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Old 10-24-2013, 12:33 PM   #86
chrisl
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Quote:
Originally Posted by regal View Post
If Toyota can build a Yaris @ $13k under 2300 lbs they could have built this under 2500 lbs, I think they chose not too because they wanted to position it as the lightest GT. As you say they designed the backseat which is useless in itself but it gives the car a small GT wheelbase and feel.
Except that the BRZ/FR-S has a much stiffer chassis than a Yaris. Believe me, you wouldn't want to drive a BRZ with a Yaris chassis. That makes your comparison somewhat irrelevant. Also, some of the weight difference comes from the engine and transmission - the Yaris is FWD, which allows for a single transaxle unit (which is lighter than a separate diff and transmission), the transmission itself is a much lighter-duty 5 speed rather than the more capable 6-speed in the BRZ, and the engine is a 1.5L inline 4, which is pretty much definitely lighter than the 2L boxer in the BRZ. Building a lightweight car is easy, but building a lightweight, high-performance car is hard, since many of the heaviest bits in a car are also necessary for performance.
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