What other car did you consider before deciding on the BRZ?
 

I Held out for almost 7 months debating what my next car would be... But made the right decision with the BRZ. The only back up I considered was an Imported BMW M135i from mexico.

S2000. It's so hard to find a clean low mileage one. I found a couple that were going for as much or more than a new brz. I'll probably pick up a cheap ap1 and use it for tracks.

I replaced my lifted Silverado (7.5" lift on 35s) for this car.

All used
I considered a Camaro (until I drove it and hated it)
I considered a Corvette, but I just wanted to test drive it and didn't like it as much.
I looked at the WRX, but I wanted the STI and couldn't afford it.
I even looked at a Dodge Challenger and a Nissan 370Z.

It all came down to what I got for my truck and I loved the BRZ as soon as I sat in it. It's my daily driver. Only put 300 miles on it (had it for a week) and love it. Just if I can figure out how to start from a stop smoother...

Just saying first tank I got 25.3mpg (hand figured) and now I the car says 28.9mpg, but I'll hand do it later. Way better than the 11mpg I was getting in the truck.

Many cars, but the final 4 were
Challenger - DQ'd on mileage and general tank-ish-ness
Cadillac ATS 2.0T - DQ'd on no need for extra doors and size at this point in my life
Subie BRZ - DQ'd on if gonna' spend an extra 3-5k it's going to be on parts that I want and less on the Subie make, Alcantara seats, or fancy climate controls.

WINNER - 2013 Raven FRS and I'm happy as a clam. The money I saved vs. BRZ (in so cal's inflated pricing) has added TRD catback, TRD drop-in filter, RS*R Superdown Springs, Huper Optik Tints, B2Auto spacers, JDM clear corners, and new tails. Still have money left for camber bolts, brake pads/fluid, track tires, and maybe i can squeeze in wheels if I'm lucky. feelsgoodman.jpg

I was looking at 4 cars:

New:
2013 BRZ
2013 135i MSport

Used:
Cayman S
C6 Z06 Corvette

Ultimately the BRZ won because it really was the best combination of everything that all 4 cars brought to the table, and wouldn't break my wallet in regards to purchase price and maintenance.

im 22 years old so a Z w/ no backseat would cost a lot in insurrance. A used prosche would also be costly and it'd be used. Muscle cars were out of the question. And the Hyundai Gen coup was out because every Gen coup ive seen is riced out and driven by young D-bags. I was either going to stay w/ my 88 Supra or get the FRS/BRZ. End of story.

I knew I wanted a BRZ as soon as I saw one. Took me a while to decide on a color but ultimately I fell in love with Satin Pearl White. Then I waited about 7 months for a Limited SWP to show up semi-close to me. It was still a 90 minute drive, but I'm glad I was able to grab it! It had actually been reserved already but the guy who reserved it ended up not being able to get it. Subaru call me up since I was on their email list and that day I drove over and fell in love. :)

There's no other car on the road that I think looks better than my brz.

I had been planning to buy a new car for a long time and so I had a list going of cars I'd like to check out. Ultimately I decided on the brz once I test drove one.

Challenger - too large and heavy
370z - couldn't find a reasonably cheap one
335i - same as above
Mustang GT - large and heavy
FR-S - wanted those few extra features of the brz

Then one weekend my 2005 Sentra's engine died on me from overheating and I had to pretty much make a decision that week. Went with the brz. I've only had it for a month and I feel like that was the best choice I could have made. Just graduated college, so I had to find something not too expensive, but I definitely wanted something awesome as a DD.

Nothing. It was either fix a ton of stuff on the speed6 to keep it running for another 5 years or buy a new BRZ.

Very happy with my decision.

WRX limited or WRX STi limited.

Porsche Cayman.

The only new car I seriously considered before signing the papers for a BRZ last week was a GTI. I've always liked their looks, and with a simple $600 ECU tune the GTI is ~250 HP/TQ. Concerns about VW reliability ultimately led me away.

Used options I mulled included the S2000, EVO and WRX, but these cars barely depreciate and most have been ran pretty hard.

Here's what my list was-- cars and why I didn't choose them:

New:

• BRZ (won, obviously)

Used:

• N54 BMW 135i (eliminated due to gas-drinking and high upkeep costs out of warranty)
• Late-2000's BMW 335i (same as above)
• BMW 128i (same as above)
• E46 high-end 3-series / M3 (eliminated due to maintenance concerns-- lots of German-car electronics gremlins and torn subframe mounting points put a damper on my enthusiasm here. They were still extremely tempting, though.)
• Porsche Boxster (eliminated due to upkeep costs and no gimmick rear seats)
• Porsche Cayman (same as above)
• air-cooled Porsche 911 (eliminated due to recent price increases / hard to find good coupes, also high maintenance costs and no ABS on anything but the 964 [ugly IMHO] and 993 [expensive and my family already has one])

That was pretty much it. I'd probably have had a Cayman / Boxster if it weren't for the lack of rear seats-- I don't care about having room for four on a regular basis (usually it's just little old me in the car), but having ironic rear seats for moving people in a pinch is important to me. Just the other night I DDed 3 friends downtown for a friend's birthday night-out-- it would be a shame to just not be able to do things like this. I still think that the 1-series is an incredible car for the money and that I'd have had a good time with one if I'd been able to find one in good shape at a decent price. The potential cost of ownership is high, though.

What I really ~*should*~ have done is gone with an older Porsche. With their increasing value, if I'd been able to find the right deal on Rennlist then I bet Porsche-inflation would probably have largely offset whatever I spent on mods over time. If you're really patient you can find really nice cars for reasonable prices. At the end of the day I bet dropping $35k on an older Porsche would not be the worst use of one's money, and (most importantly) you'd get to enjoy a Porsche every day in the meantime!

If I was not a silly person, I'd probably have gone with an old 911. As it happens though, I am a silly and impulsive person and bought the BRZ instead, thinking that "sure, the BRZ is more expensive, but it has tiny running costs and unlike all these other cars, I won't need to change much on the car to enjoy it."

Of course, now I'm several grand in the hole on my car anyway, which makes this one expensive BRZ and means I could totally have gone for any of these other cars for the same money. I guess at least gas and tyres will be cheaper? :3

I'm not regretting my decision much. I really like my BRZ. It's fun, fairly good on fuel, feels faster than it is, and promises to be pretty cheap to keep on the road. Also I find it bizarrely comfortable-- I guess I'm just the right size for its cockpit-- which makes it a great DD/fun-car/road tripper all in one!

Maybe in a few years if I'm making decent money I'll swap it for an air-cooled Porsche-- variety is the spice of life after all-- but until then I'm just gonna enjoy my fun little blue car.

carrera c4s
evo x
mazdaspeed 3
s2k
focus st
Sti limited
Fiat 500 abart
Civic si sedan
2013 honda accord
g37xs
IS250
135i

I had three choices:

Subaru BRZ
Scion FRS
Hyundai Genesis Coupe 2.0 base

I wanted a car around a 25k price tag, but did not want an American muscle car.
After watching and reading reviews on YouTube and other blogs, I narrowed it down to the FRS or the BRZ. I was very close to getting a whiteout FRS (only color I would choose other than Ultramarine), but since dealers would not budge under MSRP the whiteout came to $26,575. I got a Subie dealer to get RID of the markups to GET TO MSRP, so I stuck with the premium BRZ (color GBS was not my first choice) at $27,979 with port installed amenities. For $1,404 difference, I appreciated the interior touch screen & HID/LED DRLs and stuck to that. The color quickly grew on me real fast.

Honestly, the genesis coupe's fascia is just too busy for me, but I really liked the interior. Coming from a 140 HP civic coupe, I thought 200HP would be a nice step up anyways compared to 274 HP of the gen coupe (not that HP is the main attraction for the BRZ/FRS anyways).

My choices: BRZ, FRS, Focus ST, Genesis Coupe, Used WRX STi

Winner: BRZ. I really wanted RWD, and I got kinda sick of the turbo scene. Previous car was a tuned SRT-4.

my choices were an frs , camaro, challenger and g37

Impreza WRX, Camaro, Focus ST and Mazdaspeed 3, FR-S.

Pre-owned
CPO TTS
E350
E550 coupe
e92 M3

New
A5
FRS
BRZ

Didn't want to deal with any reliability problems down the road with the used cars. Test drove the BRZ and bought one. No regrets.

Sc10n FRS. IS350.

This is me to a T. Just modified it slightly. I test drove all of them. I got price quotes for all, too. In the end, I got the most expensive car, lol.

I wanted a fairly inexpensive, but fun-to-drive car to learn stick on. The BRZ had just come out and got good reviews, and I liked the idea of RWD (my DD was a Mitsubishi Evo AWD, and I still have a Prius that the wife usually ended up driving, which is FWD).

I had considered the FR-S, but none were in the area at the time; given the similarity, I almost consider them the same "option".

I looked at the Focus ST (which was getting good reviews and competitive comparisons).

Also debated going used for my first stick, figuring if I killed it, it wouldn't be expensive. But then figured if the car wasn't nice/fun/working, I wouldn't drive it, either. At the top of the list there was an RX-8 Shinka edition in the area. I'd had an automatic RX-8 (one of the first years, I think), which I enjoyed a lot, as it was very fun to drive, RWD, and actually sat two passengers (nobody could sit behind me, but it was definitely possible for two adults to sit on the passenger side). Sometimes, when I'm not driving the BRZ, I think maybe I should've saved the money and gone with the RX-8. But c'est la vie.

Also considered a Mustang (but everyone around here has a Mustang -- I like being different), a Mini (also ubiquitous), and the Dodge Challenger (I really like the retro look on that) but decided I like turning corners. :) Wife wanted to get a 128i but

Seems a lot of us were thinking around the same options... ;)

...Paul

Considered a used BMW 135, but it was going to be a DD so we needed better MPGs. Thought about a used 128, but was worried what maintenance cost would be. Test drove a newer model Civic Si...horribly disappointed. Test drove a FRS which made me want a BRZ. Test drove a BRZ Premium that made me want the Limited. We were also considering the 370Z, but we never even got that far bc the BRZ was IT. Plus the 370Z looks fat and overweight and I just couldn't imagine it handling like the FRS/BRZ.

disclaimer: I viewed the frs and brz the same so I based my decision on whichever got me the best deal

used -

chevy pickup
jeep Cherokee/grand Cherokee
chevy sonic or cruise (not that serious)
some sort of rat rod
civic (then add boost)
or supecharging my current v6 mustang.
http://i716.photobucket.com/albums/w...ustdone001.jpg

after a few months and after viewing these commercials decided to go with the brz

[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0JaY2rJHH3A&feature=youtube_gdata_player"]Scion TV Commercial For Scion FRS - YouTube[/ame]

[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NByeWLjYWDw&feature=youtube_gdata_player"]Subaru BRZ (Drift) - YouTube[/ame]

I considered the Focus ST, Mazdaspeed3, Genesis Coupe, WRX, and Audi A4.

Focus ST was the one I considered the most heavily, but the 86 twins were my definite choice from the start, I just wanted to play the field before buying.

Only other car I seriously considered was a 5-door WRX - the car that I've wanted for pretty much as long as I've ever wanted a sporty car. No other cars in my ~30k price range were any real competition in my eyes.

However, I took a long look at how I use my vehicle and ~95% of the time I'm hauling myself and a backpack on a highway to work and back. Strictly in terms of fuel economy the BRZ wins.

Also, from everything I've read on both cars (I haven't actually driven a WRX so I haven't experienced this firsthand) the WRX really doesn't handle as well as the BRZ. From this I determined that it's possible to make the BRZ as fast as the WRX but the WRX will never handle as well as the BRZ. I will miss the AWD but the consensus is that with a good set of winter tires the BRZ handles just fine in the snow...and I'd need winter tires on the WRX anyway since it too comes with summer tires.

If Subaru were releasing the 2015 model with the rumored changes (2.0L engine, shedding ~200lbs, and a new body style) and updating the interior to one befitting this decade, I probably would have gone for the WRX over the BRZ. I feel that Subaru has learned a lot from their work on the 86 and a great deal of that will translate over to the WRX's future models, but for right now the BRZ just makes the WRX look old, and I tend to keep vehicles for a very long time. I want to start with something that feels as new as possible.

Would I be happy with the WRX? Absolutely, I'm sure of it. But my gut tells me the BRZ is the car for me, and when it arrives in the next few weeks I won't care about anything else.

I have a giant thread on another forum about how I wound up going with the BRZ:

http://forums.nasioc.com/forums/show....php?t=2529927

Basically it came down to just a few cars I was seriously considering...

BRZ
FRS
Focus ST
Fiesta ST
Mazda MX-5 Club PHRT
Mazdaspeed 3 (used)
Mini JCW (used)

I was _ that close to getting a Focus ST, if not for the super good deal I got on the BRZ I would probably be driving the ST right now... or maybe a FRS.

Focus ST I only eliminated because there are sooo many focus's on the road and the interior layout wasn't nearly as good as the BRZ/FRS. But they drive SO DAMN GOOD! :eyebulge:

The MS3 was just crap compared to the Focus ST IMO. Drove the Focus IMMEDIATELY after driving the MS3 and thought the focus was better in EVERY way.

The JCW is fantastic, but had two huge issues... Interior was falling apart already on an '09 model, and reliability is crap and I didn't want to deal with that.

Miata was just not practical enough to be my only car...

Fiesta ST isn't out yet :bonk:

Civic Si Coupe
Scion FR-S
Subaru WRX

The only other car I considered was the FRS, but some of the extra features and eventually the front end of the BRZ swayed me towards the BRZ.

i am surprised by how similar the cars we all looked at were. i thought i was kind of crazy for being torn by such disparate cars as the challenger and BRZ, but seems a lot of us had similar quandaries.

for me, it came down to the BRZ and the BMW 335. the BMW was a much more practical car, since i could still do kid hauling and use it in the snow. i almost bought it too. what changed my mind was an autocross event. in talking with the guys there, they pointed out that you really want one car for track and autocross, and another car for your daily driving. that way, if something breaks down, you're not stuck on Monday morning without transportation.

after that, it was easy. instead of trying to get a car that could do everything, i just decided to keep the good old reliable volvo as the winter DD, and focused on a second car for summer DD and the occaisonal track or autocross.

My shortlist consisted of:
- Focus ST
- BRZ
- Mustang GT

I replaced a Golf TDI, and didn't really want another FWD hatch, so the ST was out. I really really miss my 06 GTO, so that's what made me go rear drive, and up until I test drove the BRZ I was 99% sure the Mustang GT would be my next car. I drove it, fell in love with the power. Dealers are clearing out the 13 Stangs to make room for the 14s, steeply discounting them. I could have gotten a GT Premium ($37k) for about $30k. Insurance and gas bills would have been considerable, especially coming from a 45mpg Golf. Last Tuesday, on a whim, I went and drove a BRZ. I fell for it. I fell HARD. The dealership was trying to move it off the lot, sticker was $28.8k, I drove it off the lot for $26k. I am happy.

Was looking at (new) anything around the $35k (Australian) mark, sport(y), preferably not a gas guzzler (petrol is excruciatingly expensive down here) and relatively practical:

The short list:

• Opel Astra GTC
• Veloster Turbo
• BRZ/86
• Focus ST

Focus was off the list straight away because they're over $40k in Australia. The Astra GTC looks great, but it feels like a big heavy lump - and its dash looks ugly and you sit low, but the dash and door panels are rather high. Weird car. (That's probably why Opel are pulling out of Australia, due to poor sales)

I'd always liked the Velosters as they're pretty well equipped and they're odd looking, yet pretty nice cars. Unfortunately for it, I testdrove an 86 GT first (they didn't have any GTS's in stock) and fell in love within two blocks. A week later, I testdrove a BRZ and cemented the love.

I went and testdrove the Veloster Turbo anyway - 5 year factory warranty + 5 year dealer warranty + 2k off + 'free' premium paint (stormtrooper white, gotta love that name) + free mats, etc = very very tempting deal... but it felt numb to drive. I felt like I was driving the colour 'gray', if it's possible to drive a colour around... the steering was like it wasn't connected to anything, and everything felt 'anxious' about the car. Its ride wasn't great, it handled okay but nothing even approaching the 86, etc.

I realise they're two different cars in terms of chassis design goals, but it's marketed as a sports car.

In the end, I've ordered a rally blue BRZ. Lots of people are getting that blue, but let's face it - if you order a Subaru sports car and you don't get it in World Rally blue... it's like ordering a Ferrari in anything but Ferrari Rosso. You just don't do it. ;)

New Gulf R
Used V8 M3
CPO S5
New V6 Mustang
Used Cayman

Test-drove the BRZ between the M3 and the S5. It took me over a year to decide and went back to the BRZ. Couldn’t justify the added cost of some of the others. Best decision I ever made.

WRX, WRX STI, S2K

I looked at a few and test drove a FIAT Abarth, Doge Challenger, Ford Mustang, Chevy Camaro, VW GTI, and Ford Focus ST.
The Mustang was terrible in almost every way
The Focus was actually nice and would be my 3rd choice
THe Abarth was my 2nd choice tied with the GTI.
I like the challenger as a kid but the new one was terrible when i looked at the interior and worse when i test drove it, however was the only one that could actually fit people in the back easily.
The Camaro was just as bad as the mustang with terrible driving experience and cheap interior.
I went with the BRZ for best looking interior and amazing driving experience, also my wife has a Abarth so i can drive it when i want lol

Unfortunately the BRZ is horrible in the winter, even with snow tires. I made it through last winter in NH, but any slight incline that I had to stop on I couldn't get it going again without backing up and getting a running start, or just flooring it and moving inch by inch.

Before I got my BRZ I test drove a MazdaSpeed3, Gen Coupe 2.0T and 3.6, Mustang (V6), and ultimately decided on the BRZ.

I'm a slight Mazda fan boy, so even though I'd come from another 3, I wanted another one. It kind of stings I didn't wait until the 3 hit the market, but I love the BRZ so much it doesn't really matter. I actually love hot hatches a lot. So no MS3 option at launch (maybe another year or two?) meant had no qualms about the BRZ. The ST was good, but I couldn't get over the artificial feeling steering. I couldn't kick the fact the steering was just odd on that car. Loved the power, though. It was really fast. In any gear.

The new Civic Si was okay when I drove it. The suspension is far too soft and the steering is lifeless, as well. But the transmission is typical Honda. Smooth and snicks into each gear. Great shifter and clutch. And the standard rearview camera was nice. No HID was a big bummer for me, though.

My short list was: BRZ, Boss 302, and the 1-Series

I agree, lots of us seem to have had similar backups

-- s2000 if reasonably proced
-- Focus ST if lower cost and not fwd
-- BMW if cheaper out of warrenty costs
-- used porsche 911 if better up-keep cost
-- Challengers / Mustang if it werent so "tankish"

Nissan 370Z
Lotus Elise
Mazda MX-5
Honda S2000
Porsche Cayman
Audi A4
Subaru WRX

Drove all those. Also considered an BMW M3 E46, 2003 Audi RS 6 and just dumping $30k into my Datsun 240Z over 5 years. I'm completely satisfied with my decision; I still want to lease an A4 for a DD, though.