Imo, a beefier version will come

[Tromatic]

Originally Posted by Chad86

I do not agree they will bring it to North America branded as the GT86.

But I agree it is an awesome car just as it is. This is a tuner platform. End of story.

Bet you a pound of your choice of Kicking Horse coffee they do! I'll take the green-top Kick Ass, please!

[chrisl]

Originally Posted by autobrz

"not light" means it's not as light as its hyped to be. the miata is much lighter. I hear the new miata due out next year is even lighter than the current model.

"370z is fairly light" means its weight is still way below the camaros and the mustangs and still appropriate for a sports car.

What do you think will happen to weight of a turbo 86? the weight penalty between a mazdaspeed 3 (turbo) and a regular mazda3 is about 300 lbs. When you add power, you add weight to transmission, axles, drive shaft, diff, brakes, wheels and tires to be able to handle it with reliability.

The Miata is about 250ish pounds lighter than the FR-S/BRZ. The 370Z is 500ish pounds heavier. Once again, I find it odd that you are complaining about a 250 pound weight penalty relative to a car with 33hp less, no rear seat, and basically no trunk space, but you find a 500 pound weight penalty for a 370Z relative to the BRZ/FR-S acceptable.

As for a turbo 86? I honestly don't care that much. I prefer N/A response to turbo. That having been said, extra power doesn't need to mean nearly that much extra weight. The Porsche Cayman (275hp, 2888lb) is only 22 pounds lighter than the Cayman S (325hp, 2910lb). It's possible that they could do a 2.5L BRZ with 230-250hp for a similar kind of weight penalty (or maybe they couldn't - you can't really say without knowing the actual engineering limits behind the current model though).

[Tromatic]

E85, the Open Flash (Vishnu) tune and the Phantom ESC would seem to be the cure for all the complaints.

[raven1231]

Originally Posted by Tromatic

E85, the Open Flash (Vishnu) tune and the Phantom ESC would seem to be the cure for all the complaints.

Which is precisely why I got that exact setup

[Chad86]

Originally Posted by raven1231

Which is precisely why I got that exact setup

How difficult is this setup?

[raven1231]

To Install? Takes like 30 minutes for the ESC. In addition the OFT comes pre programmed with the tune for the ESC.

[Tromatic]

Originally Posted by Chad86

How difficult is this setup?

I DO NOT have the Phantom, but want one. I do have the Vishnu OFT.

The Phantom ESC (Electric Super Charger) is literally a drop-in mod. I does require some electrical work, but nothing as compared to any other FI setup. Stock cars are getting serious gains in HP and torque for little money, and even better, no major surgery to the car.

The Vishnu Open Flash Tablet is a ROM flashing doodad. It's "open source" as in the tunes are not proprietary or locked. The tablet is somewhat spendy, but they are moving towards making the box universal. There is freeware ROM editing software for the tunes so you can grenade your own engine if you want. You can run a bone-stock FR-S on E85 with the OFT, and the difference between that and a stock car is remarkable.

NOTE: If you google machine, there might be some hits on people who think this tune (and others) might be risky due to fuel pump and valve timing issues. I have used both (stock "Stage 1" gas and E85 tunes in my stock car) and have been amazed, but I am not convinced that either of these are healthy for a stock engine. I'm in the minority, given the "abuse" the FA20 seems able to cope with so far.

Links in a bit, I have to pee.

[dnieves]

Originally Posted by B3yondL

Obviously they won't tell you if they are planning on creating a beefed up version. They want sales NOW and doing that will just cause buyers to halt and wait out for the next version. They WANT to kill any speculation of there being a beefier version.

But imo, there HAS to be a beefier version coming sooner or later. There was a void in the market for a cheap, low weight, flat engine RWD with a true sportscar feel that they've filled. If sales slip (like they are now), 3 things will happen:

1) They kill off the brand. This is extremely unlikely. Why would they abandon a market that is much needed? Why would they let the competitors just jump into the cheap sporty lightweight RWD market when they have the lead so far? When they have, essentially, repioneered it for modern day? Short answer, they won't.

2) They keep pumping the same car with very minor changes. This is a very real possibility for a few years but sales are beginning to slip. If they want people to remain interested, they MUST rejuvenate their car sooner or later which leads to...

3) Sooner or later, a new variant will come. And what does everyone want in their FRS/BRZ so far? More power. The FRS has only 1 trim level so far (bar the limited editions). A new more powerful trim is just begging to be made. Same with the BRZ. Another more powered trim can easily be fit in.



tl;dr: The FRS/BRZ is an iconic coupe car for both Toyota and Subaru, which is much needed in their respective lineups. No way in hell would they kill this off and let competitors like Nissan/Honda waltz into this market (which they are eyeing on btw). And if they don't kill this off, obviously, sooner or later, new trim levels will be introduced because the market demands it and obviously those trim levels would have to be more power.

You're right about Nissan and Honda jumping in if the twins were out of the picture. Honda would jump in there but I don't know how -how much can Honda pin all their sport compact hopes on the Civic Si after the '12 Civic fiasco plus they didn't listen to their customer base begging for a K20 in the CRZ with a choice of AT or MT. Nissan has no concept of what an affordable sporty compact car is -they just make lame Sentras and over priced Z cars.

[rice_classic]

Originally Posted by dnieves

plus they didn't listen to their customer base begging for a K20 in the CRZ with a choice of AT or MT.

They're begging for something Honda can't deliver in current regulatory climates.

Time to bury the K20 dreams.. bury them deep. What the base should have been asking for was the 1.5L Turbo instead as that's actually feasible from a company economic standpoint as well as an environmental regulatory standpoint.

[autobrz]

Originally Posted by chrisl

The Miata is about 250ish pounds lighter than the FR-S/BRZ. The 370Z is 500ish pounds heavier. Once again, I find it odd that you are complaining about a 250 pound weight penalty relative to a car with 33hp less, no rear seat, and basically no trunk space, but you find a 500 pound weight penalty for a 370Z relative to the BRZ/FR-S acceptable.

As for a turbo 86? I honestly don't care that much. I prefer N/A response to turbo. That having been said, extra power doesn't need to mean nearly that much extra weight. The Porsche Cayman (275hp, 2888lb) is only 22 pounds lighter than the Cayman S (325hp, 2910lb). It's possible that they could do a 2.5L BRZ with 230-250hp for a similar kind of weight penalty (or maybe they couldn't - you can't really say without knowing the actual engineering limits behind the current model though).

I prefer to pay attention to what the car actually feels like rather than what the car is like on paper. To me, there are many proper sports cars that drive and respond like proper sports cars in the 3200 lb weight range. If they drive like they're light on their feet, they are good sports cars.

for example, a civic si is under 3000 lbs but it's softly setup so it struggles with body roll in corners. a mazdaspeed 3 is around 3280 lbs but it drives like it's a lot lighter than the civic and a lot like a sports car.

[zooki]

Originally Posted by chrisl

As for a turbo 86? I honestly don't care that much. I prefer N/A response to turbo.).

I personally find the response of this motor(the "bog" from 3500-4500 RPM)
to be very "turbo laggish"...and by the time the motor climbs out of it's torque dip a turbo would be fully spooled up anyway.

[chrisl]

Originally Posted by zooki

I personally find the response of this motor(the "bog" from 3500-4500 RPM)
to be very "turbo laggish"...and by the time the motor climbs out of it's torque dip a turbo would be fully spooled up anyway.

Turbo lag isn't having to wait for the RPM to climb in a turbocharged motor until you hit the powerband, turbo lag is how in a turbocharged motor, if you're already in the powerband (say, 5krpm), and you floor the gas, there's a slight delay while the turbo builds boost before you actually get the requested power. A naturally aspirated motor delivers the requested power instantly, though the available power is of course lower (for two otherwise equal motors).

[rick s]

I hear that they are planning a 600hp version utilizing flux capacitors. Not only will it be fast it will also allow to travel back in time to read the countless comments made about this car and "more" power.
Jeeze, enough already I can't take it anymore!

[rice_classic]

Originally Posted by rick s

I hear that they are planning a 600hp version utilizing flux capacitors. Not only will it be fast it will also allow to travel back in time to read the countless comments made about this car and "more" power.
Jeeze, enough already I can't take it anymore!

I know this is true because I read it on the internet. After all, they can't put anything on the internet that isn't true.