Well... I think Im coming back.
 

After selling the 2013 BRZ and buying a home in 2016, then buying a miata, then turboing the miata.... I think its time to sell the miata and resume my BRZ journey.

For those of you that chose to go with the 6 stars in the 2nd gen, what drew you in over the gr86 counterpart?

I like the 86's interior styling and front grill more and I believe Ive read that they offer a better warranty system but the BRZ's aluminum control arms and rear suspension points kind of have me swayed. That and I intend to put a UEL on it and make burbly noises. Cant do that with a Toyota badge, can I?

Ill post pics of the old BRZ and the Miata later for funzies.

Me-ata
https://scontent-msp1-1.xx.fbcdn.net...-g&oe=62ECB225

Me old BRZ
https://scontent-msp1-1.xx.fbcdn.net...gw&oe=630CC8F9

If you’re buying a base:

BRZ comes with aluminum pedal covers, better looking OEM wheels (gunmetal vs polished), and the aluminum knuckle and revised rear sway design that you mentioned. I’ve also heard 86’s don’t come with floor mats which seems ridiculous on a $30k car, but don’t quote me on that.

I knew I wanted a base model so that made the decision pretty easy. Not to mention I was able to order the exact car I wanted from Subaru for $500 under msrp whereas Toyota dealers had various markups and couldn’t custom order, only offer pre-spec’d allocations. Lastly Toyota charges a few hundred extra for red and white, and so that was icing on the cake since I wanted red.

No regrets, would 100 percent go with Subaru again.

Wow lol, no floor mats? Id be going for the Limited but now that I think about it, I only remember the differences on early gen 1's. Push button start, Nav, home link, etc. I need to look into that.


***EDIT***

The 2022 BRZ Limited adds 18-inch alloy wheels in matte gray finish; Michelin® Pilot® Sport 4 summer tires; Blind-Spot Detection with Lane Keep Assist and Rear Cross-Traffic Alert; Steering Responsive Headlights; and STARLINK® Safety and Security.

&

Front seats on the Limited trim are upholstered with Ultrasuede® with red leather accents and feature dual-mode seat-heater controls. The leather-wrapped steering wheel integrates control switches for audio, cruise control and Bluetooth. New BRIN NAUB® nubuck-like material enhance the instrument panel visor and door trim.
*********

Ill be needing them heated seats

All this. My experiences with DFW Toyota dealers is awful and Sewell (great dealer in Texas) has a Subaru dealer in Dallas and I got $500 below MSRP with no BS or any issues on an ordered red limited six-speed manual. Super smooth ordering and delivery experience.

Plus, the engine is Subaru basically and that is the heart of the car. :D :D

I personally went BRZ mainly because of the ordering process. I didn't feel like waiting for an allocation to show up for a GR86. I technically "placed" one a month before I ordered my BRZ - and my BRZ gets here August 7th. No word about the GR86, still waiting.

I was comparing both the Premium 86 and Limited BRZ.

I originally preferred the red stitching of the BRZ, however now I think I l like the gray interior stitching of the GR86, but no biggie. I like the headlight look better on the BRZ. I'm indifferent about the bumpers, they are both great in their own ways, and I could always swap that easily down the road.

The aluminum suspension changes on the BRZ are nice for tracking, however I'll be bagging mine - so going GR86 would have been the smarter move, to be able to use all the identical suspension parts prior. No problem though.

My first gen was an FRS, mainly because I couldn't find a BRZ at the time. However, I've owned two STI's and currently own an Outback XT - so I kinda felt obligated to get the BRZ this time around, haha.

Honestly - I'd just get what you can find, finding a car exactly to your spec can be tough this time around, so if you're just trying to get into the car as fast as possible - put an order in for both and see which shows up first!

I preferred the front bumper on the 86 and the instrument cluster. But preferred the rims and interior of the BRZ. The items you mentioned were also important in my choice.

I wanted either red or white and Toyota charges extra for that and financing rates from them were higher. Toyota dealers were asking $5000-15000 over MSRP around here. I was able to order the exact car I wanted with the options I asked for from Subaru and paid MSRP.

That pretty much sums it up for me as well.

Keep the miata. Get a BRZ. Win.

I love NB's. I've had 3. Most recent was a flyin miata development mule. Favorite was a normally aspirated streetable track build. All were 1999s.

I could have gone either way between the GR86 and the BRZ.

The mechanical differences are minimal and at my driving skill level, I highly doubt I'd notice. This lead me to availability and cosmetics.

GR86 availability was nil in my area and local dealers were unsure of when/if they'd get an allocation. It didn't help that all of the projected allocations for any local dealer were automantics.

WR Blue won me over for cosmetics. I like the ducktail spoiler, gray interior trim and the infotainment system graphics better in the Toyota, but the WR Blue paint and the gun metal vs gloss black wheels pushed the Subaru far into the lead.

The difference is cosmetic in nature, pick whichever one you prefer. In Canada, in 2022, the Suby offering was $2k cheaper than the equivalent Toyota (in equivalent trims) so Suby was a no brainer for me.

But to be honest, i would not be buying a Gen2 car until there is confirmation that the RTV/oil pick up issue is/was resolved. I am not a fan of Russian Roulette.

I mean the RTV thing has supposedly been an issue since 2013. The crux of the matter in that case was the auto group and specific FST who gave corporate fodder to deny the claim falsely.

And at this rate of recognition, I doubt anything similar will happen again. In any case, I wouldnt be on track for a few months lol. Take some dramamine and go hit clover leafs for an hour straight.

Theres a long thread in the GR86 section of this forum where a guy blew up his engine and got denied by Toyota for any kind of warranty

I thought the original RTV problem was a manufacturing issue and was only applicable to the very early Gen1 cars. The later RTV problem were the result of improper reassembly by incompetent/inexperience mechanics performing the valve spring recall.

As things play out currently, it appears history is repeating itself with the Gen2 cars during manufacturing but no one knows if the problem is fixed yet.

This.
I don't know why but when 2022 was released Toyota was 2k more in Canada. From what I understand the trims are identical so you are dropping this money for a Toyota badge? No thanx.
Right now I am looking at the websites the Subie got a bit more expensive so the difference is 1k for 2023, still a lot for a badge in my books..

While I like the front bumper on the Toyota its not that big of a deal for me. What is a big deal is that I keep hearing that BRZ suspension tuning is much more comfortable than GR86s, I daily drive mine so this makes me much happier I went with the BRZ.

And main reason is that when I went to buy mine end of December they had 2 at the dealer and were willing to sell it to me for msrp. GR86 was still unavailable at that time so it made the choice very easy.