Where does the BRZ fit in your "sports car progression?"

[Mim]

1.) What has been your sports car progression?
1997 VT SS Commodore sedan 5.0L A/T
2001 CV8 Monaro coupe 5.7L A/T
2010 Nissan Maxima 350 sedan 3.5 CVT (took one for the family as a car was needed)
2014 BRZ A/T (MY15)

2.) What are your eventual goals?
To care after my BRZ and continue with it's OEM+ style build. Will be staying N/A, but will look to strengthen and improve all aspects as new (and proven) products continue to come out.

3.) Where does the BRZ fit in this progression for you?
Having had the pillage of riding in, driven and owned many GM V8's it feel like I've gotten the whole big heavy car with lots of power thing out of my system.

I'm having far more fun driving the snot out of my BRZ and using more of its performance (legally) than I ever really managed with all those past V8's. Ironically the BRZ is actually faster than many of those older V8's including my first 5.0L VT, the handling, safety and luxury is in another world altogether.

Cars are an expensive luxury in Australia. That Monaro back then was around $73k AUD. The BRZ was only $40k so peanuts in comparison, but I honestly feel the BRZ is my pinnacle if talking progression.

I actually wouldn't mind seeing a factory FI version come out down the line. It would make my current BRZ feel even more special and make me want to keep it around for ever.

[shiumai]

1.) What has been your sports car progression?
1978 280Z owned from 1984-2013

2.) What are your eventual goals?
To keep the BRZ for a while; no near-term plans to get rid of it. It's my daily driver but I don't have a long commute. I just reached the 10k mile mark and I've had it since March '13. I've pretty much made all the modifications I wanted in its current state, so I've already reached my goal for the car itself.

3.) Where does the BRZ fit in this progression for you?
Not much of a progression, really, since I'm not willing to spend a whole lot more on a car. If anything, I'd buy something similar to replace it when the time comes, just like I bought the BRZ to replace the 280Z.

[Rob2000]

That Mazda commercial for the MX-5, you've seen it - the guy has an old Miata in college, then the economy car, then the line of family sedans and finally the new MX5 coming out of the garage - I'm that guy. A 1968 MGB-GT in the 70's, a 5-speed Civic Si, then marriage and kids, several Accords, 2 minivans, 3 suv's. Now, at age 63, my kids are grown, no more soccer tournaments, no more picking up plywood at the home center, so last spring it was the new BRZ.

I take the back roads to work and every day the car gives me pleasure.

(Full disclosure: I did test drive an MX-5 but at 6'1" my head hit the roof)

[paiceyfan]

1.) What has been your sports car progression?


Well I hated driving when I first started, as an accident made me very nervous to drive...my father had to force me out to get him cigarettes from the local corner shop to get me to drive. To me, it all comes down to budget and what you can afford, so here's my progression...

1972 Vauxhall Viva
1980 Ford Cortina
1984 Ford Orion
1992 VW Scirocco (8v)
1996 VW Golf GTi
1992 Honda Accord Wagon
2008 Honda Civic Si
2014 Subaru BRZ NA
2014 Subaru BRX S/C'd

2.) What are your eventual goals?

That's a good question...but handling is number one. I lusted after the Lotus Elise for years and loved the 90's Subaru WRX. I would love to get a high end sports car, but some large wad of cash would have to drop in my lap for me to be able to afford that.

3.) Where does the BRZ fit in this progression for you?

Now that I have a Delicious-tuned, Edelbrock Supercharged BRZ, it is hard to imagine where I go now without shelling out a lot of money. In agreement with my better half, I have to keep it for at least 8 years in exchange for the S/C...fair enough...total invested $32,500...great bang for the buck.

Going slightly off-topic...I separated them out as two cars, but it's the same car. The supercharged BRZ is not better than the NA BRZ...it's just different. Don't make the change expecting it to be better, just ensure it is what you want, though. I love the car in either form.

Long live car culture...

[winstonscifi]

Here is a picture of some of the sports cars I've had in the past. The top one is the Triumph Spitfire on a trip to San Francisco in 1975. The next one is my Fiat X1/9 in 1977 (with a very young me standing next to it). The bottom one is my wife and I on the Tail Of The Dragon with my Chrysler Crossfire in 2010.

[bcj]

1.) What has been your sports car progression?
Bicycles- too many to enumerate.
Motorbike- 70 Yamaha DT360.
64 Pontiac LeMans. 4 years. $250. Factory 4speed 326 2bbl carb convertible. Low power high torque do everything college machine. Rust.
Motorbike- new 77 Yamaha XS400.
74 Alfa Romeo GTV2000. 7 years. The driving similarity to the twins is remarkable. Happy place for a long time. Strong clutch, leg gave up finally. Rust.
Motorbike- 83 Honda Nighthawk 650. 23 years.
84 Honda Civic S. 11 years. Excellent daily.
95 Dodge Grand Caravan 3.3v6. 18 years. Took out the seats and went road tripping and bicycle hauling all over helenback to see the sights with my own apartment wherever I ended up.
Motorbike- 98 BMW K1200RS with hard luggage.
Motorbike- 03 Suzuki SV650 naked bike. Still have both of these.
13 Scion FRS.

2.) What are your eventual goals?
If you always liked the idea of having an Alfa, the twins are the closest you'll get to the classic Italian coupe in a modern car.
I'm back to my happy place. Likely for good. See progression of auto ownership duration.

3.) Where does the BRZ fit in this progression for you?
Center cross hairs.

[twdebo42]

Cool question actually
1.) What has been your sports car progression?
So my BRZ is my first true sports car I've owned. My first car was an '05 Toyota Corolla S so that definitely doesn't count and my '12 TC was "sporty" but no sports car. And an awful automatic.
2.) What are your eventual goals?
With the BRZ? OEM+ build until the warranty runs out/pay off car then probably dedicated weekend car and occasional track runs. Small turbo, cage, bucket seats, that kind of thing.
Overall though I'd like to have the BRZ or some FI RWD car (Porsche 964 Turbo/SW20 MR2 Turbo) as the weekend toy and probably a BMW 335i or WRX STi or something similar for the daily commute.
3.) Where does the BRZ fit in this progression for you?
Hopefully the first of many fun sports cars to come. But this is the one I plan to keep the longest.

[DAEMANO]

1.) What has been your sports car progression?
I wouldn't necessarily call it a progression. Let's just say headaches and smiles were roughly equal.

2.) What are your eventual goals?
Add a fun to drive sedan or SUV for family duties. Alfa and Jaguar are ticking both boxes right now with the Guilia QV, Stelvio QV, XE-R Sport, and F-Pace S. Will lease one of these and give it back after a beating. Keeping the FR-S for another 30 years.

3.) Where does the FR-S fit in this progression for you?
Learned that expensive cars eventually devalue into cheap old cars the same way cheap new cars do, but become more expensive to maintain. Running them hard costs way too much. Screw that. My FR-S is fun as hell, and will be cheap to mod and mash for the duration of my life. Unless there is some new, must have sports car experience in the future, the buck stops at 86.

[HKz]

240SX > Celica > few years without a coupe > FRS

..one day the LFA will be mine :p and I would love to think (or rather dream) that my FRS will be parked right next to it.

[Veloist]

1.) What has been your sports car progression?

2014-2016: 1991 Toyota MR2 N/A
2016-Current: 2016 Subaru BRZ

2.) What are your eventual goals?

I eventually want to buy either a WRX or STI, but I hope to keep my BRZ for as long as possible. I have even played around with the thought of getting a second one or an S2000.

3.) Where does the BRZ fit in this progression for you?

The BRZ is definitely an entry to an expensive yet fun hobby

[Carbinebbq]

1.) What has been your sports car progression?

This is my first sports car. Had a Scion xB previously. Never did any mods.

2.) What are your eventual goals?
In the future I plan to get a tune, headers, and wheels. Some body mods might be in store, but I'd rather go for performance first. Turbo/SC is kinda out of my budget, but I am enjoying the car how I have it currently. (Q300, drop in filter, and silicone intake tube.

3.) Where does the BRZ fit in this progression for you?

Since it is my first sports car, I'm going to enjoy it as long as I can. I kinda like the idea of building a car rather than buying one that is already fast/good handling. Depending on what Subaru does with the BRZ in the future, I might get another one or look at what becomes of the WRX.



2017 WRB BRZ

[spike021]

First car of my own, ever. Never had a car to really drive, especially on my own. Except for a red golf cart for work a few years back or the occasional "drive the parents to some place".

Also going to learn stick on it.

Should be fun.

[Sapphireho]

If I had to list every car I've owned that would take a while, but for street cars I consider "sports cars"' I have owned 5.

1. Progression
Lotus Elan
914
911s targa (still own)
993 coupe
Twin

2. Goals
Eat better, lose 15 lbs., retire in 3 years.

3. Fit
Fits in the garage between the water heater and the 911.

[Tcoat]

Well there are some very broad definitions of "sports" car here but I guess we are talking what led to the BRZ (or in my case FRS) so the very short list of what I owned that I considered vehicles as part of that progression (there were many others but they were NOT part of the love affair with cars but just transportation) to now would be:

1) 64 Chev Impala - 327 4 barrel, 160HP, 2 speed auto. Certainly a boat but once up to speed could bury the needle and was a blast to drive.

2) 66 VW Karmann Ghia - 1300ccs, 50HP (YES 50 not a typo!!!!) 4 speed stick. Not the fastest on the list by far but not "slow" either. Once upon a time these were considered to be one of the better sports cars around.

3) 66 Corvair Corsa coupe - 2.7 L flat six, 140Hp, 4 speed stick. Was my first car with a synchromesh tranny. Was a bitch the get all for carbs set just right but when you did the thing was a rocket. With the low COG the thing handled much like some of the top line sports cars of the era.

4) 64 Ford Econoline short box van - Had a 1970 351 Cleveland squeezed into the "dog house" between the seats, 220HP, 3 speed auto from a 70 Fairlane. Could lift the front end off the ground for 50 feet from a dead start. Used to eat Camaros and Mustangs for breakfast.

5) 7- Coronet R/T - 440 magnum with 4 barrel 280HP stock (remember gross vs net HP), built to about 400hp, 3 speed auto. The engine alone weighed 670 pounds! Could not drive it if roads wet at all as you would go into a spin as soon as the torque kicked in. One of the fastest cars I ever drove in a straight line but needed loads of room (and time) if you actually wanted to turn it.

6) 58 Ford Custom 300 2 door sedan - 223 six, 100HP, 3 on the tree. Fast on the take off but not a lot of top end. I understand they still use these engines (modded of course) for some sprint cars.

7) 84 Mustang GT - 5 liter 4 barrel, 180HP, 4 speed stick (might have been 5? wasn't my favorite). The Mustang boys will tell you the 5 liter was KING back then. It wasn't and I got rid of it FAST.

8) Eagle Talon TSI AWD - 2 liter turbo, 195HP, 5 speed stick. It was turned into a 650 HP drag car after I retired it. Last I heard it was still racing.

9) 03 Lancer Rally, 08 Lancer GTS, 12 Lancer GT. The 03 and 08 were great cars and I loved them. They have a bad rep that from my experience wasn't deserved. The 12 sucked balls!

What are my eventual goals? - Drive it until it falls apart or cost to much to fix. Sell it and buy something else.

Where does it fit in the progression? Sort of the end of the road for the inexpensive coupe road for me actually. If it lasts until I retire (2021) then it will be replaced with a far higher level car (Porsche, Jag, ? whatever is nice in 2021)