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Last week, Scion lifted the curtains on the third and final (unless Lexus and Daihatsu have other plans…) iteration of the 2+2 rear-wheel drive coupe developed by Toyota and Subaru, theNorth American market FR-S.For those of you that missed the presentation in Los Angeles, Scion has released official coverage from November 30th's launch event that includes an introduction by the firm's Vice President, Jack Holl.The Scion FR-S is a carbon copy of the Toyota 86 featuring the same body and 200-horsepower 2.0-liter engine matched to 6-speed manual or automatic transmissions.It will go on sale in the United States and Canada next summer with prices to be announced closer to the sales date. However, Toyota has said that it aims to keep prices low enough "to attract recent college graduates".VIDEO
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The third chapter of what has turned out to be a very long saga came to an end tonight with the official presentation of the new 2013 Scion FR-S, which follows the Toyota 86 and Subaru BRZintroductions at the Tokyo Motor Show earlier today.The name Scion chose for the North American version of the Toyota 86 stands for Front-engine, Rear-wheel drive, Sport. The 2+2 coupe is the fifth model to join the Scion family and will go on sale in the United States and Canada in the spring of 2012.
“Serving as a laboratory for Toyota, Scion is always experimenting with new things,” said Jack Hollis, Scion vice president. “The brand is iconic with the xB, adrenalized by the tC, and groundbreaking with the iQ. The FR-S will no doubt serve as the halo car, expanding Scion into a new dimension of driving performance," he added.When Scion impressed us with the sleek concept version of the FR-S at the New York Auto Show back in April, we had some slight hope that Toyota's youth brand would follow a different road applying the same styling treatment to the production model.Sadly, as you can see for yourselves, this didn’t happen with the FR-S being an identical twin to the Toyota 86. Makes you wonder why Scion even bothered showing us a different concept in New York in the first place…Under the Toyota 86 body you'll find the same mechanical hardware and layout you've obviously heard and read about so many times, including the Subaru-sourced 2.0-liter horizontally opposed engine with Toyota’s D-4S injection system that incorporates both direct and port injection.The naturally-aspirated flat four churns out 200 ponies and 151 pound-feet of torque, and is linked to either a six-speed manual or a six-speed automatic transmission driving the rear wheels.The FR-S will be offered with 17-inch alloy wheels and ventilated disc brakes on all four corners as standard.At least in base trim, it appears that the FR-S won't come with the "Start" button nor the cool aviation-style rocker switches under the a/c controls featured on the JDM Toyota 86 as well as the European Toyota GT 86 and the Subaru BRZWe'll no doubt hear and see more on the FR-S in the coming days/weeks, so stay tuned.By John Halas
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