I'm back! Sport-tech worth it?
 

I bought a 2013 Subaru BRZ in the summer of 2012 and it was magical. Easily the best car I've ever owned. Auto cross and drifting my way to the ski hill was magical. I started the 10 year old Winter Tire review thread that is still stickied (https://www.ft86club.com/forums/showthread.php?t=24037). I went to Ottawa FRS meets in my BRZ (started that community thread too!) and made some cool friends.

I'm shopping for a second car that I can take golfing, skiing, autocross and Calabogie race track with a manual transmission. In other words, the only option is once again a BRZ or GR86. The new Nissan Z would have been an option if the trunk wasn't so useless. I was shopping for a used BMW 230i or 430i in the $35000 canadian range and it hit me just how much these cars cost for no warranty and no manual option. I just traded in a 2014 M235i that I loved (never keep a BMW above 100000KM) for a 2018 330i xdrive, so I have a practical distance car.

Sorry for the big pre-amble. Is the Sport Tech worth it?

Sport Tech toughts:

• The wheels are hideous, all you dirty children that started this black wheels nonsense trend can kiss my @$$! I miss classic silver or at least the two toned black/silver on the OG wheels.
  
• Sure the tires are better than Primacys but they still aren't what I would buy for track/autox so why bother?
  
• The red stitching on the seats is garish but I would like leather and how the fuck could they exclude heated seats from the base cloth?!? How much better are the leather seats vs cloth?
  
• I'm an audio snob, I've been looking for a used BMW 2 series with Harmon Kardon audio for 6 months and they don't exist in Canada.
  Legit question: Is the Sport Tech worth it for 2 more speakers + amp? How much better is the audio system?
  
• Where the f' is the heated steering wheel? Seriously, for $3000 that should have been included.
  

I honestly do like the look of the GR86 better but I just can't spend $2500 more + tax for the same car. Plus, I get the ski instructor discount of $750 plus the $500 cash rebate. So really, the GR86 is over $5000 more for the same car.

For audio, if it were my money, I would get a non-special edition and install a Oem Audio+ kit.

I just bought a gr86 premium, so here are my thoughts.

• wheels - the real question is how much do you want to pay to replace oem tires, 18" generally runs +$100 a set
• tires - michelin PS4 are fine for the backroads, but I personally hate them when you get close to limit handling, and especially for autocross. they lack the sidewall stiffness of other brands because of their unique construction and therefore can the fronts and rears can get out of phase in esses and slaloms. I'll run the OE for a couple track days because they're already on the car but you can bet your ass I'm not replacing these with michelins.
• the leather seats are great, they kinda grip your clothes and keep you firmly in the seat. also they're heated and you live in Canada.
• the stereo is fine. if you are a real snob you'll probably be modding the audio anyway.
• i agree the premium price hike seems high, but i got a cool spoiler on my gr86 and i like the seats.

it sounds to me like you want the base trim. spend 3k fixing the things you don't like.

This is a sports car, not a sports luxury car. Since you have already tasted the fruits of sport luxury, or at least trying to, Im gunna say you won't be happy in the new Gen, my 2 cents. If you were happy in the 1st Gen then you will be just as happy in a 2nd Gen, pending you accept this is a sports car, not a sports luxury car.

I'm Ottawa and have the Sport Tech. You might have seen me zipping around.

TLDR, it's absolutely worth getting. I traded in my modded (tune, headers, suspension) FRS and the 2022 is so much better.

To your specific points.

1. I moved my summer wheels from my FRS to my BRZ. The OEM wheels are my winters now.

2. See above. Anyone want to buy a set of brand new set of PS4?

3. No idea about the comparison but the new seats are good. I like the alcantara and the heat.

4. I really don't care what the audio in my car is like. OEM audio is fine by me.

5. Heated steering would have been nice, but I really don't mind not having it. Seats are more important.

No

there's not a ton different from 2013 in most of your questions. gen 1 differentiated the 2 different trims in brz form with 'limited'(sport-tech), and 'premium'(standard).

the 'leather with ultrasuede' is the same as the gen 1. i'd much rather have the fabric, but heated seats are only available on the leather version...

fabric is easier to clean IMO.

the '8 speaker system' is identical to that of the previous gen, other than some possible tuning within the head unit. the 2nd gen, they cut out the mid speakers in the dash for the 'standard' trim. 1st gen didn't have an audio difference between trims. they were all '8 speaker with amp' systems, except for the harmon kardon-tuned systems that bypassed the amp.

so the better question is "how happy were you with your previous brz's audio system?"

Awesome, thanks for the input everyone. Now I just need to find a car in stock. Based on what I'm hearing from dealers I may have to wait for the 2023 in September.

Based on your feedback I'll probably get the Sport tech for the seats but it depends what is available.

The other problem is my fiancée hates blue cars and I've always wanted a WRB.

Yeah, at this point I think you are looking at a 2023.

I still haven't seen another 2022 BRZ/GR86 on the road in Ottawa yet.

It sounds like the Sports Tech is similar to the Limited in the US.

The wheels on my Limited aren't black, they are a gray satin. Would I like hyper-silver painted better? Yes, but the gray looks far better than black on the GR86 to my eyes, and I like the design of the wheel better than what is on the Permium. Not a deal breaker for me. I'll keep the OEM wheels for daily use and run a set of other wheels for autocross.

The seats aren't leather, they are a "micro suede" which, to me, feels like a lower nap version of alcantera. Due to there being none of these cars in my area I have nothing to compare them to, but from what I've seen of the cloth on other Subaru seats, it's a step up and feels nicer. Might be harder to maintain, but I'm OK with that.

I agree on the red stripes on the seats. I like the gray in the GR86 better, but since I had literally NO choice due to total lack of availability, it wasn't a deal breaker. The stitching is pretty subtle and the red strip doesn't seem as garish in person as it does in the pictures.

I got a base one, really wasn't any options for a manual when I went to buy mine but I think base is a better value.

With out shitty Canadian roads I don't wanna sacrifice ride comfort, 17" ride pretty nice for such a well handling car. 18" will probably be stiffer.

In terms of tires, again you said you are into autocrossing so will probably switch the stock tires to some 200TW ones, so again the difference between Premacies and upgraded tires is not really an issue to you.

After 4 month I gotta admit the base sound system is nothing to write home about. I am not an audiophile, I would say that its OK for everyday use but even I can hear a big difference from a base sound system in Infiniti that I had before (also 6 speaker). Also I heard numerous complaints that even the upgraded 8 speaker system is not that great. So I am not sure how happy you would be even with that one coming from a BMW.

Heated seats are nice for sure, but while they are a requirement on leather seats I feel like on cloth seats you don't even need them that much. Again comparing to my previous Infiniti it had leather and I would die in the winter without heated seats. This winter I drove my BRZ, and it was a very cold winter, but I didn't really feel uncomfortable sitting in just jeans in a car that was parked all day at like -25C.

So for me personally I just don't see any reason to overpay for Sporttech

I am beginning to believe that the London/Woodstock/Stratford area has received most of the 2nd gen cars in Canada! I have gone weeks without seeing a 1st gen but last night alone I saw 2nd gen BRZs in red, WRB and whatever the dark blue is called. See the same white GR86 pretty much every day and passed a black one on the highway this morning. I have probably seen 20 different cars in the last two months. They are freakin' everyplace I look.
I know at one point back in late March the London Subaru dealer had 4 on the lot with two of them (one a MT) unspoken for.

First, I totally disagree with you on the black wheels on the higher trim. I like the color and the design. I absolutely hated the OEM's on my higher trim 2020 BRZ (particularly the two tone design) and would have gotten rid of them very soon if I had kept it. I saw someone who plasti-dipped theirs and they looked much better in my eyes. But totally accept that beauty, and wheel beauty in particular, is entirely in the eye of the beholder.

I just wanted to note something about you mentioning golf. My first Gen trunk fit golf clubs fairly easily, as long as you took the woods out first. Sadly, I believe that the second Gen trunk opening is just smaller in a way where it is almost impossible for me to get the driver (46") in and out without either removing the head or folding down the seats. Deal breaker? No. Significant annoyance for a regular golfer? Yes.

Folding down rear seats takes seconds, why would this be an annoyance?