What do you do to a brand-new, 2,000-mile FR-S that's being built by three magazines simultaneously? You slap a wide-body kit on it and repaint it, of course. Why? Because show car.
I'm not a huge fan of going over the top with cars (my editorial explains why), but this FR-S represents what happens when you have free reign to build a car with very few restrictions.
I was quite happy to hear that ours was to be one of the few cars originally getting a GReddy x Rocket Bunny kit, but as you've probably seen all over the Internet, we definitely aren't the only ones with it. Thankfully, I think our execution and final product stands out among the others.
It wasn't easy choosing a color, especially with more than six editors and others adding their input. Luckily, Import Tuner head honcho and master of car style, Charles Trieu, suggested we go with a British Racing Green-like color, and it couldn't have turned out any better. The talented folks at The Shop Automotive in Culver City, California, worked many late hours fitting and painting the kit and car. Their hard work paid off, though, as the finish on the Garage FR-S is impeccable, with a mirrorlike reflection.
| 
| The Rocket Bunny kit consists of a one-piece front lip spoiler, side skirts, four-piece front over-fenders that extend 40 mm per side, four-piece rear over-fenders that are 65 mm wider, and a one-piece rear under diffuser. All these parts are made from FRP, but fitment is far better than typical kits on the market.
There's also an optional GT wing that measures a hefty 1,600 mm by 380 mm. It mounts to the backside of the trunk by way of dual CNC cut metal uprights.
As the pictures show, installation of this kit requires plenty of drilling and cutting, so I suggest you leave it up to professionals, because the last thing you want is an ill-fitting $5,000 body kit on your new $25,000 automobile. This ain't no S13 drift missile we're building here; it's gotta be perfect.
| Speaking of perfection, the wheels selected for this car are nothing short of that. A custom-built set of BBS E88 motorsports wheels were ordered from BBS Motorsport in Germany and finished off in a dazzling white color. Fitment was critical, and after our first sizing attempt left too much sunkenness up front, a rather tedious barrel change fixed the issue. The final specs measure 18x10 +3 up front and 18x11.5 -4 in the rear. Even then, the rear fitment was still off, so we had to add 15mm spacers to help bring the wheel out to proper flushness.
| 
| For track use, a set of Toyo Proxes RS1 full slick competition tires will be used. Measuring 245/640R18 up front and 285/650R18 in the rear (the unusually high middle numbers in the tire code refer to outer diameters in millimeters instead of aspect ratios) means we'll have more traction than the FR-S can handle. One thing to note about the RS1 is that the slicks are wider in girth than normal street tires, so a 285 is more like a 305. Remember that if you plan on running a set of these. On the street, some Nitto NT05 245/40R18 and 285/35R18 high-performance summer tires handle the task of keeping the FRS adhered to the road.
One simple yet very important and effective decision makes this car stand out from the rest. Most of you know how much sponsors love to have their decals placed on a car, especially for SEMA. I hate this trend, as it takes away from the car tremendously, and along with the other editors, I fought hard to ensure it would be free of decals. The reward is an FR-S that can be admired for its lines and sheer beauty rather than what's been plastered all over it.
Visually, the Garage FR-S project car is complete, but have a close gander at some of the photos in this spread, and you may see what's in store in the very near future.
