Anyone coming from more powerful cars to the BR-Z?
 

Just curious if anyone else here is coming from more powerful / higher horsepower cars to the BR-Z, and what your thoughts on the BR-Z are comparatively.

I too have been following the BR-Z / FR-S from the beginning. However, given my background...owning and daily driving a slightly modified 2000 Honda Civic EX for 10 years (through high school and college, modified before the fast and the furious craze). Before this my very first car was a 1988 Mazda RX-7, if you know anything about these engines, they arent exactly reliable...

http://i.imgur.com/rrQzQnh.jpg

Anyway, when it was finally time for me to get out of the Civic in the Summer of 2o12, I was ready for a high horsepower car with the classic sports car layout. I ended up buying a 2009 Pearl White Nissan 370Z, base model and was in love with the car. I didn't even drive anything else, the 200+ hp jump from the Civic alone was enough. I also thought the car handled very well at the time. I believe the 86's were due to arrive the next month, but I scoffed as I knew I had 100+ more horsepower, and what I believed to be a better handling more sophisticated sports car all around in the 370z.

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However, one afternoon on my way to lunch, just two months into ownership of the 370z, I was run off the road by an elderly gentlemen into oncoming traffic. I collided with a VW Passat head on at 50+ mph. Will edit and add pics this evening. That was the end of the 370Z. Of course I had made the payment on it just hours before...

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At this point, I was 28 years old, and had only lived in the state of Georgia my entire life. It was time for a change. My girlfriend and I, and our dogs moved out to Colorado. After living here for a year or so, I got the itch to buy again. I was looking for a 2o15 WRX base model, but they were not readily available yet. However, almost all dealers in my area had at least 1 2015 Launch Edition WRX STI available. I reasoned with myself that if I got the STI my payment would be higher, but I would be saving overall because at least I wouldnt "have" to modify it right away...

I test drove the Launch Edition, and despite my insistence on owning a rear drive, sexy sports car, the Launch Edition STI was now mine. Even though there were years in between drives, the STI made the 370z feel sloppy in every area. Maybe this isnt quite a fair comparison, and maybe the NISMO 370 would stack up better against the STI, but I still felt it shouldn't be possible. The layout of the Z alone, despite the AWD of the STI, should have made the Z a better handling car. This simply was not the case.

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I loved the STI, and it would have been a track monster stock if I had ever taken it out. It was also very fun to drive daily, and very capable in the snow. My only complaint at the time was that the car was very stiff, and not kind on my bad back. However, even with the nice factory gold STI wheels, and exclusive blue interior of the Launch edition, and knowing the car was 1/1000, I never once got the same feeling looking at the car that I did with the 370Z. Because of this, the fact that I was now trying to buy a house, and the fact that the STI with insurance was costing me very close to $1000 monthly, I decided to sell the car after putting just over 15k miles on it. This was a very sad day.

Fast forward another year, and i still haven't been able to find a house that I like enough to buy. I've also now finished recovering from 3 spine surgeries, and my back is feeling much better. Apparently I had a broken piece of bone just chilling in my back since the accident in the Z. Anyway, with my back feeling better, and now once again being tired of only driving my girlfriends 2013 Altima when she wasnt using it, I was ready to buy a car again.

I finally convinced myself that I needed to at least drive a BR-Z. I have always loved the way they look, but have never been impressed with 200hp on paper. After the first test drive, I wasnt entirely convinced that I wanted the car. I loved the handling, the inputs, and the overall connection I felt to the road, but the car really felt slow. I expected this being that my last car was the STI. I decided to wait on the purchase, for once. Side note, I later relized that the a/c was on during my entire test drive.

I started calling around and realized I could easily get a limited model brz in my area for the price of the base or premium model. Each dealer only had 1 BRZ, so they were willing to deal. I finally settled on Valley Subaru because they added an additional year / 40k miles to the powertrain warranty, so 6 year / 100k mile powertrain. When my girlfriend got home from work, we made the drive to Valley Subaru...

On the way I started questioning myself, are you really going up here to potentially buy a car you have been shitting on in your head for the last 3 years? By the time we arrived, I convinced myself that I needed to drive a base model WRX as well, since these cars are basically the same price, pending options. I drove the WRX first. The car accelerated fairly quickly stock, but I was mainly interested in the tunability of this car, since the turbo was already there. Body roll was noticeable, but the car still handled very well, and would obviously be much more capable in the snow.

I then got in the BRZ and took the same route I had just taken the WRX. I made sure the a/c was off this time. The stiffer suspension / lower center of gravity in the BRZ was immediately noticeable. This is the feel I was looking for. What wasnt noticeable to the "seat of the pants dyno" was the 70 or so horsepower I knew I was missing compared to the WRX I had just driven. I decided then that I liked the BRZ better than the WRX, and there is now a 2o16 WRB BRZ Limited in my garage. I may be kicking myself when the 2o17's roll out, I read September, but couldnt get any info on arrivals from local dealers, and I couldn't wait. I am now paying 1/2 of what I was paying monthly for the payment and insurance on the STI, but I certainly do not feel that I have 1/2 the car. I can honestly say that I love the BR-Z more than the 2015 Launch Edition STI and the 2009 370z.

Never again will I let a # on paper be the sole basis for judging a car...

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My last car was a Genesis coupe 2.0t that was modded. It was putting out near 300 hp and about 320 tq at 3280 lbs. It handled pretty well (very fun because it was tail happy), but the brakes were terrible and the TC/SC/ABS were all atrocious. Modding that car was REALLY EASY and because it was a turbo, there were a lot of tuning options.

Sometimes I miss the power because on the highway I'd mash the gas and there would be no problem getting by. If someone wanted to race, that car could take most challengers. People saw 2.0 liter and figured it was slow. It was a fast car, but not a very good car overall.

The lower CG, stiffer suspension, terrific TCS/ABS, awesome LSD, less caster angle, reduced weight and everything else come together to make the FRS the better package. But the slow thing kind of sucks, but no turbo until it's paid off. With a turbo this will be an amazing package. I think 50 HP and 70 tq would transform this car.

The FRS handling with Gencoupe power:weight would be a dream car.

Good opinion on why the BRZ worked for you. I agree that these cars drive and feel much different than most cars available, even with less straight line performance, these can be very enjoyable.
Check out Everyday Driver TV on YouTube. They have a long term FRS that one of the guys drives daily in UT.

but that car kind of exists! the only problem is if you want that it can't really come in at $30k anymore.

http://p.images.boldride.com/porsche....24.748178.jpg

Thanks, I'll check it out. I know I'm late to the scene, trying to catch up. Seems like most have been around the forums since 2o13.


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Was the 370z really that bad? I have been contemplating getting a used one and boosting it.

We all know Subaru could build this car for 35-40k. Not the Porsche obviously, but they could easily build the turbo we all seem to crave. Incorporate the turbo in exhaust towards the rear of the car to have room for / not upset the engine balance. I'm not an engineer obviously, but I they could make it work if they wanted to. I would have without a doubt purchased it over the WRX STI at the time if it were available. And no loss to Subaru because I'm still buying a Subaru...

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I had a heavily modded 02 wrx putting down 320 320. Even with a full sti drive line and aftermarket springs and struts as well as other suspension components it could not even compete with the brz in terms of handling. Eventually I plan to boost my brz after Ive done as much as I can with parts to bump up the power NA. Plan to get ACE headers next and a new tune run that for a year before making the final decision if Im going to Supercharge it or not.

I highly disagree with that statement. There is no way they could market that kind of car for that price point. Bump that price up at least 5-10k and you are more in the ball park.

Maybe for the aftermarket but it's not that simple for the OEM.

http://www.spannerhead.com/wp-conten...4_Turbo_Ad.jpg

35 to 40k I doubt it. Most people forget that Japan has been broke ass for at least 20 years. Didn't you read the Reuters article on illegal foreign migrants earning minimum wage in the Japanese auto parts industry. This is no longer the booming 1980's unfortunately.

I'm very glad the twins actually even happened.

The 370z was a great car, don't get me wrong I wasn't meaning to bash on it. However, there were a few things I really didn't like about it. Mainly, the engine.

I know this is a V6 and isn't supposed to be as rev-happy, but the engine really felt wheezy towards the top end of the rpm band, and I mean well before redline. Don't get me wrong, the car was fast, but when you are driving it hard it feels like the engine is fighting you, like it isnt comfortable doing what its doing if that makes sense. The engine starts vibrating, and you can feel this in the steering wheel and shifter. The best comparison I can give is driving my dads 1998 4 cylinder, manual transmission Ranger. This was a manual trans truck, no tach included from factory on the dash. You literally shift when it sounds / feels like you are supposed to. Low rpms are fine, the engine feels very nice and torquey in the Z, but the last quarter of the rpm band feels too much like that ranger 4 cylinder vibrating that you are guessing at how high the rpms are...

Secondly, and I did test drive another 2009 370 base model while I owned the STI to confirm...and maybe the later models of the 370 have improved...

There is a lot more play than you would expect in the steering wheel. It is not as direct as the STI or BRZ. I'd give it 3rd out of all the cars I have owned. Compared to the other 2, it really does feel sloppy.

Same with the shifter in the 370z, it feels very loose or artificial compared to the 2 Subarus. I will even say that both of my Subarus have had the same issue with shifting into second and third gear when cold from new. However, the shifter in either if them still felt more direct and tight, which made me feel more connected to the car.

Lastly, I was never a fan of the interior of the 370z.

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I currently have a 2006 Pontiac GTO and a 2001 Subaru Outback. I test drove a BRZ while my Outback was in for a major maintenance, and fell in love with how it drives. I don't care that my GTO is three to four seconds faster down the dragstrip. Outside of the local track/strip, I don't go any faster than 70 MPH, and I don't street race... so there really isn't a point to having all that power other than the few times I have some fun at the track. Sure, getting on the highway is cool, but that's only like less than five seconds of fun. I'd rather enjoy normal driving and not have twisty roads be a chore.*

The Engineering Explained guy explained it best in his video explaining why he's selling his STI. Once you get past the ego and desire to have bragging rights on power, you'll come to realize that a lightweight car that is fun to drive is better to have. Why have fun less than 5% of the time in a way that may get you in trouble with the law, when you can have fun 80% of the time safely without getting into trouble?

The only car I've driven that comes close to the BRZ in enjoyment is the MX-5. Thing is, I hate Mazda's current weird alien spaceship designs. I like how the new Fiat that's based on the MX-5 looks, but I hate soft-tops. I joined this forum, because I'm a huge fan of the BRZ and hope to get one.

(*I also used to have a gutted Saturn SC2 as an autocross track car, and that thing was crazy fun. Autocross is so much funner than drag racing. I didn't want to get too long winded with my personal experience, since this post is already four paragraphs long including this one.)

There's something esoteric about the twins. The hp lack is a barrier to some. But, for many of those that 'get it', this car is primarily about daily driving fun. That it can be modded, tracked, etcetera, is one fuckava bonus.

Last coupla decades, 0 - 60's were falling with every subsequent vehicle I planted under me. The BRZ broke that mold - it's slower (in a straight line) than many of my past rides, and I've never been more thrilled - this one makes you work for your pace {sic} in line.

I studied this car for a number of years, hoping for a factory turbo that was not to be. I pulled the trigger a few months ago, and my higher hp rides have faded into oblivion with every paddle tap that barks my Borla.

Clearly, you 'get it'.

Congrats.