Quote:
Originally Posted by Rosso_Corsa
[URL="http://www.ft86club.com"]
In many ways, it reminds me a lot of my Cayman, a car I still miss from time to time. The seating position is similar because I can slam my seat to the floor without compromising my view over the dash. Steering wheels comes close to my chest which is great, and the relationship between all the controls just feels so right. Again, very much like the Cayman. And the wheel itself rocks.
But unlike the Cayman, it feels even lighter on its feet and very eager to be throttle steered. This is its greatest strength. Transitions from left to right feel hyper agile and it's very natural to exploit its rear end steer-ability using the steering and throttle. This is so unlike every modern car that emphasizes stability and so much like one of the all time greats... the Mazda Miata (I used to have an '01). No, the BRZ is not fast. No, the engine does not sound very good (almost like a sewing machine, my brother joked). But as a complete package, it is very consistent to its character and feels so right!
While I'm no fan of electric assisted steering, the BRZ steers with a beautiful weighting, a trait very much lost on the newest electric steer BMWs (I'm looking at you, F30). It will never approach the nuggety feedback and connection from a great hydraulic system like the 997 Carrera or the 987 gen Cayman, but it is quick geared, VERY responsive, and with that uber light front end is just dynamite to flick around corners. This car LOVES to turn!
Oh and I love the skinny tires. This combined with the throttle steerability makes the car extremely entertaining even at modest speeds.
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Great review. After a lot of backroads driving I found that the car reminds me a lot of the first-gen Boxster in terms of power to weight and neutral, throttle-steerable handling, although the BRZ feels a bit "looser" than the Boxster. There is a lack of feedback through the steering wheel, but your inputs are very sharp / accurate and the weighting is nice. The overall communicativeness of the car / suspension makes the slight lack of steering feedback manageable imho.
Glad to see someone agreeing that the car is very trim-able with the throttle after reading that EVO review where they complained so much about lack of power. I find the car especially fun on really tight, curvy roads where you can stay in second gear and basically use a touch of steering combined with brake / throttle application to slither the car from corner to corner-- it doesn't quite feel 911-like because you don't get that ungodly traction once you're turned in that allows you to mat the throttle, but you can definitely make the rear end dance around the outsides of the corners and rotate the car in. It's really fun.
I honestly can't believe how well set up these cars are from the factory. The only improvements I'm inclined to make are some bushing replacements / braces here and there to eliminate drivetrain slop and maximize throttle response, some lighter (stock size) wheels, possibly a light-weight crank pulley set and an exhaust. My biggest grumbly point about the car is that I've listened to what seems like every aftermarket exhaust system sound clip on youtube and I can't find any that sound genuinely arousing. I think the Milltek and Perrin ones sound the least-bad, but that's not saying a whole lot. I'll probably get the Milltek system because it's lighter and I really like their system that's installed on my GTI.
Also, that picture from your other thread of the Toyota dealer with the Cayman and Exige out front is hilarious. I'm so glad the twins made it to production
