Scion Challenged 3 Media Outlets to Develop the Ultimate FR-S—These Are the Results

Scion’s annual Tuner Challenge, in which 3 tuners are provided a Scion, $ 15,000, and 90 days to customize the automobile for the SEMA show, has become anything we appear forward to each year. For 2014, Scion has changed things up: instead of handing the automobiles over to tuners, the automaker issued its challenge to 3 media outlets: Super Street, Speedhunters, and the GT Channel. Just days just before the automobiles (which are intended to take inspiration from the FR-S Release Series 1.) make their official debut in Vegas, Scion has just provided some information and a slick YouTube video of how every team’s ride is coming along.

GT Channel Scion Tuner Challenge FR-S

The GT Channel chose to keep the body of its vinyl-wrapped FR-S largely stock (i.e.: it didn’t fatten it) but it did add a sweet reduced physique kit, a modest (by SEMA standards) rear wing, and TRD HID headlights. The group also swapped in new taillights, side mirrors, and matte-blue 18-inch wheels. The hood, trunk cover, and rear diffuser are all carbon-fiber pieces. An HKS supercharger kit, a Ganador exhaust technique, and a slammed suspension add some go to the Scion’s show, while the interior has been dressed with a TRD steering wheel and shift knob, Recaro seats, harnesses, and of course an upgraded sound program.

Speedhunters Scion Tuner Challenge FR-S

Speedhunters’ entry is old-school in the ideal way possible. Think of vintage TRD, TRA Kyoto, Trans-Am, pro touring, and muscle vehicles, and it’s difficult not to draw a hyperlink. The team’s FR-S employs a Cosworth supercharger kit and a 3-inch single exit exhaust, among numerous other engine upgrades, and a suspension that drops the wide-physique Scion down on its custom Rotiform 17-inch wheels. The physique gets a new front splitter, fender flares, and hood louvers. The mirrors and door handles have been shorn off, and even the door glass was removed. The interior gets a 4-point roll cage, low-back bucket seats, leather upholstery, and a rapid-release steering wheel hub.

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Super Street Scion Tuner Challenge FR-S

The group from Super Street chose to stay close to the general appear and color scheme of the FR-S Release Series 1. with its construct auto, only they cranked up the volume in pretty much every single way. The body wears painted carbon-fiber side sill and splitter extensions, hood and trunk, and massive fender flares, all slammed down on prime of ultra-wide 18-inch BBS wheels. The interior gets Recaros, a 6-point roll cage, a quick-release steering wheel hub, custom upholstery, and huge audio upgrades. Beneath the hood, the FR-S’ boxer 4 engine gets person throttle bodies and breathes through a Borla header and cat-back exhaust with quad tips.

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Scion Challenged 3 Media Outlets to Develop the Ultimate FR-S—These Are the Results

Can social media quit selfish parking?

If there’s a single word assured to grind a driver’s gears it’s ‘parking’. Whether or not it is parking fines, hazardous parking, selfish parking, or just an inability to park, there’s practically nothing quite like it to get a motorist’s mad up.

For some time, motorists have taken to social media, blogs and message boards to vent their anger over parking tickets, unfair fines or even how nearby councils are fleecing automobile owners. But, increasingly, it’s the drivers themselves who are left with nowhere to hide as much more folks are taking to Twitter to post very first-hand evidence of the UK’s most inconsiderate parkers.

But can this modern-day ‘naming and shaming’ of motorists really support curb the problem of impatient parking? We caught up with the smartphone behind @ZigZagCriminals (who took the image above) to find out…

Q. What prompted you to start off @ZigZagCriminals?

A. As I drive about the Wirral I see awful parking everywhere, specifically outside schools and even close to zebra crossings. I began the twitter feed to try and shame these bad drivers with their awful, impatient parking. Certainly it wouldn’t be so challenging to park effectively?

Q. Have you had much feedback from motorists?

A. I have had feedback from the public – but it’s primarily negative as it is typically from the driver of the vehicle that ‘starred’ in the photograph.  In truth, I’ve had to report and block some quite explicit comments and Twitter has been really supportive in this.

On the other hand, I have had a handful of like-minded members of the public, locally and further afield, who agree with what I’m doing. And they have supplied more images and comments to add too.

Q. Have the police taken an interest in what you are performing?

A. Not really but the regional council appears in each and every so often and parks its camera cars in locations I’ve highlighted. So it’s nice to see anything is working.

Q. Do you consider this kind of self-policing can aid quit anti-social parking?

A. I do not think that this sort of [Twitter] feed will ever completely cease folks from this sort of terrible parking. But I am seeing it significantly less and significantly less about the areas I drive. People don’t like seeing their pride and joy (sitting on zigzags on the road) posted on the web for all to see – and a witty comment underneath.

Curbing problem parking

There’s no denying social media can be a strong weapon in the fight against unsafe parking. Not only does Wirral Borough Council verify in on @ZigZagCriminals to check for difficulty parking hotspots, a local council in Suffolk has praised a parking campaigner who publishes images of negative parking to his Facebook page.

A Waveney District Council spokesperson said of the ‘Park it Right’ Facebook page based in Lowestoft, Norfolk:

“Any public help and awareness for considerate parking can only be a very good factor and if folks want to report incidents to us they can contact us or appear up ‘nuisance parking’ on our web site.”

And if naming and shaming a driver is enough to make them believe twice about stopping on college zig-zags or gate-crashing a disabled bay, it has to be worth a rapid tweet.

Just make sure you exercising a bit of caution and typical sense when carrying out so – there’s no telling how some drivers will take to getting outed as a zig-zag criminal.

Would you name and shame an inconsiderate driver? Or have you ever taken to social media to complain about someone’s drivng? Let us know…

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Can social media quit selfish parking?