86 OWNERS: Why did you buy the 86?

[VesperLynn]

So we've been on the forums for a while now. Either we've been lurking around reading topics, we've been here since the first concept was revealed, we saw another 86 lover driving along in theirs and fell in love to later acquire one, or any other reason.

So why did you buy your twin?

For me, I was in Wilsonville in Oregon and I walked out into a parking lot to see a white BRZ in the distance. I had never seen the car before, so naturally, I walked on over. The car was beautiful. It had curves, aggressive styling, and most importantly to me: it wasn't a Mustang. Driving around seeing the same thing, day in day out became boring. "Oh look, another Camaro." Granted, they can be great cars, the only thing I didn't like was that everybody and their grandmother owned one; almost literally! It was fresh, it was something I hadn't seen before. Like I started off saying, it was beautiful.

It had this supercar vibe about it. It just looked like it could take on a Ferrari. After researching about the car, and realizing it's "lack" of performance from what I believed it would have, I wasn't disappointed at all. I was all the more intrigued. It meant it was open for endless possibilities. It could be stock, only touched by the mechanics at the local Subaru dealer, or it could be an incredible road warrior. I had always been into the tuning and modification scene, or rather, I had wanted to be. Ever since I was little I was always enthralled seeing a sporty red car driving down the road. Then video games came along into my life and I could build the car of my dreams. I could add blinging wheels, over the top vinyls, ridiculous wings, it was fun to create things that were out of this world stupid, laid-back, reserved, and total supercar. Playing games like Need for Speed Underground and Midnight Club really got me into making fun, eye catching cars. Then Forza came along which was what got me into the performance aspect of cars. I could tune and tune and tune to my heart's content. I could try and squeeze out as much horsepower as possible. I could tune every aspect of the car to make it do exactly what I wanted it to.

All these things made me want to get a real car of my own and do all of this. I finally turned 16 and got my Driver's license. I drove around in my Dad's Lexus LS430. I had been saving up from when I was 10 years old to buy a car of my own. When I was 17 I bought a newer M3. The car was awesome. It was a beast of turbocharged power. It was incredible and I loved every second I had in the car. However, I hated every second I had under the car... Working on it all the time was a pain and something always seemed to break. I remember I had to push my car to start it for a week. Oh was that fun... But working on the car with my dad was fun even if we didn't want to do it. Spending time together was great. He taught me so many things. It was fun to finally put all the knowledge I had from our race bikes (I raced motorcross since the day I turned 3) I was able to start applying to cars. Working on cars with my dad was the best thing I could have ever asked for.

However a year ago things took a turn for the worst in my family. My mom left, had an affair. She filed for divorce and was taking the house. She was going to kick us out and never once talked to us unless it was for "demands." My dad a few weeks later found out he had very progressive prostate cancer. His doctor informed him of a grime fate: 12 months at best. I came home one day from school to find my dad lying on the floor. He had shot himself.

I bought this car because it reminds me of what my dad and I loved to do. Build something were proud of. Our race bikes were marvels of engineering. For my motocross season in 2005 I wasn't able to use my bikes because they were too powerful for the 85cc class. This car has kind of been a tribute to my dad and the time we spent together. It's been a learning experience. It's been hard. It's been fun. Driving and working on this car makes me feel connected, not only to driving, but to my dad and who he was. The man who taught me all that I knew about everything mechanical. The man who pushed me to do my best in everything I do.

I'm 19 now, the proud owner of a Galaxy Blue Silica Limited 6 speed manual gearbox Subaru BRZ. It's the most fun I've had with any internal combustion engine, and true to Subaru's motto: "Love, it's what makes a Subaru, a Subaru."

So I ask you guys: why did you buy the 86?

[Clipdat]

Wow. Heavy story and thank you so much for sharing it. I can't imagine what you've been through, but I appreciate you taking the time to share your "86 experience". Let me know when you're going to take a cruise down to the bay area - our crew will show you some of the best driving roads down here.

To answer your original question of why I bought my twin: I had been drooling over the concepts year after year until they finally released the cars. At first I talked myself out of it, but one Friday I decided to call my local dealer at about 11am and asked them to put my name on the waiting list.

About 20 minutes later I got a call from them saying they actually had a FR-S on the lot and that someone was coming to look at it at 1pm. I immediately sprung into action knowing that if the person came into look at it at 1, they would be taking it home with them.

So I went i and signed off on the car before even test driving it. I knew it was going to be amazing, and it is! My first RWD car, and it's fantastic.

[Lonewolf]

Crimony dude, I'm sorry to hear about all this. Best wishes for some good luck coming your way....

[Nourdmrolnmt1]

Well, I can't write a better story...

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 2

[Goody]

It all started when I inherited a carbureted 2wd 1982 subaru GL NA 1.8L (AE81) manual with a seized clutch from my father. I spent a summer staining my neighbor's pig barn to earn the use of his shop. The guy was a machinist and taught me the car from the inside out. I replaced the clutch with no aid other than him peeking over his big block every couple of minutes to make sure I didn't connect the fuel line to the brakes. Once I got "Champagne Supernova" up-and-running he insisted that I take it into the paddock and drive it around the ATV course. I was airborn in the car before I ever shifted it past 3rd. I was watching Initial D and WRC during those days and I started closing the gravel roads around my house in the Oregon Coastal Range by dragging felled trees accross the road with my car. Once I had one end blocked I would drive a mile or two (of corners) and do the same. I would drive back to the first blockade and begin to rally the stage. I did this from age 15 to 18 and loved every minute of it. This is when I felt that Subaru was my car.

When I moved out of my parent's house and into Corvallis, Oregon (Oregon State) I had replaced just about every wearing part on the GL and had to cave and scrap it to buy a new car. I got an old '91 civic hatch-back and it got the 40+ mpg I needed to support my poor college days. I sold it to my childhood sweetheart and rode a bicycle for three years. By this time I had moved to Portland, Oregon and was working in breweries downtown and eventually wineries on the peripheries. I bought a 1993 Subaru Legacy L. The title said it was 4wd but when I test drove it there was none of that AWD feel. I slid under the back end and noticed there was no rear-diff... So I talked the guy -600 from his asking price (my bike was now more expensive than my car.) After blowing the headgasket on my first Christmas-with-the-family I pulled the thermostat and sold it for a pittance as a beater.

Through my years I found that all of my friends admired my ability as a driver. I wrote it up as being the only person I knew who actually challenged themselves behind the wheel. When people started getting good jobs and buying things like STIs and EVO 8s (the STI had basic power mods. The EVO was legit autoX modded with all the goods: ~500hp/550ft-lbs) I was always "the only other person" who drove their cars on a regular basis.

I was unemployed and/or very poor for about 7 years and managed to get a parent-loan to visit New Zealand to work at a massive winery. Just so happens that WRC Rally NZ was taking place while I was there and a delivery-truck driver who was contracted to the winery was a local rally star. I hopped into a stranger's "ute" and crossed the island to watch day 2 and 3 of the rally and fell back in love with cars.

When I finally got back to the states and found a job that I loved that just so happened to pay my bills and then some I started thinking about buying a car. I had heard by pure accident that Toyota and Subaru were reviving the AE86 and it just went from there... Subaru badges on a hachi roku!! I took out my first loan ever and I picked up my Black Limited 6mt BRZ on March 15th, 2013. I've never been happier.

I look forward to hearing more passionate tales and thank you @VesperLynn for sharing your emotional and inspiring story.

Cheers.

[shiumai]

vesperlynn - sorry to hear about your dad and everything else. that's rough. your dad sounded like a great guy and i hope my son looks up to me like that when he's your age.

i bought the BRZ as i was looking for something to replace my '78 280Z, and it was the only one that was very close to the Z (affordable sports car, but with a back seat to fit my 5-yr old son's child seat). i don't really like the look of the 350/370 Z.

why i'm selling the 280Z is a long story in itself, but it suffices to say that it's been a long relationship since 1985, and i've shelled out a lot of money to keep it going. last year, i had enough and needed to end that relationship. a 35-year old car will never run out of stuff that needs replacing.

i had been looking forward to the release of the twins since last year, when i started looking at what car i wanted to get. i went with subaru because we have a 2013 outback and love it.

[Chewie4299]

My story's in my car journal (link in sig) and many have complemented me on it but it's nothing as meaningful as that.

I'm glad you've got something that can bring you that 'close to dad' feeling even when he isn't around.

My uncle was like a father to me in many ways. He was a big golfer and we'd only been able to play a few times together. He passed in 2004 out of the blue due to some sort of heart issue. I'm now into golf myself and every moment I spend out there is made better by the fact that it reminds me of him.

[whaap]

I like small sports cars. I'm not too keen on convnertibles and I liked everything I read about the twins.

[m.wood0213]

I bought my BRZ because it was the closest replacement to my MK3 Supra. I love cars that prioritize handling over "POWEEEEERRRR". I live in North Texas and I see at least 5 Mustangs and Camaro's each on my 9 mile commute to work each day. Until a new Supra comes out I plan to stick w/ my BRZ and I absolutely LOOOVE it on the twisty roads. Much better MPG too. Needs a bit more power but that makes it more discrete on the streets. That and NO ONE knows what it is. I love that! NO REGRETES

[Ganthrithor]

Lol, when I first saw pictures / references to the BRZ I was like "Huh, a Subaru that isn't a WRX: ok, whatever."

My interest in it kept increasing, though, as I got progressively more bored with FWD. It's not that my GTI was a bad car (or even a particularly slow car)-- it's just that my dad had begun accumulating fun, RWD cars after my sister and I grew up and left home for uni, and I kept going home and driving them over school breaks. I got hooked, and decided I needed something RWD myself.

Then I started actually taking the search for a replacement for my GTI seriously, but that turned out to be pretty frustrating. Part of the problem was that my GTI was such a good car: it had a tendency to make every alternative that I could reasonably afford look kind of silly. Sure, I could have sold my GTI, bought a used Miata and actually made money, but could I really deal with giving up all pretenses of practicality and the roof, all for a car that was a good deal slower than my GTI? I don't know-- I know they handle pretty nicely (although I hate the massive amounts of body roll Miatas are prone to), but the Miata never really did anything for me. v0v

There were other options, of course: an E46 330 or M3 coupe were the first things that I seriously considered (they're almost as practical as my GTI, but right-wheel drive, properly balanced and infinitely better looking). Upon actually doing a little reading about the cars though, I was saddened to find that they seemed mechanically problematic-- torn rear subframe mounts and a laundry list of common electronics / minor mechanical problems really put me off one of these, especially given the cost of parts and labor for them. I've had a fair number of electronics problems with my GTI, but for the most part these had been an annoyance, merely requiring the replacement of a sensor or two to put the CEL out when smog-check time arrived. If such small things could be a hassle on a German econo-box, I hated to think how much similar problems (not to mention actual mechanical / structural problems) would cost to fix on a BMW. E46 3-series status: crossed off my list.

Older 911 had always been an option that was dear to my heart. The trouble (aside from really-older cars not having ABS, which I'd pretty much talked myself into just accepting) was again the cost of potential maintenance. They say that if you want your car to be in good condition, all Porsches cost the same: either you pay a lot up-front for a newer or cleaner car, or you pay later as you fix things as they come up. I was very tempted by the idea of a used Boxster as well (my god, they're a bargain!) but again was unwilling to give up the emergency seating capacity and hard top of my Golf. Running costs were the big problem though: you could find cheap 996s, but buying one would have left me with not very much money to run a pretty expensive car. Late 80's 911's weren't really any better in terms of cost either. 993's continue to be very tempting cars (they can be had for the cost of a BRZ in pretty good shape), but I just couldn't convince myself to buy something that I'd basically be stuck selling if any kind of mechanical issue popped up. Porsche status: off the list.

Finally, I considered getting a used, early-model, N54-equipped 135i. I figured I could build a pretty nice one for about the price of a BRZ limited. In the end, though, out-of- warranty maintenance costs and the cost of consumables steered me away from this car as well. I figured by the time I'd bought the car and dumped 7-10 grand into mods, I wouldn't have much money left for anything else, and if anything went wrong with the car I'd probably be in a spot of trouble. This was extra-concerning given the demographic that the 135 seemed to sell to: 18-24 year-olds who like drag racing. Not very confidence-inspiring when looking for used cars with astronomical parts costs. Welp.

So basically the more cars I crossed off my list for various reasons, the better the BRZ started to look. Of course, the further I delved into the possibility of buying these other cars, the more information began to crop up on the BRZ. I wasn't super taken with the looks or the spec sheet of the car initially, but the more I read about it the more curious I became. After all, it was small, light, cheap, RWD, came with an LSD and it had emergency seating for four. Hmm.

Finally I stumbled upon two video reviews of the GT86 by Chris Harris:

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=romf-G6CZ7g"]1[/ame]

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JUhLXvxlQR4"]2[/ame]


I love Chris Harris: he's always seemed like one of the only auto journalists who wasn't too busy gobbling manufacturers' cocks to call bullshit on them if their cars turned out to be boring. He actually knows how to drive, and in the few areas where our driving experiences overlap he seems to have similar car-opinions to mine, so I take his opinions fairly seriously. The fact that Chris's impressions of the GT86 were so overwhelmingly favorable-- along with his awesome descriptions of its driving characteristics-- really convinced me to actually go out and test-drive a BRZ.

...And I liked what I found! It reminded me of several other cars I'd driven simultaneously: the steering wheel, high-revving engine and smallish cockpit reminded me of our Lotus Elise, albeit without the second-cam silliness of that engine. The shifter reminded me of an RX-8 (and not at all of the Lotus Elise :P). The suspension just felt so right compared to most stock cars I've driven: again it reminded me more of the Lotus or RX-8 or the pretty heavily-tweaked suspensions on my dad's cars than any kind of typical factory setup. The brake pedal actually felt good: not as firm as the pedal on an old 911 or anything, but it wasn't grabby at low speeds and felt very progressive. Although the car is only ~100 pounds lighter than my GTI, it just felt so much lighter and more poised.

...And it didn't feel as slow as I'd expected! I'd figured that something with less torque than my GTI (and an NA engine to at 5,000 feet above sea level) would just feel plain slow, but somehow it didn't feel too bad. It really felt more or less equivalent to my GTI. Although it lacks the boost-feel my GTI has at lower revs, the throttle response is also better and you do have a big tach to play with (whereas the GTI feels a bit dead up near redline).

At any rate, knowing that my GTI really is plenty fast for a road car, the fact that the BRZ didn't feel slower when I climbed into it was very reassuring. The BRZ really seemed to combine a lot of good attributes: it technically has rear seats for running your friends across town in a pinch, it has a roof, it's not ugly, it drives really nicely, it gets good gas mileage, it's not too expensive (it was just about at the top of my price range, but doesn't ~*need*~ anything done to it before you can go out and enjoy it), it comes with a warranty, consumables are cheap, and when the warranty expires the parts aren't going to cost you an arm and a leg.

Basically the BRZ seemed like the best fit for me: small, light, RWD, fun, fast enough to get your attention but not so fast as to result in constant excessive speeding, inexpensive to keep on the road, but with enough nods toward practicality (rear seats, reasonably un-tiny trunk) that I didn't need to actively goad myself into buying it. Hell, it's even pretty good looking! At the end of the day I'm sort of thinking of mine as somewhat lower performance, everyday-usable version of an Elise or Miata: one you don't have to con yourself into buying as an only car.

Mine should be here by this coming weekend. I'm super excited to get down to the business of putting ~700 more miles on it so I can change fluids and start doing some serious driving.

[gzpermadi]

Sorry to hear about your family.
Stay strong and be a good person! I am sure your wheel will turn someday.

As for the 86, this is the best bang for my money and family (no kids yet).
Plus is still kinda rare around here.

[swaq]

Originally Posted by m.wood0213

I bought my BRZ because it was the closest replacement to my MK3 Supra. I love cars that prioritize handling over "POWEEEEERRRR". I live in North Texas and I see at least 5 Mustangs and Camaro's each on my 9 mile commute to work each day. Until a new Supra comes out I plan to stick w/ my BRZ and I absolutely LOOOVE it on the twisty roads. Much better MPG too. Needs a bit more power but that makes it more discrete on the streets. That and NO ONE knows what it is. I love that! NO REGRETES

My BRZ is replacing my 1991 Supra Turbo as my daily driver. My main requirements were RWD, manual, and good fuel economy. It's not as fast as the Supra in a straight line, but I also prefer handling over power. Eventually I'll get both when I pick up a Rossion Q1.

[VesperLynn]

Originally Posted by swaq

My BRZ is replacing my 1991 Supra Turbo as my daily driver. My main requirements were RWD, manual, and good fuel economy. It's not as fast as the Supra in a straight line, but I also prefer handling over power. Eventually I'll get both when I pick up a Rossion Q1.

I thought the rossian sounded familiar, so I looked it up.


DAMN!

[sbxjap]

cuz it's purdy...

Actually, I just needed a good daily driver. My '95 Honda Civic is my daily driver PLUS a project car. Such a pain since anytime I add something or fix something, another part brakes. THEN the parts I added before get affected ...

What really makes me made is that I use to enter my car into shows, I was even sponsored.

So I decided I needed a new car. I figured I could get a newer used car, but I didn't want to worry about fixing anymore stuff. True, that a new car could have problems, as we've noticed, but less chance and less headaches (mostly).

I made a long list of cars so I could consider. Mustangs, Challengers, Civics, TLs, Volvo C30s, VW R, etc etc... list goes on and on. I didn't want to be bias as I love all cars. From there I did research and thought about the cars themselves, as I have test drove many of these on tracks before.

It came down to STi/WRX, 370Z, or BRZ. Since I liked all these cars, I needed to just sit in the BRZ to tell if I liked it. I took a plunge and got my name on the list (#1 out of 11 at the local dealer).

Waited months for them to get the demo... once I sat in it, I knew I wanted it. Pretty much end of story. I ordered the Limited model since my Civic was the CX (super super base model), and I felt I worked hard and deserved to treat myself to a better trim.

After some BS from dealer over pricing, I got the car I wanted and haven't stopped loving it almost a year later.