Did you ever regret a BRZ over an STI?
 

Hi Guys, This question is directed to those who had a BRZ and STi, or switched/upgraded between them.

Im about to pull the trigger on a '14 BRZ over a '15 STI because for me, I feel like I wouldn't maximize the premium of the sti where I live. (Dont need AWD/Dont need extra seats/Dont need higher fuel/maintenance costs).
I know the driving experience, lower COG, and overall lower maintenance costs will be better maximized for daily driving.

However, have any of you, after a while, felt like you made the wrong choice and wished for an STI? and by that, I mean - stock vs stock - the power and torque in the STI; albeit only able to use sparingly in the city, was still worth it over the daily fun you get on your brz?

Facts about me:
-I have a daily driver sedan 1.5L A/T provided by my company
-All of my driving will be in city - out of town trips will only happen maybe 4x a year
-Doesn't snow here. (tropical country)
-The traffic in my city is basically 30min per 5km crawl.
-On weekends, theres less traffic but still ill usually be in the city
-either car will only see trackday maybe 1-2x a year.

So yeah.. to you guys, will a couple of quick bursts on the sti whenever possible be more than enough satisfaction to beat a daily-brz drive?

I'd rather drive a slow car fast than a fast car slow.


Friend had an '06 WRX (no STI by any means), but I saw no fun in just pressing on the gas and going straight. He let me drive it once in a while but passing cars that way was boring.

for me it was a couple of factors:

-The whole slow car fast was one. I could have more fun in the BRZ without the constant need/desire to break the speed limit.
-2017 BRZ: $28k vs 2017 STI: $40k (in the US)
-In my area WRX to BRZs are almost 15:1 (for good reason) but this was my opportunity to have something "rare" At the moment I'm the only 2017 BRZ Series yellow in the state.
-Cheaper to feed but more to insure...

There are several good guys that went from a BRZ/FRS to a WRX/Sti that still hang out here that still love the BRZ platform and sometimes express regrets. There are others we never heard from again so I would presume they were happy with their choice. A lot depends on why they decided to change really.
I frequently ask the guys looking for mega power "where do you expect to use that power". It is rare I get an answer.

I will be the devil's advocate here.

Due to financial reasons I was forced to drive my frs as a daily for 3 months and I hated it. Because of the lack of power you are forced to string the car out to get any satisfaction. IMO the car is only good when you are pushing it on a touge run or preferably at a track.

I have owned a WRX and I loved it as a daily. Its more practical, more comfortable, more power, on most levels the WRX is a better car.

Now, I bought my FRS with intentions of making it into the entry level track car that is is today. Its easy to work on and cheap to maintain where the WRX is not. I rarely drive it unless I am going to a track day or car show.

So to sum up your question, no, I do not regret buying an FRS over a WRX/STI bc the FRS fit my track addicted life better. But if I had to choose one to be my daily I would choose the WRX/STI all day everyday.

No. 4 door cars are for families, and old people :)

Every once in awhile someone brings an STI to autocross, watching that thing understeer in just about every single corner has totally turned me off of buying an AWD Subaru for fun driving.

I'm sure it has it's merits, but I almost never see an STI owner return to autox their car. There's a few dozen FR-S/BRZ/86's that are out there several times a year driving their cars hard. Some are out there for 3-4 days per month sliding their cars around.

I think Takumi has a good point, the WRX/STI is designed to be a car you drive everyday, the BRZ is designed to be a car that's fun when driven hard. Everybody is different and will want different things, the test drive should decide. If I was only going to drive my car hard 1x-2x per year I'd probably be regretting my 86 right now, but I get to do it at least once per month and it's well worth it.

For leevanf I would honestly think that the WRX might be the best fit, I doubt the STI power and stiffer ride will be much fun in the city, and the 86 being all lightweight and noisy and not very fun if you can't wring it out, the WRX might strike that perfect balance between easy to live with and fun to drive the 1x-2x per year you get to the track.

Thanks for the feedback guys. I am surprised that many of the comments indicate that if i dont track much, the STI/WRX would be a better choice, when I always thought the BRZ would be the better daily due to lower overall upkeep? But im glad a lot have confirmed the power isnt really the game-changer. My daily drive is usually just 30-45 minutes in traffic to, and another from work. heck - even my weekend drives are the same. I was thinking that the BRZ and WRX are very close battles - yet the BRZ wins in the end due to look + upkeep. I think im young enough to not really look for a comfier sedan given we have other sedans too at home. Perhaps the WRX /STi is the true "do it all" car - while the BRZ sort of carves a niche that I currently fall in at this stage of my life :)

Absolutely, go for a drive in both, maybe one will be just right and it may surprise you.

:cheers:

I came from the evo world so I fully understand the scope of where you're coming from. After a lot of research the it became clear that both the brz and sti are great at what they do. If you are looking to go balls out on power like I plan on doing then the brz is the better platform. The main reason is that both the sti and the brz reach the same engine killing point at 380+hp, so if you are going to have to rebuild an engine to get over that hump for both cars the brz wins are the overall cost effective car.

But that is just specific to me and my plans. Your plans and wants and needs could be entirely different. As long as you are happy and find yourself satisfied with the car every step of they then you should consider it as getting your moneys worth out of it.

The bigger issue for me when purchasing a car last weekend was deciding between a brz or join the limited civic type-r free for all that is about to down soon. I really wanted and still want the new civic type-r, I've been following its release like a crack addict waiting to get one. There are a few hundred at a shipping yard in Maryland waiting to be distributed as of today but once i found out that every honda dealership is only getting two civics and only able to sell one while keeping the other as showroom floor display model for the first production year I decided to just get the brz. Honda is obviously playing games for the first production year :iono: so i pulled the trigger on a series yellow. In two year ill revisit the type-r, hopefully the whole waiting list/limited supply or release BS will be over with by then.

Stock vs stock it is better to compare the BRZ with the WRX. The STI is a crown jewel and belongs in its own category.

Or go all the way and compare it to a NA Impreza.

Had I bought an STI instead of FRS, I'd still have it. :sigh:

Still waiting for your review ;)