Hi BRZ/FRS/86 fans.
I am the proud brand new owner of a pearlescent white 2017 Toyota 86. It has 4-cylinder Subaru boxer engine, 200ish hp, 17" chrome wheels, 6-speed manual, HIDs & DRLs, cruise control, purchased at roughly $28K. I picked this car because I like the design and the fact that my previous car was an old beater, so I've never had anything new until now. My career path changed for the better and I could afford something a little more than a used $10K car, but up to $30K.
I'm coming from having no experience with driving stick, but I've gotten better these past few weeks. One thing I have read, and also noticed myself is that the car handles really well, but it's a bit on the slow end for speed and power. I'm starting to feel that. Revving the car up loud, it sounds like its fast, but I'm not going anywhere fast! But that's ok with me, I still love this car.
From a dead stop, too often I have cars coming up on my rear bumper as I'm shifting between 1st, 2nd and then 3rd. By the time I'm in 3rd is only when I get the speed to get distance from the car behind me. This is probably in part of me being a beginner manual driver as well - trying to shift gears quicker and at appropriate revs and preventing stalling. But it somewhat disheartening when a mom in a corolla with kids in the back seat are outgunning me the first few gears from dead stop. I think there is an unspoken rule that if your car looks fast, people expect you to drive fast. Because race car.
So I'm now looking at seeing if there are cheap ways to increase launch power without voiding the warranty. Maybe adding cold air intake, new exhaust (cat-paws exhaust or something that I've heard about?), and dropping a V6 or V8 in replace of the 4-cylinder boxer? I don't really know.
Anyway, I like the car and I think it looks fancy and fits my personality. But mine lacks power on the launch, leaving a little bit to be desired. Once I'm going, it's great. It's just getting it going quickly is my problem so that people aren't on my butt.
