Toyota GR86, 86, FR-S and Subaru BRZ Forum & Owners Community - FT86CLUB - View Single Post - Test drove a '15 BRZ, bought a '13 FR-S ... WAY DIFFERENT

donoman · 03-11-2015, 05:20 AM

Decided I should get an '86 used, just in case the car turns out not to be my cup of tea. Boy was I surprised at the lack of ride quality in this FR-S after driving it around a little more.

Intended use: Daily driver, mixed city/fwy. Some days 10 minutes, some days 60 minutes each way. Grocery beater, something that I won't mind bringing to the gym as my other cars are just too rare to beat on.

I'm actually pretty APPALLED that the suspension is so dang brutal in the (older) FR-S. When I test drove the '15 BRZ it was firm but not rough. I actually LOVED it and that's saying a lot. The tire grip, the motor, the interior noise level, it's all to my satisfaction but wow that rear suspension reminds me of my lowered Miata on GC track suspension. It's totally different... set up for sharp handling and auto-x but probably not as good of a daily driver. Hats off to you guys (and your butts) that can handle this all day err day. Maybe I'm just getting old.

AM I CRAZY or is this drastic difference real?

Edit: Car has 22k miles and previous owner only drove it for 1.5 years... car was babied.

03-11-2015, 05:20 AM	#1
donoman Senior Member Join Date: Jan 2015 Drives: '13 FR-S Location: San Jose, CA Posts: 277 Thanks: 6 Thanked 87 Times in 48 Posts Mentioned: 3 Post(s) Tagged: 0 Thread(s)	Test drove a '15 BRZ, bought a '13 FR-S ... WAY DIFFERENT Decided I should get an '86 used, just in case the car turns out not to be my cup of tea. Boy was I surprised at the lack of ride quality in this FR-S after driving it around a little more. Intended use: Daily driver, mixed city/fwy. Some days 10 minutes, some days 60 minutes each way. Grocery beater, something that I won't mind bringing to the gym as my other cars are just too rare to beat on. I'm actually pretty APPALLED that the suspension is so dang brutal in the (older) FR-S. When I test drove the '15 BRZ it was firm but not rough. I actually LOVED it and that's saying a lot. The tire grip, the motor, the interior noise level, it's all to my satisfaction but wow that rear suspension reminds me of my lowered Miata on GC track suspension. It's totally different... set up for sharp handling and auto-x but probably not as good of a daily driver. Hats off to you guys (and your butts) that can handle this all day err day. Maybe I'm just getting old. AM I CRAZY or is this drastic difference real? Edit: Car has 22k miles and previous owner only drove it for 1.5 years... car was babied. Last edited by donoman; 03-11-2015 at 05:35 AM.