Hello,
I'm hoping to purchase a new car this year because I want the peace of mind of having a brand new, reliable car. As both a Subaru and Toyota fan, of course I had to consider their new sports coupe.
The conservative side of me was considering the redesigned 2012 Impreza Sport hatchback, but after thinking about it I decided that fun factor has to be high for long-term happiness. I also want to move away from FWD vehicles, as there's a feeling of imbalance by having everything up front. Thus, I'm now trying to decide between a WRX hatchback and BRZ coupe.
I know, I know, very different vehicles. But I like both for different reasons.
The WRX does offer more utility, but I have no kids and don't haul much stuff around, so space isn't a big necessity. Today's cars are pretty safe, and fuel efficiency in both cars is good enough for me.
So it boils down to this: the WRX offers better acceleration and all-wheel-drive, but the BRZ is lighter and better balanced, so cornering and handling will be better.
Which is more important to me? I don't know. That's why this has been a hard decision that I'm still giving thought to. I wish I could afford both, but not possible. I want the acceleration and AWD, but I also want lightness and low CoG. All that in one car for <$28K would be an engineering marvel.
Of course, the winters here can be bad, so that is something weighing heavily on my mind. My wife actually likes the idea of a sporty coupe, but I'm worried about RWD in the winter because I have never owned a RWD vehicle before. Certainly I would get snow tires, but still can't be too confident.
Will keep thinking about it...