Quote:
Originally Posted by Veloist
Driving Impressions
The BRZ/86 was praised for connecting the driver to the car through a pure driving experience, and this experience was clear to me after owning a couple of them, and it was the first thing I noticed when getting used to the Supra. So if there’s any clear difference between the Supra and the BRZ/86, it’s that the Supra gives up some of that pure and raw element of the BRZ/86 for refinement and better performance.
I immediately noticed how I missed the quick-ratio steering of the BRZ/86 as soon as I drove the 2020 Supra out of the parking lot. Although the Supra’s steering is actually nicely weighted even in NORMAL setting, it doesn’t have the communication that the BRZ/86 has because of a more noticeable dead spot in the center. Once I hit the twisties with the Supra, that’s when I noticed that the steering still has the precision you’d expect from a sports car--but unlike the BRZ/86 it has less of a “point-and-shoot” feeling.
With that in mind, it doesn’t take long to realize that comparing the two cars is essentially like a shootout between driving experience and driving performance. Well, it’s a given that most of the performance differences come from the powertrain. The Supra manages daily driving situations like passing, merging, and cruising with effortless ease and confidence. 65 MPH feels slow in the Supra. 90 MPH feels like normal, conservative highway driving. In spirited driving, the Supra provides more thrills especially since it can exit corners quickly and push you back in your seat in a straight line.
However, there is also something fun about wringing out the engine of the BRZ/86 to make up for that lack of torque. It kind of reminds me of driving cars at wide open throttle in video games. And, although the Supra downshifts beautifully with a pop, you can’t really beat nailing a perfect rev-matched downshift yourself with a manual transmission. Yes, in a timed competition the transmission would matter but if you’re just out there enjoying the machine on a weekend, the manual transmission would add to the experience.
Cruising along, the Supra rides very smoothly. If the road is decently paved the car almost has a sporty-luxurious ride, and I can see myself being more than comfortable in it during a cross country road trip. But something about the harsher and stiffer ride of the BRZ/86 compliments every other raw quirk that the twins have to offer...it makes it feel...old school. If you close your eyes and remove factors like acceleration and engine noise, the ride of BRZ/86 actually feels more like a sports car than the Supra.
Final Thoughts
The Supra is my new weekend car which was previously held by both of the BRZ’s I owned. For me I want my weekend car to be a nice toy to have around that’s special to me and that feels vastly different than my daily driver (a GTI). The Supra and the BRZ/86 are great cars to own because they feel different from a lot of other cars out there.
But what most people want to know is if the Supra is significantly a better car than the BRZ/86, or if it is really worth 2x the price. Although I can’t answer that because we all have different tastes, I can say that the Supra does a lot of things better than the BRZ/86. It’s fun to have a fast car that still responds well to you. The Supra is more fun than the BRZ/86 if you strongly agree with that statement. At the same time, there are things that the BRZ/86 does that the Supra either does worse or doesn’t do at all. Ultimately, the BRZ/86 engages the driver more so than the Supra.
With that said, I believe that the MKV Supra can’t completely replace a BRZ/86. Doing so may make you miss its raw and pure character that you got used to, and that most likely cannot be satisfied with the more refined Supra. My plan is to keep the Supra as a weekend car and once my lease on the VW GTI is up, to replace that with the 2nd-gen BRZ if it is indeed a better version than what we have today...otherwise I’ll go pre-owned because I now know for sure that the BRZ/86 is the car I want to drive every day.
The MKV Supra feels modern and refined. The BRZ/86 feels nostalgic and raw as if it was from the 90’s. That’s why I can’t express how important it is to appreciate the BRZ/86 for what it is. If anything, the MKV Supra just cemented the purpose and charm of the BRZ/86. It’s truly a unique car designed to give drivers an old-school, well-connected, pure driving experience in a world of modern cars.
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Agree, old-school/raw is definitely the description I'd give the twins.
Furthermore,
to me, the
86 platform is a blank slate that I don't feel bad in putting my own twist into it or reshaping it to my liking. It's pretty evident with the amount of aftermarket that this platform has that there has to be a place for this kind of car, hopefully 2nd gen sales are satisfactory to keep it going. Very few cars at the 86's price point that give you all the basic sports car checkboxes and offer the amount of aftermarket support it has.
The FR-S' ride is harsher, and I actually like that better. I feel more connected and less... floaty if that makes sense.
In a cross country road trip though, I agree, the Supra has more comfortable seats, suspension, and tires. I think it would be great on trips. The one thing that I hate about the FR-S is the seats are stiff and I'm constantly shifting about to keep my back happy.
I do find the Supra more distracting inside though. My FR-S was pre-steering wheel controls, I also don't have advanced climate controls, or push start, and no carplay or android auto.
In the Supra,it might just be that I need to get to know the car more...but it feels very distracting inside and I feel like I'm thinking too hard to scroll through radio stations or looking at the vehicle/driver settings, changing the temp between left & right.... and my gosh, the backup camera sucks. Is it different on the 8.8 inch screen? I have the smaller head unit and the backup picture looks like they smushed a 16x9 picture into 4x3 space. The 2016 FR-S has a much better backup camera. I may edit this post tomorrow to compare here.
I can't compare too much yet on fun quality or performance without enough Supra seat time, I got mine right as the pandemic started so I've barely driven it around my own city...Whereas I've driven my FR-S all across the country, modded it, had all sorts of animals in it, Autocrossed it, you name it.
The Supra is definitely fun to drive still, very minimal lag and put you back in your seat kick when you are full throttle.
Get a lot of compliments in my Supra in drive thrus and parking lots, although I do as well in the FR-S, not as much in this short period.
Also got an annoying "Is that a Supra!1?!?!?" once already.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ernest72
Typical. Twin guys pick the twin, Supra guys pick the Supra.
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Based on some of what I've read on there, I don't think you could convince most MKV Supra owners that an 86 does anything better than their Supra.