending on the rear-drive architecture. In exchange, Toyota handed over development of its sports car to Subaru.

As a result, the first prototype was built back in 2008, and was what one Toyota exec referred to as “proof of concept”, prompting both automakers for forge ahead with development and design, leading first to the FT86 concept at the Tokyo Motor Show in November of 2009, through numerous concept cars, all the way to the official reveal at the same show two years later, our recent gushing test-drive, and a planned on-sale date of this Spring.

Discuss this story at FR-SForum and read out review of the Scion FR-S here.

After stunning the world with a Lexus super car, and surprising us with the pure driving experience of the Scion FRS, Toyota R&D is now rumored to be working on the return of the most legendary Toyota of all– the Supra.