What other cars have you looked at?

[86 South Africa]

F$/!? It get a Ferrari. A really, really used Ferrari.

[86Boyz]

Challenger and keep your hand in the 12 o'clock position on the steering wheel and you'll feel cool like Vin Diesel.

[dhuang]

Evora. Cayman. M3. S2000.

The sheer fun for the $ won me over, though the expenses have been adding up recently!

[Sapphireho]

I wanted a lotus, but couldn't find one in my price range that wasn't a used up track whore, plus I started to remember when I owned an Elan years ago, so no.

Looked at Porsche, but did that 3 times before. Great cars, but dam expensive to keep on the road.

Looked at old NSXs, but 20 years old, and expensive as hell to work on, no.

The 86 is perfect. Cheap enough I can soop up, love the look, handling is par to a Porsche out of the box. I love my twin!

That said, it is far from my only car, and I am old with a bit of savings. If I were young and it was my only car I might choose very differently.

[DarkSunrise]

Cars I seriously considered/test-drove before buying my FR-S in 2012:
- Porsche Cayman S
- Nissan 370z sport package
- Mitsubishi Evo X
- Mazda Miata NB

I was looking for something that could be daily-driven, but would double as a track car on weekends. FR-S was perfect for that. I had also ruled out some cars that I had previously driven or owned (S2000, NA/NC Miata, STI hatch, Mustang GT, etc.)

Since buying the FR-S, here are the cars I've bought (and gotten rid of):
- 2005 Nissan 350z
- 2009 Porsche Boxster S

There's just nothing else I can see replacing the FR-S for now. Maybe another 987.2 Boxster/Cayman S when prices drop enough. Or possibly a Lotus Elise/Exige.

[lowlevel]

Originally Posted by jerryjerry

Hey Guys and girls

I'm looking at getting a car at around the budget of a used FRS-BRZ,
15000 to 20000$ CDN

I already looked at a V6 mustang which i found numb feeling.
I'm thinking of CIVIC coupe , Hyundai Genesis Coupe, Fiesta ST, Fiat 500 Abarth

I drove an FRS and love the driving dynamics but the power was lacking
( I will need to mod it significantly to get the have the right kick in the pants feeling --- 5000$$$ minimum)

I'm curious as to what you looked at before deciding to go FRS /BRZ
or if you've had any of the above mentioned cars and why you changed to an FRS/BRZ

Never had any of those... I'm kind of used to driving slow cars fast... so I don't really find my '86 under powered... that being said I never drove the '13 and some people are saying the new car feels a lot better.

Some of the fun slow/cheap cars I've had in the past:

1998 Plymouth Neon Expresso (150hp)
2009 Mazda 3 (132hp I think.. forget)
2008 Mitsubishi Lancer (152hp)
2002 Mazda Protege 5 (130hp was fun lowered and stiffened up)

I've kind of wanted the 86 since it was announced back in 2011 (I think?) that Subaru and Toyota were collaborating on an inexpensive, fun, rear wheel drive car... so I've been kind of looking on and off for a few years anyway...

Other cars I've considered before buying.. some seriously, some breifly... you can tell which by the descriptions I wrote probably...

'12 Fiat Abarth 500
Weirdly high seating position. Didn't like it after sitting in it...
I've heard they're expensive to fix/break easily... but third hand there.
Sweet sounds though.

'09 Hyundai Genesis Coupe
Couldn't get past the awful interior... never even drove it.

'10 Ford Mustang GT (drove a couple years ago.. )
Exhaust sounded very good, but car wasn't very fun... steering vague, dealer wouldn't budge on price.. seemed too expensive for a used car with only about 3 drives to work of warranty left.

'16 Fiesta ST, Focus ST, Focus RS
Seems expensive up here.. couldn't justify mustang money for it.
Friend of mine is a Ford mechanic and says the manuals in the fiestas have problems... both manual and automatic in focus is a shit show too.

'17 Ford Mustang GT .. grabber blue came back, love how it looks on the new car... but our '13 Ford is utterly horrible, so it was pretty easy to talk myself out of another Ford.

'17 VW Golf R
Couldn't find one when I was looking... I did today looking for car #2/everyday car.. sadly wife needs an automatic, so it won't be the R.
Maybe the sportwagen tho...

'17 Subaru WRX or BRZ
Never made it to dealer... local dealer didn't have a BRZ, stopping at Toyota first didn't help.

Good luck if you go the frs route... not sure if funds are tight or you're just being cheap, but maybe check out a WRX if you havn't... probably safer than boosting/breaking a tired/beat up frs

[brzaapi]

Originally Posted by lowlevel

'17 VW Golf R
Couldn't find one when I was looking... I did today looking for car #2/everyday car.. sadly wife needs an automatic, so it won't be the R.
Maybe the sportwagen tho...

The R does come with a manual or a really slick DSG twin clutch Auto tranny. I have ran and modded both models (a '15 and a '16). They are great cars, if we hadnt got pregnant twice in the last 18 months we would still have them. But a small SUV was needed.

Anyways, the auto tranny on the R is very nice. Real similar in feel to the PDKs i have owned.

[Yardjass]

Here's what I looked at:


New:
Chevy SS: I could stomach the price but not the taxes. They get us every year in VA and its a lot for something that can be avoided by simply buying a cheaper vehicle.
Diesel Colorado: Same as SS
WRX: The regular WRX does not have an LSD option and the STI is significantly more expensive, has the old motor, and gets significantly worse fuel economy. That was a dealbreaker for me. Plus they felt like driving a truck compared to the 86.


Used: Most of these are 2 seaters and I couldn't justify it since the rest of my cars are also.
C5 Z06
S2000
Fiat 124
GTO: Suspension problems scared me off.
EP3 Civic hatch: Impossible to find in decent shape and/or owners are idiots who think their cars are worth their weight in gold.
Used WRX STI: See EP3 Civic hatch

[lowlevel]

Originally Posted by brzaapi

The R does come with a manual or a really slick DSG twin clutch Auto tranny. I have ran and modded both models (a '15 and a '16). They are great cars, if we hadnt got pregnant twice in the last 18 months we would still have them. But a small SUV was needed.

Anyways, the auto tranny on the R is very nice. Real similar in feel to the PDKs i have owned.

Yeah, the one they have at my dealer here is manual so it's not really an option... since I already bought the manual car of my choice last month... lol. I think we're gonna buy the '17 Golf Sportwagen Highline with the DSG... I'm kind of apprehensive of all the German electronics though

[lowlevel]

Originally Posted by Yardjass

WRX: The regular WRX does not have an LSD option and the STI is significantly more expensive, has the old motor, and gets significantly worse fuel economy. That was a dealbreaker for me. Plus they felt like driving a truck compared to the 86.

Yeah, you definatlely sit up a little higher/straighter in the wrx/sti.. I have sat in them at the autoshow, but never drove one... I didn't want anything to do with feeling like driving a 'truck' anyway...

[why?]

i really wish Subaru would think about sticking that 1.6 turbo they have in the BRZ. Or maybe even a 1.4l turbo.

[unhappymeal]

Originally Posted by brzaapi

The R does come with a manual or a really slick DSG twin clutch Auto tranny. I have ran and modded both models (a '15 and a '16). They are great cars, if we hadnt got pregnant twice in the last 18 months we would still have them. But a small SUV was needed.

Anyways, the auto tranny on the R is very nice. Real similar in feel to the PDKs i have owned.

Yep, they are fast and versatile cars. A little sterile for my tastes, but there's no doubting the quality and value that you get. One thing to point out is that DSGs tend to behave like manuals off throttle. It really surprises people that they don't necessarily creep or immediately respond to throttle input off idle.

[Lonewolf]

Originally Posted by jerryjerry

Hey Guys and girls

I'm looking at getting a car at around the budget of a used FRS-BRZ,
15000 to 20000$ CDN

I already looked at a V6 mustang which i found numb feeling.
I'm thinking of CIVIC coupe , Hyundai Genesis Coupe, Fiesta ST, Fiat 500 Abarth

I drove an FRS and love the driving dynamics but the power was lacking
( I will need to mod it significantly to get the have the right kick in the pants feeling --- 5000$$$ minimum)

I'm curious as to what you looked at before deciding to go FRS /BRZ
or if you've had any of the above mentioned cars and why you changed to an FRS/BRZ

Header plus Flex-fuel tune (I'm not sure of E85 availability where you are) should give a nice kick in the pants for not too much money.

[strat61caster]

Originally Posted by why?

i really wish Subaru would think about sticking that 1.6 turbo they have in the BRZ. Or maybe even a 1.4l turbo.

Turbo power is overrated, lag is real even with the tiniest most complicated of turbos.