How satisfied are you with your FR-S/BRZ?
 

Exactly what the title says, how do you guys/gals like your FR-S or BRZ? Negatives and positives of the car? I ask this as I have been considering one to get for my dd but a neighbor of mine has an immaculate stock AE86 :drool: that he is considering putting up for sale. So a better question would be what would you guys say get a FR-S/BRZ or the AE86?

I believe we have a thread similar to this already.

Issues
_____

Lack of power
Terrible tires
Not always practical but does that job
Spent a lot of money to make the car the way I wanted to perform.
Oh and that terrible terrible terrible god forsaken gearbox.

The good
________

Best new car for the price
Looks like a million bucks
Awesome chassis
Great seats
Very good stock steering feel and suspension
Fun to drive.

I am tired of hearing everyone talk about "lack of power". That is debatable. It's a high revving motor and you have to keep it up in the RPM range to feel the power. If you want low end power then you are going the wrong way. The car does have a good low end torque feel. The gearbox is sweet so I am not sure what Rocket.BRZ is speaking of. The tires are put on the car on purpose to induce sliding with less effort.

I do feel the gas mileage could be a bit better. It's not bad but I expected better. Others will disagree. It's a niche car and you have to understand why the car was made. If you like inspiration behind the vehicle then you will enjoy owning the car. I would prefer a slightly taller final drive gear ratio. Yet I can see the rationale behind the lower final gear ratio from the factory.

All and all I have love my FRS. Test drive one and see what you think.

In regard to buying an AE86. I would go for a new car because of warranty and obviously it being NEW. Good luck and let us know what you end up doing. Cheers!

Get one. There's a reason why it's being raved about by all the sports car journals. I too am mystified by the naysayers. The car has excellent handling right out of the box. It's sexy and for the price it can't be beat.

Another thing that you might not have considered is, does the ae86 have airbags? The years it was produced makes me think it doesn't. I had an '88 celica that had no airbags, and when I was in my accident... Well, I was incredibly lucky walking away without a scratch.


The FRS/BRZ have incredible crash ratings (5 star). So it's safe and fun, though not always practical. :)

I love my car. It makes me smile every time I walk out to get in it.

Literally. I'll look out the window and go man, that is nice. Haha.

Op it is the most fun of any car I've owned, I absolutely love driving it. 12,000 miles since October. I love every second.

In 1 yr of ownership there hasn't been a single day that I've gotten out of my car and not turned back to take a 2nd look. I love my car!

I think the "lack of power" really is the torque dip. I've driven several ~200 crank horsepower cars and they felt much faster. I also keep reading that getting rid of that dip really wakes the car up.

Agreed on the gas mileage. Once I swapped from eco tires I went from getting ~30 mpg to ~25 mpg :eyebulge:

The good
Looks amazing, always get comments on the car
easy to park
Handles great, very agile chassis. Really the best car to take on a mountain road
Very good fuel economy
Great seats
Great driving position

The bad
my passengers seem to not get the concept of getting in and out of a car thats so low. They kick the living shit out of it every time. Might not the cars fault but its still annoying
Pretty much useless backseats
The bluetooth on my stock headunit always plays music, but it doesn't always let me browse songs or make calls for some reason
Paint chips so easily

All in all, the good outweighs the bad tenfold. As for the whole low on power debate, I think the car has a good amount of power and all you need to do is get in the right part of the powerband to utilize it.

This

Thank you for all of your responses thus far. I should have mentioned if I get the AE86 it will be a full fledged project/track car and I would be keeping my current dd. Considering that I am debating between the FR-S/BRZ or an AE86 power isn't a concern lol.

Good:
The seats are amazing, close to Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution Recaros.
The way the car loves to turn into corners, it does what you ask when you ask.
The way it feels in the big end of the tachometer when you're stringing corners together and maintaining momentum.
Only about 2000 miles on mine in 8 weeks of ownership, but averaging over 31 mpg.
I want to be driving it on fun roads all the time, enough to take an hour jaunt just because I have the free time.

Bad:
The transmission can be balky when not at operating temperature.
Over the shoulder visibility for reversing and lane changes.
Stock 'summer' tires aren't very good in a competition environment, and they will need to be swapped out in the winter.

Good: reasonable price
built in japan
good on gas
can be a very good looking car minimally modded
fabulous after market support
looks cool and different dont see to many

Bad: interior plastics are cheap
paint is cheap and from the right angle painted plastics arnt exactly the same color as metal body in a low light area
rear diffuser is hella cheap
oem exhaust tips are found on tribeca and other family vehicle (sport car come on)
needs mods to feel right out of the box kinda lame tacky car that feels cheap in multiple aspects,shifter feel,suspension,enginepower.

my exhaut was brand new and was rusted. just the muffler it had cheap silver paint on it