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Rumorpile: No Hybrid Powertrain For The FR-S

By William Maley

· 6,231 views

  • Cross out hybrid powertrain for the FR-S

One of the rumors that has been floating around for the past year or so was the Scion FR-S (Toyota GT86) possibly getting a hybrid powertrain as a way of boosting power.

"I hope to make an engine upgrade at least one time with this car. We [have] already tried all possibilities and there are several types of 86 prototypes at the Toyota proving ground now; one is a turbocharger, one is bigger displacement and [the other is a] special hybrid system," said Tetsuya Tada, chief engineer of the FR-S last August.

Well it seems that the hybrid powertrain is out. According to Autocar, Toyota is having a tough time trying to make a business case for a hybrid FR-S.

"We can create a product with this technology, but it needs to make proper business sense. We have to prioritise,” said Toyota marketing director Fabio Capano.

Source: Autocar

William Maley is a staff writer for Cheers & Gears. He can be reached at [email protected] or you can follow him on twitter at @realmudmonster.

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    Mentor

    A Horse With No Name

    Members

    It is a car built to a low price point in a small market. Hybrid does not make sense for this.

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    • Mentor

    smk4565

    Members

    Hybrids are heavy because batteries are heavy. The whole point of this car is to be light weight, if you put 500 lbs in you defeat the purpose. The base engine is fine, but this car needed a turbo yesterday, because no matter how well it might handle, there are always people that will want power, and if you don't offer a more powerful engine, they can go by a Genesis Coupe or Mustang.

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    • Newbie

    ocnblu

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    (edited)

    I'd better not comment in this thread. :)

    Edited by ocnblu

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    • Agree 1
    Grand Master

    G. David Felt

    Members

    I'd better not comment in this thread. :)

    Penny for your thoughts....

    I give ya a Nickle after all it is the 21st century. Give us your thought and then go buy a nickle gum ball! :P

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    • Newbie

    FAPTurbo

    Members

    If Toyota needs a reason why this is a bad idea, I'm sure Honda would be happy to send over an unsold CR-Z.

    Why are people and Toyota fixated on making big changes to the FR-S/FT-86? It's near-perfect for what it is. There's no real need for extra power, because that's not what the car is about.

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    • Agree 2
    Mentor

    A Horse With No Name

    Members
    (edited)

    Why are people and Toyota fixated on making big changes to the FR-S/FT-86? It's near-perfect for what it is.

    Quoted for truth.

    Edited by A Horse With No Name

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    • Mentor

    A Horse With No Name

    Members

    The Miata's gone this long doing what it does. The FR-S can do the same.

    Exactly. Now if Buick could just build a small car with the vibe of the Miata and FRS, and some GM goodness thrown in, we would be in business. Call it the Wildcat, perhaps.

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    • Newbie

    Tyran

    Members

    I would very much like to see a GM competitor for the FRS.

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    • Agree 3
    Mentor

    A Horse With No Name

    Members

    I would very much like to see a GM competitor for the FRS.

     

     

    You and me both!

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