MikeJim

56-year-old Toyota CEO Akio Toyoda puts on a racing suit to rev excitement at the humbled auto giant. When he races, he's flanked by a pair of leather-clad female chaperones holding parasols. The Gazoo Ladies, named after Toyota's Gazoo Racing motor sports team, are part of Mr. Toyoda's racing entourage and draw a big following in Japan.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000...156140438.html



Mr. Toyoda says he honed his driving skills in the 1980s driving a used Porsche in Manhattan, where he was working as an investment banker. He bought it after someone stole his Toyota Celica. The Porsche is long gone, but Mr. Toyoda likes to show off his Porsche ballpoint pen clad in the steel mesh used to protect wiring under the hood. "Look at this," he told a reporter Thursday. "It's just like an auto part."

NJcroc

I think this is awesome, a stronger challange to move cars into non-bland exciting machines will help everyone. It is almost sickening how boring most cars are

Paddy

Great article. I'm interested in seeing the new FR-S at the track and hopefully have a student that drives one.

GTgears

Gazoo won both classes they entered at the 24 Hours of the Ring with the FR-S. I think the car holds great future. I've got 1200 miles on my BRZ and will be getting it on track very soon. In the meantime, I am taking the Field of Dreams approach to product development. If I build it they will come...

pontifex4

I think this is a pretty safe bet: that car is going to be everywhere wheels are spun.

multi21

What is your first impressions of the car? I assume it doesn't come with an LSD

67King

Hmm.....is that a torque biasing diff, or do my eyes decieve me? Thought you were all clutch type?

Turn3 Autosport

Me thinks you are looking at an OEM diff pulled from a car...

preetham

It is nice to see the CEO of a car company in a racing suit driving around the ring. Toyota lost a decade building for the mass market. I see a good future ahead. For us enthusiasts, the more the merrier.

GTgears

This is correct. That's the stock torsen I removed to measure. Though we are not all clutchy type. We make both clutch type and torsen differentials. Though for this car, we'll only do a clutch type variant.

As for driving impressions? I love it. It reminds me a lot of my '83 RX-7 with with a 200hp flat four pushing it. I personally find no issue with the power levels, though I know many have expressed concerns about it. My only complaint is the torsen differential. It makes the rear end tuck a little too much for my taste and leaves the car a little tight at the apex of corners. I'd like it a little looser.

Obviously, such a thing is not just the differential. a Forester XT stock rear sway bar is a direct bolt in for it and I've been told that's an immediately noticeable improvement. I'll figure all of that out with time. My car is going to be tracked and raced, so it won't be on the stock suspension for more than 6 months. But given what we do, the first things we're doing with it are developing an LSD and figuring out how to install our sequential gearbox into it.

preetham

hoping to read more on the mods and track experience for these cars. I Test drove a FRS a couple of weeks back and liked it a lot. I am hoping to pick one up used next year and reduce weight and make some suspension changes to build a track car. Will build more aftermarket components from there on based on my track experience.

Mvez

I'm sure we'll see a Guard-equipped version in ST next year.....

GTgears

If you know of someone building a car, put them in touch with me. I wasn't planning on running mine until 2014. But GA or WC is the end location for my personal car...

xsboost90

damnit i was hoping someone would talk me out of buying an FRS but it looks like i'll have to keep my eye open now. Cant wait to drive one.

GTgears

My man on the inside at SOA has managed to get his grimey little hands on one of only 4 spare BRZ gearboxes in all of North America. He had to provide them my vin and tell them that I was building a racecar and that I needed a spare. I guess that's mostly true...