I'd go for the pre-refresh 2016 model. Sounds like you like it better and if you negotiate well, you'll save a lot of money over the new models.

You can easily learn to drive manual without hill-assist or use the hand-brake if need be. FWIW on my old STI I hated the hill-assist function.

anyone know how brz's new hill assist works?
never driven a car with one

Does it just ride the clutch so that the car is not moving? or does it actually go forward?
or is it braking the car for you until you actually let go of clutch and push on gas?

can you turn it off? i think i would prefer without it, sometimes i WANT to roll back

all hill assists use the brake. there is no electronic control of the clutch

Yes you can turn it on or off unlike the new Miata ND. It is always on. See page 258 below.

http://techinfo.subaru.com/proxy/125...706ASTIS_5.pdf

What he said, its actually intended to help save your clutch over time as well, not just making you look like a better driver

It actually comes disabled from the factory on the BRZ, as a note for all those people who were so worried about there being more nannies on the 17s

You have to turn the feature on first of all. It only actuates with a good and firm brake press at a full stop. Its also only temporary. I haven't timed it but id guess its about 2 seconds from brake release. You can either not come to a complete stop right away or let off the brake and wait a few so you can get the car to roll backwards if thats your intention. It's a really convenient feature. Not intrusive what so ever.

Agree. The only thing I wish is that the dash light was only on when it's actually active, rather than all the time.

If you like to negotiate, are willing to go out of state, and are willing to get an auto you can probably get an amazing deal on the 17. I am sure there are dealers that are dreading getting an auto 17 brz because they know it will sit for 2 years on their lots. On cars.com there are still 14 and 15 autos that haven't sold.

The 2017 got shorter gearing, so it will indeed accelerate more quickly.

Why would Subaru increase the gear ratio for rear diff? I thought the gears are already too short. If anything, reducing it would be nice. This would make the 2017 model less desirable. (Most of the changes are very welcome.) Now in heavy traffic, I can barely tolerate it around 20mph in 2nd gear. With increase in final gear ratio, it would be too loud and 3rd gear is not powerful enough.

what? :bellyroll:

Actually on my 2017 86, the hill assist was disabled by default. I had to do a cheat code combination to turn it on. And it works on especially steep hills only. It's excellent, I'm not sure why people don't like it.

It's a clever and useful little feature. Similar to an electronic park brake which is now very common. The difference is the Subaru system was originally designed to work with the hydraulic brake, like mustang's new line lock to the rear brakes, for drag style launches. It's probably just a electronically controlled valve in the rear brake line. Maybe they figured out how to use the ABS/traction control system to deliver this feature.

Not sure what the negatives might be, seems a no brainer positive feature.

I agree. The original axle ratio was pretty short. Making it even shorter makes no sense. Add forced induction and you will definitely not want the shorter axle ratio.

Probably because everyone was complaining about how "slow" the BRZ is, so they decided to make it faster this way.