Base or Premium/Limited for AutoX?
 

Thinking of picking up a brand new BRZ or GR86 mainly as a fun car for autocross. Any thoughts as to which trim level is best to start with for autocross?

It seems like it really comes down to the 17" wheels and their tires versus the 18" wheels and the "better" tires along with the base model weighing 66 pounds less.

Seems like I'm debating a few scenarios:
1. Get the base model and immediately switch out the tires on the OEM wheels.
2. Get the base model and immediately get lighter weight wheels with better tires (if the OEM wheels aren't good for autocross).
3. Get the premium/limited model and run the included tires for awhile in order to get used to the car, then swap out to better tires later.

Any thoughts as to what is best if you're starting from scratch? If the premium/limited model's wheels and tires aren't really that good then it seems like I might be better off putting the $2500 price difference into better wheels and tires for the base model since I don't really care about the other stuff you get with the higher trim levels.

If you don't care for the interior differences just get the base.
You're going to end up buying a set of wheels/tires for either car eventually anyway and you can put your savings on purchase price towards that.

If you are not looking to be competitive there's no harm in using the Primacies for autocross. They have decent grip in the dry and are very predictable and easy to control at the limit and beyond. In the wet their grip is significantly worse, but still retain their predictability.

If you are looking to be competitive than you'd need to choose which class to aim at and work within the limits of that class with regards to wheel and tire specs. I'd say that it would make more sense to get the base as the 18" Pilot Sport 4 tires won't be competitive and you'd need to swap tires at the very least.

The sidewalls of PS4's are made of noodles, I went with the base trim, snagged OEM 18" wheels, and put better tires on them.

Is there a reason you upped to 18" for autocross?

I run the Radi-CAL BBK in front that will not clear 17" wheels.

I'm looking to be competitive, but in whatever class is the lowest cost to be competitive in. I've been away from autox for awhile so I'm not up on the latest classes. I keep hearing about STR and STX but am not sure what class is best. I'm buying the car specifically for autocross but don't want to have to put another $20k into it for more power, bigger brakes, etc. etc. if I can find a class that just allows the basic stuff like tires and sway bars.

It's competitive in DS for the most part, even in regions that are highly competitive themselves. STR is where the gen 2's are classed, but remember the people running there now are just setup with suspension, wheels/tires, and exhaust really - no tuning is available yet. And there, you're still up against ND2's that are modded and quick.

IMO, if you're going for competitiveness, you're probably getting the lowest offset wheels the rules allow, which aren't OEM. 245's are what people are fitting and are swapping out the front lug studs to do it. No idea what the trick is or why you need this - probably has more to do with not being able to fit the same set of wheels in the rear (because of the new plastic bit) you need for clearance for the front (reason for the spacer and extended studs).

If it's me, look, get the car, any trim, any stock wheel, get 225 200TW tires and go have fun and learn the car. If you need to move to 245's and lighter wheels later, you can do so.

D-Street

OEM size wheels, 200tw tires, oem crash bolts, alignment, maybe a front bar and some koni yellows, done. If you want to blow an extra $2k go for MCS dampers.

Btw, a competitive STR/STX build is in the $5k-$10k range if you buy reasonably priced parts, you can get 95% of the performance for under $4k if you find the right used parts. You can spend $20k but it won’t be worth it.

Seems like a good plan, thanks for the info. The trim level debate mainly has me wondering if I'll ever want to drive the car more on the street where it would be nice to have a few of the higher trim things... I'll have to figure that out.

Last time I did autocross it was in S2000s where I could be fairly competitive with just some RE01R tires and a thick front sway bar so I'm looking for something similar where I don't have to modify the car too heavily.

DS is your answer. The car is quite competitive currently. You'll want 200tw tires (Falken RT600 or Yokohama A052) in probably 235 width +/- depending on availability, regardless of which trim you go with. I believe in getting an extra set of wheels as well, but they are street tires, more or less, if you want to save some money in the short term. Put the front crash bolts in, they're $10, and go have fun. This is the recipe I've gone with and it's certainly good enough to trophy at national events.

Everyone that I've talked to with a front bar and no other suspension mods, has complained about understeer, so I would skip that until you're prepared to drop another $1-2k in shocks that aren't even out yet, or $4k in the ones that are.

As of this year's SCCA rule book, if you buying a Gen 2 and mod it into the ST classes, you'd be in STR. Gen 1's are in STX.