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Mixed feelings on it.
GPS is nice. It's a pain to look up stuff compared to my Android GPS, but it works fine once you're going, and I like the big screen and the fact that it's built in (I am adamant that I don't like suction cups on the windshield or having to configure separate devices). Will the GPS still have traffic once I let the Satellite radio subscription (3 months free or whatever) expire?
Touch screen buttons definitely could be placed better, and they could have maximized the hard button functionality. A knob and three little buttons, with a fair amount of blank space around them? Look at how every other nav unit had more useful buttons on the bezel and includes a second knob on the right hand side to change radio stations. I'm confident that most complaints would go away if there was a physical button simply to skip tracks or presets.
If I had been offered the car for $500 less with a simple, base model head unit like the Impreza, that would be a no-brainer, but I don't like aftermarket, and I'm not going to spend money to downgrade. Once I get physical buttons wired up on the dashboard, my primary complaint will go away, and once I install a back-up camera, I will appreciate the big screen even more.
I drive a lot of rental cars for work, and I'm growing to appreciate the BRZ dashboard more in general. I like having a simple monochrome speed read-out more than a complicated multicolor graphical display in the center of the instrument cluster that has a million things going on and is obnoxious and distracting. I like having a simple monochrome display dedicated to the HVAC controls. I like that the head unit is JUST the stereo. It's a way less confusing and complicated setup than the cars that have a single 3.5-4" screen on the dash that has the climate control, radio, and trip computer all built into the same display that's a PITA to navigate. My current rental has the center cluster display that's somewhat redundant with the dashboard display, it's got four different clusters of SWC buttons (cruise control and navigation arrows for the various menus in the trip computer on the front and two clusters of audio controls on the back), and it's got some redundant physical buttons and virtual buttons, and the audio buttons are mixed in with the climate control buttons and there are even more buttons around the screen). Complete PITA.
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