The People’s Champ: Scion FRS
Words and photos by Michael Chandler
This matte metallic blue Scion FRS has a small pedigree. Well, not really small: it won the Favorite Scion award at the last import Spring Showoff meet which is impressive considering how prolific the FRS has become. If you hadn’t seen the car before then, it’s ok. I had only seen it once before the show. Seemingly out of nowhere, we have a new champion of the people.
JJ, the fella who owns this, bought it new in May of 2013 with all of 11 miles on the odometer. Like any good, sensible person, he began modifying it. Like most people, he decided it needed more power. The usual power adders were thrown on, but naturally aspirated just wasn’t cutting it. He needed more. He needed a turbo.
And that’s exactly what he got! The Borg Warner 6258 EFR turbocharger came in a kit from Treadstone Performance, which also included an intercooler, hot and cold pipes, the exhaust manifold and up pipe (both of which he had ceramic coated), and a 265lph in tank fuel pump. Because you can’t just cram additional air into the engine without adding more fuel, JJ threw in a set of 770cc Deatschwerks fuel injectors. He also grabbed a billet diverter valve from Treadstone, to relieve excess boost pressure. Additional cooling, specifically for the oil, is provided by a Mishimoto oil cooler. The whole affair is run by an EcuTek reflashed ECU, which had the wick turned up by Jesse at FNP. The kit was installed, and all the maintenance is done at Paradise Performance by JD Youngblood and Matt En.
When you add over 100 horsepower to any car, you should probably address the clutch. JJ wisely did so, and had JD and Matt throw in a stage 3 segmented ceramic clutch from Competition Clutch.
Rounding out the power and usability adders, and providing a nice segue to start talking about the other aspects of the car, is a 3″ straight piped exhaust from Simple Performance. As you can see, the exhaust sticks out a bit. Not an insane amount, but enough to be noticeable. And it’s also got a bit of carbon fiber wrap on it. An odd place for carbon fiber, but it’s not the only carbon fiber on the car.
The side skirt extensions are carbon fiber, and they’re custom.
As is the Metallic Blue wrap. JJ dropped the car off at Justin’s Tint, where the man himself wrapped the car. The freshly wrapped Scion was taken to Luxe Auto Spa where it was coated with CQuartz FINEST ceramic surface protection, and also had the brake calipers color matched to the wheels and the hats and hubs blacked out.
Before the wrap, JJ had a ChargeSpeed front lip and rear spats installed. Not as loud as the Rocket Bunny kits, the ChargeSpeed pieces accent the car without becoming the focus of the car.
The 18×9.5 Enkei RS05RR wheels also provide a nice, yet not overly distracting touch to the car. Wrapped in 265/30 BF Goodrich Comp 2 tires, they fill the wheel wells nicely. The TEIN Monoflex coilovers reduce the wheel gap, while also being great coilovers that make an already stellar handling car handle better.
JJ has more plans for the car, the most visible is a big APR spoiler that will match the curve of the rear of the car. Until then, we’ll have to be content with the car that the voting public loves
