Driving impression of a '17
 

My previous Daily Driver has been a 2010 VW JSW TDI - Drove it for 7 years and then VW bought it back. I tweaked the car a bit in that time to have a little more fun.

Decided I wanted a car I could have some fun daily driving as is and got the BRZ with PP. I bought the car on 3/1. I have put about 1700 miles on it so far. Lots of miles quick but they will taper off after I get back in the normal routine and stop finding reason to go drive it. Day to day I love it, but day to day I seldom have my wife and son with me. She drives a '16 crosstrek which replaced the '02 outback she drove for 14 years.

So it was my son's spring break this past week and we planned to head to the beach for 4 days. The both wanted to take my car.

Trip was about 380 miles round trip plus the driving while there.

We loaded up the car with two suit cases, a cooler bag, my laptop backpack, a small train case, and some various odds and ends

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1489974281.jpg

As you can the trunk was packed

My son is 14 and is about as tall as me and with my wife being about 5'4 they easily fit in the car
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1489974241.jpg

Made the drive in one shot - no stops we all got out of the car feeling good and I averaged about 30mpg - shifting around 3500 rpm and speeds staying between 65-80 depending on limits

I was impressed at how comfortable the car was, I was surprised by how affected it was by the wind. My 911 doesn't seem to suffer the same issue so I don't think it was totally due it being a light car. The suspension while firm wasn't jarring at all, only one "damn" moment when going onto a bridge but that was it.

Interior noise wasn't bad at all and we could easily carry a conversation. The radio - well it sucks in a big way. Really tempted to look at replacing it or just using a thumbdrive for music and ditch the Bluetooth streaming. My 7 y/o VW was much better in that department.

All in all I am really happy with this car and I think it will serve well as a daily driver that can be really fun as well

Yes, vw stock has a decent radio. 2017 gti, the stock is tolerable. Fender version is great.

That is a good review. If i saw this review ten months ago, I would have bought the car amd had it longer ago. You answered every question I had. Mine is on order for the 17th of April.

I am also constantly surprised by how much this car doesn't like crosswinds. I mean, your 911 is still a decent bit heavier than this car (depending on the model) but yeah. It's weird how it reacts more like a minivan to crosswinds than anything.

Ugh. My 2006 mini cooper s has 0 crosswind movement. Duno why

Great family review, we had a similar experience with my family this weekend, but my son is 4 so knowing your 14 yo fits is awesome (wife is 5'4 too)!
I too am extremely disappointed the radio. Ignoring the fact that it doesn't connect with my phone automatically half the time, my go to local radio station is staticky when I have had perfect reception in my old Camry. I really really want to replace it with something that has CarPlay in the near future...

i noticed too the thing about the wind
Would a front lip, and maybe side skirts, improve this?

You should have skipped the beans then...


Sorry :D

interior wind levels were barely noticeable.....


One thing I did forget to mention above. On this trip the only thing I wish was different about the car is the way the seats move when getting into an out of the back seat.


I wish they would remember seat position.... would make it so much easier.... even it was just seat back angle

Nice review. Thanks for taking the time.

I won't receive my car for another month and I'm already plotting the overthrow of its head unit. Personally, I want wireless Carplay, but that won't become widespread in aftermarket HUs until 2018, at least according to this article:

http://www.ceoutlook.com/2016/11/29/...eless-carplay/

Alpine introduced a wireless unit at CES this year, trying to get a jump on the other majors. It is possible that Kenwood will introduce one in May/June, which is when they seem to launch new US-market units. They rolled out "Wifi Air Mirroring 2" this month in Australia, which seems to be wireless Carplay under a different name, but I'm not sure.

http://www.kenwood.com/au/car/visual...tion/ddx917ws/

If Kenwood kicks down a wireless version of its TOL Excelon DNX893S this year, I'll probably jump on it. Otherwise, unfortunately, I'll be listening to CDs or the sucky radio in my BRZ until 2018, when Pioneer is likely to jump on the bandwidth wagon. Argh.

good stuff.

Yea bluetooth sucks for audio quality unless you use a lossless or near lossless format. It is worth it to get a usb plug for your phone, it makes a big difference.

Never noticed any wind issues, of course my other car is a Yaris, so I'm probably just use to it.

I'm going to assume yes. I have a ton of aero mods on my car (front splitter, side skirts, rear diffuser, big wang) so i dont notice it at all.

However without looking like a crazy racecar i recommend the Bayson R Lip package. It's like 299$ and comes with the front lip, rear skirts and rear spats. You can get their Diffuser for like 80$ as well. I had that for a long time and barely noticed any crosswind.

I thought German electric steering automatically compensates for crosswinds, pretty sure even VW does and it's quite subtle, won't stop a strong blow tho!

It's not as bad once I got the bottom covers, front lip, and rear gurney flap, nowhere near SUV bad.

Well I have a front lip, side skirts, and rear spats, so... nope. Lol.

Today I test drove 2017 and the first thing I noticed on highway was the crosswinds. Very unusual I have to say.

That is very unusual indeed... :offtopic:

I'm a BRZ owning motorcyclist, so the cross was don't bother me a bit!

CJ

This car is the most susceptible vehicle to cross winds that I have ever driven. It's worse than my wife's old Honda Fit.

What fixes it is stickier tires. Wider too while you're at it.

I noticed cross winds on the stock rubber. Lowered, new shoes and the splitters all had a really good impact.

i m lowered too and I do have stickier winter tires, but I still feel cross winds at the point that sometimes it scares me :D

So are we thinking the splitters are the key to reducing crosswind buffeting? I might add the STI kits to my order if they'll make a big difference.

I fail to see how a splitter has any effect on a cross wind.

As a noobie
 

Perhaps my terminology is off. Would you say the same thing about side under spoilers?

Well that would make a little more sense. Still don't see a big impact though as they are designed for force from the front of the car not the side.

lol please tell us how :bonk:

BTW I currently have the same rubber (Primacy HP) on my TSX, 225/50/17 and I have no crosswinds sensitivity.

Well I have coilovers, am lowered, and on 18x9 wheels with 255/35 Michelin PSS, so... still nope. Lol.

Aero is designed for wind coming from the front of the car not the side of the car.

LOL, keep telling yourself that! You will find reasons and excuses, LOTS and lots of them. I still haven't returned to my normal driving habits almost 1 year and 17k miles later :D

I installed a lip, side skirts and spats last week. The day after I did it was hella windy and I noticed the wind buffeting the car a lot MORE than before. At first I thought maybe there was a problem or something, but nope.

Glad to know your enjoying the car my one year of ownership with my FRS I've already used 20K miles since I picked her up at 26K miles. Amazing DD honestly I don't find the ride punishing as many folks here think it is.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I have an sti front lip and its functional at speed.

Good to know ;)

Someone had asked me about crosswinds in a PM with the STI spoiler/skirts and such. Although I have not been in heavy crosswinds yet and can't compare without the parts, I don't think it's terribly bad. I notice things like this in several cars that I've owned or just borrowed but has only been exceptionally bad in a few. Obviously a lighter vehicle is going to feel more prone to a feeling of just being tossed in the wind but this car has a pretty low stance and aerodynamic features than some of the cars I fear.

Vehicles I am scared to drive due to crosswinds.

Geo Metro
Smart "Car"
Small Box Truck

I'm not saying this to downplay the crosswind concern, just saying that I honestly notice this issue in just about anything I drive. My wife's Mazda 6 in a crosswind nearly has you fighting just to keep it in your lane and if that's a concern in our car I suppose it's just a price you pay.

I finally drove a '17 yesterday and honestly.......

Ehhhh.

It's still the same recipe that I love from the original '13MY I owned when they first came out. I was really hoping the gearing change and narrowed torque dip would be pretty noticeable and it just wasn't.

I mean, it feels a bit better in the mid range, but not by much. That being said, it's still a great car, but after driving a '17, I'm not as inclined to buy another one as I thought I would be.

I too took a ‘17 for a test drive yesterday. Twice the car moved unexpectedly from the one side to the other side of the lane. I thought it must have been me, not being used to it’s steering. Never thought it might be cross wind induced. And that makes sense because it occurred as I crossed between two open fields where I could see the wind blowing.
So, if it’s that noticeable at low speeds how are the twins around big trucks out on the highways?

Trucks don't seem to have as much impact as an actual wind. Hardly even notice them. Now like you said any good wind from an open space hit pretty hard sometimes.

Today on the freeway I felt the wind for the first time. It was kinda funny because it didn't look windy just looking at the trees and stuff, but I was definitely being pushed by some nice gusts.

Plus this car zoomed by me on the left side and I felt a bit of a push to the side.

Wasn't too bad though.

I can feel it when there is heavy wind. Probably because the car is so light weighted.

here in az where we can have some pretty strong gusts it is occasionally noticeable going by a semi but really the way the wind affects the twins feels no different than how it affected my 240sx, celica or my pop's mr2 so i have never been put off by it. probably all due to the lower curb weights

Just finished up two longer trips and I am pleasantly surprised by my fuel economy

Charlotte NC area to Charleston SC - I saw a calculated 32.4 mpg
Charlotte NC area to Marion SC - I saw a calculated 32.9 mpg

I accelerated briskly - shifting around 4,000 rpm and kept it 5 to 10 over

Going to Charleston there was plenty of stop and go traffic and the still never explained multiple 80 to dead stops on I-26 and I-77

I am not going to complain. I figured I would be lucky to see 30 mpg

Delete your sharkfin antenna should improve the car's ability cutting thru the crosswinds. :bonk: