Toyota gave us an idea of what a small, enthusiast-friendly coupe positioned below the Scion FR-S could look like when it introduced the S-FR concept at the Tokyo Motor Show. While production plans haven’t been confirmed yet, the Japanese car maker is whetting our appetite with an updated version of the concept designed to hit the track.
Up front, the S-FR’s retro-inspired design is accented by a deeper bumper fitted with a carbon fiber splitter, a pair of fins, and two vents built into the hood. The coupe also gains side skirts, more aerodynamic mirrors, clear tail lamps, a giant wing, and an equally large air diffuser built into the rear bumper. All told, the S-FR Racing looks much more aggressive than the concept it’s based on.
What Toyota has done with the concept’s uncluttered, back-to-the-basics cabin isn’t known because interior pictures haven’t been published yet and the heavily tinted windows prevent us from peeking in.
The bigger brakes and the sport-tuned suspension suggest the Racing is more powerful than the regular S-FR, but Toyota hasn’t published technical specifications for either model. As WorldCarFans points out, some reports claim the base coupe is powered by a turbocharged 1.2-liter, four-cylinder engine, while others believe it uses a bigger 1.5-liter borrowed from Corolla and massaged to produce more grunt. Regardless, feather-light is equipped with a six-speed manual transmission that spins the rear wheels.
The original S-FR concept was remarkably well received by show-goers in the Japanese capital. Toyota is keeping its lips tightly sealed about what the future holds, but industry rumors indicate the concept will be slightly toned down and added to the Toyota lineup either late next year or in early 2017. If all goes as planned, the U.S.-spec S-FR will wear a Scion emblem and carry a base price of approximately $20,000.
