Future Buyer with Questions (difference in year, Subaru/Toyota, things I should know)

[Jordanwolf]

Originally Posted by jtice

Thanks for the input guys, sorry, just now seeing this, never got a notification.

I agree its odd to be looking at one of these cars in an Auto. And I am still torn on that.
While this wont be my main daily driver, I do plan on driving it a good bit, and it will be taken on several day long trips at times. Plus the usual PITA of in town driving.
I have owned several vehicles, both in auto and manual.

I first test drove the 2017 Toyot 86 in an auto.
I thought it was great, handled amazing, fell in love with it. The auto wasnt bad at all really. The paddle shifters made it still have a bit of that fun sporty feeling.
I thought down shifts were great, was fun to easily downshift into a turn. Up shifts were not bad, but certainly not as good. I wished it was a bit more aggressive.

Then I test drive a 2017 Subaru BRZ in a manual.
Handling seemed the same to me, though this was a week later.
The manual made the car FEEL alot faster. Even if it wasnt faster, it FELT faster.
You got that surge with each up shift, I barked the tires going into 2nd and 3rd. You simply dont get that with an auto.
And yes, the manual has the different gearing, so it should have more bottom end torque.
Shifter was very nice, good feel to it, short throw, but holy crap, the clutch!!
VERY short travel, very light pressure, was really nice, I loved that about it. Made it very easy to drive, one of the best manuals I have ever driven.

Side note...
Test drive a 2016 Nissan 370Z Auto same say as the BRZ.
The 370Z will RUN, lots of power there, the auto felt about the same to me as the 86, it might have upshifted just a bit faster though.
Handled very well, but, not quite as good, and more importantly, it felt much larger than the 86/BRZ.
Didnt feel as light on its feet.
After test driving it, I drove the BRZ,,, and still, was blown away by this car. Sure, it felt lower, but it made you feel 10 times more confident in it, and just begged you to push it. Felt very small, better visibility.

So I know that you have a budget of 20k here, but you are also looking at getting a used 17. In Canada, specifically ontario, buying used is almost not worth it if you don't have the cash at hand and plan to finance. When I was looking at getting my car I had done a ton of looking around and the only cars that looked to be worth it to buy used were the 13/14 MY cars, both FRS and BRZ.

This then brought me to looking at the 17 86/BRZ.. I liked the BRZ, but for some reason when I walked up to the 86, I just loved it, didn't even get in it yet, just loved it, so I bought that(my post history would show otherwise though lol).

My point is, if money is an obstacle, respect it, but if you can make the sacrifice for something you like more get that. Don't settle for something you like less if you don't have to because of some minor difference in chassis or 5hp, you won't really notice unless you're some kind of drift/race/rice god.

Buy what you like, forget the price... within reason! (also I am not rich, I can afford my car yes, but not rich.)

[why?]

You really owe it to yourself to at least test drive a 13 FRS. There were small suspension changes almost every year and if you really like it you can save some money. Or at least really see what people are talking about when they mention the differences.