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Ganthrithor · 05-03-2013, 04:40 PM

Not surprised that the car got another negative review from "that guy" who did EVO's Nice --> UK BRZ video. He seemed to hate on the car the whole time for not being powerful enough, complaining that he couldn't pass people on highways etc.

I'd be curious to drive that Renault-- I'm absolutely shocked that they could prefer any kind of front-drive car to the BRZ. Sure, you could comment on how the BRZ is a little sterile at low speeds (Motortrend did an interesting comparison with the MX-5 along these lines), but a front-drive car? Really?

v0v

To each their own, I guess. Personally, having driven rear-drive cars with way more power/torque on tap than the 370Z I just don't agree with them that lack of torque is as big of a problem in the BRZ as they make it out to be. Yeah, if you wanted to go around doing great big Chris Harris-y skids (which-- notably-- Chris Harris manages to do in this car just fine) you might find that it's a little short on power: IE, you can't just punch the throttle and induce wheel spin. On the other hand, how often do you get the chance to drive sideways through corners on the street? Almost never.

I find the car has plenty of torque for playing with the car's balance in corners. Yeah, I might not be able to punch the gas and send the back end sideways whenever I feel like it, but there are plenty of awesome sportscars that don't have the oomph to induce wheel spin on command. I don't find myself shying away from the throttle while driving our 993 on the street, and that's a superbly entertaining vehicle. Much like the BRZ, the 993 can be driven into corners in ways that will let you hang the tail out, but it doesn't feel like a muscle car. That doesn't mean it's not a ton of fun to drive (and, IMHO the perfect road car).

I've also driven cars that do have the torque to kick the rear end out from a standing start in third gear, and guess what: while it's always fun to have the power on tap, you almost never, ever get to use it on the road. That, in my opinion, similarly frustrating to not having tons of power on tap in the first place: you can usually make up for lack of power with proper weight transfer, but you can't make up for a bad chassis with an oversupply of power. The car I have in mind here happens to have both a nicely sorted chassis/suspension and tons of power, so it's a lot of fun at most any speeds, but the car was nowhere near as fun with the stock suspension, where it felt like it had a lot of power that was sloppily applied and largely un-usable, which is pretty much what the 370Z sounds like from that EVEO review. I simply don't understand how you could rank a car like that above the BRZ.

I found Chris Harris' appraisal of the 86 much more accurate: slow, but with a really sweet chassis. I won't weigh in with a final verdict until I've finished break-in (150mi to go!) and run my BRZ on the same roads in California that I've driven extensively in other cars for a more direct comparison, but my initial reaction to the BRZ certainly isn't that it makes fun inaccessible. If anything, it reminds me a bit of the Lotus Elise: not wildly powerful, but superbly balanced and very communicative.

05-03-2013, 04:40 PM	#211
Ganthrithor Senior Member Join Date: Feb 2013 Drives: '13 BRZ, '06 997, Other Things(TM) Location: Santa Barbara, CA Posts: 1,078 Thanks: 1,715 Thanked 670 Times in 351 Posts Mentioned: 9 Post(s) Tagged: 0 Thread(s)	Not surprised that the car got another negative review from "that guy" who did EVO's Nice --> UK BRZ video. He seemed to hate on the car the whole time for not being powerful enough, complaining that he couldn't pass people on highways etc. I'd be curious to drive that Renault-- I'm absolutely shocked that they could prefer any kind of front-drive car to the BRZ. Sure, you could comment on how the BRZ is a little sterile at low speeds (Motortrend did an interesting comparison with the MX-5 along these lines), but a front-drive car? Really? v0v To each their own, I guess. Personally, having driven rear-drive cars with way more power/torque on tap than the 370Z I just don't agree with them that lack of torque is as big of a problem in the BRZ as they make it out to be. Yeah, if you wanted to go around doing great big Chris Harris-y skids (which-- notably-- Chris Harris manages to do in this car just fine) you might find that it's a little short on power: IE, you can't just punch the throttle and induce wheel spin. On the other hand, how often do you get the chance to drive sideways through corners on the street? Almost never. I find the car has plenty of torque for playing with the car's balance in corners. Yeah, I might not be able to punch the gas and send the back end sideways whenever I feel like it, but there are plenty of awesome sportscars that don't have the oomph to induce wheel spin on command. I don't find myself shying away from the throttle while driving our 993 on the street, and that's a superbly entertaining vehicle. Much like the BRZ, the 993 can be driven into corners in ways that will let you hang the tail out, but it doesn't feel like a muscle car. That doesn't mean it's not a ton of fun to drive (and, IMHO the perfect road car). I've also driven cars that do have the torque to kick the rear end out from a standing start in third gear, and guess what: while it's always fun to have the power on tap, you almost never, ever get to use it on the road. That, in my opinion, similarly frustrating to not having tons of power on tap in the first place: you can usually make up for lack of power with proper weight transfer, but you can't make up for a bad chassis with an oversupply of power. The car I have in mind here happens to have both a nicely sorted chassis/suspension and tons of power, so it's a lot of fun at most any speeds, but the car was nowhere near as fun with the stock suspension, where it felt like it had a lot of power that was sloppily applied and largely un-usable, which is pretty much what the 370Z sounds like from that EVEO review. I simply don't understand how you could rank a car like that above the BRZ. I found Chris Harris' appraisal of the 86 much more accurate: slow, but with a really sweet chassis. I won't weigh in with a final verdict until I've finished break-in (150mi to go!) and run my BRZ on the same roads in California that I've driven extensively in other cars for a more direct comparison, but my initial reaction to the BRZ certainly isn't that it makes fun inaccessible. If anything, it reminds me a bit of the Lotus Elise: not wildly powerful, but superbly balanced and very communicative.