Quote:
Originally Posted by Subaruwrxfan
You know that the Subaru engineers designed this car with a convertible version in mind right? They are planning on making one, and I don't think it will change the character of the car.
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Certain aspects of what defines the BRZ's character, such as steering rack speed, more than likely will not change. On that level I agree with you.
Where I completely disagree with you is with your assertion that the character of the car (in this case meaning the overriding character traits of the BRZ) as defined by the BRZ's low weight and low Cg will not be altered. Even though you did not define the overall character as such, I think we can both agree those two attributes truly define the car, and all the other sub-traits fall from there.
Besides adding a nice panaramic view of the environment, convertible tops (hard or soft) do two things to a cars: add complexity, and add weight relatively high on the car. Convertible top cars also suffer from reduced rigidity, especially when compared to solid roofed counterparts. To overcome this, convertibles require additional material added to the frame in the form of structural members in order to gain back some measure of lost rigidity. Without belaboring the point, all these factors contribute towards undermining the two major attributes that make the BRZ a, well... a BRZ.
I have a feeling I am not saying anything new to you, or most other members on the BRZ side of the house (the kids on the FR-S side might be a different story
). Basically even if Subaru designed this car from the get-go to also support a convertible top variant, unless they extensively employ exotic materials throughout the top's construction, I do not see how the driving experience and performance of the base car will not be negatively affected. Then again... I suspect people who buy convertibles generally do not car all that much about the performance.