Debut: Project FR-S/GT-86

Some readers here who follow my personal Instagram already know of the early Christmas gift I purchased for myself. Today, I finally get to share the beginning of this story here. What you see here may not be special, and that’s totally okay; for me, this car is a huge step forward in growth.

Here is ole reliable. When I broke the STI, I purchased a white SF 5-speed Forester. After a week of owning it, I already had the itch to slam it on its face and build a stanced road side assistance type of vehicle. That idea was starting to dwindle the more I looked at how much work it would need, at least for the car to be at the level that I would be content with—so I sold it. I still needed a daily driver, so I ended up purchasing this SG Forester you see before you: all wheel drive, naturally aspirated, leather, all weather package, stock—it had all the things I was looking for in a daily. The downside was that it was an automatic. While I enjoyed it in traffic, I really didn’t enjoy it everywhere else. Over time I was getting tired of driving it, which was to be expected. The STI project was making progress, but my motivation for it was wavering. During winter months, this car was the best thing in the world, but during warmer seasons, or when I was with friends, it was obvious that I looked like the grandpa of the group. I still have the car, I don’t have a real desire to sell it, but I did list it for sale in case someone became interested. Now, what does this have to do with the new project? Absolutely nothing. If anything, it made me appreciate the hobby a bit more.

This is my third silver car… I might have a subconscious love for the color, which may just make it my signature. I had a chance to buy any color I wanted, but I just keep gravitating towards silver. If you noticed the plate frame, I did buy this car through Carvana. I haven’t met anyone that had used them before, so it was a shot in the dark for me that actually turned out very well. Everything was taken care of from registration, and delivery, to follow up calls making sure I was happy. Would I recommend them to a friend? Hell yeah, especially when purchasing during a pandemic.

Overview:

This is the newest car I have ever owned—before that, it was my ‘06 STI, but I just wanted to see what all the “new” tech hype was all about. At first glance, the FRS is very small; I’d say its about the same size as an ap1/ap2, or maybe the newer Miatas. The interior also feels familiar, it has bits that remind me of the VA STI (steering wheel, shift knob, the red stitching, etc.), which I’m sure came from the Subaru side of the factory. The engine is exactly what I wanted, all original. I didn’t want to deal with someone else’s project. I’m glad the car went through a dealer. The overall height of the car is fairly high, yet it feels so low because of low seat position—It’s “sporty,” if you will.

The overall feel of this car is tight. I’ve driven cars with electric power steering before, but this car feels different. It feels tight and nimble around corners, extremely predictable, even for a novice driver. I’ve driven both ap1’s/ap2’s and Miatas—I’d say that it is a mixture of both. It’s an amazing car even with the less-than-desirable Iron Man tires that are on it at the moment. Even then, the car has plenty of grip all around. I’ve had my fair share with donuts in Mexico City recently, and I have to say it’s much harder than it looks. The car comes with a factory limited slip differential that works just fine, but if I want to keep it sideways, I have to keep the car loaded—letting off snaps the car right back into grip. I’m sure it’s not just the car, it’s probably my lack of experience with this, too. Needless to say, I’m really enjoying my purchase. It’s been a little less than two weeks since I had this delivered, and it’s been quite the experience so far! My only real complaint is how loud the injectors are. The “crickets” are a common sound problem with these cars, but I can overlook the nuisance. Don’t even get me started on the god awful side markers the previous owner installed, that just so happened to be brighter than my headlights. Needless to say, they’ve got to go—along with the crappy halogen headlights.

Future Plans:

In short, this is my seat time/daily driver. If it isn’t obvious enough, I love drifting. I mean, I’m in the middle of the rear-wheel drive STI build (which I will be covering here very soon), but I realized I’ll need to learn the fundamentals. Trying to learn those things in an overbuilt car, 1. makes me look like a loser, 2. will mask bad driving with good parts. I’m all about learning the roots, so making the decision to purchase a stock car with rear-wheel drive car to learn the basics on, and improve my driving was the best move for me. I’m going to do my best when building this car to dance the line between drift and grip—while also maintaining the reliability of a daily. Its a pretty tall order, but I think I can get it done.

I don’t want to give away all the things I have planned for this car just yet and take all the fun away from it, all I can say is if you watch my stories closely on Instagram ( _Jayspec ) you may get a glimpse of the direction this car is headed in. Stay tuned for updates and the progress on this yet-to-be-named car, and Scarlett (STI) in the near future.