What cars compete with the Toyobaru?

[hatchi]

I told a friend a while back about my criteria for a basic cool car: two door, RWD, decent motor and a stick.

Now the friend is looking for a car, and while agreeing with my criteria seems to be tempted by hot(ish) FWD stuff. I owned a V6 GTI and my belief is somewhere around 200HP the FWD just isn't the right technology in a small car. (OK, different equation in a 6,000 lb Cadillac DTS or something).

So, the Toyobaru fits my criteria nicely, and I'm interested. I'm driving a 15 year old Toyota truck, bought new, that has been a great vehicle. I'm a fan of the brand.

And, to take the closest competitor, the Nissan Z seems like a proven, fast package with a lot more more than the Suburu Boxer on it's very best day ever ... might the Toyoburu be a bit anemic in the end? Many people here talk about the Celica, but the last Celica I remember was just another FWD Toy with a nicer-than-average body.

Why are you interested in this car, and how do you see it having advantages over it's main competitors.

This car is interesting, especially if they manage to keep the price to the low $20,000s. If you start pushing $30K there are some other options: the Z-370 lists at $32K and it's got a 320HP motor in it. The Mustang GT starts at $29K and has a 400HP V8. The Dodge Challenger is the size of a Crown Vic, so it's not really appealing, but the new Camaro looks reasonable, and the SS has 425hp, again low $30s.

All of these you pay a MPG penalty. Other than that the only cars I could think of were the Miata (don't like convertables & too dinky) and probably some BMW which is overpriced.

Are there others I'm missing? What cars do you think will compare with this. (Obviously there are many hot hatches in FWD - but sticking to RWD you get a much shorter list.)

[FR_S_Fan]

I can name a lot of sport coupes out their but comparing the FR-S directly to another vehicle with similar things is hard. There's not a lot of front engine, rear wheel drive compact cars coming out today, once the FR-S is out, I think then we can wait for some real FR-86 competition.

[AK1RA07]

Hyundai Genesis Coupe seems to be the closest direct competitor (2.0T starts at about 23K. 210hp, 6-speed, RWD.) but I'm sure this is meant to compete with any of the mid to low end sport coupes (e.g. Eclipse, Miata, Civic Si, V6 Mustang or Camaro etc.) Hopefully with its release, we'll see some revival to the market.. a 240SX comeback would be nice to see!

[FR_S_Fan]

Hyundai Genesis Coupe seems to be the closest direct competitor (2.0T starts at about 23K. 210hp, 6-speed, RWD.) but I'm sure this is meant to compete with any of the mid to low end sport coupes (e.g. Eclipse, Miata, Civic Si, V6 Mustang or Camaro etc.) Hopefully with its release, we'll see some revival to the market.. a 240SX comeback would be nice to see!

240SX comeback sound really good to me and with Toyota bringing back the AE86 as the FT-86, there's a good chance we will see a new car based off of the 240SX.

[AE86]

It would be best if all car makers brought back their true sports cars! if mazda remade the real RX-7 not the joke fest rx-7 and if toyota made a new toyota supra and etc the sports car market would be amazing !

[FT86-guy]

240SX comeback sound really good to me and with Toyota bringing back the AE86 as the FT-86, there's a good chance we will see a new car based off of the 240SX.

There will never be a "new" 240sx. There are a lot of reasons why Nissan won't make one and its honestly too long to list. They always like to build up hype pretending that they "might" make a new 240sx but it never happens and never will. The 370Z was marketed by Nissan as the new 240sx back in its development stage but then they just released it as the new Z car.

As far as competition for the FR-S there's only a few. Some are old and some are new but regardless these are cars that people will cross-shop when deciding to get an FR-S. These are the Hyundai Genesis 2.0T, Nissan 350Z, Nissan 370Z, Honda S2000, Infiniti G35, Infiniti G37, Ford Mustang, and Chevy Camaro.