What other car did you consider before deciding on the BRZ?

[KelvinBRZ]

I had three choices:

Subaru BRZ
Scion FRS
Hyundai Genesis Coupe 2.0 base

I wanted a car around a 25k price tag, but did not want an American muscle car.
After watching and reading reviews on YouTube and other blogs, I narrowed it down to the FRS or the BRZ. I was very close to getting a whiteout FRS (only color I would choose other than Ultramarine), but since dealers would not budge under MSRP the whiteout came to $26,575. I got a Subie dealer to get RID of the markups to GET TO MSRP, so I stuck with the premium BRZ (color GBS was not my first choice) at $27,979 with port installed amenities. For $1,404 difference, I appreciated the interior touch screen & HID/LED DRLs and stuck to that. The color quickly grew on me real fast.

Honestly, the genesis coupe's fascia is just too busy for me, but I really liked the interior. Coming from a 140 HP civic coupe, I thought 200HP would be a nice step up anyways compared to 274 HP of the gen coupe (not that HP is the main attraction for the BRZ/FRS anyways).

[SpectreRT]

My choices: BRZ, FRS, Focus ST, Genesis Coupe, Used WRX STi

Winner: BRZ. I really wanted RWD, and I got kinda sick of the turbo scene. Previous car was a tuned SRT-4.

[monkeedoo]

my choices were an frs , camaro, challenger and g37

[whatsinaname]

Impreza WRX, Camaro, Focus ST and Mazdaspeed 3, FR-S.

[sprintertrueno86]

Pre-owned
CPO TTS
E350
E550 coupe
e92 M3

New
A5
FRS
BRZ

Didn't want to deal with any reliability problems down the road with the used cars. Test drove the BRZ and bought one. No regrets.

[toysub]

Sc10n FRS. IS350.

[ThisIsChrisKim]

Originally Posted by Jawnathin

Wanted to stay under 30k with low maintenance costs.

Then it came down to the Focus ST or BRZ. Decided I wanted RWD instead of another FWD hot hatch.

Miss the practicality but the BRZ is a great and fun commuter.

------------------------------------
New - Seriously considered
BRZ
Focus ST

New - Just thought about it
Mazdaspeed 3
Civic Si

This is me to a T. Just modified it slightly. I test drove all of them. I got price quotes for all, too. In the end, I got the most expensive car, lol.

[dotdotdotPaul]

I wanted a fairly inexpensive, but fun-to-drive car to learn stick on. The BRZ had just come out and got good reviews, and I liked the idea of RWD (my DD was a Mitsubishi Evo AWD, and I still have a Prius that the wife usually ended up driving, which is FWD).

I had considered the FR-S, but none were in the area at the time; given the similarity, I almost consider them the same "option".

I looked at the Focus ST (which was getting good reviews and competitive comparisons).

Also debated going used for my first stick, figuring if I killed it, it wouldn't be expensive. But then figured if the car wasn't nice/fun/working, I wouldn't drive it, either. At the top of the list there was an RX-8 Shinka edition in the area. I'd had an automatic RX-8 (one of the first years, I think), which I enjoyed a lot, as it was very fun to drive, RWD, and actually sat two passengers (nobody could sit behind me, but it was definitely possible for two adults to sit on the passenger side). Sometimes, when I'm not driving the BRZ, I think maybe I should've saved the money and gone with the RX-8. But c'est la vie.

Also considered a Mustang (but everyone around here has a Mustang -- I like being different), a Mini (also ubiquitous), and the Dodge Challenger (I really like the retro look on that) but decided I like turning corners. Wife wanted to get a 128i but

Seems a lot of us were thinking around the same options...

...Paul

[Luna]

Considered a used BMW 135, but it was going to be a DD so we needed better MPGs. Thought about a used 128, but was worried what maintenance cost would be. Test drove a newer model Civic Si...horribly disappointed. Test drove a FRS which made me want a BRZ. Test drove a BRZ Premium that made me want the Limited. We were also considering the 370Z, but we never even got that far bc the BRZ was IT. Plus the 370Z looks fat and overweight and I just couldn't imagine it handling like the FRS/BRZ.

[BRZ21]

disclaimer: I viewed the frs and brz the same so I based my decision on whichever got me the best deal

used -

chevy pickup
jeep Cherokee/grand Cherokee
chevy sonic or cruise (not that serious)
some sort of rat rod
civic (then add boost)
or supecharging my current v6 mustang.


after a few months and after viewing these commercials decided to go with the brz

[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0JaY2rJHH3A&feature=youtube_gdata_player"]Scion TV Commercial For Scion FRS - YouTube[/ame]

[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NByeWLjYWDw&feature=youtube_gdata_player"]Subaru BRZ (Drift) - YouTube[/ame]

[The359]

I considered the Focus ST, Mazdaspeed3, Genesis Coupe, WRX, and Audi A4.

Focus ST was the one I considered the most heavily, but the 86 twins were my definite choice from the start, I just wanted to play the field before buying.

[YMAA]

Only other car I seriously considered was a 5-door WRX - the car that I've wanted for pretty much as long as I've ever wanted a sporty car. No other cars in my ~30k price range were any real competition in my eyes.

However, I took a long look at how I use my vehicle and ~95% of the time I'm hauling myself and a backpack on a highway to work and back. Strictly in terms of fuel economy the BRZ wins.

Also, from everything I've read on both cars (I haven't actually driven a WRX so I haven't experienced this firsthand) the WRX really doesn't handle as well as the BRZ. From this I determined that it's possible to make the BRZ as fast as the WRX but the WRX will never handle as well as the BRZ. I will miss the AWD but the consensus is that with a good set of winter tires the BRZ handles just fine in the snow...and I'd need winter tires on the WRX anyway since it too comes with summer tires.

If Subaru were releasing the 2015 model with the rumored changes (2.0L engine, shedding ~200lbs, and a new body style) and updating the interior to one befitting this decade, I probably would have gone for the WRX over the BRZ. I feel that Subaru has learned a lot from their work on the 86 and a great deal of that will translate over to the WRX's future models, but for right now the BRZ just makes the WRX look old, and I tend to keep vehicles for a very long time. I want to start with something that feels as new as possible.

Would I be happy with the WRX? Absolutely, I'm sure of it. But my gut tells me the BRZ is the car for me, and when it arrives in the next few weeks I won't care about anything else.

[Kostamojen]

I have a giant thread on another forum about how I wound up going with the BRZ:

http://forums.nasioc.com/forums/show....php?t=2529927

Basically it came down to just a few cars I was seriously considering...

BRZ
FRS
Focus ST
Fiesta ST
Mazda MX-5 Club PHRT
Mazdaspeed 3 (used)
Mini JCW (used)

I was _ that close to getting a Focus ST, if not for the super good deal I got on the BRZ I would probably be driving the ST right now... or maybe a FRS.

Focus ST I only eliminated because there are sooo many focus's on the road and the interior layout wasn't nearly as good as the BRZ/FRS. But they drive SO DAMN GOOD!

The MS3 was just crap compared to the Focus ST IMO. Drove the Focus IMMEDIATELY after driving the MS3 and thought the focus was better in EVERY way.

The JCW is fantastic, but had two huge issues... Interior was falling apart already on an '09 model, and reliability is crap and I didn't want to deal with that.

Miata was just not practical enough to be my only car...

Fiesta ST isn't out yet

[iamsatan]

Civic Si Coupe
Scion FR-S
Subaru WRX