[_Sam]

After roughly 2 years and ~60k km, I decided to sell my '09 6-Speed. Was delivered to its new owner May 1st. Was still doing well enough, but it was time for me to move on into something different.

I didn't realize until after I bought it that it was below any base model that was available in the United States. It had a cloth interior, no nav/fog lights, and didn't even have LED headlights. Was still my first "nice" car and I really enjoyed it. Eventually the typical 2nd gen issues started happening. The EPS was never fully functional, the rear brake issue reared its ugly head, and the timing chain was nearing time for replacement - none being costs I wished to invest.

May be time for a CL9, but for now, it's warm enough to commute on my motorcycle. If anyone in Calgary and surrounding area is selling or knows of one, feel free to let me know. Looking for something clean and low-ish mileage, with a manual being a requirement. Not interested in buying outside of Canada.

 

[CalgaryTSX]

I thought for sure you were in Vancouver and area not Calgary!

I never warmed up to the 2nd Gen TSX's. No real reason. Heavier, the "Acura beak", who knows..

Instead of selling our 1st Gen, we ended up getting a winter beater (Honda HRV). It is totally lame but they are cheap, excellent fuel economy, surprisingly amount of room in it and a great winter beater...

If I was shopping for a sporty new car for wifey, I would go straight to a Civic Type R.
In a dark exterior color and I would remove the rear wing and other exterior goofyness.
Tame down the exterior and it's a great car. Performance, 5 door hatch, manual 6 speed trans.
They are reliable if you keep the engine mostly stock and don't beat on the car.

Finding a low mile, rust free 6 speed manual trans 1st Gen TSX will be tough.
I would be focussing on Vancouver and area. No winter salt there.

Good luck with whatever car you end up with!

 

[_Sam]

Technically Okotoks but close enough.

Inner BC and Vancouver/island has been the main focus. Just haven’t found anything yet. I did like the TSX, but it was just stuck between luxury and sport, but not really in a good way. It lacked any steering feedback, was relatively heavy, and wasn’t as quick as I was hoping. The stereo and fuel economy was awesome though.

 

[_Sam]

Ended up finding a decent FR-S up in the north end of Calgary. Got a great deal on it, too.

 

[CalgaryTSX]

Lol, quite the change from a 4 door, front wheel drive, 2nd Gen TSX!

My young, single nephew has one of those. He too bought it cheap, not nearly as nice as yours, it's his winter beater. In addition to his lifted Dodge diesel 4wd and his older GSXR1000.
Terrific winter car, excellent fuel economy and fun to drive.

It's the only "Subaru" I have ever liked. RWD, manual trans, super light. Essentially a Miata with a roof!
It's actually not much smaller or different than my Fox body 5.0 Mustang. I should take a pic of the 2 together sometime.
FRS/BRZ: RWD, 200HP, manual trans, 2800lbs. Has A/C.
My '89 5.0L Fox. RWD, 360HP, manual trans, 3200lbs (it has a 6 point rollbar, but no A/C).


I'm not a Toyota fan at all, boring cars and over-rated trucks, but I see that Toyota has finally introduced their 1st interesting car in about 25 years. The 300hp Corolla GR, AWD hatch.
I suspect to compete with the Civic Type R and the Golf R.

 

[sonyfever]

Great choice, FRS/86 is a fun car. I always feel it is similar to CL9 in the sense that both are inexpensive with sporty handling, both are 50hp underpowered, and most importantly have a chassis that is friendly but can evolve with the driver.

I am sure you will have tons of fun with it, plus way more fun modifying it if you choose so.

 

[_Sam]

Lol, quite the change from a 4 door, front wheel drive, 2nd Gen TSX!

My young, single nephew has one of those. He too bought it cheap, not nearly as nice as yours, it's his winter beater. In addition to his lifted Dodge diesel 4wd and his older GSXR1000.
Terrific winter car, excellent fuel economy and fun to drive.

It's the only "Subaru" I have ever liked. RWD, manual trans, super light. Essentially a Miata with a roof!
It's actually not much smaller or different than my Fox body 5.0 Mustang. I should take a pic of the 2 together sometime.
FRS/BRZ: RWD, 200HP, manual trans, 2800lbs. Has A/C.
My '89 5.0L Fox. RWD, 360HP, manual trans, 3200lbs (it has a 6 point rollbar, but no A/C).


I'm not a Toyota fan at all, boring cars and over-rated trucks, but I see that Toyota has finally introduced their 1st interesting car in about 25 years. The 300hp Corolla GR, AWD hatch.
I suspect to compete with the Civic Type R and the Golf R.

Mine isn’t quite as nice as the pic suggests. It’s almost mint, but has maybe three rust spots the size of a freckle. It too was this guy’s daily driver - including winters - since new. Still, can’t complain at $10,000.

My biggest knock against the Miata was that it was a convertible. That, and I’m too tall for them.

Had an ‘85 Supra a couple years ago, but not a huge fan of their new stuff either.

 

[_Sam]

Great choice, FRS/86 is a fun car. I always feel it is similar to CL9 in the sense that both are inexpensive with sporty handling, both are 50hp underpowered, and most importantly have a chassis that is friendly but can evolve with the driver.

I am sure you will have tons of fun with it, plus way more fun modifying it if you choose so.

That’s a great way of putting it. I’m looking forward to seeing what I can do with it. I won’t be putting too much more power into it but I love how balanced the thing is.

 

[CalgaryTSX]

I always feel it is similar to CL9 in the sense that both are inexpensive with sporty handling, both are 50hp underpowered, and most importantly have a chassis that is friendly but can evolve with the driver.

Interesting... Apples to oranges would be my thoughts..

Our 1st Gen TSX: FWD, 2.4L, maybe 220FWHP with it's minor mods, manual trans, 3200 lbs.
FRS/BRZ: RWD, 2.0L, 200FWHP, manual trans, 2800lbs.

I highly suspect an FRS would run away from a 1st Gen/CL9 TSX in any performance comparison.
RWD is superior, 400lbs is a ton when only dealing with 200-220HP engines.
FRS would get way better fuel economy.

Just going by my nephews BRZ, our TSX is way nicer, way more refined in every way though.
Build quality, component quality, interior quality, ride and sound quality.
Way more room inside, front, back and trunk.
But the TSX cost way more than a BRZ/FRS when both were new.

Interesting discussion either way..

 

[_Sam]

Interesting... Apples to oranges would be my thoughts..

Our 1st Gen TSX: FWD, 2.4L, maybe 220FWHP with it's minor mods, manual trans, 3200 lbs.
FRS/BRZ: RWD, 2.0L, 200FWHP, manual trans, 2800lbs.

I highly suspect an FRS would run away from a 1st Gen/CL9 TSX in any performance comparison.
RWD is superior, 400lbs is a ton when only dealing with 200-220HP engines.
FRS would get way better fuel economy.

Just going by my nephews BRZ, our TSX is way nicer, way more refined in every way though.
Build quality, component quality, interior quality, ride and sound quality.
Way more room inside, front, back and trunk.
But the TSX cost way more than a BRZ/FRS when both were new.

Interesting discussion either way..

The FR-S would destroy my old TSX in literally every performance metric and it wouldn’t come close. I was amazed at the fuel economy this thing gets. If I take it easy, I average ~7L/100km.

The road noise on the FR-S sucks but it needs new tires soon anyway so I’m chalking most of it up to that. The TSX was a much nicer car though, but this suits me better at this stage of my life.

 

[CalgaryTSX]

Averaging 7L/100km, 40MPG Imperial, 33.6MPG US is excellent.
That's about what our totally lame front wheel drive, CVT trans HRV averages in the winter.. and the only good thing about that vehicle.

Our TSX does not do that even with my wife driving on a long highway trip...

Another comparison:

FRS/BRZ: RWD, 2.0L, 200FWHP, manual trans, 2800lbs.
Our Honda HRV: Front wheel drive, 1.8L, 140FWHP, CVT trans, 2900lbs.

The CVT trans makes you want to drive the thing off a cliff...

 

[_Sam]

Averaging 7L/100km, 40MPG Imperial, 33.6MPG US is excellent.
That's about what our totally lame front wheel drive, CVT trans HRV averages in the winter.. and the only good thing about that vehicle.

Our TSX does not do that even with my wife driving on a long highway trip...

Another comparison:

FRS/BRZ: RWD, 2.0L, 200FWHP, manual trans, 2800lbs.
Our Honda HRV: Front wheel drive, 1.8L, 140FWHP, CVT trans, 2900lbs.

The CVT trans makes you want to drive the thing off a cliff...

Ouch - that sounds miserable. Sounds like you need to switch to an FR-S as a winter beater!

 

[CalgaryTSX]

Ouch - that sounds miserable. Sounds like you need to switch to an FR-S as a winter beater!

Lol.. there is an issue though.. How do you fit 4 pairs of ski's and all our ski gear into an FRS?!!

 

[_Sam]

Lol.. there is an issue though.. How do you fit 4 pairs of ski's and all our ski gear into an FRS?!!

Uhhhhhh, ski rack?

Yeah, I got nothing. Trunk is pretty spacious when you fold the back seats down but it’s probably still inadequate.