BRZ vs. my current cars - MR2 and 240Z

[Laika]

As a former MR2 owner (and still an MR2 lover) I think I have to reluctantly say you should sell the MR2 (or part it out) and keep the Z. This way you can have old school japanese FR meets new school, in your driveway.


Or maybe I just wanna snag a sweet MK1 for cheap

[Bahraini86]

Originally Posted by Bristecom

Cool. Watching the qualifying for the F1 Grand Prix of Bahrain right now.

But I hear ya. I love my Eclipse but it's just annoying to have to put 2-6k in it every year. So I plan to keep it as a winter/snow car and the FRS will be my daily driver. Your cars are a bit different though since they are RWD and not entirely working so that's a tough call.

Was a long and interesting weekend for us, the race was great too. Glad was there

[Lonewolf]

Wow, two gorgeous cars. However, they are just going to keep getting older, and more parts that will need replacing/fixing.

Can you keep one and still get the BRZ so you can tinker with the old one when you feel like it, and drive the BRZ with hopefully* no worries?

[Turbowned]

Originally Posted by Lonewolf

Wow, two gorgeous cars. However, they are just going to keep getting older, and more parts that will need replacing/fixing.

Can you keep one and still get the BRZ so you can tinker with the old one when you feel like it, and drive the BRZ with hopefully* no worries?

Thank you and yes, I will most likely keep one around. The question is just "which one?" I think I would turn the MR2 into a track car if I kept it; I've just done too much to it and it's less street-able than it used to be. The exhaust is too loud, the suspension is too firm, and no matter how much I've tried I can't get rid of all the interior squeaks and rattles. I would want to keep the Z a street car but they're just so expensive to restore and modify it's not even funny. No matter how much I invest in the Z, there will always be a nicer one out there because they're so popular and people have done quarter-million-dollar restomods on them. At least with the MR2, not many people go all-out on them, so it's cool to have a fully built car. The Z is my dream car, but it feels like a dream that is so close but so far away; I haven't driven it since 2007 and I don't know when I will get to again! If I buy the BRZ I have something I can enjoy while I'm still in my 20's whereas with the Z or MR2 I probably won't get them where I want until I'm pushing 30.

Bahraini86, nice Z! You must have one of only a few in the area? Z's are much rarer in the rest of the world than they are in North America and Japan.

Looking at the two cars together, I think the BRZ is close enough that I can be happy with the styling and more than happy with the quality compared to a 40-yr-old Nissan

[RearDrive]

Tough choice man! If I were you I would get something for a company car thats cheap in every aspect so you don't sink a bunch of money into it and then ditch what ever car you have less money into because then its less of a loss. Honestly both cars are awesome so really it comes down to whatever makes sense financially, because you don't really NEED a brz. Just my 0.02 cents.

[Turbowned]

This is really tough. I've wanted a brand new sports car since I heard Toyota would be building one in 2009. While the price may have inflated over $4,000 since then (more like $7,500 in the case of the BRZ Limited) I am still dying to get one! On the other hand, my two projects only need a couple thousand bucks and some elbow grease each to at least be driveable on the street. I could try keeping all three, but I really would have to step my game up at work to be able to afford to put any work in the two projects on top of a new car payment!

[Turbowned]

Well, I thought I'd follow up on this. I got denied financing on the BRZ due to "limited credit history" and had to give up my ordered Galaxy Blue 6MT Limited. I still plan on getting a car, just not until the end of the year at the earliest. I need to save a bigger down payment so I can hopefully overcome the "limited credit history" nonsense. We all gotta start somewhere, right?

I haven't completely given up on the Z (yet; I do have an interested party in buying it) but I am going to sell off all the aftermarket stuff and revert it back to stock, because I can't afford two big-dollar projects. With some of the money I recouped, I bought a low-mileage transmission to replace my MR2's crunchy old one, and will install the Kaaz LSD I bought last year. I also picked up some parts to move further with my turbo engine build: forged 4AGZE pistons, Garrett GTX2863R turbo, TiAL sport 38mm v-band external wastegate, and soon will be picking up forged Crower rods! I'll be building a 1.8L 7A-FE block instead of the 1.6L 4A-GE and mating the 20v head to the 7A, effectively making a "7A-GTE". I'm still a ways away, but I suspect this setup should be good for 300-350bhp (in a 2300lb car!). I think that'll be enough to ease the pain of not having a BRZ for a while

[SUB-FT86]

Originally Posted by Turbowned

Well, I thought I'd follow up on this. I got denied financing on the BRZ due to "limited credit history" and had to give up my ordered Galaxy Blue 6MT Limited. I still plan on getting a car, just not until the end of the year at the earliest. I need to save a bigger down payment so I can hopefully overcome the "limited credit history" nonsense. We all gotta start somewhere, right?

I haven't completely given up on the Z (yet; I do have an interested party in buying it) but I am going to sell off all the aftermarket stuff and revert it back to stock, because I can't afford two big-dollar projects. With some of the money I recouped, I bought a low-mileage transmission to replace my MR2's crunchy old one, and will install the Kaaz LSD I bought last year. I also picked up some parts to move further with my turbo engine build: forged 4AGZE pistons, Garrett GTX2863R turbo, TiAL sport 38mm v-band external wastegate, and soon will be picking up forged Crower rods! I'll be building a 1.8L 7A-FE block instead of the 1.6L 4A-GE and mating the 20v head to the 7A, effectively making a "7A-GTE". I'm still a ways away, but I suspect this setup should be good for 300-350bhp (in a 2300lb car!). I think that'll be enough to ease the pain of not having a BRZ for a while

If you are going for that much power in a 2300 lb car(IMO that's overdone) then why would you be interested in the BRZ? The newness feel?

[Turbowned]

It's on par with most cars I've owned - MK1 MR2 Supercharged, MK2 MR2 Turbo, FC RX-7 Turbo, Datsun 240Z w/ triple carbs, chipped E30 325i, and my current 20v 4AGE-swapped MK1 MR2... all under 250hp, all under 3,000lbs. I'd want to supercharge the BRZ eventually, but yes, mostly because it would be a brand new car. My first brand new car, if you don't count the Audi I leased.

If you think 300whp in a MK1 is overdone, tell that to the guys making 500+whp in these cars

[Turbowned]

Well, just thought I'd follow up on this thread. Yesterday I sold the 240Z. It was a difficult choice to make considering it's practically my dream car, but I decided that the example that I owned was too much of an undertaking for me to complete any time soon, and I'd rather spend $30k over 5 years on a BRZ that I get right away than spending $30k over 5 years and having the Z at the end of that time. I'm happy however, that I now have a significantly larger amount of money to put down towards a BRZ, and it may push my timetable forward so that I can get one as early as January!(assuming a factory order still takes 3 months )

Goodbye, old friend! Sorry it didn't work out...



(The photos make it look much nicer than in person... there was painter's tape over the hatch because the weatherstripping was useless)

[GMASTER6]

i was about to write you the same think you posted...now you 'll have the money to spend them on a brand new brz for daily joy and turn the mr2 to a track weapon...in fact these two cars represented two different ways if they were kept as a second car...either you 'll had a weakend trackday car or a classic one for calm rides

[BioRage]

I like that Z

Suck that it's gone, atleast you can make new memories and projects with the BRZ

at the end of the day, both car's end with the "Z" :P

[Turbowned]

To me, the BRZ best represents a modern successor to the 240Z, so I'm pretty happy that there's finally a new car out there that I like as much as the classic ones. I know I'll be happy with my decision, at least until Nissan decides to build a Z35 that doesn't suck

[Rayme]

Good decision! I had to make a similar decision. I always had used cars, and the FR-S was a very nice compromise of a daily driver (and RWD in the winter will be fun, whatever people say) and always fun to drive around. I sold my somewhat mind 98 civic and put my sv650s for sale for the FR-S.

Sure I could get a used M3, S4 audi or a 370z (or any other sports cars really) for less but they all have big downsides compared to a new FR-S. A used M3 as a daily driver would be un-reliable without warrenty.

I'm almost turning 30 and I got less time and less patience to work on cars…Don't get me wrong, I LOVE working on cars, but when it's about your daily driver, anything that goes wrong is an emergency - and when you work 9-5 without a garage and 6 months of winter, you get tired of that shit real fast.

Keep a toy and a good reliable car…unless you're rich and don't give a crap hahahaha