BRZ 2015 vs 2017
 

Hello everyone,

I'm a new member here and currently looking for a used BRZ. Now i'm having a dilemma between 2015 vs 2017(facelift) model.

In my country, the cost of a 2015 BRZ is about $32,000 and a 2017 BRZ is about $39,000.(Yes, Malaysia imposed high import tax for car)
So I'm not sure the facelift, minor update and the mfg year are good enough to justify the additional $7,000. Personally, i'm leaning towards the 2015 model (mainly because of the cost), appreciate if anyone could prove me wrong though.

Thanks!

BRZ 2015 vs 2017
 

Try and drive both. Many of the changes don’t make the car objectively better, but more subjectively depending on what you like. Hope that makes any sense.

I recently looked hard into 2017+ cars and I test drove a few local ones. I came to the conclusion that I *hate* the ride on the PP shocks and that none of the changes for 2017 make the car any better for me. I didn’t notice any difference in noise/NVH comfort (my 13 has 2017 shocks and springs) or sound deadening. The final drive change was imperceptible to me, and I wasn’t impressed by the brembos. I decided to stick with my 13 and spend some money on a few upgrades rather than dropping $10-15k on a stock 17-18.

Your opinion may be different, as others’ on this forum. Drive both and see for yourself. Good thing is you can’t really go wrong with either one.

Going from the 14 to the 20 I have a much different review on a couple of points. After a test drive of a BRZ I agree that the PP is only of value if you plan to track or want the bling factor and doesn't make much sense for a street car.
The other refinements to the "normal" car though have really impressed me and were far greater than I anticipated. The stiffening, final drive and minor improvements in the suspension gave a much better driving experience. I will repeat that I did not anticipate that these minor change would have the cumulative effect that they do. Over all the 2020 just seems more refined to me after driving it for a while that I didn't really catch on the short test drive. There could also be some confirmation bias involved since I brains like to play with us but I think I have spent enough time in each to know the change is real.


Milk,
Here is a list of the changes between the two:

@Yoshoobaroo, thanks for the input. I forgot to mentioned that the 2017 model that i'm looking at doesn't comes with sach damper and brembo brake. The brembo brake model could cost as high as $49k.

@Tcoat the file helps a lot! It helps me realized the small changes here and there. I'll still need to test it out to see which one is more to my liking.

I think 90% of the difference is in the suspension changes. I put 2017 shocks/springs/rear sway in my 13 and it’s much more comfortable and refined than before.

Also didn’t you come from RSR super downs on your sparkly brown car, @Tcoat?

Correct. They're super low boy RS*R 2" drop springs.

Yes but I also have spent many many hours driving or riding in others in my North American visitation tours. I think the only thing I have never been in is an RS2.

Set plans for paint yet?
I miss my super low boy RS*R 2" drop springs. Every time I look at the Hakone I see a monster truck.

A 20mm drop does a lot for that. Whenever I look at my car now it looks about perfect for a DD.
It looks monster truck next to a friends 2" drop BRZ. But I actually have suspension travel so... Pros cons.

Yep.
Gonna leave it as it is this year (damn you Covid) but next year I will probably look at adjustable coilovers so I can drop it in the summer and raise it in the winter.
Don't think that the new 86 bumper will do as good a job of plowing snow as the FRS did.

I think the new bumper has more of a "scoop" to it than the old FRS bumper.

Plus its wider at the bottom so you get more snowplow per dollar!

Attachment 190403

Thanks Tcoat, very helpful.

I may be biased, but if you want a 2017 for the updates it makes the most sense to go for a PP model. The difference between the limited and PP more than makes up for the slight difference in price, especially for a secondhand one. I’m sure you can find one that has been traded back in.

Very interesting that these two reviews are different. I haven't driven a +'17 car , but I installed the last years a few +'17 factory parts in my '15 model. Every single part was improving a bit the car. The most noticeable change was the 4.3 final drive ratio, but I was coming from a stock 3.7 final drive ratio. A few EU cars were coming with this gearing for fuel consumption reasons.

That's a HUGE change! I'm sure you felt that! Going from 4.1 to 4.3 is not really noticeable IMO.

The biggest change for me was the suspension. I swapped 2017 Shocks/Springs/Sways on my 2013 a few years ago and it made the car more comfortable, more planted, and better behaved.

Aside from the suspension, the only 2017+ change I really liked was the new cluster with the info display, and track mode. I have since installed both into my 13 as well, works very nicely.

The PP shocks were too stiff at high frequencies, especially the front end bounces all over the place. The brakes felt slightly spongier than on my 13. I already had the facelift tail lights and ended up going back to the stock ones so that wasn't a huge bonus either, and I like the styling of the pre-facelift better overall.