Driving impression of a '17

[osidak]

My previous Daily Driver has been a 2010 VW JSW TDI - Drove it for 7 years and then VW bought it back. I tweaked the car a bit in that time to have a little more fun.

Decided I wanted a car I could have some fun daily driving as is and got the BRZ with PP. I bought the car on 3/1. I have put about 1700 miles on it so far. Lots of miles quick but they will taper off after I get back in the normal routine and stop finding reason to go drive it. Day to day I love it, but day to day I seldom have my wife and son with me. She drives a '16 crosstrek which replaced the '02 outback she drove for 14 years.

So it was my son's spring break this past week and we planned to head to the beach for 4 days. The both wanted to take my car.

Trip was about 380 miles round trip plus the driving while there.

We loaded up the car with two suit cases, a cooler bag, my laptop backpack, a small train case, and some various odds and ends



As you can the trunk was packed

My son is 14 and is about as tall as me and with my wife being about 5'4 they easily fit in the car


Made the drive in one shot - no stops we all got out of the car feeling good and I averaged about 30mpg - shifting around 3500 rpm and speeds staying between 65-80 depending on limits

I was impressed at how comfortable the car was, I was surprised by how affected it was by the wind. My 911 doesn't seem to suffer the same issue so I don't think it was totally due it being a light car. The suspension while firm wasn't jarring at all, only one "damn" moment when going onto a bridge but that was it.

Interior noise wasn't bad at all and we could easily carry a conversation. The radio - well it sucks in a big way. Really tempted to look at replacing it or just using a thumbdrive for music and ditch the Bluetooth streaming. My 7 y/o VW was much better in that department.

All in all I am really happy with this car and I think it will serve well as a daily driver that can be really fun as well

[~el~jefe~]

Yes, vw stock has a decent radio. 2017 gti, the stock is tolerable. Fender version is great.

That is a good review. If i saw this review ten months ago, I would have bought the car amd had it longer ago. You answered every question I had. Mine is on order for the 17th of April.

[Stang70Fastback]

Originally Posted by osidak

I was surprised by how affected it was by the wind. My 911 doesn't seem to suffer the same issue so I don't think it was totally due it being a light car.

I am also constantly surprised by how much this car doesn't like crosswinds. I mean, your 911 is still a decent bit heavier than this car (depending on the model) but yeah. It's weird how it reacts more like a minivan to crosswinds than anything.

[~el~jefe~]

Ugh. My 2006 mini cooper s has 0 crosswind movement. Duno why

[imnotsureaboutbrz]

Great family review, we had a similar experience with my family this weekend, but my son is 4 so knowing your 14 yo fits is awesome (wife is 5'4 too)!
I too am extremely disappointed the radio. Ignoring the fact that it doesn't connect with my phone automatically half the time, my go to local radio station is staticky when I have had perfect reception in my old Camry. I really really want to replace it with something that has CarPlay in the near future...

[tomm.brz]

i noticed too the thing about the wind
Would a front lip, and maybe side skirts, improve this?

[Boomerang]

Originally Posted by osidak

I was surprised by how affected it was by the wind.

You should have skipped the beans then...


Sorry

[osidak]

interior wind levels were barely noticeable.....


One thing I did forget to mention above. On this trip the only thing I wish was different about the car is the way the seats move when getting into an out of the back seat.


I wish they would remember seat position.... would make it so much easier.... even it was just seat back angle

[willimusk]

Nice review. Thanks for taking the time.

The radio - well it sucks in a big way.

I won't receive my car for another month and I'm already plotting the overthrow of its head unit. Personally, I want wireless Carplay, but that won't become widespread in aftermarket HUs until 2018, at least according to this article:

http://www.ceoutlook.com/2016/11/29/...eless-carplay/

Alpine introduced a wireless unit at CES this year, trying to get a jump on the other majors. It is possible that Kenwood will introduce one in May/June, which is when they seem to launch new US-market units. They rolled out "Wifi Air Mirroring 2" this month in Australia, which seems to be wireless Carplay under a different name, but I'm not sure.

http://www.kenwood.com/au/car/visual...tion/ddx917ws/

If Kenwood kicks down a wireless version of its TOL Excelon DNX893S this year, I'll probably jump on it. Otherwise, unfortunately, I'll be listening to CDs or the sucky radio in my BRZ until 2018, when Pioneer is likely to jump on the bandwidth wagon. Argh.

[why?]

good stuff.

Yea bluetooth sucks for audio quality unless you use a lossless or near lossless format. It is worth it to get a usb plug for your phone, it makes a big difference.

Never noticed any wind issues, of course my other car is a Yaris, so I'm probably just use to it.

[Xxyion]

Originally Posted by tomm.brz

i noticed too the thing about the wind
Would a front lip, and maybe side skirts, improve this?

I'm going to assume yes. I have a ton of aero mods on my car (front splitter, side skirts, rear diffuser, big wang) so i dont notice it at all.

However without looking like a crazy racecar i recommend the Bayson R Lip package. It's like 299$ and comes with the front lip, rear skirts and rear spats. You can get their Diffuser for like 80$ as well. I had that for a long time and barely noticed any crosswind.

[krayzie]

Originally Posted by Stang70Fastback

I am also constantly surprised by how much this car doesn't like crosswinds. I mean, your 911 is still a decent bit heavier than this car (depending on the model) but yeah. It's weird how it reacts more like a minivan to crosswinds than anything.

Originally Posted by ~el~jefe~

Ugh. My 2006 mini cooper s has 0 crosswind movement. Duno why

I thought German electric steering automatically compensates for crosswinds, pretty sure even VW does and it's quite subtle, won't stop a strong blow tho!

It's not as bad once I got the bottom covers, front lip, and rear gurney flap, nowhere near SUV bad.

[Stang70Fastback]

Originally Posted by tomm.brz

i noticed too the thing about the wind
Would a front lip, and maybe side skirts, improve this?

Well I have a front lip, side skirts, and rear spats, so... nope. Lol.

[JDM4E]

Today I test drove 2017 and the first thing I noticed on highway was the crosswinds. Very unusual I have to say.