Quote:
Originally Posted by Eminent Performance
As much as I want to keep the car N/A, I have to agree it needs to either get a 2.5 N/A or a turbo. I think 50-100hp to the wheel is really needed stock to be competitive and to really do the chassis justice.
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I'm not sure I agree with this, and here's why:
1. With more power, there's no obvious direction for people to start modding towards. They knew this would be a popular tuner, so giving people an obvious starting point makes a lot of sense
2. Stock, this car corners like it's on rails. If you add 50-100 hp, it's going lose grip on those same corners if you drive it anywhere near the limit
3. What if you put stickier tires from the factory? Now, you lose the ability to get the rear end loose at safe speeds on public roads
4. +30 mpg is really attractive for a lot of us coming form high-hp, low mpg cars. Add a turbo? That goes out the window. Run a 2.5L? Now you've got lots of low end torque without much steam up high and a much lower redline (assuming it's anything like Subaru's current 2.5's). You also screw up the weight balance and you'll be lucky to get 30mpg, let alone the 35 some of us have gotten
5. A higher hp car would also likely require larger brakes + rotors (higher initial cost + maintenance costs)
If you make all of those changes, you're significantly upping the cost of manufacturing the car, which will be passed on to the consumer. At $35k, would anyone buy a 300 hp brz with a worse weight balance, reduced mpg, higher maintenance costs, and (probably) worse handling? Maybe, but there is a LOT more competition at that price point. I love that my car only has 200 hp and understand that there is more to being "fast" than 0-60 times and highway pulls. I love how simple everything is and how easy the car is to work on. Call me crazy, but I think the engineers at Subaru actually knew what they were doing.