New potential FR-S driver - Introducing myself

[Jeremy.NL]

Thanks all for the welcome!

Originally Posted by chaoskaze

U will love it.

But You will hate US road condition.

Dutch roads are not exactly great either. Roads are smooth, but boring, crowded and nowhere to have fun.
Wherever I am, I always find places where I can enjoy driving, and I don't mind some hardship on the daily grind when I know I can get my fun at the weekend.

Originally Posted by F3RGY68

Hey! I stayed in amsterdam and drove nurburgring in April. I'd hold off on buying the handling kit. Needs and costs are quite a bit different between these countries. If you decide you want it later you can buy the parts used and have the dealer install. I love the tail happy frs, but the brz has less oversteer. I'd do tires before suspension if you want it changed, but imo it's less fun.

You hit on my personal preferences too. I think that's what I'll do

Originally Posted by LucidMomentum

I've never heard of tires being an issue. Especially if you slay a few during the lease

I like the little bit of "hold" the front sway bar added. I may add a rear though, to see what all the fuss is about :p

Funny you mention 163 bhp, because my FR-S dyno'd at 163 whp
I currently drive it with Michelin Pilot A/S 3s, and they are perfect IMO. Tons of confidence in the corners, and I know if I want to really make the tires squeal I can with some effort. It just gives you a bit more stick before you start to drift, which I prefer since I like driving back roads and such.

If I don't slay a few tyres during the lease then what's the point of owning a car like this?!?!
163 at the wheel is a bit different from 163 on the bench, 30 years ago... :-)
Although I've had the compression tested and the engine's good.

I'm currently running Kumho Ecsta XS KU36 on my 944. Can do this as it's a weekend car. For a daily I would probably get something more street-friendly.

Another thought on tyres - here in Europe, I have a set of steel wheels with winter tyres for my daily drive in the winter months. As I will be living in an area where it snows, and I intend to use the car daily, I'm thinking a set of steelies with excellent winter tyres for November-March will be the way to go. Are there steelies with the correct offset easily available?

Originally Posted by Jrryjms07

Check out Digital credit union. I work at a Honda dealership (I know, I know) and have had customers that are new to the states from overseas get an approval threw them.

https://www.dcu.org/mobile/loans/aut...es-mobile.html

Thanks! I'll check them out if I decide to buy.

Originally Posted by Vracer111

Nice first post...I'm not going to try an help with the financing question, because I'm not qualified to do so. I will say if you are looking at leasing you need to be sure of how many miles you will be driving. Depending on where you end up living and working you could be driving 100+ miles a day... that would not be good for any lease terms.

As for modding the suspension...leave it stock - the suspension does not need to be touched, it's an incredible piece of design that absolutely floors me with how awesome it is. The track/autocross cars I've built in the past just can't compare to a STOCK suspensioned FR-S/BRZ... the stock FR-S/BRZ suspension makes a brand new miata suspension seem sloppy and slow in response. It has high speed stability with good tires (Maximum Performance tire category highly recommended for the best daily dry/wet performance balance) unlike anything I've driven before... absolutely planted, yet incredibly precise to put it where you want it. There are two things I would immediate change with the car though...and I recommend these to anyone interested in actually DRIVING the car.

1. Stock steering rack bushings and fastener design is inadequate - does not properly locate the steering rack concentric to its mounting points and allows the steering rack to move all over the place when going through the cornering sequence, leading to hesitation and slight squirrelyness. There are excellent aftermarket two-piece Delrin or Aluminum bushings for not a lot of money that absolutely fix the mid-turn weirdness issue. They have proper fasteners with machined threads of same diameter as the shaft (not rolled threads with excessive slop resulting from the shaft diameter being smaller past the threads ). Best $ (and not a lot either) you can spend on an FR-S/BRZ if you value precise and accurate steering.

2. Grimmspeed strut tower bar to triangulate the two factory ones. It's a properly thick (1/8" wall thickness) steel tube with welded tower mount ends. The ride it gives is noticeably improved - reduces the felt impact of bumps and sharp dips while making the front end feel much more solid. It also helps some with handling...which you initially might think feels like a very slight increase in understeer but actual makes the car more neutral and able to be pushed harder.

Those two things are all I'd highly recommend doing besides going with better wheels/tires and brake pads.

Loving this reply! It really strengthens my conviction that this is the car I want.
I also believe that a well designed and developed sports car shouldn't need any mods to enjoy it properly.
My first sports car was a Peugeot 106 Rallye (you never had these in the US) - a small hatchback that went in to production as homologation for the French under-1300cc rally category.
It weighed around 1600-1700 lbs, had 100 bhp, close ratio gearbox, braced chassis, lowered and stiffened suspension, fast steering and redlined at 7200 rpm.
Mine was totally standard and handled like a gem! Had great fun autocrossing and driving the hills in it (and slaloming through traffic - I was much younger then...).

I'll keep these mods in mind as I'm learning the car.

[1GiantTurtle]

Where in t he U.S are u going to re-locate to? If you do not mind me asking

[Jeremy.NL]

To the Cleveland area.
Already realized that it will be at least a 1.5 hour drive to get to decent twisty roads, but that's no more than I'm used to over here.

[Braces]

Jeremy .... Welcome.

Love the photo. Your country looks beautiful.

[LucidMomentum]

Originally Posted by Jeremy.NL

I'm currently running Kumho Ecsta XS KU36 on my 944. Can do this as it's a weekend car. For a daily I would probably get something more street-friendly.

Another thought on tyres - here in Europe, I have a set of steel wheels with winter tyres for my daily drive in the winter months. As I will be living in an area where it snows, and I intend to use the car daily, I'm thinking a set of steelies with excellent winter tyres for November-March will be the way to go. Are there steelies with the correct offset easily available?

The Pilot All Sports are a good daily / occasional track / spirited driving tire, IMO.

Many people in the snowy climates have a second set of tires. I can't talk much because I live in California where it rarely snows
@Tcoat can help you on spare winter tires, as he deals with a lot of snow.

[bhmax]

Good luck on your move. I'm looking for a used BRZ. I was surprised that my local Subaru dealer here in east TN had tons of new ones with $3500 off retail. My closest Scion dealer only had one FR-S on the lot.

[Jeremy.NL]

Originally Posted by Braces

Jeremy .... Welcome.

Love the photo. Your country looks beautiful.

Unfortunately that's not in Holland. Highest hill here is about 1000 feet high...
The pic was taken at Penser Joch. An Alpine mountain pass in Northern Italy, close to the Austrian border.
Last September I did a 5 day roadtrip with some friends, 1 day driving down to Southern Germany, 1 day blasting around the best roads in the Black Forest Region, 1 day blasting around the best Swiss mountain roads, 1 day through Northern Italy and Austria, and 1 day back home. Eating cheap food, and sleeping in youth hostels and cheap hotels. Pure driving heaven!
In the 6 years we'd been living in Holland, most years we drove to Southern Europe for our summer vacation in the family car (Renault Scenic diesel - you don't get those in the US), crossing the mountains on the way. And every year I said to myself that I have to come back there with the Porsche one day. Last year I finally did it!
My plan was to turn this in to an annual trip, and I already started plotting the drive for this September, but now I have to change my plans...

Originally Posted by bhmax

Good luck on your move. I'm looking for a used BRZ. I was surprised that my local Subaru dealer here in east TN had tons of new ones with $3500 off retail. My closest Scion dealer only had one FR-S on the lot.

Ah! That's the sort of opportunity I would be looking for!
Hope it's the same in NW OH.

Originally Posted by LucidMomentum

The Pilot All Sports are a good daily / occasional track / spirited driving tire, IMO.

Many people in the snowy climates have a second set of tires. I can't talk much because I live in California where it rarely snows
@Tcoat can help you on spare winter tires, as he deals with a lot of snow.

Thanks for the tip!
The A/S appear to be all-season tyres. If I'm going to run winter tyres in winter, then I would probably prefer summer tyres for the rest of the year, which will be less compromised in the dry, no?
I'd probably be looking more to the direction of something like the PS3

[Tcoat]

Originally Posted by Jeremy.NL

Thanks for the tip!
The A/S appear to be all-season tyres. If I'm going to run winter tyres in winter, then I would probably prefer summer tyres for the rest of the year, which will be less compromised in the dry, no?
I'd probably be looking more to the direction of something like the PS3

There are many, many choices for winter tires and using the A/Ss in the Cleveland area is not a good move. Once you have the car and have hammered out all of your summer requirements then I would recommend coming back and asking the question on winter tires. There are several good threads on the subject here that we can direct you to once the need is there.

[D_Thissen]

De FR-S is een mooie auto . Ik hou van de mijne. Sorry its been a few years since I've written in dutch. Welcome!

[LucidMomentum]

Originally Posted by Jeremy.NL

Thanks for the tip!
The A/S appear to be all-season tyres. If I'm going to run winter tyres in winter, then I would probably prefer summer tyres for the rest of the year, which will be less compromised in the dry, no?
I'd probably be looking more to the direction of something like the PS3

True, I just prefer the A/S 3 for everyday driving just in the off chance that it rains a bit.

For winter I wouldn't use them, definitely. I just preferred them to PS3s in the dry seasons as a way to be a bit more careful :p

[Jeremy.NL]

Originally Posted by Tcoat

There are many, many choices for winter tires and using the A/Ss in the Cleveland area is not a good move. Once you have the car and have hammered out all of your summer requirements then I would recommend coming back and asking the question on winter tires. There are several good threads on the subject here that we can direct you to once the need is there.

Yep - that makes sense. I haven't even got the car yet!
I'm not even in the US yet!
Good thing that my wife doesn't know I'm on this forum.
She thinks I'm online at night checking out schools and homes...

Originally Posted by D_Thissen

De FR-S is een mooie auto . Ik hou van de mijne. Sorry its been a few years since I've written in dutch. Welcome!

Ik ben niet een echt Nederlander, maar woont hier rond 7 jaar. Ik schrijft maar zelden in het Nederlands.
Bedankt voor de gezelligheid!

Originally Posted by LucidMomentum

True, I just prefer the A/S 3 for everyday driving just in the off chance that it rains a bit.

For winter I wouldn't use them, definitely. I just preferred them to PS3s in the dry seasons as a way to be a bit more careful :p

I understand you. Personally I am willing to compromise and drive slower and more carefully when it's wet, in return for better grip and responsiveness when it's dry.