Gravel Roads
 

Hello all,

This past weekend I was shooting through some canyon/bluff roads :burnrubber: when suddenly I ended up on some unpaved all gravel roads... I drove slowly since this BRZ is my baby and I didn't want to damage her. I haven't gotten a chance to check the undercarriage for damage yet, but I was curious if anyone knew how durable the undercarriage is?

It can take a pile of abuse. I have hit things on the highway that would give you fits of despair and all is still good under there. Some gravel won't hurt. It just makes the most soul rending noise as it hits.

If you have stock wheels on you're most likely fine. Wide front wheels with more poke will throw rocks right behind the doors where the fender flares out. That's where I have the most paint chips.

The undercarriage is fine. What you should worry about is your tires kicking up rocks into the paint on the sides of the car. If gravel roads are going to be a habit, you should invest in mud flaps.

I tend to forget that not everybody gets the stock mud guards like Canada does. I totally agree, anybody that hits a gravel road on a regular basis should invest in them. They make a huge difference.


https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon....KL._SX300_.jpg

How dare you drive this car like a car!
Your car is totaled I would not drive it again till you take it to a dealership in a flatbed. And then proceed to announce to everyone working there exactly what you did and demand repairs.
Don't forget to get this all on video and share.

Wow, a set of those are only $59 on FT86SF. I'm going to get them. Thanks!

Didn't know that. I will be getting some as well.

Yeah it was making the most heartbreaking noise.

gravel is fun but i do have the Scion OEM flaps. handling can be the same as driving on ice/snow so don't get too crazy.

It's basically Subaru Impreza under there. Could care less. Makes a horrendous noise because of very little sound insulation. The underside is heavily undercoated. The outer sills and bottoms of the wheel arches are just plastic so stone chipping is irrelevant to that part of the bodywork.

Canadian cars got shorty mudflaps only on the FRS. I bought a set for my BRZ from my local Toyota dealer. Subaru dealers weren't even given access to the part numbers.

I've got the front and rears. Not normally a fan of mudflaps but these look neat and seem to do the job.

Since Canadian cars all get them stock (as well as heated mirrors like we drive in the winter or something) and whenever I see one without them it looks weird to me.

You guys should try out some parking lot entrances and rain gullies in LA. It sounded like it tore off both bumpers and my exhaust but not a scratch when I checked.

No no it is not. All new platform not a cut down Impreza. Sure it looks sillier because all the basics look similar in most cars now but that does not make it an Impreza platform.

Very true I tried to get them from my Subaru dealer and they said it wasn't an option even though what else are those holes for behind the rear tires?:bonk:

Will vouch, car is compatible with gravel. Its fun like driving on snow but louder and less cold.

My only comment from past experience with other cars is that if you live on a gravel road or drive on them regularly, expect suspension bushings to wear out much more quickly and rattles to show up.

Ah yeah, I don't think driving slowly on a gravel road will hurt it.
http://www.dirtfish.com

I think they look unfinished at the rear because of that empty fixing hole. Catches the eye and looks unfinished.

Heated mirrors seem to be stock on the BRZ over here too.

In Pennsylvania it's mostly squirrels.

The sound breaks my heart.

Your source for that would be?

Not in 2013 they didn't. Only on the FRS.

The development documentation of the car.
The concept was done on a Legacy chassis. The production is a dedicated platform.

True. I forgot I was in the BRZ neighborhood of the forum. I guess they figured nobody in Canada would drive the BRZ in the winter but that all The FRS crowd would.

I thought that was odd also, so did my local dealership. Lost revenue for them.

Some useful links might have been a good idea.

google any of the development videos from 2 years before the cars came out to see the grey Legacy that was the first mule

stop already with the horrendous misinformation

As soon as I ordered wider wheels, this was my first mod. They look very subtle, but do a great job of keeping stone chips off the car.

I ended up getting Rally Armor flaps for just such occasions (gravel driveways very often) and let me tell you, in addition to looking cool they definitely save a lot of war and tear on the paint. I would say undercarriage wise you're just fine.

And you never wondered why they call them mules?

You may underestimate how closely the Legacy platform resembles that of the Impreza. I'm pretty sure if you look under a 2012 Legacy and a 2012 Impreza the latter will look just like the underside of the BRZ but the former will not.

Subaru keeps referring to the Impreza when trying to emphasize how "all new" the BRZ platform was supposed to be. Including in the video you are presumably referring to.

I suggest you post the links or just drift off the topic politely.

literally nothing to do with the impreza at any point in its development so stop with that too

the Legacy mule got both teams excited enough to commit, if that has you questioning the definition of mule... ok?

http://lmgtfy.com/?q=BRZ+development+video

The suspension and the rear subframe for the BRZ and the Impreza are practically identical (the rear anti roll bar from any Impreza based model bolts right in, just for example), front hubs even have the hole in them for the awd axle fitted to an Impreza. Subaru themselves refer to the Impreza several times in that video, assuming it's the two part video I watched.

You will not find any source to support the claim that the BRZ is based on the legacy platform. The 2012 Impreza was "all new" and developed at the same time as the BRZ. Wheelbase is very similar. Engine is basically identical in size and shape, the FA20 being a development of the FB20, etc etc. Subaru even had to modify the transmission tunnel and move the starter (or something similar) from one side of this brand new engine to the other side in order to move the engine back a little. Had they designed the platform from scratch they would not have had to do that.

Legacy we got at the time 2009-2012 was a different car built only in the USA.

You probably don't realize that the Forester is just an oversized Impreza.

There is just no possibility that a tiny car company like Subaru would design an entirely new platform just to build the BRZ, none whatsoever.

hah I rallycross a 13 impreza and can tell you the rear sway bars are the only swappable part, a function of standard ~70" body width. Stop saying the subframes are practically identical. They share the same GENERAL SHAPE that Subaru has used for years but don't read that much into it

must be a different development video because every one of them shows the Legacy mule that was the very first, followed by the naked black mule which was still Legacy! Then the camo BRZ on the all new platform. No Impreza at any point. Zero reference to Imprezas at any point.

again with the unrelated crap when you're wrong, it's not the time to bring up the Forester of all things

you keep asking for further proof, links and support for something widely known, all while ignoring the fact that you can't do that in the slightest.

the BRZ is an all new platform, again stop making up nonsense

instead of getting immediately defensive and moving the goalposts, read this slowly. I'm going to be nice and type it all out for you:

[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VS1ApdsAs-U"]Subaru BRZ: Engineer's Story (Full) | Subaru Australia - YouTube[/ame]

2 minutes in. Hiroshi Watahiki. Engineering Division. Says QUOTE:

"We overhauled every aspect of the car in what was the first time we had undertaken such a challenge of this scale in 20 years since the 1st generation Legacy. We have completely redesigned the engine, transmission, platform and upper body– in fact, every aspect of the car."

UNQUOTE.

2:40 : Newly Developed Platform. Keep watching if you'd like?

This was the content that we all gobbled up waiting for the car to come out 6 years ago. Many of us know it inside and out along with all of the other development and teaser videos. This one's called Engineer's Story and is the second best.

Stop inventing stuff.

Nobody said it was "based on" the Legacy we said it was the mule to demonstrate proof of concept.
Parts bin parts are used all the time and do not indicate common design in any way. To use your own standard response If you knew anything about parts manufacturing you would know this.
They didn't need to modify the tunnel nor move the starter to make things fit. The design accounted for these in the new platform. Where the hell did you even come up with that malarkey?
Subaru doesn't design new platforms for one model? Everything they have ever made is built on their very first design? Jesus dude you have not one single clue about such things do you?

However, there's a very real possibility that a large car company such as Toyota would in fact design an entirely new platform and then reach out to a small car company it partially owns to share design ideas and technology, especially when the small car company has an extensive racing background of its own. They might even conduct a joint venture with said small car company and allow models to be produced under both brands.

A large car company such as Toyota might even reach out to a completely unrelated car company to design and build an entirely new platform just to create a halo car. Which is why the FT-1 will have a BMW engine and why the BMW Z5 will be built on an FT-1 chassis.

Impossible! Besides Mr. Gfarce has already clearly stated that the Toyota guys screwed up the suspension and it was the saving grace of the BRZ design team that has brought it back to reality. How dare you insinuate that the car was anything but a modified Impreza.

Yeah, that's how I know he's wrong. Any company that has competed in as many racing series as Toyota has knows how to design suspension. Especially when some of those racing series are F1, WRC, the Endurance Championship, and Baja 1000/SCORE. That's a huge and varied wealth of knowledge and experience.

Except that Toyota didn't design the BRZ. And Toyota bought into Subaru well before the BRZ was announced, so not a totally unrelated company. As for the BMW connection with Toyota well, we should wait and see what that unlikely joint venture produces before we get too carried away. Toyota needs no help from BMW in the powerplant department.

The current Impreza and BRZ were developed at the same time and from a substantially modified Legacy platform. The rear suspension and subframe are essentially identical between the two and of different origin to that of the Legacy which continues with its own subframe and suspension until next year when Subaru will be building all of its cars on a new multi car platform. That's when we'll find out what the new BRZ will look like, if there is one.