Time to put away the BRZ?

[DeepHunta]

So the BRZ is my very first rwd car. I've never owned one nor driven one until this past June when I picked up this beauty.

So far it's been sunny in Seattle so I've been driving it a lot. Racked up about 4000 miles already since June. I know, not that much but that's all I could with my schedule now that fall quarter has begun.

It finally started raining in Seattle, and not just drizzles, it was pouring! I was in the BRZ and I can't take corners like I can in the dry and hydroplaning was a little scary in rwd.

Ultimately I got paranoid and it is now garaged. I am now back to daily driving my other Subaru, the legacy gt. I feel so much confident and safe with awd.

Is everyone else garaging their BRZ with the season and weather changing or am I just a little too scared?

[rice_classic]

I live in Seattle. I drove back from the Tri-cities Sunday night in a torrential downpour over the pass. Car is great in deep standing water. I have the OEM tires on because of their tread patter and narrowness they cut through water brilliantly.

I used to drive my S2000 around all year with NO TCS and summer tires.

With great rain tires and TCS you're good to go. Don't worry. Just keep it at home when the snow shows up and you're good.

[Jayde]

If I was able to afford a second car, insurance, and a place to store the BRZ (no garage ) then I'd be driving a second car for the winter, but I'll be winter driving my BRZ.

[TheSt|G]

Sounds like you just need more experience in the rain and such. Nothing about RWD makes it more prone to hydroplaning than AWD.

[Cappuccino]

I agree with the above. Try and do some Wet Skid Pan days just to learn what the car can do in the wet.

Any sign of rain my finger tends to wonder over the TC button which brings are bigger smile to myself as just how predictable the car is when sideways.

[gily25]

Agree with the practicing...the trick to driving RWD is to train yourself to automatically correct a skid. Once it's automatic you won't even notice there was a skid. Decelerate/downshift instead of braking you'll have less skids to deal with.

Look in the regional sections and see if there are any autocross or track training days listed that you can get to, a lot of the custom shops are setting them up so people can learn with an instructor.

[DarkSunrise]

Originally Posted by rice_classic

I live in Seattle. I drove back from the Tri-cities Sunday night in a torrential downpour over the pass. Car is great in deep standing water. I have the OEM tires on because of their tread patter and narrowness they cut through water brilliantly.

Yep. I was actually impressed with how well the FR-S handled deep puddles at speed without hydroplaning. The FR-S is much better than my GTI in that area.

Now when snow comes, I will definitely be putting the FR-S away.

[Superhatch]

Learn to trust the traction control. Find a wet parking lot and gain some confidence in the different TCS modes!

[carbonBLUE]

Originally Posted by DeepHunta

So the BRZ is my very first rwd car. I've never owned one nor driven one until this past June when I picked up this beauty.

So far it's been sunny in Seattle so I've been driving it a lot. Racked up about 4000 miles already since June. I know, not that much but that's all I could with my schedule now that fall quarter has begun.

It finally started raining in Seattle, and not just drizzles, it was pouring! I was in the BRZ and I can't take corners like I can in the dry and hydroplaning was a little scary in rwd.

Ultimately I got paranoid and it is now garaged. I am now back to daily driving my other Subaru, the legacy gt. I feel so much confident and safe with awd.

Is everyone else garaging their BRZ with the season and weather changing or am I just a little too scared?

buy new tires, drive slower with caution, leave safety systems ON, youll be fine, i personally cant wait till it snows and i can throw my set of knobby snow tires on catch me now mall cop! i know you have summer tires on your car! MUAHAHHAHAHAHHA

[TheSt|G]

Originally Posted by carbonBLUE

buy new tires, drive slower with caution, leave safety systems ON, youll be fine, i personally cant wait till it snows and i can throw my set of knobby snow tires on catch me now mall cop! i know you have summer tires on your car! MUAHAHHAHAHAHHA

As mentioned in another thread, I ditched a mall cop who got stuck in the snow when trying to chase my M3 down for snow drifting in his parking lot.

[rapidcars]

Originally Posted by Superhatch

Learn to trust the traction control. Find a wet parking lot and gain some confidence in the different TCS modes!

I did this yesterday and this being my first RWD car I was surprised at how good it was. I had to try hard to get it to lose traction with the traction control on. I'm no longer worried about driving in the rain, just drive it normally and you have nothing to worry about.

[Turbowned]

Well, normally I'd call you a sissy and tell you to put your man pants on, but seriously, if you don't feel comfortable driving the car in inclement weather, just don't. I'd much rather not see another crashed FR-S/BRZ. You have the Legacy option so there's no reason to take unnecessary risks. I do recommend some more driver training though, as I find it hard to believe that the car could be bad in rain. Maybe it's the tires, I dunno.

[norm24]

I actually just put mine away last weekend. I'm in Vancouver, not very far from you, and last weekend's storm was crazy! I did mine, not because I'm scared of driving it in the rain, but more for keeping it fresh, lower mileage, and a wet dog in the FR-S doesn't sound appealing.

[TheSt|G]

Originally Posted by rapidcars

I did this yesterday and this being my first RWD car I was surprised at how good it was. I had to try hard to get it to lose traction with the traction control on. I'm no longer worried about driving in the rain, just drive it normally and you have nothing to worry about.

RWD being hard to drive in the rain has about as much merit as claims of unintended acceleration.