Ah, Las Vegas. Home of neon lights, casinos and North America’s largest after market specialty car show, SEMA.
The Scion team went down to sin city to check out the latest offerings from manufacturers big and small and from near and far to spot the newest products and technology hitting the market. With so many brands, manufacturers and automakers in attendance, it’s no wonder it’s considered mecca for automotive enthusiasts like us.
There are over 1,500 vehicles on display at the show – which spans over 3,200,000 square feet of floor space and parking lots surrounding the Las Vegas Convention Center. With an exciting array of parts and accessories for vehicles of all shapes and sizes, it’s easy to miss some cars. So here’s a quick recap of our favourite 10 Scion builds we spotted at SEMA and SEMA Ignited. Enjoy!
Like what you see and want more? Be sure to follow @ScionCanada on Facebook,Twitter, Instagram, and now Periscope for live coverage and exclusive access to future events and happenings.
Some newbies out there might think of Scion as just another automotive manufacturer spewing out small gas saving cars designated by variations of 2 or 3 letters with alternating cases. For those who really know, it’s much more than that. Scion owners are a breed of enthusiasts that cannot be duplicated. Their passion for Scion is unparalleled. It’s not a hobby, it’s a life. It’s the Scion Life.
When the first xB was unveiled in North America back in 2003, Toyota took a risk to start a new brand and bring over their rolling box into our market. The quirky styling of the first generation Scions were different from anything available at the time. Were people ready for the xB? You bet they were. In the first year, almost 100,000 Scions were sold and hit a chord with every demographic. In the blink of an eye, you would see xB’s and xA’s being represented by tuners, fabricators, racers, hip hoppers, families, old people, and young people. It was at this point that everyone recognized the Scion Life and the industry would never be the same.
Fast-forward to present day and you can’t drive one city block without seeing a Scion, either stock or fixed up. In Vancouver, Mati Ma of 604 Scion saved up his money for nearly four years in order to buy the xB that he always wanted (that’s a lot of top ramen lunches and dinners). Mati enjoys the west coast cult status of Scion but sees it spreading quickly through Canada on the eastern borders. Canadians will have no trouble customizing their rides according to Mati, “There are tons of companies making parts for Scions in a gazillion styles so it’s easy to start fixing up your car right away, customized to your own style.” His rapidly expanding group provides support, event coverage and meet-up details to BC owners and enthusiasts.
There are thousands of diehard Scion owners that devote their lives to a brand that fully embraces their supporters, which is rare in this day and age. I guarantee that if I grabbed 100 Scion owners off of the street, their descriptions of the lifestyle would have miniscule variations, if any at all. In fact, we chased down a couple more Scion owners just to prove that point.
Martin Trujillo reminisces about his first encounter with Scion as “funky, cool, and different. Like nothing I had ever seen before.” He’s met so many people by modding up his Scion that he couldn’t get out of the Scion Life if he tried, not that he wants to. When we asked Kirby Quinto what set Scion owners apart from the rest, he said “We don’t steal from each other. To me, Scion owners are how automobile enthusiasts should be. We show togetherness and embrace any new owners that introduce themselves in the scene. It’s not about how your car looks or how fast. It’s about you as a person showing love for the Scion brand.”
Scion Life is more than just a trend, it’s a worldwide movement. And if you’re lucky enough to be reading this from the front seat of your new Scion this new world will soon open up to you in time. Just remember to continue spreading the Scion Life to everyone that you come in contact with to ensure that the daisy chain will never end.
Scion Life was originally published in Issue 3 of Scion Magazine. To read more, visit scion.ca/magazine
Formula Drift Canada's biggest round of the year was set to take place at the home of Canadian drifting, the place where it all started for me, Autodrome St.Eustache!
The track is about 30 minutes outside of Montreal, and over 10,000 people came out to watch. The fans are truly the best in the world, very vocal about what they like by cheering loudly or chanting one more time when there is a close run. It's quite an electric feeling at St. Eustache, and one that I look forward to attending each and every year.
Going into this round we decided to freshen up the tune in our 2JZ-powered Scion FR-S, so Sasha from Onpoint Dyno came in and together we were able to get an extra 80lb-ft and 40hp. We also changed our alignment settings to get the maximum amount of mechanical grip possible. The car was as strong as it could be for the weekend.
Practice day was on Saturday. We did a few laps working on our set up, but the rear gearing wasn’t right. I always come to events with 3 differentials with different gear ratios, so we decided to swap the one that was in the car for what we felt was a ratio better suited for the track. Unfortunately we had some problems installing the new differential, so we didn't have a chance to test it out that day but we would be ready for battle the next day!
Qualifying day. The track layout we were running is one of my favorites. Despite the lack of practice the day before, I was confident that we would be able to get the hang of it quickly. We started our second day of practice strong. Our rear end gear choice was spot on! For the rest of the day I pretty much ran the same lap. Placing the car in the same spot every time. My first qualifying lap was pretty good. Typically on the first qualifying lap, I drive with a little bit in reserve and pulled off a good run with a score of 85. On my second lap I went all out and put down probably my best lap of the weekend! That gave me a score of 91 with a final qualifying position of 3rd place!
The competition was set up as a top 32, and our first battle was against Riley Sexsmith. Riley and I are good friends off the track so it was a bit disappointing for both of us that we had to go against each other in the first round. I was to lead first. I ran a lap very similar to my qualifying lap, Riley kept up but made a few small mistakes in the follow position. When we switched positions, I stuck with Riley through the course and was awarded the win. Next up, top 16…
The Top 16 ceremony was pretty cool. I rolled out with my fellow Scion Racing driver Fredric Aasbo. It was my birthday that day as well so the crowd gave me a loud "happy birthday" after my introduction! After the intros were done Fredric and I did tandem donuts while Lisa with Scion Canada rode in my car shooting live on Periscope! You can check out the video below.
In the top 16 I went up against Dean "karnage" Kearney in his Dodge Viper. I led first, and once again ran the same line I had been running all weekend. Dean stuck with me through the entire course until we got to the last clipping point, where he got too close, bumping into me and causing me to spin. When I spun around he proceeded to drive over my right front wheel, damaging my steering. We rushed back to the pits to assess the damage. The steering rack, rack spacer and inner tie rod was bent. The judges declared Dean at fault, so we were given about 25 minutes to fix my car. We scrambled to get it straight, I had a spare inner tie rod and spare steering rack but there was not enough time to do the rack. So we bashed it straight with a hammer the best we could. Time had run out and my car was far from perfect with the front toe being out almost 2 inches, but I wasn’t ready to back down from this battle. I pulled up to the line first and the crowd cheered very loud. I was a bit worried about what my car was going to do in the first corner when we initiated drift, but Dean slowed down a lot more than I expected and I straighten out. I spent the rest of the run trying to catch up. The Judges called for "one more time". But as I drove back to the pits my clutch started to slip really badly. I had hoped it was just over heated and that during the tire change it would cool off enough to do our next run, but it didn’t. The car wouldn't move at all, which meant that our weekend was done.
Overall it was a great event. Everyone was saying it was the best drifting they had ever seen me do and the support and love from the fans made it one of the most memorable weekends of the season. I am really feeling at one with my Scion FR-S and we're only going to get better in the years to come! We’ll be racing again soon and our clutch is out getting rebuilt so it won’t be long before I’ll be sideways again.
The engine in the Speed Academy Scion FR-S has been extremely reliable, having not only survived a turbocharger and nitrous injection prior to Peter and Dave’s involvement, but also having run strong at Targa Newfoundland last year where it finished 3rd in class and 6th overall.
But with another weeklong endurance race on the schedule, this year running the car in the inaugural Ontario1500 event, the Speed Academy team decided to take the precautionary measure of swapping in a low mileage FA20 engine prior to installing a Jackson Racing supercharger kit.
As Dave explained, “For Targa Newfoundland we felt the stock FA20 engine was a perfect fit, since its 200 horsepower would be more than enough for us to run competitively. For Ontario1500, however, we really wanted to boost engine output since we’d be running against some very fast track-prepped machines. After doing a lot of research on forced induction solutions for the FR-S, we settled on the Jackson Racing supercharger kit, which offers what we consider the best combination of reliability and performance.”
The JR kit looks a bit intimidating all laid out on the shop floor prior to installation, but the instructions provided are outstanding and Peter, Dave and their shopmate Ken had the supercharger up and running after about 8 hours of wrenching.
They also installed Jackson Racing’s track engine oil cooler kit, which features a large capacity Sebtrab oil cooler (left) that’s integrated beautifully on a mounting bracket that’s also used for the supercharger’s oil cooler (right). Peter and Ken tested it for leaks (above), and the Speed Academy team is happy to report that oil temps are perfectly controlled by this setup during a recent track test.
But before track testing, Sasha from OnPoint Dyno worked his magic dyno tuning the ECU for the 9 psi of boost pressure the Rotrex supercharger makes at 7,000 RPM.
The end result of the OnPoint custom tune on 94 octane was a rock solid 262 horsepower at the rear wheels. That’s almost 90 wheel horsepower more than the engine produced last year and should make this FR-S a serious contender during Ontario1500.
Engine Swap video:
Supercharger kit install video:
Dyno Tuning video:
Be sure to check out the Speed Academy YouTube video series covering the entire buildup prior to Ontario1500, including the engine swap, Jackson Racing supercharger installation and dyno tuning episodes above.
Peter and Dave from Speed Academy have been hard at work this summer preparing their Scion Racing FR-S to compete in the inaugural Ontario-1500.
Racing on 6 different road courses in Ontario for a week straight in mid September means the Speed Academy FR-S requires equal parts mechanical grip and aerodynamic grip. So although Peter and Dave loved the Zele wing they ran on the car during Targa Newfoundland last year, this year they’ve stepped up to a true GT race wing from highly regarded Japanese aero manufacturer Voltex.
Those funky looking swan neck pedestal mounts aren’t just for looks, they actually clean up airflow on the bottom side of the wing where all the downforce is made (contrary to popular belief, the curve along the bottom surface is what creates downforce on a proper airfoil shaped wing like this Voltex Type 7 GT wing).
You know it’s a serious wing when it comes with a massive carbon fiber backing plate that secures it to the underside of the trunk lid and distributes the load across a very large area.
The boys at Speed Academy did have to trim the underside of the trunk to fit this plate, but the end result is very clean and very strong.
With the wing install completed, it was time to bolt up the new wheels for 2015. Last year they ran forged Volk Race CE28RT wheels in bright red, but this year they’ve decided to change up the look of the car with this stunning set of Advan GT wheels in Titanium Blue. These are also a forged wheel manufactured by Rays Engineering in Japan, so weight has been kept at a minimum and strength at a maximum.
Plus Peter and Dave love how concave the face is on these wheels. Delish!
They’ve changed things up in the tire department, opting to run Toyo Proxes R1R extreme performance summer tires this year. As Dave put it, “We’ve had a lot of racing success on Toyo tires over the years, including 7 race wins in the Canadian Touring Car Championship, so we’re excited to run on the R1R compound for Ontario1500, which perform extremely well in both wet and dry conditions.”
There’s lots more to come from Speed Academy on their FR-S build this summer, including swapping in a low mileage FA20 engine and adding a forced induction kit to it, but in the meantime check out their JDM love-fest video covering all the parts above.
This fall marks an exciting time for us at Scion. Not only are we coming up on our five-year anniversary since our debut in Canada, we’re welcoming a new member of the family: the 2016 Scion iM. Here are five things you may or may not have known about the iM.
DUAL-ZONE CLIMATE CONTROL
Have you ever gone on a road trip where you and your passenger just couldn’t agree on the in-car temperature? You prefer it cool, they prefer it warm, but what’s a driver to do? The iM comes standard with dual-zone climate control. That means your passenger and you can travel comfortably with the perfect individual climate so neither of you are left in the cold.
BACKUP CAMERA
You can rely on the iM’s backup camera that allows you to see what’s behind your vehicle while backing out of a space.
LED HEADLIGHTS & TAILLIGHTS
LED daytime running lights and taillights give the iM a modern and dynamic look from the front and the back. Halogen headlamps also run automatically and power-adjustable mirrors come standard with turn-signal indicators to ensure visibility and safety.
17” ALLOY WHEELS
The iM sits on aggressively styled 17” aluminum alloy wheels giving your car the looks and the grip it needs to hit the highway or cruise the streets.
AHA RADIO
Housed in the piano black dash, Aha radio provides the in-car entertainment and connects with your smartphone to make any trip more enjoyable. Accompanied by a Pioneer audio system with 7” touchscreen display, the Aha experience allows your to access and organize your favourite content from the web into personalized stations in real-time.
You can now visit your local Scion dealer to check out our sporty new hatchback that comes ready for adventure. With space, versatility and a fun-to-drive experience powered by the 137-horsepower 4-cylinder engine, the only question left is are you ready? #iMalwaysready
