Quote:
Originally Posted by Tcoat
Little early to say whether I like it or not since can't see the whole package but there are at least three points against it for my taste.
1 - Not a huge fan of the head and taillight layout. People can complain about the current shapes but at least they were not as generic as the little bit we can see in these pictures.
2 - Where are the hips over the rear wheels? Hopefully it is just the camo doing a good job but it looks like they are shrunk up.
3 - The front fender humps are most certainly gone. They were a huge part of the flow of the overall lines and gave it a sort of retro sports car look.
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I'm completely with you on all your points. Like you, I have to wait and see (and of course drive!) the car in person. But so far, it looks like all the expectations, hints, spy shots, previews, and speculation bandied about here are true - a more 'refined', less distinctive, slightly more generic form.
To my eyes it also looks like the front fender bulges are completely gone, which is a major shame. I love those! Whatever one thinks about how well 'integrated' or 'added on' they look, they certainly give the car character and personality. The view from the driver's seat, seeing those front fender bulges, is simply fun (and similar to the view out from a Cayman/Boxster). Uncertain if the rear quarter panel hips are still there, which would also be a shame if they're gone or toned down.
Of course the big mystery is still the engine. It sounds like the consensus is that it's going to be a N/A 2.4 with 217 hp and 176 ft-lb of torque. While that's technically 'more power', I don't think it will be enough of a seat-of-pants difference to tempt me out of my current car. Especially with the blander body style of the new car. Again a test drive will reveal all, but I suspect the minimal hp increase and modest torque bump might be partially offset by any increase in weight, negating some of the power increase
feel.
I don't care about the 'numbers'. I don't care if it's 0.3 seconds faster 0-60. I think that kind of modest hp and torque increase is probably going to be within the margin of error of how well I'm driving on any particular day. I'm not going to the Nurburgring to post lap times, I'm not going to a drag strip for 1/4 mile runs, and I've never cared about bragging to strangers at the bar about how 'fast' my car runs 0-60. All I care about is how it
feels to me, how it feels to my butt in the seat. Maybe the power delivery and torque curve will give a more significant improvement in feel than the maximum numbers suggest. But it will have to be
meaningfully noticeable to my seat-of-pants feel to get me to consider giving up the more sensuous, sexier lines of my current car for the new one.
More than anything else, I applaud and thank Toyota and Subaru for moving forward with this car, for spending the money and having the cajones to build any next-generation BRZ/86 at all -
and with a manual transmission!!!! - in the face of both a declining sports car market, and a global pandemic recession. I don't imagine the next-gen car will make much more money for them than the current car did. This car is a gift to enthusiasts everywhere. Those that will inevitably complain about 'not enough more power!' don't get it, and never will. Forget them. It's their loss.
Let's all raise a glass and toast Toyota and Subaru for making this car at all.