I've got the World Rally Blues...

[Shinobi2u]

...and it's not a bad thing.

First off, I will state that I am nowhere as familiar with or a savant on cars compared to many on the forum. I've been driving a '98 Impreza Outback Sport for 12 years now and anything else I've driven has been rare and not that exciting, so coming into a BRZ was quite an experience for me. I picked up my car, a WRB Limited M/T, on Wednesday afternoon and have put about 200 miles on it so far in the LA area.

This can is definitely an upgrade for me on all fronts, so it's going to be a bit hard to not gush about the BRZ. So here are some bullets on my impressions of the car so far, many of which are reiterations of many of the members on here:

-This is definitely a lively and spirited car. I can tell this car is not super fast, but it is fast enough for me. I enjoy the acceleration and if I decide I need more power down the road, I am sure the after-market will have me covered. It's responsive and picks up well. That left odometer really is useless as many have stated, but it does look nice.

-The clutch took some getting used to as it goes down like a hot knife through butter when pressed, but it is growing on me.

-Staying under 4K RPM has been....difficult. I have hit about 5K on 3 occasions when I wasn't paying close enough attention. I am trying to stay good during the break in period.

-The handling is amazing. This car really does a good job at staying (and feeling) planted when taking corners at higher speeds (don't worry, I'm keeping stability control on while on the public roads). There really is almost no body roll when whipping it into a corner. I've taken it on some curvy roads twice now and at the end of each I had a big grin from ear to ear while still feeling safe.

-The stick was really stiff at first, but it's loosening up a bit and it feels solid. As good as I hear the AT transmission is, I don't regret going with the manual (it's what I've driven almost my entire life). I don't see the vibration issues that people have mentioned, but maybe it was just similar to how it felt in my Outback.

-Stock sound system is actually pretty good for a stock system with decent sound quality and bass. I'm getting some rattle in the speakers on top of the dashboard, but that can be fixed.

-Suspension feels firm, but not overly harsh, even going over some pretty rough pavement (cause LA is full of crappy roads). This felt very similar to my Outback. The road noise is also very comparable to my Outback, it's not terrible, but it is noticeable, though turning up my music masks it far better than the Outback.

-The brakes feel good and fairly responsive, but not a vast change/improvement from my Outback.

-I find the Alcantara seats to be very comfortable and it fits my body frame perfectly. I have noticed what others have mentioned in terms of rubbing up on the left bolster a lot when getting out of the car, so I do worry about wearing it out. The interior in general is fairly simple, but it looks nice.

-And yes, I have done 4 people in the car at once and it was certainly tight, but doable (but hell if I would want someone back there for too long). The car still remained very nimble and quick despite the added weight.

-The loss of hauling space sucks, but the number of times I really needed it is few and far between. The BRZ seems to have adequate space for doing normal errands though.

-No odd rattles or other sounds so far.

-The navigation response time sucks when putting in an address, but it generally okay for other general stuff.

-I still have a lot of features to play with, but setting up the phone to bluetooth was easy and works well for the hands-free calls.

-WRB looks really nice in person and I am glad I went with it. I always knew after the Outback I would get another Subaru and I've loved that color for years.

-This car is fun. Never before in my life have I wanted to drive to drive, it's always been driving because I want to go somewhere. Now I want to go somewhere because I want to drive. I'm looking forward to keeping this car for years to come and to seeing its potential after breaking it in further. I am planning to get it opti coated in a couple weeks and get some tinting done on the rear windows. I'll add pics for before and after when I get a chance.

[Subaruwrxfan]

Congrats, it was great to read your impressions. Enjoy the car! What mods do you have in mind?

[Shinobi2u]

Originally Posted by Subaruwrxfan

Congrats, it was great to read your impressions. Enjoy the car! What mods do you have in mind?

For now I plan to keep the car stock (or as close as possible without voiding my warranty) until the warranty runs out. Tint, opti coat, and possibly the master cylinder brace that GrimmSpeed is working on. Other than that, I have to see what and when things become available here, though I'll be keeping a close on what the community recommends as time goes on. Maybe someday I'll get coilovers and lower the car some, but for now I am pretty happy with it as is.