[FR-S Future Owner]

Originally Posted by Mim

Perhaps us folk from the land down under have it a little better than others https://www.hertz.com.au/rentacar/pr...adrenaline.jsp

A quick internet rental search was not helpful. It appears the major US rental agencies don't offer the FR-S/BRZ.

Originally Posted by Mim

You realize there is nothing broken about the car? Hundreds of thousands of people from around the world drive the car stock and are totally satisfied.

Yes, I do. Understood. However, apparently some enthusiasts (see poll results) wish to remedy this particular aspect.
See also:
[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iM_QmVF2-fQ"]Searching for Torque - Header & Exhaust - FR-S Long Term #4 - Everyday Driver - YouTube[/ame]

Originally Posted by Mim

I care about factory warranty, but still viewed all the mods in my signature as having negligible impact on it and some change the handling, throttle response and improve acceleration, but introduce no added emissions or NVH. At the end of the day any mod can effect your factory warranty. If still wanting to go ahead and mod anyway then its a game of performing due diligence around what impact a mod will have on the car's reliability and if it's worth the risk of making it. For instance I will not touch the ECU so flashing is out of the question. This, by extension, rules out going for headers, which remove the torque dip. Risks with moding can also be mitigated by having professionals install the top quality parts you purchase.

Excellent, sounds like a win-win! I share many of your automotive priorities. You've obviously put a great deal of careful consideration into your FR-S build especially the Cusco 4.556 FD and the Driveshaft Shop Aluminium shaft.

Originally Posted by Mim

Everyone's view on acceptable risk is different, but at the end of the day if this is going to be a daily driver then wait for the MY17 cars and just buy the latest most up to date iteration and enjoy it as is. It has quite a few updates over the past releases and will likely keep you happy for the handful of years its covered by warranty.

MY17 is certainly an option. However, the new FR_S grill is not as appealing. This aspect may help BRZ sales.

On the manual version of the car, additional performance comes from a gear ratio change and a torque increase to 156 lb.-ft, as well as a five-horsepower increase to 205 hp.

http://pressroom.toyota.com/releases...nyias-2016.htm

1. Are the gear ratio changes in the MT, the diff, or both?
2. What changes were made to increase the HP & TQ?

Originally Posted by Mim

Fantastic point! I don't mind the torque dip as it's really just part of the whole fun of learning the characteristics of your car and, though I drive an A/T, I still need to pay attention to the gear and RPM's I'm at (while in sports mode) if I want to avoid the dip.

When I updated the final drive ratio it was specifically to increase low down torque and improve throttle response, not anything to do with fixing the dip, but in retrospect it helped mask it to an extent as each gear became shorter / accelerated faster. The tiny torque dip window effectively became smaller and less noticeable.

Sounds like Toyota/Subaru may have copied your final drive ratio idea for the 2017 model.

If I purchase a gen1 with a 6-spd MT, I wonder what FD ratio would improve the low-end torque of it?