White 6MT BRZ Premium available for pickup now! (SOLD)
 

Just to let everyone know, Scott Subaru (Red Deer) has a SWP BRZ premium (6 speed manual) sitting on their lot unclaimed. I'm surprised it's still available, but I guess it just came in and everyone on their list wants Sport Tech. It has NOT been test driven and will not be, so it would be a good buy.

I just picked up a WRB BRZ from them and they are excellent to deal with (no markups, add-ons, they're honest, etc). If you don't want to wait for your pre-order, or worse yet, haven't made a pre-order, consider picking it up.

I dealt with Ernesto Flores, who previously worked as a tech and is definitely not the typical clueless salesman (403) 356-6869 ext 1508

***** UPDATE *****

They've sold it now.

They're nice guys over there.. How was the drive back to Calgary? How'd you vary the speed etc? Still grinning?

The drive was great! I just kept changing gears, accelerating and slowing down. I decided to do a hard break-in. I warmed it up first and then went on the highway and ran it through the range with load and engine braked a few times for the first 100 km. Then I just drove it normally, but continually shifted and accelerated/decelerated the entire time using 4th - 6th so that the rpm stayed varied. I really didn't spend more than a minute at any given rpm, and that kept things interesting too. There wasn't much traffic, so I had room to do whatever I wanted without pissing off too many people.

Yup, still grinning :D I was most worried about the power (compared to my 06 WRX) and the stereo. The stereo easily annihilates the piece of shit in my WRX (sorry, piece of "premium" shit, according to Subaru), and the power is very good. It's not the same as having turbo boost of course, but it comes on sooner, feels torquey, and it never felt slow or like I needed more power. More often I found I was going too fast without realizing it. I think the power is a great match for the platform. It's definitely entertaining, so I feel pretty relieved.

Clutch takes some getting used to compared to the heavy clutch (which I liked) in the WRX. Also not used to 6 gears (or the gearing in general) and found it weird going to 4th instead of 3rd to get quick passing acceleration on the highway. The power really comes on at 5K. I used to have a 91 NX2000 and it was similar with the same redline on the SR20DE, but this feels way more powerful. The shift knob is really ergonomic and feels really good in hand.

I actually found that I liked the engine note. Different than my WRX, but very appealing for some reason.

The suspension feels like the 350Z I've been driving for the past few weeks, but yet is not harsh at all over bumps. It's very flat and stable-feeling.

If I didn't have to sleep, I would go out for some more right now. :burnrubber:

Ah man that's awesome.. Sounds like you had a good buying experience overall. Enjoy the car it's going to be a fun weekend! There's a chance mine arrives in rd today so fingers crossed. Let's all organize an 86 meet at some point to admire each others colors etc..

This is the car I'm driving now (1993) and is a perfect example of what a torquey low-hp high reving engine can do in a low-weight car. It's a fun car to drive and I'm really looking forward to a similar experience in an FRS.

That would be awesome! Are you in Edmonton (judging from the poor choice of hockey team to support)? hahaha

Clutch feels MUCH better today, I guess it just needed some time to break in. It's super easy to use. Brakes are biting more too.

Not having driven a 6-speed before, I initially pulled it out of reverse and went straight up for 1st, which of course is actually 3rd. So when I drove it off the lot I thought, this is the worst and most lifeless clutch I've seen, and MAN is this thing gutless. Of course then I realized I'm an idiot and need to pull it back towards me to go into first like any regular car.

If you enjoy that, you will really enjoy the FRS. I loved my NX to death. The light weight feeling was unbelievable and the handling incredibly neutral for fwd. It could enter a corner with ridiculous speed and not bite you. Health problems, which stopped me from working, forced me to sell it and keep my wife's 02 G20 which was nearly new at the time and more likely to be reliable (not that the NX ever gave me trouble). All the dreaming of a SR20DET swap for the NX is what eventually lead me to axe the G20 for a WRX. The only car I was as sad to see go as the NX was the WRX, but this time it was for a good cause and the BRZ is making an excellent replacement and reminds me of the car-driver connection I enjoyed so much in the NX :D

Yes! I'm not alone! :P

hahaha! I've done this a few times since, with great embarrassment. Now I check it at a stop by taking it out of gear and putting it back into gear. I'm not used to the gearing yet to associate the gear with rpm/speed, and with a glance at the shifter, 3rd often looks like 1st to me, and on the highway 6th looks like 4th, etc. I'm not used to a short shifter I guess.

Haha nah I'm from red deer actually but would still be interested in a meet. Interesting to hear that certain characteristics of driving the car will change within the first few days, good to know.. I remember the clutch as being way different from my prelude during the test drive as well so I'll enjoy adapting to the car..
Sounds like I get my frs before the weekend which hasn't really sunk in yet after this crazy wait. So awesome.
As for hockey, oilers are on the rise! Friday will sure be interesting to see what happens.
Enjoy!

hahaha I can make fun of the oilers, but I sure have nothing to brag about with the flames :(

I have to admit, after waiting so long it was surreal to pick up and then drive it for the first time—it didn't seem real at all. I hope yours comes in for the weekend!

I think it also takes about 5000 km for the engine to loosen up generally, regardless of break-in type, so it should get even better. I've got about 260km on it now, and the brakes and clutch feel good.

The other strange part I found is with the chopped gas pedal I really have to raise my foot up on the brake to heel-toe. Very weird and something I took for granted in the WRX and used often. I might change the gas pedal for something longer, but I'll see if I can adjust first.

Yeah, I didn't really notice it until I was driving one day with flip flops on and I was like oh shit, they were kind of catching on the bottom and making it hard to drive. So I kicked them off and it wasn't nearly as enjoyable driving barefoot as driving with shoes on. :P

I never really look at the shifter except when I first get in the car. I normally always leave it in reverse when I park but would hate to be the first to make that mistake and hit the car in front of me.

haha yeah, I usually leave it in gear too for the direction I intend to leave so there are no accidents, though now first and reverse look nearly the same.

The white one at Red Deer is now sold.