Toyota GR86, 86, FR-S and Subaru BRZ Forum & Owners Community - FT86CLUB - KOSTS86 - GBS Premium BRZ (Review included in first post)

Yes, I can finally join you fellow new car owners (and BRZ/FRS owners) with the purchase of my new 2013 BRZ Premium Galaxy Blue Silica from Heuberger Motors in Colorado Springs, via Clint and the BRZ thread on the FT86 forum!

http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showthread.php?t=33553

I was referred there after a relatively short new car buying process... I wanted a BRZ but it was slightly out of my budget, but not after finding Clints deal! I was leaning more towards the Scion FRS or a Focus ST actually...

Anyway, I flew to Colorado and picked up the car last week from Clint after about a month wait for the car to arrive (I selected one from his inventory of new cars coming in that was pretty much exactly what I wanted)...

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First Impressions:

I had a great several mile, hard test drive of a FRS before hand so I knew what the car drove like for the most part and was really impressed with the FRS. The BRZ interior of course is slightly better, and I do like the bumper and headlights more as well.

I did get lucky and saw a Galaxy Blue Silica BRZ locally that allowed me to decide on that color as being the one I wanted, so nothing surprised me there. I'm VERY happy about finally owning a blue Subaru.

Anyway, so the dealer transaction was seamless. Had a little bit of a wait at the dealer due to it being so busy, ended up leaving Colorado Springs at around 2pm with the goal of getting to Salt Lake City that night with my codriver (AVATAR-X) along for the ride.

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First Drive:

Wound up running into some rain storms over I70 over the rockies, and discovered quite a bit about the car... Traction is definatly down compared to my old car ('95 Impreza with a 2.5L swap, front and rear LSD full suspension etc.) but the traction control and VSC certainly do a great job of keeping the BRZ in check when the situation demands it.

Climbing up over the 12,000 foot pass was interesting to say the least... The car could not hold 70mph in 6th gear, but did just fine holding it in 5th gear and even accelerating when need be.

The ride of the car I was very happy with right off the bat. I could feel the difference in suspension stiffness between the FRS and BRZ, with the BRZ having a much more "sharp" feeling to it with a stiffer front. I think I want to try the stiffer rear springs from the FRS on the BRZ for kicks though... Its quite stiff which is what I like, but not too stiff to ruin your kidneys when you hit a bump, and bumps are very smooth for the most part.

The drivetrain is fantastic even at altitude. I know people say it has no power, but Ill get back to that later... The comparison between this engine and the EJ25 N/A is interesting, because this motor is pretty much exactly what I wanted. It doesn't have the insta-torque of the EJ25, but it doesn't run out of juice at 5k either, and actually the peak power band is more like from 4k-7k and the engine just loves to stay in that range!

The 6-speed took a lot to get used to... Especially the reverse. It tends to get stuck with the reverse lockout when backing up, so I have to fling the shifter to neutral to get out of reverse instead of just go straight from R to 1. Kind of annoying. Luckly the throws are perfectly short and 6th gear isn't a huge reach to get to!

Ended up murdering several million bugs during the first day, and spent a good portion of the night driving on COMPLETELY DESERTED ROADS in Utah which was both scary and fantastic at the same time (literally NO lights outside of the headlights and tail lights of other cars). I instantly learned how much I love the HID BRZ headlights during this trip!!! They are better than ANY headlights I've had and certainly don't need foglights to help light up the road in the middle of the night like my previous cars, and the headlight adjustment feature came in quite useful...

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Spent the night in Price, Utah (middle of nowhere) and didn't quite make it to Salt Lake (about 2 hours out). I was paranoid about the car being parked out front all night, LOL!

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First stop on the way was Rallispec in Salt Lake!!! Met Rick there and the Race-prepped BRZ. Rick is awesome, hooked me up with a shirt and a Nameless exhaust Muffler delete!!! (still waiting on the Apex-i intake filter lol)

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Setup the NAV for the rest of the ride home after Rallispec. The NAV system seems extremely primitive compared to an Android tablet or smartphone, and I've never had a NAV system before... But it works. We had 2 tablets and 2 smart phones in the car, including my phone running the Torque App with the ODB Bluetooth dongle so it was entertaining to say the least, LOL!

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800+ miles on the second day to go... From Utah to Northern California. Pretty much a straight shot on I80 the whole way (mostly boring freeway FTL) not nearly as fun as I70 on Day 1, and LOTS of construction...

Anyho, the car was getting 30+ MPG the WHOLE time on the freeways, with the final total being 33mpg for the entire trip home! Wound up hitting 1000 miles near Lovelock Nevada, officially broken in!!!

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Granted, I wasn't too concerned about break in, everyone tells me different things about what to do, so I just drove it like I always drive my Subaru's which never have oil burning issues or any problems what so ever engine wise...

Ended up making a final stop in Reno Nevada to meet up with sperry for lunch at Nu Yalk Pizza at their new location (SO GOOOOOOD!)

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The last bit from Reno to Sacramento is basically my testing ground... I've driven a dozen cars up and down that section of road hundreds of times, I know every corner by heart and what gear and speed every car I've driven is capable of on that stretch, not to mention what its like to drive on it in the middle of rain storms and blizzards...

And the BRZ was THE BEST and EASIEST car I've driven on that section of I-80 by a mile!

Donner pass was easily conquered in 6th gear at 75mph with the cruise control set. Every corner was held at 70+mph even the 50mph twisties, without so much as a fuss from the car. The headlights once again proved their value as I've had SEVERE issues driving on that road at night with regular headlights becoming covered in dirt and muck and being rendered useless... But not the BRZ HIDS!

The best part of that stretch of road is I know every speed trap so I know when to slow down and when to have fun, and I sure did...

Finally got home around 9pm Thursday, with my baby in her newly cleaned out Garage!

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And of course promptly washed it the next day...

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LMAO!!!

Anyway, some final general thoughts...

Criticisms/Problems so far:

-The Silver dash can be reflective and distracting at times, I plan to change this.

-For some reason Subaru USA decided to skimp out on exhaust tips! I already fixed this, but it wont be a problem for those planning to upgrade exhausts anyway.

-Tires like to chirp ALL THE TIME... Its hard NOT to make this car squeal, which can attract the wrong kind of attention from Police.

-Seat bottoms don't offer enough thigh support, basically don't angle back far enough to support your legs... My JDM Gen 1 WRX seats were more comfortable and supportive in this regard.

-Transmission is possibly grinding a little already (feels gritty) in 3rd and 4th. I'm not sure if its the gearing linkage or the gears themselves, but better fluid and upgraded shift bushings might solve this.

-Front bumper is scraping when leaving my driveway! No way I can lower this car for day to day use.

-No factory center armrest option, but lots of aftermarket ones are available!

-Brake pedal is not as firm or as effective as my impreza which had a stoptech stage 0 kit with lines, pads and even an upgraded master cylinder plus no ABS. I don't think an upgraded master cylinder is an option yet, but this car could use lines and better pads for sure.

Why I'm never selling this car ever... seriously:

The BRZ is pretty much the car I've always wanted to be built. Everything about it is built around the driver and makes you realize how wrong other cars are as soon as you sit in something else. The crisp turn in and lack of understeer, the low seating position with TONS of visibility and without the feel of a tiny car, and the interior that is perfectly ergonomical with every switch and knob within a foot of the shifter...

Its just the perfect car, even if it doesn't have AWD or a turbo, it really just does not need it. As soon as I hit sea level, this car came alive and has significantly more noticeable power than the old EJ25 with better MPG to boot! I have no complaints at all in this department.

If you have any questions or comments, feel free to post...