I recently came across a survey saying that Scion FR-S drivers get more speeding tickets than Subaru BRZ owners along with people asking how can this be possible and should they be worried about affecting insurance costs. At first, the story might sound like some Schrodinger experiment since the same car can affect your driving style only by switching around its badge, but the story goes much simpler than that... Or is it?
According to data analyzed by Insurance.com from over 557,000 drivers in the US between January 2013 and July 2014, Scion FR-S drivers get more tickets than those driving Subaru BRZs. Thirty two percent of FR-S owners surveyed have been ticketed while only 22% of BRZ drivers went through the same deal.
On the company’s chart, this ranks the Scion FR-S as the third most ticketed car, right bellow the Pontiac GTO and the Subaru WRX, while the BRZ occupies the 125th spot, along with the SAAB 900 and the Oldsmobile Alero. An Oldsmobile, for crying out loud!
Considering the percentage and the fact that there are a lot more FR-S’ than BRZs on the road, the number of tickets heavily favors the Scion model. Even from here you could say the case is closed, but to clear it out here’s why you or the insurance companies shouldn’t treat these two models differently.
Both the Scion FR-S and the Subaru BRZ now come at around $25K, they are powered by the same 2-liter boxer engine cranking 200 hp and 151 lb-ft of torque, mated to a six-speed manual gearbox shafted to a Torsen limited slip differential at the rear. The only differences are made by slightly redesigned bumpers and a few interior trimmings.
Cops being extra sensitive to FR-S’ passing by than BRZs? No way, both cars have equally chances to be spotted by them, especially because most come in vibrant shades of blue or red.
Does one or the other turn you more or less into a hoonigan? Again, no. Both feel the same and because the solid fun-level starts at high rpm, you’ll have to keep both cars on the tip of their toes to get that adrenaline pumping. It depends on what kind of driver you are.
Toyota was preaching its affordable-back-to-basics-sportscar story on almost all media channels in 2012-2013 along with the fact that it combines the oldschool Toyota 2000GT’s styling with the hachi roku handling and simplicity to bring you pleasure even at low speeds.
Meanwhile, the Subaru BRZ gained the reputation of a secondary product resulted out of the automaker’s collaboration with Toyota. Yeah, Subaru helped with the Boxer engine and offered to build all three versions at its factory, but everyone knows Toyota came up with the whole idea and the iconic styling that makes the coupe what it is.
Then comes the fact that the GT 86 (FR-S) was selling at a lower price than the BRZ at first, because it was coming with less equipment, thus wanting to be a cheaper hooning machine. The BRZ on the other hand was trying to keep it fancy by offering the GPS as standard along with some Alcantara and a slightly better audio system for those that can’t stay in a “plastic tail-happy coop”. This set a $2,000 gap between the twin coupes.
Despite the two being on par now, the Scion FR-S has had a sales advantage due to its price tag and also because the US has more Scion dealerships than Subaru does. Which pretty much sums it up why Scion FR-S drivers get more speeding tickets.
Ultimately let's not forget what kind of customers Scion and Subaru target. While the first will atract young males that like to fit subwoofers in the trunk and impress girls with their hooning talents (I know there are exceptions, don't worry), the latter is addressing a more mature crowd, which belives in cars with pedigree and like to approach things in a different way (WRX buyers not necessarily being part of the equation).
So, should insurring a Scion FR-S over a Subaru BRZ affect your choice? Of course not, the only thing that will affect insurance prices is what kind of driver you are (age, driving history). A chart showing how many tickets different car models got over time is not an indicator that a certain car will be more expensive to insure. It’s the repairing prices after a collision that should be of interest to you, as insurance companies could ask for more cash even if your record is clean.
On the company’s chart, this ranks the Scion FR-S as the third most ticketed car, right bellow the Pontiac GTO and the Subaru WRX, while the BRZ occupies the 125th spot, along with the SAAB 900 and the Oldsmobile Alero. An Oldsmobile, for crying out loud!
Considering the percentage and the fact that there are a lot more FR-S’ than BRZs on the road, the number of tickets heavily favors the Scion model. Even from here you could say the case is closed, but to clear it out here’s why you or the insurance companies shouldn’t treat these two models differently.
Both the Scion FR-S and the Subaru BRZ now come at around $25K, they are powered by the same 2-liter boxer engine cranking 200 hp and 151 lb-ft of torque, mated to a six-speed manual gearbox shafted to a Torsen limited slip differential at the rear. The only differences are made by slightly redesigned bumpers and a few interior trimmings.
Cops being extra sensitive to FR-S’ passing by than BRZs? No way, both cars have equally chances to be spotted by them, especially because most come in vibrant shades of blue or red.
Does one or the other turn you more or less into a hoonigan? Again, no. Both feel the same and because the solid fun-level starts at high rpm, you’ll have to keep both cars on the tip of their toes to get that adrenaline pumping. It depends on what kind of driver you are.
Same cars, different sales numbers
Even so, in the first 12 months the two cars have been on sale, Scion sold almost three times more FR-S’ than Scooby did with the BRZ. And that happened because at the time these two cars surfaced the market, it was the original Toyota GT 86 (aka Scion FR-S in the US) who got all the attention and the interwebz hype.Toyota was preaching its affordable-back-to-basics-sportscar story on almost all media channels in 2012-2013 along with the fact that it combines the oldschool Toyota 2000GT’s styling with the hachi roku handling and simplicity to bring you pleasure even at low speeds.
Meanwhile, the Subaru BRZ gained the reputation of a secondary product resulted out of the automaker’s collaboration with Toyota. Yeah, Subaru helped with the Boxer engine and offered to build all three versions at its factory, but everyone knows Toyota came up with the whole idea and the iconic styling that makes the coupe what it is.
Then comes the fact that the GT 86 (FR-S) was selling at a lower price than the BRZ at first, because it was coming with less equipment, thus wanting to be a cheaper hooning machine. The BRZ on the other hand was trying to keep it fancy by offering the GPS as standard along with some Alcantara and a slightly better audio system for those that can’t stay in a “plastic tail-happy coop”. This set a $2,000 gap between the twin coupes.
Despite the two being on par now, the Scion FR-S has had a sales advantage due to its price tag and also because the US has more Scion dealerships than Subaru does. Which pretty much sums it up why Scion FR-S drivers get more speeding tickets.
Ultimately let's not forget what kind of customers Scion and Subaru target. While the first will atract young males that like to fit subwoofers in the trunk and impress girls with their hooning talents (I know there are exceptions, don't worry), the latter is addressing a more mature crowd, which belives in cars with pedigree and like to approach things in a different way (WRX buyers not necessarily being part of the equation).
So, should insurring a Scion FR-S over a Subaru BRZ affect your choice? Of course not, the only thing that will affect insurance prices is what kind of driver you are (age, driving history). A chart showing how many tickets different car models got over time is not an indicator that a certain car will be more expensive to insure. It’s the repairing prices after a collision that should be of interest to you, as insurance companies could ask for more cash even if your record is clean.
Google News