BRZ in the Press
 

Just got the latest edition of Road and Track. In Sam Smith's column, he chronicles a trip from his home to watch the recent solar eclipse in a '17 BRZ. The car is a bit of an afterthought, but his reaction to it was, hmm, interesting. He compares the BRZ, rather unfavorably, to the Miata and contends that the BRZs limited sales appeal is related to the relative perfection of the Mazda and the BRZ's "cave like" noisy cabin, harsh ride and and, sort of, limited power.

Finally, at the end of the piece, he pronounces the BRZ - Perfect.

It really is somewhat perplexing. I've done 4000 mile road trips in my BRZ and found the cabin pretty accommodating. Is it noisy? Compared to a Maybach, probably. But, it's no louder than my wife's 2012 Camry SE and the BRZ's ride is actually a bit less jarring. The whole power thing is a canard.

I CAN NOT imagine taking that trip in a Miata. THEY are noisy, cramped, and ride terribly.

I looked for a headscratching emoticon and didn't find it. <headscratch> </headscratch>

I dunno, it sounds to me like a case of a journalist who was paid to say one thing but his real opinion is different. He's also likely required to complain about anything he thinks is lacking. Finally, I can see a bit of a complaint about a buzzy cabin at highway cruising speeds. I find my own BRZ a bit buzzy at highway speeds and the 2017 MT has a shorter final drive which will increase the RPMs compared to the earlier models and may make that even worse.

I remember when the S2000 first came out and some mag compared it to a Boxter and at the end they listed things they didn’t like. The complaint they had about the S2000 was the plastic rear window and how a car at that price shouldn’t have a plastic window. What I couldn’t understand is why they didn’t complain about the same thing on the Boxter because back then the Boxter also had a plastic rear window and of course was significantly more expensive than the S2000. It was obviously they needed to find something to complain about on the “Honda” regardless of how stupid it was.

Magazines are useless for the most part.

Lynxis' point is pretty valid. I know a lot of journalists out there will simply spout "opinions" based on who is paying them. There is however another possibility here. Journalists review tons of cars, and sometimes they forget that a luxury sports car is not something you can compare to a BRZ. Also as many are not car guys, they focus too much on features and comfort rather than driving experience which is what the BRZ was designed for.

As an owner of a '17 manual BRZ, I cruise at 75mph around 3400RPM. Its definitely louder than some cars, but honestly the road noise and wind noise is more noticeable than the engine or exhaust sound to me. Maybe ill have someone ride along and give their opinion on the noise. In the end though, if you aren't in the target market of this car you would probably be better off and happier with something else.

Things that contribute to road noise:

cheap plastic panels
sound tube
lack of sound deadening
lack of window frame
low to the ground
engine sits basically beside your foot
roof is paper thin sheet metal
trunk lid basically has a thin cardboard that doesn't cover the entire inside of the lid
Sound generator
sound generator
sound generator
Did i mention sound generator?

The only easy fix is getting rid of the sound generator. Everything else you'd have to change the handling characteristics of the car, are expensive or aren't changeable at all.

Put in heavy sound damping, throw on super comfy that has the least road noise, seal windows shut, rubber cement all the panels or buy another freakin' car like a low level 3 series.

At the end of the day, I'd like to see someone fit a set of 4 track day wheels and a floor jack and jack stands into an mx5 WITH an adult passenger. People who write about this car's lack of comfort bought the car for all the wrong reasons.

Seems common as a weird comparison. I got a ride in an ND and was surprised how uncomfortable and cramped it felt. I wasn't in much of a state to pay attention (I was being driven to get my tow hook because they thought they'd need it to extract my car...)

I get noise and comfort being potential issues, and that's fine. But unless you're doing a side-by-side drive of two cars, comparisons are VERY likely to be... off. Memory does funny things. You don't notice how loud it is because you had the top down and it was fun... And the cabin resonance in the twins is in a bad spot for highway driving.

In the end, eh. Who cares.

I like being able to fit STUFF in the car for road trips. And racing. And errands.

I bought my BRZ in May - I'm still on the honeymoon!

So far my favorite ever, tho I've owned a lot of pickups.


:w00t:

Windnoise is definitely a legitimate complaint. It's pretty bad. And that is coming from someone that evaluates cars for similar metrics every day.

I recently rode in an ND at autocross for the first time. I was appalled at how much body roll there was. It felt like riding in a side by side it was so bad. That combine with the fact I generally don't like convertibles took one off my consideration list. I understand why they have the reputation they do, but an 86 is much better set up from the factory

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Yeeeep, that sound tube sure is great, until you're on the highway and it's sitting there droning away and driving you crazy. On the plus side, running a full exhaust removes that complaint and makes you hate highways in general as the exhaust drones... Going to get around to fixing that someday.

Harsh ride? It's a sub 3000 lbs sports car, it's going to ride like shit as it doesn't have the mass to deal with bumps. Or it's going to roll like a sailboat in a hurricane (looking at you Miata) and then they'd complain about the handling. Lack of power, shut up and downshift (did they have an auto? cause then I could understand).

Overall, if I didn't care about the lightweight sexy looking package of the BRZ I would buy a WRX or a pony car (mustang, camaro) for the same price and have a fatter, uglier, but more powerful car.

Hows the noise in the cabin when you plug the hole for the sound tube?

The BRZ is really quiet compared to a helicopter. I don't even need a noise canceling headset! But it's a real shame that the BRZ can't fly over highway traffic: -10 points.

It's still fucking noisy. But we didn't buy a featherweight, inexpensive, 90's throwback car for the silent interior, did we?

It's a hell of a lot quieter than my older cars! No complaints here :happyanim:

Haven't read the article but it's odd that he complains about the BRZ being too noisy, but then compares it to a Miata. Has he tried riding in a Miata on the highway?