Considering swapping my '13 Si sedan for FR-S in Dallas, advice?
 

Anyone here have experience with both cars?
I love the FR-S and honestly I probably should have bought one when I bought the Si sedan but I needed a car for work, I drive allot between Dallas and Texarkana/Shreveport on the highway every week. I thought I really needed a 4 door for the job but so rarely use the back seat I see now I can get away without it.

Any long distance commuters have input on putting allot of highway miles on an FR-S?

How's the Bluetooth work in these cars for calls and texting while driving?

Texting while driving, no. Bluetooth for calls works fine.

I don't put a lot of miles on my car daily, but I can average 25-32 mpg depending on how I feel like driving per tank of gas. It's about 70% city, and 30% highway.

The rear wheel drive is awesome. I've had mine since November of 2012 and I haven't had a single mechanical issue outside of normal maintenance and I have been modding it. It's been extremely reliable. I'm about to supercharge mine so I am hoping I do not introduce any problems, but I am not going overboard with the numbers, so I should be fine.

My biggest beef with Honda lately is their reliability has gone down. They aren't built like they used to be. They are still really good cars. It's just that the competition out there is now on par or better than what they are producing.

The Si has no torque dip though. That was one pain point with this car that you'll feel around 3k rpm. Without tuning and an aftermarket header, you will continue to feel it.

Overall, the FR-S is a more fun car. I have a buddy who has a '12 Civic Si wishing he would have gotten a BRZ. The RWD aspect is probably the best part to look forward to.

Yeah, I drove an FR-S and '13 Si back to back when shopping last Spring and the Si definitely felt like it had more power (stock for stock). But, I have had many rear wheel drive cars over the years, a couple of S2000's and numberous 944 turbos and E36 M3's, and once you know your limits in the chassis a rear wheel drive car will be more fun to peddle around.

I know I sound like a parrot but, man, does it need about another 30-40 hp. Might mess with the somewhat neutral handling of the car a bit as throttle steer will increase but it would feel more like a nicely set-up S2000.

OK, so Bluetooth doesn't handle text, only calls and music. The highway mpg are comparable to what I'm getting out of the Civic, low 30's on the highway.

How are the seats and driving position comfort after an hour behind the wheel? I have done many extended trips in M3's, Porsche's, and several 3-4 hour drives in my S2k with no issues. Is the FR-S going to be comfortable?

Outstanding commuter car, other than being loud. Drive with the rear seats up.

The seats are really comfortable. I could drive in this thing across the country and be fine with it.

One reason I am supercharging mine is to bump it up to a good power level without ruining the characteristics of it. 300 is a pretty respectable number without going overboard and needing to replace too many things.

I came from an 07 FG2...

the brz is definitley a bit slower but it makes up for it with its awesome handling and sleek looks. also navigation and RWD were definite plusses.

they're both great cars. If you havent yet, you need to test drive an ft86 though.

You could easily swap the stereo for one more blue tooth compatible (even carplay if you have an iphone)

not sure how the FRS deals with it but the BRZ has a neat text while driving "preset responses" kind of one touch respond built into the radio.

I cant speak for Android or iOS but my Windows phone handles texting hands free via Bluetooth perfectly.

If I get a text Cortana (Windows "siri") will tell me and ask if I want her to read it.
If I say yes then she reads its and asks if I want to reply.
If I say yes then she prompts for my reply.
When I'm done she dictates my reply to me and asks if it is correct or if I want to add to it.
When I'm ready I tell her to send it and she does.

Coolest shit ever. Kinda freaked me out because it never did that with my Galaxy S4 and then when I bought my windows phone while driving Cortana started talking to me out of the blue.

She does all kinds of other cool shit too like making calls or doing voice turn by turn navigation, read traffic updates, etc...

Gas is good. A lot of wind noise at 70...

Came from an 07 FG2. You're probably gonna miss your Civic's torque.

Yeah, I can barely believe I said that but it's likely true. My FR-S felt less peppy as compared to my K20 Si with a header. Stock for stock though the FR-S does have a tad more mid range but the K20 made power in a more pleasant manner.

Still, you've got the K24 which probably pulls significantly harder than the K20 down lower.

I'd be skeptical about jumping ship to an FR-S. You're paying substantially more. Yeah it is RWD, but think long and hard about how much you want it as these cars are pretty comparable in performance otherwise.

My Si has a great car and I had a blast. I miss the engine noise of that K20, dear god it was glorious. The shitty clutch cylinders that made 2nd gear grind, I don't miss so much... If not for the shifting issues, I may have decided to just stick with it.

Test drive the FR-S. If you fall in love with it maybe consider biting the bullet. Make sure you wind it out though so you know exactly what kind of powerband you're getting yourself into. Personally the car frustrates me quite a bit. This engine's powerband just sucks. It has a lot of good attributes otherwise so if Mazda doesn't announce a coupe version of the upcoming Miata, and I'm pretty confident they won't, I'll probably just supercharge it one of these days.

Be sure to test drive around some twisties if you can!

The stock powerband in the twins is a mixed bag. Normal day to day driving, it pulled pretty hard so long as it's over 1500RPM and you shift at 4K or below. Once you're moving and you downshift to get yourself in the power band, it will move pretty damn well. The issue is first gear and getting through the torque dip...


I was used to boosted cars with non-linear power bands so it's not an issue to me, but it is an issue I will eventually fix...

Thanks for the very honest replies, I was hoping it wouldn't be a bunch of fanboys but you guys were very objective and I appreciate it.

Tennisfreak, I also use a windows phone and my Civic handles text replies exactly the same way so that's great to hear.

I will go test drive a used '13 one more time, I haven't driven them since buying my civic, and see how I feel. But regardless of how much I like it I will not "put myself out" and make a stupid financial decision to get it, if I can buy and keep my payment where I want and make out well on a trade I'll do it.

There are several people in the metro area selling their '13 FR-S with similar mileage for what I owe on mine or a little less, cars are valued about the same. I have a guy with a white '13 that's interested in a straight swap, if I can work the logistics and not have to pay tax I may just do that, will see.

If I get either a BRZ or FR-S I will be active on here and will be doing upgrades and my own maintenance to the car. I have a pretty extensive background with European and Japanese sports cars since the late 80's and have been doing product test/reviews of aftermarket parts for cars for about 11 years.

I'll report back if I pull the trigger.

Your '13 Civic Si will probably be the better commuter car... Maybe you'll find it more comfortable for daily driving, I'm thinking... I've only test driven a standard level Civic, therefore I may not know as much.

FR-S / BRZ will make some compromises but should give you a more responsive sports car feel overall, even without any modifications.

My honest opinion... If you're going to be driving a lot on the highway with the FR-S / BRZ, you won't enjoy it as much... Maybe it's just me, but I enjoy this car much more in the city where there are quick turns and opportunities to heel-toe... And stretch this car's athleticism a bit.

As far as the Bluetooth goes, it worked fantastic on my prior FR-S with the base Pioneer audio. Don't know how my incoming BRZ's system will turn out, but I don't think I should be too worried.

Good luck with the decision.

I can't speak to the Civic, but I also use a Windows Phone and the Bluetooth integration might be the best I've ever used compared to any of my previous cars. The Pioneer head unit is really simple, but so well designed and built.

I just made this exact change. Gave my 2013 Civic Si to Carmax in September, got a 2015 BRZ last Thursday.

The BRZ rides firmer but Texas roads are so good (compared to Indiana roads) I doubt you'll feel the difference.

I use a bluetooth headset most of the time so haven't used the car bluetooth as much. For some reason my old Motorola M886 android phone doesn't automatically connect but I haven't spent a lot of time messing around with it.

I've actually gone 2013 BRZ, 2013 Civic Si and 2015 BRZ and the BRZ is definitely more fun to drive because of it's lighter weight and go-kart feel. I suspect the Civic Si is faster in a straight line.

I haven't done so a head-to-head test but the 2015 BRZ seems to ride a lot better than the 2013 BRZ, the car settles on bumps instead of crashing down. So I'd aim for a 2015 car.

I wish the BRZ had a sunroof.

ISM

The first 2 months I had my FR-S I was putting 200 miles on it a day with no comfort issues. If anything I ended up having more fun during my commutes. Just something about the drive of this car that makes it fun.

As for the lack of power, full bolt-ons with a tune would decimate a Si any day. You can go FI if you wanted to as well. IMO unless you're going do to a monster build, it's not worth changing the aspiration of the car for a mere 20-30% HP increase. Especially at 12.5:1 compression. Again that's just my opinion though for that.

The FRS is perfect for me. I put 25k miles this past year averaging 29mpg. The bluebooth works great with my iphone. I spend an hour everyday on a conference call during my commute to work. No complaints here. As long as you realize that this is a $25k car, you'll be fine.

True, but this would be the case with the Si as well. From what I have read both cars can get about 40 hp with about $2,500-3,000 in bolt ons.

I am going to go ahead and get my new rims refinished this week and install the short shift kit and intake charge pipe this weekend, will test drive some '13s this weekend and see what I think, will report back.

I owned an 8th gen Civic and the drive isn't even comparable. The FR-S/BRZ is way more fun to drive hands down.

Just thought about this thread when I ran into one of our new forum members @k24evo who made the switch from a '13 Si to a BRZ.

Here's his brief take on it, although I'd gladly PM him for further info / explanations:

SI
Good :faster , big room, backup cam, save gas than the brz get 330+ miles on 10 gallon (maybe the brz need brake in time) etc...
Con :understeer , potential ..etc..








Brz
Good: seat position so great, style, handle, a lot of potential, a lot of parts,
GPS(FREE) , easier to hit 3000 rpm than si ,Fun car that not cost a lot of money to own


Bad : Small, rear seat?(should make this car 2 seat), Gps unit hard to use,no backup cam,


Evo 9
Good : Power, handle, potential,


Bad :maintenance price, parts price, gas price, lot of maintenance and gas
The worstest interior car in the world

Thanks guys, I really like the drive of the scion and Subaru version of the car, driven both now. I sort of planted a seed with my local Toyota dealer, you could tell when I left that they were shocked I didn't drive one home that night, the salesman was half my age and scared sh!tless after out test drive lol.

I told them I owed more on my civic that they would ever offer on trade so Ill wait a few months and sell it for payoff, then negotiate a price for cash buy. When I said they the sales manager came out and said he would try to find a used manual tranny car with comparable mileage to mine and I wouldn't get hammered on a trade. They've called me every 4 days since then to see if I've bought anything yet.

Honestly I could just write a check for the car now and sell the Si later but that's a stupid financial decision and poor use of potential free or super cheap money rate on finance deals right now. Meanwhile I continue to spend money on upgrades for the Civic like an idiot.