Originally Posted by alluringreality
After reading way too much about the FR-S/BRZ, I went and looked at the FR-S at KC dealers yesterday. I considered my 1997 Camaro just barely practical enough to own as an only car, since it's possible to squeeze in four 6 foot people for short trips, and there's about enough space for two on long trips. I found the FR-S comfortably big enough for two people, but after having tried the back seats of the Genesis Coupe and current Mustang, I didn't even bother trying the even less-useful back seats in the FR-S. I guessed the back seats in the FR-S might be as useless as the Mini Cooper, and that's probably the case.
Compared to the previous-generation Camaro I generally liked the FR-S on a couple short test drives. I thought the weight of the FR-S steering was similar to the old Camaro, which is a clear step up from the overly-light steering in my 2012 Impreza. I considered the FR-S steering wheel to be really nice, the manual was a step above the Impeza, I didn't have any objections to the automatic, and I never thought the FR-S suspension felt harsh. I didn't really notice feeling close to the ground in the FR-S that I remembered from the Camaro, but the driving position is clearly an improvement compared to the Impreza and most other cars. Overall the only areas where my Impreza has anything on the FR-S during driving is with far better sight lines to the sides, more vertical steering wheel adjustment, and it doesn't sound so much like a tin can in rain.
For a two-seat car the FR-S would be almost exactly what I'd want, but ideally I'd prefer to own an actual 4 seat car. From sitting in and driving the Genesis Coupe, current Mustang, and latest Camaro I cannot see myself buying any of those cars for various reasons. Basically I thought the FR-S/BRZ might offer some of what I miss about my previous Camaro at a similar inflation-adjusted price, and after driving the manual I was kicking around the idea of trading for the FR-S. I wanted to see if I could do any better on my trade, so I went and drove an automatic. The salesman at the second dealer went into hard sales mode and tried to get me to put down a deposit right then, even though I told him I wanted to look at some other cars in the segment before buying. When he asked what he could do to get me to buy the car right now, I told him he could make the back seat bigger. I really liked the first dealer, and people trying to do pressure sales generally piss me off, and I consider it unprofessional. After that came out of my mouth I'm thinking it's probably where I actually stand, and this car is likely not practical enough for me to own as an only vehicle.
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