Help regarding new 2018 BRZ (price advice)?

[Xxyion]

Originally Posted by Rai-zero

Thanks

I'm now looking at both PP or tS

I don't think that I'd do a trunk swap or whatever because that would not do well in resale. Plus the hassle, so I'd probably keep the wing if I decide to go with the tS.

I will say that I prefer strong planted feel to loose feel like skidding coming out of a stop while turning right (for example).

Any thoughts would help me decide, is the rear wing bad or good? Especially rear window blockage?

If I get the PP likely would get new rubber so the price difference is not as great looking at that way. Plus maybe I would like the better reinforcements and suspension of the tS?

The car is pretty planted even with the shitty "prius" tires. A lot of it is how you drive. before i changed tires i only ever broke the tail end out once by accident and that was before i took a turn harder than i should have.

You can skid this car no matter what tire and wheel setup you have. My friends "drift" right hand turns all the time and they are running sticky Michelin Pilot Super Sports or Hankook RS4's.

A few things to consider. The rear wing will add down force. It also adds weight. The Aero package adds downforce. The wider tires add more contact to the ground. Everything there is for maximum grip from the factory. It will also weigh a bit more. You would be surprised at the difference between having all that vs not. That being said the wing doesnt make a huge difference unless you are at high speeds 80+.

A big question is. Are you planning on modding this car at all? If so maybe the extra suspension wont matter to you if you plan on ever lowering the car or getting coilovers. If the car is going to stay completley stock then yeah maybe the tS will be worth it for you. But if you plan on doing any sort of mods, maybe a PP would be the better deal for you as its more of a base stock form than the tS would be.

[Rai-zero]

don't plan to do any suspension mod, maybe an open flash someday but mostly stock.

[StanBo]

I will tell you this. Exits offramps and jug handles are a blast with a PP car stock.

I get interested in a car when I see one ripping thru an exit at speed.

Miatas were ones that always killed me.

The next is going to be a mini cooper.

You will be a happy person with a 18. I don't have a complaint yet. I will be getting either a weathertec or Subaru trunk liner.

Future some 200treadwear tires will replace the stockers.

Today was a rainy day and I drove the car in to work. LOVE it.

[StanBo]

Forgot to mention my daily driver is a 2010 Quad Cab long bed Tacoma.

Miata is stock class built koni yellow shocks, racing beat front bar and 15x6s with 200 treadwear tires. It is very twitchy (right place right time - highway not being one).

Also have a few motorcycles. I am happy with the doing more with less power route.

[OfficeWorker]

My knowledge here is far less than others, so forgive me if my terminology or accuracy is not 100%.

I got my 2017 with PP for $26.5 + that tax crap in early February, when it was arguably the worst time of year to buy a BRZ (hence probably their willingness to cut the pricing a bit, even though it was only one of two or three new blue BRZs in the state at the time, and at a point where most Subaru dealers did not even have new BRZs in stock at all.) At that point in time, no 2018 PP models were available, the tS was only just coming in and priced higher, and I had my doubts I could get the price that low on a 2018 so I went for the 2017, forfeiting CarPlay (especially knowing that whether I purchased a 2017, 2018, Limited, base, or tS, I was looking at nearly another $1,000 expense almost as soon as I bought the car.) The 2017 headlights are fricking amazing. The 2017 factory headunit is absolutely abysmal, much like every car I have used (supposedly the 2018 is an improvement,) and Subaru StarLink is so bad they should pay us to use it. I'm hoping the 2017 and 2018 head units can be swapped (still waiting on confirmation, and then playing the waiting game for one to come up for sale if they can!) I think the sticker on mine was $31-ish?

Are you going to drive this during the winter in MD? (If so, the way you wish to go about may add more benefit to opting for the tS, or the money you save over the tS with a Limited/PP might be put to better use.)

IIRC the tS comes with MPS4S summer performance tires (as opposed to the Primacy HP summer touring tires) - but if you are planning on winter driving in MD, IMHO both are poorly suited for our area that time of year and you may want to factor in buying either A) UHP all-seasons, or B) a second set of winter wheels/tires. As the MPS4S are ridiculously better tires than the Primacy HP, if you are OK with a summer tire for the nice months than this might work to the tS' favor (I feel the Primacy HP tires are something that many find themselves replacing sooner than later - I did - where as with the MPS4S, which is arguably a benchmark of its performance class, you will probably not find them deficient with even the hardest of street driving.) I went the route of MPS A/S 3+ UHP as I did not want two sets of wheels, so for me the lower price of the BRZ w/ PP worked in my favor and I just took the $800 hit of replacing the stock tires at 1,000 miles (glad I did given what this winter has been like!)

Also IIRC, the tS has a stiffer suspension. I know far less about matching mods than others here, but, to my understanding, this works slightly synergistically in your favor if you wish to run sticker tires (and IIRC slightly against you with UHP all-seasons.) This presumably would be far less of a difference than an aftermarket kit.

The STI wheels on the tS will be an even bigger PITA to clean than the PP wheels, which are already plenty...those are prolly worth having coated or applying a ceramic coating.

Depending where you are in MD, from what I have observed, there seems to be a good chance the car will have crap tons of iron deposits and industrial fallout when new, and the paint will probably benefit from a good decon and compounding.

[Rai-zero]

I’m keeping my Legacy wagon for winter so the BRZ will be a three season car probably maybe drive on warm winter days.

I’ve done snow tires on both my previous S2K and M3 but probably won’t on the BRZ because I want to use my Legacy as much as possible in bad weather days and salt etc.

[Rai-zero]

No closer to a decision, I went to drive BRZ again today, was a 2017 premium trim so no PP or Limited specific features, I wanted to test drive it agin to see if the power dip was going to bother me or not. I didn't notice the power dip too much tbh.

Got to take it out 15-20 minutes without salesman, I brought my wife along, unfortunately my wife does't like the way I drive max acceleration, I was able to drive a bit, but didn't get any backroads at all. This was mainly just surface roads with stop lights about the worse type of test drive. I'm on vacation in Florida where it's just flat and I don't know any driving roads. Basically I just drove it around a few miles of roads with stop lights (fairly straight).

So this was my worst test drive of the three.

I do like the car but it's not perfect. No car is prefect, anything as lightweight with more power costs lots more like Cayman. Other cars with lots more power at similar price are a lot heavier such as Mustang.

[rvoll]

Originally Posted by Rai-zero

No closer to a decision, I went to drive BRZ again today, was a 2017 premium trim so no PP or Limited specific features, I wanted to test drive it agin to see if the power dip was going to bother me or not. I didn't notice the power dip too much, bu the total power was not as great as I'd hoped for.

Got to take it out 15-20 minutes without salesman, I brought my wife along, I suspected that that was best way to get an un escorted drive, but unfortunately my wife does't like the way I drive MT max acceleration, I was able to drive a bit, but didn't get any backroads at all. This was mainly just surface roads with stop lights about the worse type of test drive. I'm on vacation in Florida where it's just flat and I don't know any driving roads. Basically I just drove it around a few miles of roads with stop lights (fairly straight).

So this was my worst test drive of the three.

I do like the car but it's not perfect. No car is prefect, anything as lightweight with more power costs lots more like Cayman. Other cars with lots more power at similar price are a lot heavier such as Mustang.

I just bought a 2018 Limited auto. While I like the MT better, my wife felt it was just to "jerky" for her (given the way I drive), so I ended up with the auto. The Cayman has the same size engine in displacement. If you added a turbo to the BRZ, you'd have the exact same power as the base Cayman. Of course, if you want to spend the same as 3 BRZ's, you could have the fastest Cayman.

I actually didn't want a car with brute power, as that is what I had driving Porsches for 27 years or so. My last Porsche had over 500 horses. For me, that takes some of the fun out of the car. The BRZ is well balanced, and that works fine for me. It will do almost as well on the track as some higher hp cars because it handles so well. In a year or so, I may well add the turbo, but I'll give it some time before I make that decision. Good luck...

[Rai-zero]

Regarding my wife, she likes to criticize when I drive stick shift (said it was jerky) but to me honest I'm not as used to the car. I could drive it smoothly or fast but not both. Maybe it's not rev matching shifts (I don't know how) but to me the car was fine. I'd say the MX5 and S2000 both had better gear changes but the BRZ is not bad at all.

Anyway it's not that she would be driving with me at all. Whenever we go out and about together we'll take her comfortable SUV.

I just wanted her along to ride shotgun in case the salesman wanted to also ride along. But anyway my wife thinks that I am looking at the BRZ because I was saying how it's cheaper, more dependable and more easy to service than the Cayman. She think that I should not worry about that and get the Cayman. But to me the BRZ (I'll admit is not as nice as the Cayman) but the BRZ is very fun to drive and that's what I'm looking at the most.

I (think) the BRZ is almost as much fun as the Cayman (maybe more). Meaning the BRZ need to wring it's neck to get it to move, so it's more involving.

I watch this Chris Harris Video a lot and while he concedes the Cayman is better but he seems to think the 86 is more fun (I'm reading between the lines).

[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JUhLXvxlQR4"]Toyota GT86 / Scion FR-S v Nissan 370Z v Used Porsche Cayman S - /CHRIS HARRIS ON CARS - YouTube[/ame]