Just got back from a quick jaunt to Waimanalo and back, after first running to Napa to buy a new oil filter socket wrench. I had bought filters and gaskets at Toyota earlier, but I didn’t realize that this filter was yet a different size. I don’t have the universal fit tool Dave has. Anyway hit the magic 1000 miles. Pulled into the garage to get ready to do an oil change. I heard the infamous “crickets”. We shall see what happens after the oil change, but it looks like it’ll be going into Scion/Servco to apply the TSB. With the power of the Internet, technical issues are now quickly widely known among the enthusiasts. The chirping is an acknowledged problem with the very high pressure fuel pump for the DI. There is also a TSB regarding the ECU engine mapping that I might be needing. It manifests as uneven idling, sometimes going as far as causing the engine to die and triggering a check engine light. Mine doesn’t seem to be bad, but I do see an occasional idle dip below normal when clutching in coming to a stop.
I can give some feedback on daily driving my FR-S for this first 1000 miles and month. It’s great fun to drive. Tight steering responds quickly, shifter has smoothed out, clutch is bit too soft and vague, brakes work good, although seem a little grabby when cold. Seat fits great, all controls easy to reach and operate. No soft touch and touch screen non-sense. That crap drives me nuts,. I wish there were more gauges. Really, a performance car should have a complete set. Prominent tach is great, and even has a setable shift light. The analog speedometer is useless. The sweep goes to 160 mph making the graduations pretty close together, and the needle when at normal city speeds ends up at the bottom. Thankfully Toyota/Subaru put a digital speedo readout right in the center of the tach. A/C works. Stereo is decent, not enough tone controls and needs a sub. HD radio is a crap shoot, sound quality when it works is good, but when signal fades, which seems to be anywhere in town or eastward for KORL, the audio simply cuts out. Switching to standard FM you can still hear the station, albeit a little staticy. Cargo room is limited, the rear “seats” can be folded flat, but the trunk height puts a tight limit on what you can fit.
If you’re looking for a touring sedan to cuise in, this is not it. The suspension is pretty stiff, perhaps a little stiffer than the street FX, but it’s perfectly liveable. In fact I prefer it, for now. Steping in and especially out can be a little bit of a challenge, but nowhere as tough as Dave’s M Coupe. The lack of an assist handle does add to the diffculty. There aren’t very many ameneties. Two cup holders at your elbow in the center console, two bottle holders, one in each door. Single cig lighter power jack in center console and a slot that will fit an iPhone. There’s not many other storage spaces, small glovebox on passenger side, a little slot at the base of the a/c controls. Oh, there’s pockets on the backs of the front seats, I guess for the safety briefing card for your leg/footless rear passengers.
The oil change was easy. You have to raise the car, there is no way you can worm your way under to the drain plug. Oh, watch out for the oil. These newfangled cars using low vis oil, when you pop the plug out, that 0W-20 comes gushing out like water! And these boxers seem to take a lot of oil, just shy of 6 quarts. The oil filter location is awesome. It’s right there on top. If you let the oil drain for a bit, you get no spillage when you remove the filter, and just in case there’s a cup shaped lip so if you do spill it won’t make a mess all over the place. The fill hole is a bit low so you need a funnel. The 4AGE was pretty high so if you were carefull you could fill without a funnel, but this one it’s best not to try.
0 Responses to “Magic 1000”