Finally placed my order for 2015 Limited, after many test drives

[Kostamojen]

Originally Posted by totopo

How do people have much of an idea of how cars drive based on a dealer test drive? I've found it neigh impossible to compare cars just driving it around on the streets for a couple of miles. Are there dealers that let you get to play with throwing the car around? I never really understand the "take the car for a test drive" because I feel like how the car drives at the track at the limit completely doesn't reflect what it drives like on streets. About the only thing I can see from a test drive are the ergonomics.

Onramps

[Kostamojen]

Originally Posted by Erci

I've test-driven the following (all manual trans.. not interested in auto):

2014 WRX, 2015 WRX, 2014 GTI, 2015 GTI, 2014 Civic Si, Veloster Turbo.

As well as (not really worth mentioning):

Accord, Hyundai Accent hatch, Elentra GT.

You skipped out on a lot of good cars to test drive...

Focus ST
Fiesta ST
MINI
Genesis Coupe
Fiat Abarth
Mazda MX-5 Club
370z
2015 Mustang Ecoboost (not out yet)


I test drove more cars than you did, even with the new options out there the BRZ would still win out :P But its always fun to test drive.

[Erci]

Originally Posted by Kostamojen

You skipped out on a lot of good cars to test drive...

Focus ST
Fiesta ST
MINI
Genesis Coupe
Fiat Abarth
Mazda MX-5 Club
370z
2015 Mustang Ecoboost (not out yet)


I test drove more cars than you did, even with the new options out there the BRZ would still win out :P But its always fun to test drive.

Good list! And I assure you I considered each one of those and ruled them out without testing.
In general, not a fan of American cars, having owned so many in the past.. all falling apart (no offense to anyone, I hope.. just speaking from my experience).
But bias aside, I'll state other reasons why I ruled out all of the above:
Focus ST: not a fan of turbo cars in general and this one happens to put out loads of power all going to front wheels and uses electronic wizardry to make it handle well. While there's a good chance I'd never know the difference, I just prefer to have proper sports car setup.. that is RWD with mechanical LSD.
Fiesta: Pretty much same explanation.. and having watched numerous reviews, seems the ride is more harsh than BRZ and ergonomics are not as good. May still take one for a spin just for laughs.
Mini: have talked to several long term owners. All agree that it's not a great car if you want to keep one for many years. Once it's out of warranty, if anything breaks it seems to cost 3 times as much as any Japanese car to fix.
Genesis Coupe: heavy and pricey. I would rather have light, underpowered car than a pig with power.
Fiat: Another one with questionable reliability and a turbo.
MX5 Club sport: really like this car and strongly considered it, but while I don't really *need* anything all that practical, I see BRZ as a 2 seater with a huge trunk, whereas MX5 is a really fun toy. Heck.. I can theoretically use BRZ to take my race bike to the track (ramp, etc will easily fit in the trunk!)
370z: reviews were enough to turn me off. While I wouldn't mind testing it for myself, it appears this car is a handful when you start to get to the limits (not in a good way).. kind of the opposite of what a good sports car should do.
2015 Stang: again.. very heavy. I think V6 actually makes more sense. HP/torque is nearly identical. Ecoboost weighs just slightly less, but I'd rather have the smooth torque curve of the NA motor.

Obviously those are just my ramblings. I'm sure many (if not all) of those cars are very good and no doubt loads of people love them. I think the only one on the list which would make me question which car I like driving better is the MX5, but BRZ does win out on practicality there.. and I like the look better too.

[Ursam]

My test drives were BRZ (Limited) vs. FRS vs. turbo Gen Coupe. Couldn't tell any difference between the twins other than the fact that I like the interior of the Limited a lot more. In the Gen coupe, the additional power was noticeable, but there was no comparison in the handling: the steering was much tighter in the twins. I also preferred the shifter in the twins: the Gen coupe shifted like a pickup vs. the short throws and precise gears in the twins.

The one advantage in the Gen was the fact that you could use either regular gas or premium, as long as you didn't mind losing some power with regular gas. But, in the end, I decided that if you don't want to buy premium gas, you should just forget about a sports car and buy a Prius.

[cameronjones239]

The trick is when you walk in, find the youngest looking salesman and he'll let you do whatever I test drove an FR-S, the guy I was with literally told me to drive it like I stole it. I didn't want to be the guy to wreck one so I took it easy, near the end of the test drive though I finally understood what all the hype was about.

Just preordered my series blue, more than excited to finally get this thing. How fast do you think the 1000 of them sell out?

[kberkel]

Originally Posted by Ursam

My test drives were BRZ (Limited) vs. FRS vs. turbo Gen Coupe. Couldn't tell any difference between the twins other than the fact that I like the interior of the Limited a lot more. In the Gen coupe, the additional power was noticeable, but there was no comparison in the handling: the steering was much tighter in the twins. I also preferred the shifter in the twins: the Gen coupe shifted like a pickup vs. the short throws and precise gears in the twins.

The one advantage in the Gen was the fact that you could use either regular gas or premium, as long as you didn't mind losing some power with regular gas. But, in the end, I decided that if you don't want to buy premium gas, you should just forget about a sports car and buy a Prius.

2010-2012 or 2013+ Gen? The newer turbos got TONS more power.

I wanted a 1st gen Gen Coupe V6, but couldn't find the one I wanted. I had to buy a car within a week (old car had a new broken part every week and I was starting a new job in a different state)

Drove the BRZ limited and was sold. I still love it every single day. It's remarkably easy to drive like an idiot and not crash.

I love sliding the rear at 15 MPH. Makes me NOT want to buy wider rear wheels. How often can you say that?

[Kostamojen]

Originally Posted by Erci

Obviously those are just my ramblings. I'm sure many (if not all) of those cars are very good and no doubt loads of people love them. I think the only one on the list which would make me question which car I like driving better is the MX5, but BRZ does win out on practicality there.. and I like the look better too.

I nixed VW's from my list due to reliability, same as you did with the MINI's. The Veloster was on my list for a short bit, until I saw how ugly it was in person and the reviews about how crappy it was to drive. The Civic Si was never on my list cause its been ruined for a long time now by the new beancounters at Honduh that replaced the Engineers that actually cared about their cars...

The Focus was my VERY close number 2. Its not built like American cars normally are, and its fantastic to drive especially with the seats. The Fiesta probably would have won out over the Focus if was available at the time, I saw them in action at an Autocross a couple weeks ago and they are freakin amazing

And ya, Miatas... Just too impractical for an "only" car. But eventually I want to own one just for shits and giggles.

[Alltezza]

Why did you not test drive the Genesis Coupe? I'm asking mainly because I wanted to see what you thoughts were about the Genesis Coupe and the BRZ, along with the 2014 Civic Si. I'm a huge Honda fan and I was going to get a Civic Si but they were way too common and it's front wheel drive so I didn't bother. So yeah lol you should tell us or me about your 2014 Civic Si experience and what made you choose the BRZ.

I was originally going to buy the Genesis Coupe but the 3.8 Track model was very expensive and I couldn't find a good deal on it. But I test drove the Grand Touring model (They didnt have a track model) and I just liked the BRZ better if anyone wants to know why I'd be glad to give some input as well.

[hmong337]

Originally Posted by Erci

On Monday, I put down my deposit for a 2015 Limited BRZ (6sp), after months of looking / testing / comparing cars.
My beloved Protege5 blew up, after 10+ years / 113k miles of ownership about a month ago, which prompted me to step up the search. I mostly commute by motorcycle, so it still wasn't an emergency, but it does help to have a car now and then.

I've test-driven the following (all manual trans.. not interested in auto):

2014 WRX, 2015 WRX, 2014 GTI, 2015 GTI, 2014 Civic Si, Veloster Turbo.

As well as (not really worth mentioning):

Accord, Hyundai Accent hatch, Elentra GT.

I absolutely loved my Protege5 and BRZ is the closest thing to it, in terms of driving experience. Obviously BRZ handles every better and it's RWD vs FWD, but the noise, the *just enough power*, the overall feel.. everything else was too *grown up*, if that makes sense.

If anyone is interested in how any of the above cars compare to BRZ, or just want to read my *review*, I can post it up here.

Can't wait to get my car!! It'll be a long wait (late July at best).

You forgot the most important reason why you bought the car, IT'S DEAD SEXY!!!

[kberkel]

Originally Posted by Kostamojen

The Focus was my VERY close number 2. Its not built like American cars normally are, and its fantastic to drive especially with the seats. .

My coworker has the Focus ST. He is super jealous of my BRZ, but he needed the extra room in the rear since he's planning on having kids soon. I'm only 24, so weeeeee! We still haven't driven each other's cars yet, maybe I'll see if we can do that next week I know his car is a lot faster.

Originally Posted by Alltezza

Why did you not test drive the Genesis Coupe? I'm asking mainly because I wanted to see what you thoughts were about the Genesis Coupe and the BRZ, along with the 2014 Civic Si. I'm a huge Honda fan and I was going to get a Civic Si but they were way too common and it's front wheel drive so I didn't bother. So yeah lol you should tell us or me about your 2014 Civic Si experience and what made you choose the BRZ.

My brother has a 2013 Civic SI. The thing handles on rails. I was very surprised how much grip it had. Also feels like it has more oomph in everyday driving. Still, I like my BRZ much more.

My brother kept saying.. "Why RWD?".. After driving FWD my whole life, slamming the gas and kicking the tail out is probably one of the best feelings in the world. I always think of the GT86 video on top gear. Petrol heads always prefer the tail to be wagging

There's really subtle things I like as well. Like turning onto a road briskly, I get that "er er er er!" tire screech. Never got that in FWD.

And the wide hips. Love staring down the car from the side.

[Erci]

Originally Posted by Alltezza

Why did you not test drive the Genesis Coupe? I'm asking mainly because I wanted to see what you thoughts were about the Genesis Coupe and the BRZ, along with the 2014 Civic Si. I'm a huge Honda fan and I was going to get a Civic Si but they were way too common and it's front wheel drive so I didn't bother. So yeah lol you should tell us or me about your 2014 Civic Si experience and what made you choose the BRZ.

I was originally going to buy the Genesis Coupe but the 3.8 Track model was very expensive and I couldn't find a good deal on it. But I test drove the Grand Touring model (They didnt have a track model) and I just liked the BRZ better if anyone wants to know why I'd be glad to give some input as well.

Genesis Coupe is as heavy as a Mustang... too heavy for a sports car. Besides that, if reviews complain about too much turbo lag and I greatly dislike how that feels, I know it's not for me. The V6 is probably very fun, but that gets pricey and you still end up with a very heavy car.

Civic Si: I love the drivetrain in this car. Of course it's not the same as RWD, but it does have mechanical LSD and while horse power is nearly identical to BRZ, there's quite a bit more torque (170) .. very noticeable. It actually pulls very well off the line and doesn't feel like you have to rev it out to move.
Steering is significantly lighter, but it's not sloppy. For a front wheel drive, it does a great job of accelerating through curves without pushing wide (thank you, LSD!)
Shifter is excellent.. my next favorite after BRZ. Longer throws, but mechanical enough, very precise and perfectly positioned. Clutch is excellent too.
The interior is pretty cool.. infinitely more toys than in BRZ. Standard back-up cam, standard side cameras.. all sorts of read-outs. Definitely feels like it's aimed at the sideways-hat-wearing individuals (no offense).
The deal killer: the most uncomfortable seats of all the cars I've test-driven
Once again this is a personal thing, but.. there's WAY too much lumber support and it's not adjustable. So to me, it feels like someone's jamming a knee into my lower back the entire time. The longer I sit in it, the worse it becomes. Loads of complaints about this on Si forums, but of course there are plenty of people saying they like the seats. Besides discomfort, you also sit way up high. Weirdly high. Not a bad thing, but certainly makes it feel like less of a sporty car.
I liked the car so much, I even researched getting seats reshaped, which is shockingly expensive. ~$1500 for the driver + passenger.
Wife loved the drivetrain too, but disliked pretty much everything else about it (the interior, the seat discomfort, the seat height, the rear spoiler which obstructed her rear view..)
I think I failed to mentioned that she'll be driving the BRZ too, so this wasn't just my decision. Overall, she preferred the BRZ over all other choices.. strictly because of how it drives.

[Erci]

Originally Posted by Kostamojen

The Veloster was on my list for a short bit, until I saw how ugly it was in person and the reviews about how crappy it was to drive.

It's definitely not a pretty car (ok ok.. it's damn ugly), but I thought if I loved how it drove, I wouldn't care about the looks. After all, it IS quite practical and quite cheap.
My opinion: reviews are actually kind about its driving prowess. Massive turbo lag and should that turbo come on while you're in a curve, terrible understeer. That was enough for me to stop paying attention to how it does everything else .. "what's the quickest route back to the dealership?"

[Ursam]

Originally Posted by kberkel

2010-2012 or 2013+ Gen? The newer turbos got TONS more power.

My test drive was in the 2013 turbo Gen coupe. Yes, I definitely noticed the extra power vs. the BRZ, but the BRZ's handling and shifter won the contest for me.

[Ezcompane]

Nice man. I'm planning on getting one closer to the end of the year. I'm going to hold out for a DGM or a SWP. Can't decide, and I have yet to see a DGM in person up here.