I personally don't like the FRS for it's aggressive look on the front bumper, the BRZ front bumper can use some mod but it's a clean and classy look which can easily grow on you. I wasn't planning on mod out the car other than the little subtle things, so I went and got the limited package along with all the OEM goodies. NAV/HID(i do like the BRZ headlights much better than FRS/leather interior/fog lamps/push button/etc these things all add up the cost, in the end i figure it's worth the extra 2k-3k buying OEM and a peace of mind.

for those of you wants to mod/race/drift, i would say the FRS is the way to go, scion starts with the gutted model.

Someone in Japan did it I think. No one would know if the subaru emblem and the toyota ones interchange. The contours might be the same, but the size might be different. Think of it as putting a body kit on a new car.

I've owned a bunch of Subarus, the BRZ is my 9th so for me the choice was made plus I couldn't get over the red interior of the FR-S.

As for handling neither car really understeers much but the BRZ uses stiffer front springs and slightly softer rear springs. So it is a little less tail happy but is more stable at the limit. The weight difference is neglible.

Random thought: Anyone tried popping out the upper section of their fender? Would be fun to swap that sucker out :P Can't stand the BRZ's fake vent.

I guess I'll have to make a choice. I'm leaning towards the FR-S but I'm really hating the low spec...

The only thing I really would like from the BRZ are the headlights and the Subaru Emblems. That way I would have two Subies in the driveway, and some HID's :D

But I would really recommend to everyone that you wait and get the color/package you want instead of being stuck with your second choice and having regrets later on. It is hard to be patient, but worth it! The color I had to have only came in the Scion, so that is the one I hunted down.
:thumbsup:

Hmmmm I am now curious if the Subie emblems have the same pins, time to find a de-badged BRZ!

For the FR-S owners, do you mind not having some of the nicer interior features and the headlights of the BRZ?

Seems like the 86 got it all!

Hasn't bothered me and I doubt it ever will.

The lights are sufficient for night driving. I've yet to use the high's.....granted I haven't used high beams in a very long time anyway.

Again, unless you're going with the limited there isn't much difference with the interior quality. Even though the brz premium seats are a type of mesh and the fr-s are more suede-ish, I see them both wearing no worse than the other.

I haven't sat in a BRZ but the FR-S seats are nice and grippy, but not overly so to cause difficulty shifting around when you want to.

I may end up spending a few bucks on an ebrake boot though, just to match up the rest of the interior. Also probably get some padding for the sides of the footwells.

These are the differences I find between FR-S and base BRZ (Premium):

HID head lights
LED daytime running lights
Touch screen navigation
Leather hand brake lever with red stitching
Better material cloth seats
All black RPM gauge
Silver dash insert cover
Trunk lid under cover

I don't mind at all not having HID headlights, LED DRL, fog lights, NAV, spoiler, smart key, heated seat, and etc. But I really liked the Alcantara leather seats. I wanted BRZ Limited just for that reason. Alarm is also nice to have too. If the choice is between FR-S and BRZ Premium, then I'd choose FR-S. But Limited was my best choice.

I didn't buy the FR-S to be a daily driver (though I haven't driven my daily since the end of May), so the additional niceties in the BRZ Limited weren't desirable to me. Plus most of the stuff that the Limited has over the FR-S would be swapped out for after market parts anyway - i.e. seats, headlights (already done), radio (though the fr-s unit is quite nice and the Subie nav is lackluster IMO).

I will admit that the push button start was appealing for a short while, but I really have no problem turning a key. :iono:

The price bump for the Subie didn't seem worth it to me. I also preferred the front end of the FR-S as its identical to the 86.

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The BRZ bumper killed it for me. The FR-S bumper is wayyy better.

I understand the BRZ Premium is a "better value" if you're comparing the extra options you get for the price. But let me break down the utility of those options in my case:

BRZ Premium Stuff:
Navigation - don't need it; if we go somewhere we've never been we'll most likely be taking my wife's car anyway; if not I'll use my Garmin with lifetime map updates or my iPhone; if I get lost around town I have bigger problems; getting lost without a GPS is the best way to get to know a city; do you get free lifetime map updates with the BRZ nav?

Fog lights - it doesn't get foggy in my area...next

Seats - at first I thought I wasn't going to like the FR-S seats but they feel nice and don't really attract dirt or dog hair; I don't really like how the BRZ premium seats are lighter color

The only option I would really like is the proximity key / push-button start. Not because the button looks cool but because I'm lazy and don't want to take the key out of my pocket. But that one only comes on the Limited model and there was no way I was going to pay near $30k for this thing, knowing that underneath it's the same car.

Speaking to the suspension - RCE can help you make the FR-S more neutral. The tendency to oversteer is cool and all but like Pobst said, the rear end steps out easily but then it comes right back in. It's like it wants to be a dorifto car but can't really follow through. Fine by me though - I don't drift. Not because I don't like it but because I'm a perfectionist and to get really good at it I'd be spending orders of magnitude more money on tires than I do on the Miata already.

I've never had HIDs, and these halogen headlights do a pretty good job. I did my research and asked everyone I could, most said climate control is ok, nothing they would demand in their next car, same with heated seats. HIDs were the one thing people said they would miss not having. And I found out not many people like Subarus factory navigation in their other cars, so that helped since I do like the idea of having in-dash navigation...much cleaner.

It seems like the 86 got it all because it did, America always gets the shaft when it comes to car options.