If the BRZ never existed...

[botbs]

M235i or STI

[nelo2309]

For me the BRZ / 86 is the perfect gap filler between a hot-hatchback and something like an R35 / 911. If the BRZ didn't exist I would still have my UK spec Civic Type-R and a lot more money in my bank account!

An Evo was an option when I bought the BRZ, but when you weigh up insurance / tax / fuel / maintenance... you may aswel own an R35 / 911!

[PollosHermanos]

I'd still be in my GTI.

[Luckrider]

Originally Posted by Ganthrithor

I know what I would have gotten: sad.

Seriously though, there's a reason I had my GTI for so long. The only alternatives that I seriously considered were:

- used Miata! (really preferred something with some space, rear seats, and a hard top though)

- used Boxster (see above, but add in Porsche parts prices)

- used Cayman (hard top, but still expensive and still lacks rear seats)

- E46 M3 (sounded like they had lots of electronics issues and structural problems with their rear subframe mounts. Also most of the ones for sale at the time had those stupid SMG transmissions... welp.)

- used 911 (As they say, all 911's cost the same in the end, and it's not a little...)

I was getting pretty serious about needing a 911 before I learned about the BRZ. I wasn't sure about which generation-- I had my eyes open for nice 3.2s or SCs, but the 996 was also on my radar as a sort of un-loved performance bargain-- but the 911 generally ticked most of my boxes: RWD, quick, handles well, has emergency rear seats and a bit of room for cargo, DAT NOISE, etc. I just had doubts about paying a pretty high entry price for the car and then having to continue paying lots of money for literally everything after that: service is expensive on the older air-cooled cars, consumables would be expensive (including gas), and the 996s occasionally have their engines grenade. In fairness, by looking around I'm sure you could find a 996 that had had preventative maintenance done to prevent grenading engine, or just find one with enough miles on it already that the engine would have blown already had it been bad, but it was still a worrying aspect.

...and then the BRZ came along, and it ticked basically all my boxes, and I was intrigued. And then Chris Harris drove one and loved it. And then I pretty much decided to go buy one. I found one to test drive first just to see if there was anything I hated about the car, but it looked good in person, felt taut but well suspended (even on my relatively boring around-the-city test drive), had pretty good brake feel for a stock car, and crucially didn't feel horrifically slow. I really was expecting it to feel like a total slug since it's not very powerful to begin with and I was testing it in Denver at 5k feet AND it was a brand new car, so I wasn't getting to use half the tach, but it didn't feel boring like I feared it might. And it sounded better than I thought it would.

So I decided what the hell, I'm gonna buy a BRZ. And I did. It took a while to find the right one (I finally found a WRB limited manual with no options on the east coast for a good price), but I found it and bought it right off the truck. It was awesome. I love my car. I may end up "in it" for as much as a Porsche, but there's just something lovable about the BRZ: everything about it is just inappropriate. It's like a babby M-car that just wants to squeal do happy burnouts everywhere and chase down + embarrass cars that cost ten times as much (provided the road has curves). I love that I can pull up places amidst piles of much more serious and prestigious cars and people walk over and tell me how cool my $27k Subaru is. This once happened while I was sat next to a red Lotus. A RED FUCKING LOTUS. I love bearing down on 991s and Ferarri's on backroads in my cheeky little electric-bluemobile, or parking it next to them at cars + coffee. I love that my car has torn up tread blocks all the way out to the sidewalls while their supercar doesn't despite the fact that they're near their wear bars. You know why? Because the BRZ just likes to have fun, and because the BRZ gives no fucks. That's why.

So basically what I'm trying to say is, I'm p glad the BRZ came out.

The part about other cars in the wild perfectly sums up my experience. I entered a car show totally stock shortly after I got mine because it was a fundraiser for a firehouse. You know what, I ended up winning a trophy. I was on a 2.5 hour ride home from Lake George and got thumbsuped by two guys in a Ferrari 458! I parked at one of the Bear Mountain shows next to the newer cars and there were more people oggling at my silly little BRZ while I walked around than at the Tesla, the Viper, the Lotus Elise (One in Yellow and One in Red), and even the McLaren MP4-12C.

To answer the question at hand. I was set to buy a dart. I really liked to the 1.4T and decided I had to have the 2.4T GT model that was soon to be shipping. I found a dealership that was getting one in, I compiled my treadlightly paperwork so I could pay 1% less than invoice, I had the loan all set up. I decided on a whim to take a BRZ/FRS for a ride since it was not much more money. I drove them and had to have one of the twins. If it weren't for this, I would be happily puttering back and forth to work in a new Dart. What I lost in torque, I gained in balance.

[RL_BRZ]

S2000... :-)

[m.box.design]

Evo VIII/XI

[Tgionet]

997.2 C2S

[lucky_666]

I'd get another s2000

[Ninjin]

Used RX-8. I am weird though.

Sent from my SGH-M919 using Tapatalk

[Spinning Sushi]

Originally Posted by Ninjin

Used RX-8. I am weird though.

Nothing weird about that, I came from an RX-8 and I miss it!

[trd_kid]

Originally Posted by Spinning Sushi

Nothing weird about that, I came from an RX-8 and I miss it!

Awesome cars , but everyone in the local scene here that has bought one has either 1) blown up the motor or 2) wrecked the car...
rx8s are cursed in my area lol.

To answer the question if the brz never existed I would probably still have purchased a used wrx hatch or kept my old scion tc and started building an s14

[Spinning Sushi]

Originally Posted by dospod

Awesome cars , but everyone in the local scene here that has bought one has either 1) blown up the motor or 2) wrecked the car...
rx8s are cursed in my area lol.

To answer the question if the brz never existed I would probably still have purchased a used wrx hatch or kept my old scion tc and started building an s14

I've owned nothing but rotary powered cars for over the last 10 years and never directly wrecked one though I had spent quite a bit on engine rebuilds. I converted to a reciprocating engine because I'm tired of 16 mpg cars.

[samisons]

Kept my damn Z would have driven that shit into the ground.

[pseudo]

would have kept my 9th gen civic si if it weren't for the brz.