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A 380-HP Scion FR-S? Yep, it’s coming from Cosworth. And it is going to be mental

Peter Braun
By

It is a great day for performance lovers everywhere: Cosworth – the motorsport and tuning company – is bringing out a series of sensational tuning upgrades for the Scion FR-S.

The announcement is part of a major transition for the legendary performance fanatics. Cosworth will be making the change from producing solo performance parts, to putting out premade performance packages.

If the packages for the Scion FR-S – that’s a Toyota GT86, to those of you not from ‘Murica – are any example of this new strategy, then bully for Cosworth!

The level one package produces 230 horsepower, an 11.6 percent jump from stock output of the 2.0-liter BOXER four cylinder. That boost comes thanks to a new exhaust and extremely sophisticated new tuning software. There is also a Cosworth badge, so that other drivers can understand why they just got thrashed so badly.

The kits only get more mental from there. Cosworth has announced that it will be producing upgrades that bring the little FR-S all the way up to 325 hp. Or if truly insane levels of performance are required, say for outrunning tornadoes or cheetahs with jet packs, a 380-hp track configuration will eventually be along. For people keeping score at home, that is nearly double the stock horsepower, which should make the FR-S … frisky.

Aside from the big horsepower boosts, one of the big advantages of Cosworth’s performance packages will be reliability. Hal Reisiger the chief of executive of Cosworth explained, “Cosworth has significantly altered its approach to performance aftermarket. We are now able to supply completely validated solutions – as an entire system – to guarantee reliability and performance.”

 This validates what plenty of tuners know.  Slapping together a bunch of performance parts is always a bit dicey, as new and different failure points are introduced. The Cosworth packages will be tested by people with actual engineering degrees to ensure that they, you know, work.  

While I look forward to seeing what other cars Cosworth targets for performance boosts, it couldn’t have chosen a better car to start with. In this day and age there are plenty of cars that could actually do with less horsepower. The FR-S though is a fabulous sports car, that has just needed a little more giddy-up to be dominant. With a boost of 30 hp you would need to be some kind of monster not to want a Cosworth FR-S.

And yes, it will also work on the Subaru BRZ.

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Peter Braun
Peter Braun
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Peter is a freelance contributor to Digital Trends and almost a lawyer. He has loved thinking, writing and talking about cars…
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