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Which sinister Scion FR-S would you buy?

Look beyond the utility. Look beyond the amenities, the infotainment, the hidden storage cubbies, and the 72-way adjustable seats. Yes, even the seats. Outside all the fluff of today's cars, there's a blank canvas waiting for an artist; cars can really come alive with a few tastefully placed modifications. These two Scion FR-S sports cars surely fall into that category, and when they both turned up on eBay, we figured we'd ask the question — which would you rather buy? The track-centric red car or the brutally simple black car ? Internet, you be the judge. The "widebody" look — with its outrageous fender flares and visible rivets—isn't for everyone, but this 2013 Scion FR-S happens to pull it off quite well. According to the listing, the pumped-up fenders, splitter, and additional aero bits are courtesy of legendary widebody purveyor Rocket Bunny. Overall, the racy body mods add a significant twinge of aggression to the once docile FR-S... a notion that's echoed underneath the hood. The heady Scion FR-S leverages an HKS supercharger system and exhaust, paired with a set of Buddy Club racing coilover shocks, Bee-R wheels wrapped in Yokohama ADVAN rubber, and a new engine management system. All in all, this looks to be one fierce track and street monster. RELATED: Check Out This Wild Toyota GT86 Wagon Concept But whereas the red car is a shout, the black car is a growl. Confident, powerful, yet restrained. The black 2013 Scion FR-S sports a sultry Varis Arising 2 body kit with carbon fiber accents lining its front lip and boot lid, as well as a brilliant set of projector headlights and Tom's taillights. The icing on the cake is the set of Work M1R gunmetal grey wheels, which come fitted with Michelin Pilot Super Sport tires. There's no supercharger in play here, but the Scion's 2.0-liter boxer engine does breathe a bit easer thanks new ceramic coated exhaust headers and a high-flow catalytic converter. It can also handle a bit better too, courtesy of sporty Cusco Street Zero 3 coilover shocks. If we're honest, both are quite jaw-dropping in their own unique styles. But which do you prefer? Related Video: This article by Zach Doell originally appeared on Boldride.com.

In the wake of Scion, who will dare to be 'different?'

When Scion launched in 2003, it brought the promise of something "different" – affordable, unique vehicles for the North American market. For a while, Scion delivered on that promise. The "box it came in" xB, the full-glass-roof tC, unconventional marketing, in-dealer "aftermarket" customization options, and no-haggle pricing were Scion specialties. Over the years Scion seemed to lose sight of the original promise, with new product becoming more mainstream and less interesting. By the time the fun-to-drive FR-S arrived, practically all other innovation had left the building, replaced by badge engineering. Sadly Scion is soon to be no more although most of it's current offerings will be rebadged and sold as Toyota's starting in 2017. Scion's website still claims it has been "different since day one," but with Scion gone, which manufacturer is likely to bring us something affordable, funky, fun, and "different" in the near future? Caveats: I am Limiting the scope of this article to mainstream manufacturers, or those who sold at least 500,000 vehicles in the US in 2015. Since the average transaction price of a new vehicle in the US is around $30,000 I am only including those companies who are playing in this neighborhood. Here are my selections in order from least likely to be "Different" to most likely. Least likely to bring something "Different" - Ford and VW Ford Mo Co - This is where the hate mail begins, but if you think about it, the current regime at Ford is about as conservative as you will find. This is not necessarily a criticism, as the cars for the masses approach has worked well for Ford and their stakeholders. But outside of the few hotted up Mustangs, Fiesta's, F150's and Focus, Ford does not veer out of it's volume model zone. I don't see this changing, Ford will continue to sell you a variety of F150's, a Taurus, Fusion or Focus and even a gaggle of SUV's. But Ford will not rock the boat by veering into the niches with unusual affordable US models. When was the last time you saw a not-for-production concept out of Ford? VW Group - In America Volkswagen can be counted on to bring the conventional. Outside of the New Beetle and EOS convertible, Volkswagen has recently only sold mainstream vehicles. You can buy a Golf (They did go crazy and call it the Rabbit for a bit) Jetta, Passat, Tiguan or Touareg. Nothing in that lineup with the possible exception of the Beetle could be considered an unusual or niche product.

J.D. Power study sees new car dependability problems increase for first time since 1998

For the first time since 1998, J.D. Power and Associates says its data shows that the average number of problems per 100 cars has increased. The finding is the result of the firm's much-touted annual Vehicle Dependability Study, which charts incidents of problems in new vehicle purchases over three years from 41,000 respondents.
Looking at first-owner cars from the 2011 model year, the study found an average of 133 problems per 100 cars (PP100, for short), up 6 percent from 126 PP100 in last year's study, which covered 2010 model-year vehicles. Disturbingly, the bulk of the increase is being attributed to engine and transmission problems, with a 6 PP100 boost.
Interestingly, JDP notes that "the decline in quality is particularly acute for vehicles with four-cylinder engines, where problem levels increase by nearly 10 PP100." Its findings also noticed that large diesel engines also tended to be more problematic than most five- and six-cylinder engines.