Just got to ride in a BRZ! (TD soon)
 

The area Subaru rep brought a BRZ by my local dealership and was giving out rides. :happyanim: And another cool thing is that I know the guy and have raced against him, so he wasn't going to blow smoke up my @$$.

It was a GBS Premium Auto. It had the straight grill slats where the fog lights would go instead of the blocked off cirlces. Hopefully that's how they go with the Premiums for US distribution. It looks really good.

Quick note for those who want to play with the red light in the back between the reverse lights, it will be very easy to do. There's a flat disk where the bulb would normally go. Cutting it out and mounting a socket and bulb will be a snap. There even was a reflector inside. This might change with the production model, but hopefully not. I really want to make a rain light.

First, sitting in it:
I'm 6'4" and a lot of that is body. Headroom was good, but I'll have to lean the seat back a little to fit a helmet. No biggie though.

Plenty of leg room.

At 250lbs, I'm not a small person. The seat back was a little narrow for me, but not uncomfortably so. A little break-in time should make it very snug.

The surfaces you touch are very nice. And the dash is surprisingly soft. Not sure why they went that way with it, but I couldn't stop reaching out to poke the dash. :bonk:

The best part for me? This is a car you sit IN not on. I've been really frustrated lately by the high seating position they're putting in cars. It just feels awkward. In the BRZ, you sit IN the car. The instrument cluster is in front of you rather than below you and the car surrounds you without boxing you in.

Visibility is excellent. The C pillars in the back are big, but not bad. I've dealt with worse.

It feels a lot bigger inside than it looks like it should. It definitely feels like a wide car with the hood spanning the complete windshield. I liked seeing the fender bulges out the windshield and in the rear view mirrors.

Interesting thing was the wheel. It was the usual wheel, but the rep was *certain* that the Limited will get controls on the wheel. He said they had a Pre-Prod Limited in addition to the Premium back at the office and it had steering wheel controls for the radio. I'm not going to bank on it, but I'm cautiously optimistic.

Overall, the interior seemed a little plain. But this was a premium so it was a bit simpler. Other than visually, however, it was a really good interior with plenty of variety for your fingers. It looks like a great place to get down and do some road work. :)

OK, now for the ride.

The ride is firm. It's not uncomfortable, but it's not soft or luxury by any stretch of the imagination. Instead the suspension does exactly what it should, it gives you confidence that the tires are following every dip and imperfection of the road to give you the most grip.

Acceleration is good not great, but that is FULLY expected. This is a car that may not gain momentum like a V8, but it does not like to let go of its speed. Also, this was the auto which has taller gears. I'm expecting the manual to have more kick.

The Auto: Those of you who picked the auto will be very pleasantly surprised. The shifts are crisp and quick with no discernable lag between paddle pull and upshift. Downshifts are only as slow as needed to blip the throttle. Even in D, sport mode holds the gears so you can lift and use the engine for slowing the car. If I were buying this car for a track day car only, I would seriously consider the auto.

Because I didn't drive it, I can't comment on the feel of the auto.

From the passenger's seat, the handling is excellent. The car stays very flat for a stock suspension, and it changes direction very eagerly. The brakes are excellent too. I can't comment on pedal feel yet, but when he got on the binders it reminded me of my STI and its Brembos. This is a light car, you don't need a crazy number of pistons to generate the braking force needed to stop it quickly. I think those looking for more will just need pads to be really happy.

The sound piped to the cabin is not my favorite thing. I'll try to live with it and maybe see if it sounds better when it's in a duet with a good exhaust. But I might just pinch off the sound tube.

This car might have had low-rolling resistance tires, but they felt like sticky max performance tires. This car is going to do some silly Gs with real tires.

Overall, I'm really excited about this car and can't wait to get in my own! This is going to be a great car.

And finally, the really cool thing I learned. Seems the rep is expecting insurance paperwork to come through for next week that will allow test drives! When that happens, I'll get a chance to take it for a spin. :party0030:

I can't wait!

So jealous! Great to hear more positive feedback. Could you snap a shot of the slats when you go back?

No problem, but they look just like this:

http://www.ft86club.com/forums/attac...7&d=1329712114

I think that red reflector between the reverse lights is wired and lamped for a rear fog light in certain markets.

How different are the seats in the premium? Are they still snug? Do they have that red stitching like the limited does?

Correct. Some markets require a rear fog light. But the USDM does not, and so it got cut as a cost saving measure. There were concerns that it would be fully replaced with just a reflector, but on the car I saw it was still a lens.

I think there's no shape difference between the two. The premium seats were very snug (almost too narrow for me) and had red stitching I believe.

I sat in a JDM STI seat and that was very uncomfortable. These seats didn't feel quite as narrow. But they are much more narrow than you normally find in US cars. Honestly, if I were to go on a diet I'd probably find these seats perfect; smaller people will likely find them comfortable.

What dealership was this at?

Byers Mazda Subaru. The salesman is Chad.

Oh damn. Too far. Hoping we get one in the Cleveland area.

Talk to your local dealership. At the Columbus Auto Show, the rep there said that dealerships would be able to request a BRZ to show up for test drives. They were probably waiting for this Insurance paperwork for the fleet.

how about the road noise?

There were some preprod steering wheels with controls on them... I thought they were toying with the idea, but dropped it.

Kinda hope they did drop it, or at least, make it an option. I like the clean look of the wheel.